Trip Take: Sun Valley
The Base Kamp crew just finished up winter break with five days at Sun Valley (ID). Sun Valley, still independently owned, switched its pass affiliation from Epic to Ikon last season. Since we, too, made the decision to switch to Ikon this year, trying Sun Valley made perfect sense. We knew its reputation as the first great ski getaway of Hollywood’s golden age stars, and we’d heard lots about its legendary grooming, charming, unpretentious town, and gorgeous scenery. When we were able to find affordable, direct flights from Chicago on United, the deal was sealed.
Lodging and Transportation
For most families, the easiest way to reach Sun Valley is by air, and the closest airport to the resort is in Hailey, Idaho—just 20 minutes away. In just a few hours, our direct flight had us on the ground, collecting our bags, and meeting our hotel’s shuttle driver.
Arriving in Hailey.
Often, our family chooses to rent condos when we ski. This time, however, we chose The Limelight, a newer boutique hotel in downtown Ketchum. Perfectly situated across from the grocery store at one end of Main Street, our family could easily walk from the hotel to all of Ketchum’s shops and eateries. When destinations proved too far to walk, The Limelight’s shuttles whisked us everywhere we needed to go, on-demand, at no extra cost—including to the slopes of Sun Valley’s two mountains, Dollar and Baldy. We never had to wait more than a few minutes, and the additional cost of our upscale hotel stay was offset by not having to rent a car. Besides, rental cars often do more sitting than driving on ski trips, we’ve found.
Hot tubbin’ at The Limelight.
There aren’t enough good things to say about The Limelight. Some of our best trip memories came via tips from their concierge, Layla. In addition to the skiing, these unexpected, off-mountain adventures really made our trip special. The Limelight’s outdoor pool and hot tubs were a treat at the end of each day, as were the daily happy hours at their lobby bar/restaurant and frequent evening entertainment. Our room (a Grand Deluxe Queen room, to which they upgraded us on arrival for no cost and no particular reason) was enormous. It offered tons of storage for our clothing and gear, and the laundry facilities on our floor ensured that we could pack light, as usual. Upon arriving back from the mountain each day, our skis were stored in the hotel’s ground-level ski-and-boot room, which boasts rows of secure lockers complete with boot dryers. The Limelight really makes a ski vacation as simple as can be!
Just arrived at The Limelight.
On Mountain
Sun Valley’s main mountain, Bald Mountain, is no joke. Seasoned skiers will love it, especially after a fresh snowfall (which we were lucky to encounter toward the end of our trip). Runs on Baldy are long and often steep, and their relative difficulty is a step up from what we’ve encountered at Colorado resorts like Vail and Breckenridge. Even green runs present steeper sustained pitches than developing skiers might be used to. Add to this to the towering, treeless view from the top, and Baldy can definitely set a nervous skier back on his or her heels (and no skier wants to be there).
We jumped into this trip, our first to Sun Valley and our first of the season, eagerly. At the end of last season, Z, our youngest, had been happily skiing the blacks (formerly blue-blacks) of Breck’s Peak 10, so we figured we were unlikely to run into trouble. When we arrived in the morning and discovered the River Run quad not yet spinning, we ditched our plan for an easy, lower-mountain warmup and headed to the summit, figuring that we could find a blue/green route on which to stretch our legs.
The view from the summit at Sun Valley’s Bald Mountain.
Unfortunately, our cursory glance at the grooming map led us to a shady, steep, narrow, and ungroomed blue. It wasn’t the easy warmup any of us had been looking for, but it was especially problematic for Z, who, instantly intimidated, reverted to wedging and whimpering slowly down the slope. I really couldn’t blame her; the trail was a big ask right out of the gate. When skiing with a mixed ability group in an unfamiliar place, it’s important to seek out the advice of those who know the mountain well. We didn’t, and poor Z had an unhappy start because of it. Sun Valley’s yellow-jacketed mountain information staff are everywhere, and I’m sure any of them could’ve given us a good recommendation. Lesson learned!
We returned to the summit after our initial misadventure and made our way down the groomed, blue-green College. After this run, with Z still a little grumpy, we broke for lunch. Following our meal, Z and I lapped the River Run lift to build back her confidence, and Dad and H headed up to Frenchman’s lift to try the blues there. While Sun Valley is known for its grooming, we found that snow quality there varies significantly based on the direction a trail faces and the amount of sun it really sees. Shady slopes (even groomed ones) had hard, crustier snow. The softer stuff was difficult to find until the end of the week when we were treated to 6” of fresh powder. This instantly made steeper, narrower terrain friendlier to less aggressive skiers and made more of the mountain easy to enjoy.
