|
Sun
Valley, Idaho first captured the imagination of America's skiing
public in the 1930s. In fact, the readers of Ski, Condé Nast Traveler,
and Gourmet magazines have voted Sun Valley the #1 ski resort
in the country! Baldy Mountain is considered by serious skiers
as the country's single best ski mountain with 13 lifts and 64
runs. Seven high-speed quads, four triples and two doubles send
skiers up 3,400 vertical feet to a summit altitude of 9,150 feet.
In the summer months the Sun Valley area boasts nearly one million
acres of surrounding wilderness and just about as many summer
activities. Guests are invited to enjoy the many natural wonders
-- flyfishing in beautiful Silver Creek, hiking through teeming
fields of wildflowers on Bald Mountain, or riding the rapids of
the Salmon River. Thirty paved miles of bike trails, award-winning
18 hole golf courses, Sun Valley hotels, Ketchum hotels, a skateboard
park and chairlift rides add a multitude of man-made marvels to
the area's stunning backdrop.
History Of Sun Valley: It all started with construction
of the Sun Valley Lodge in 1936. Averell Harriman, then Chairman
of the Union Pacific Railroad, commissioned Count Felix Schaffgotsch
to travel the West looking for a site to build a ski resort comparable
to the famous downhill resorts in the Swiss and Austrian Alps.
He investigated Jackson, Alta, Aspen, Yosemite, Mt. Rainier and
other areas but they failed to meet his specifications. The Count
was in Colorado, heading home, when a Union Pacific official suggested
he look at Ketchum Idaho. He did and less than a year later the
Sun Valley resort opened.
Sun Valley Fun Fact: The chairlift was invented in Sun
Valley and first publicly used here in 1938. |