The following day, our family split up, with Z and I staking out the green and blue terrain at Dollar, Sun Valley’s more beginner-oriented hill, and the boys heading up to explore Baldy’s Seattle Ridge, all the way to skier’s right, and the friendly bowls closest to it. We came back together at The Limelight by midafternoon, enjoyed some hot tub time, and decided to explore some off-mountain activities the following day before returning to the slopes to end our trip.
H ponders his next run from the gondola.
On that last ski day, I returned with both kids to Dollar so they could play in the terrain parks. While there are plenty of small features for kids at Dollar, it’s a real treat to ride the pokey old double on skier’s left and watch the tricks of athletes who really know what they’re doing as you fly over the big park below. During our morning of jumps and bumps, Mark explored some of Baldy’s more expert offerings, including the beautiful Sunny Side Bowl. We met him for lunch at Baldy’s River Run base, and he took the kids for a few more runs before we wrapped up our time on the snow.
Is Sun Valley Right for You?
While Sun Valley is a beautiful resort with much to offer, our take is that it can be a challenge for mixed-ability families. Some of Sun Valley’s best confidence-building terrain is at Dollar, and the two mountains are not joined. This means that families may have to split up to ensure that every skier finds the experience he or she needs. If we’d taken a better, more gradual approach on our first day, might Z have been happier on Baldy? Almost certainly, but it still seems like most of the terrain there that isn’t green pushes the outer limit of her comfort zone (and she’s not a kid who enjoys that feeling).
Lesson offerings this season were also limited, and, for us, prohibitively expensive. Group lessons were only offered at Dollar, and only full-day lessons were available. An ideal situtation would be traveling with a group with several kids of similar ability; this would allow families to split the cost of a private lesson at Baldy. Taking this approach would provide an excellent value and allow real growth and challenge for all skiers in the lesson. Unfortunately, our kids’ skills are still too far apart to make this a good option (even if they were more similar, we’d need more skiers in the lesson to really see value).
What kind of family would get the most out of Baldy? In my opinion, it’s a family in which every skier can comfortably negotiate a variety of Colorado blacks in mixed conditions. If your family isn’t there yet, you might get more out of your visit by putting it off a few years. (Z did wind up happy in the end, assuring us that she still loves skiing and had a great trip. Whew!)
The view from Baldy’s Sunny Side Bowl.
Skis Off for Snow Shoeing and Hockey
On our second-to-last day, we chose to take a break from skiing to explore two interesting suggestions made by The Limelight’s concierge. The Limelight (which also has properties in Aspen and Snowmass), has an arrangement with Audi that allows guests to borrow an SUV for four hours to adventure further afield. We borrowed a Q7 (again, at no extra cost) and drove about 20 minutes to Galena Lodge to enjoy some snowshoeing, which none of us had ever done. With our trail pass and adult equipment provided by the hotel, our only (nominal) cost was that of H and Z’s gear rental.
Welcome to Galena Lodge.
The first trail, “Storybook Trail,” was perfect for kids. Pages from a beautiful storybook were posted at intervals along the loop route, providing young snowshoers with natural breaks for rest and, in the story narrative arc, an incentive to keep going. The scenery was gorgeous, and the nature-themed storybook sweet. Our second trail, an out-and-back route to Pioneer Cemetery, was longer and included a bit more uphill, but it was equally scenic.
Show Shoeing to Pioneer Cemetery.
Galena Lodge is an incredible center for cross country skiing and snowshoeing in the winter and hiking and mountain biking in the summer. In addition to a gear and gift shop, there’s also a rustic restaurant serving delicious food and drinks (with plenty of the adult variety, including a wide selection of Irish Coffees and other winter warmers). To me, Galena Lodge is an absolute treasure—and one of many reasons to return to Ketchum in the summer!
After returning the Q7 to The Limelight, we grabbed a quick bite and headed out again in the hotel shuttle. This time, our destination was Ketchum’s Christina Potters Outdoor Ice Rink in Atkinson Park. This 2-acre, unrefrigerated rink is the largest of its kind in the Pacific Northwest, and everything about it—from ice time to equipment—is totally free.
The rink is home to a large after-school program for Ketchum’s elementary students. This is how we found ourselves laced into pairs of old, donated skates and knocking a puck around with a bunch of local kids. We fell, we skated, we shot, we scored—and we had an absolute blast. Even better, so did the kids with whom we were playing! It’s important to save space in every trip for the unexpected, and our trip to the rink, as the snow fell all around us, was definitely an unexpected treat.
Food and Drink
The Limelight offers a delicious breakfast (included in every stay) that we took advantage daily, and we most often ate lunch on the mountain (good, but pricey). Here, though, are the eateries we enjoyed around town.
Whiskey Jacques
I’m not sure the history of this Main Street restaurant and bar, but it seems as though it was once an operation larger and more bustling that it is now. Its cavernous space has two bars and plenty of seating, but it was nearly empty every time we passed. Whiskey Jacques offers a basic menu of authentic Mexican fare. We ate lunch there as soon as we arrived in Ketchum, and our meals (enchiladas and nachos) were all delicious. The current business seems like a small restaurant in a big restaurant space. I hope they do well; their service was quick and friendly, and I loved what I ate there.
We tried to eat here our first night, but we missed their last seating. When we returned the following night, we weren’t disappointed. The atmosphere was attractive and relaxed, the kids’ grilled cheeses were impressively large, and our Brussels app was delicious. I had a wedge salad for dinner, and Mark enjoyed his grass-fed burger, but the real star was probably Mark’s Manhattan, created, as all Warfield’s cocktails are, with house-made everything.
Mark + Manhattan (courtesy of Ketchum’s Warfield Distillery).
Another hot tip from Concierge Layla was that the best pizza in town came from two places: The Limelight’s own wood-fired oven or Village Station, a restaurant in Sun Valley Village. A quick shuttle ride toward Dollar Mountain brought us to the charming, purpose-built Sun Valley Village, still bedecked in its twinkling Christmas finery. I wanted a Wild Mushroom pizza and Mark wanted Meat Lovers, so we split one pie down the middle. We chose my pizza’s alfredo base for the whole thing, and let me tell you: A+. One of the best pizzas I’ve had in a long time! Our kids split a cheese pizza (and enjoyed leftovers for lunch the following day).
Exploring Sun Valley Village while waiting on our table at Village Station.
“You have to go to Pioneer Saloon!” This is the directive we received at our local ski shop when we told them where we were headed. We weren’t the only ones who got the tip, either, judging by the wait we encountered when we arrived for dinner. No matter, though! We had great conversation with three travelers from Ames and Sioux City, Iowa before eventually making our way to a cozy table in the back corner of the restaurant. Nestled close to our neighbors, we dined on perfectly prepared chicken, steak, and freshwater shrimp with (because it’s practically mandatory) loaded Idaho potatoes on the side. My memories of this meal are particularly warm and fuzzy. (Not unrelatedly, the cocktails are also excellent at Pioneer Saloon.)
Tucked off Main Street, The Cellar Pub is a subterranean ski bum bar of the highest order, and it also slings some delicious grub. The atmosphere is no-frills après perfection. On the night we visited, it was made even better by a large group of snowboarders gathering for Sun Valley’s Banked Slalom competition the next day. The place was packed with a mix of visitors and locals, suggesting that its perfection isn’t a very well-kept secret. 10/10, would recommend.
A Word About Flying to Hailey
Hailey is a small airport served mostly by commuter jets and private planes. At the end of our trip, we discovered that the airport’s size, the size of the planes that fly there, the weight of passengers’ ski gear, and the relative infrequency of flights can all conspire to make getting out of town a bit more complicated than getting in.
Before boarding our flight home to Chicago (the lone flight of the day, direct or otherwise), we learned that the plane was overweight. The gate agent stated that the overage would require several passengers to volunteer for rebooking before the plane would be light enough to depart. The initial offer of $500 wasn’t quite enough to lure me to her podium, but, as the offer increased, I grew more interested.
Ultimately, the flight did depart for Chicago over an hour late—the amount of time it took for United to bait eight passengers into taking a bump. We would have been fine, but the late departure meant that many with connections in Chicago likely missed them. The fact that this seems to happen with some regularity is a good argument for planning your flight home a day earlier than you really need to.
Notice I said, “We would have been fine?” That’s because we weren’t on the plane. The four of us took the bump when the pot grew sweet enough. Relieved of our weight and that of our bags, United cheerfully booked us an Escalade to Boise and a hotel room for the night. We returned to Chicago early the next morning via Denver and were home by midday, generous fight credits (x4) in-hand.
Next up: Winter Park, Colorado!
