The Sun Valley Ski Patrol has now opened Seattle Ridge and the Bowls as well as more terrain on the front side. Conditions are excellent with 10″ of new snow in the past 24 hours!!
The front side of Bald Mountain is now open. Seattle Ridge and the Bowls will open as soon as avalanche control work is concluded in these areas. Dollar Mountain is open as well. Don’t forget to be safe, ride with a buddy and HAVE FUN!!!
Bald Mountain will experience a slightly delayed opening today due to avalanche control work. We received 10″ in the last 24 hours and the slopes will be great!! Remember to be safe, ride with a buddy and HAVE FUN!!
In disciplines that range from moguls to Cross Country skiing to Halfpipe to SkiCross, Sun Valley natives and Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) athletes are busy this winter. With the Olympics less that a month away, several local skiers and snowboarders are currently competing around the world on the World Cup circuit and anticipating the announcement of the Olympic rosters.
Graham Wantanabe, already an Olympic athlete, stands a chance of again competing in BoarderCross. Langely McNeal and Biche Rudigoz are currently vying for spots on the newest Olympic sport’s team, SkiCross. Also competing around the world, Bellevue native, SVSEF athlete, and US Snowboard team member, Kaitlyn Farrington.
The Olympic fate of Cross Country powerhouse, US Ski Team Member (A Team), and longtime SVSEF athlete Morgan Arritola will be announced on Tuesday, January 19th. Also on the Cross Country front, two other SVSEF athletes, Simi Hamilton and Adele Espy were recently named to the World Junior Cross Country team.
And as we speak, mogul-virtuoso and son of storied mogul-expert Joey Cordeau, Shane Cordeau is competing in one of his first World Cups in Deer Valley, with qualifications runs set to take place Saturday night at 5:30. Shane has had an incredibly successful 2009/2010 season thus far, after winning two Nor-Am Mogul Championships in the 2008/2009 season, as a new member to the SVSEF’s Olympic Development Team (ODT), and as a recent addition to the US Freestyle Team, this season Shane is competing in his first World Cup events and has a shot at one of three remaining spots for the Olympics.
Watch out for these skiers and boarders who ski, train, and live on Sun Valley snow as the Olympics draw nearer and check back here for results and announcements. Also look at www.svsef.org, www.ussnowboarding.com, and www.usskiteam.com for more information. Good luck to all of them!
Locals Tai Barrymore, Colter Brehmer and Hannah Haupt, along with 25 others skiers from throughout North America, threw down big tricks and wowed the crowd this weekend at the URTUR FIS NorAm in the SuperPipe on Lower Warm Springs. Barrymore had one of the biggest runs on Friday, finishing a close second behind Evan Schwartz. Brehmer finished ninth over all and Haupt ended up second for the ladies behind 2010 X-Game skier Megan Gunning.
Saturday’s runs were stunners as well with Barrymore hitting some of the biggest tricks of the day and skiers and boarders crowding Lower Warm Springs to watch the action. Go to www.URTUR.com for results or check back later for Saturday’s results and photos of the comp.
Thanks to the athletes, the SVSEF, URTUR and Sun Valley Company for putting on the event!
NorAm Halfpipe Competition taking place at Baldy’s Halfpipe tomorrow, January 8 and Saturday, January 9.
Starting tomorrow some of the nation’s best freestyle skiers will be competing in a FIS Freestyle Ski Halfpipe NorAm Event on Baldy. Twenty-eight skiers from the US and Canada will showcase their biggest and best tricks, flying, hucking, twisting, flipping off the SuperPipe on Lower Warm Springs. This definitely isn’t a juniors’ comp. These kids are competing for spots on the World Cup and ultimately the US Ski Team. They are the nation’s up-and-comers, so expect some huge air and some even bigger tricks. Then watch out for them in places like the Olympics and the X-Games in the next few years.
Come by and support local freestyle phenoms like Tai Barrymore, Colter Brehmer, and Ben Parker starting at 10:15 Friday morning and continuing throughout the day into Saturday. The event is hosted by Sun Valley Company and the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) and is sure to be quite a show.
The event, put on by promoting and event company, URTUR, will be broadcast live on URTUR’s website, www.urtur.com. Up to the minute results will be available on the URTUR website as well. Also check back here for results, photos, and updates throughout the weekend.
It’s the New Year. The holiday storm is over. It is again possible to find a parking place in town and get dinner at a local restaurant. There’s not a 20-person line-up in the express lane at Atkinson’s and you can actually get your skis tuned in a timely manner. The slopes are at a pleasurable, near-empty capacity. And now it is snowing. But after a few weeks of parties, visitors, family, dinners, shopping, barhopping, and skiing paired with working harder than you do the rest of the year, as most locals do during the Christmas season, you are sick. Flakes are falling outside your window and your voice can barely be heard through the telephone when your ski buddy calls at 8:45 am to see if you are in the lift line yet.
Well, we thought we would ease your pain with our list of a few of the "Finer Things of Skiing". Seemingly little things that those who don’t ski or snowboard don’t understand putting up with, things that make skiing seem difficult but things that once we make a wide, sweeping turn on a freshly groomed run or take the first couple powder turns of the season, are completely forgotten. Things that don’t matter in the life of a skier or snowboarder, but make the stay-at-home-because-you-are-sick-and-miss-the-new-snow you feel just a little better about being at home.
1. Core shots from toy truck-sized rocks in the base of your brand new skis.
2. Losing toenails from too many days in your boots.
3. The excruciatingly painful pleasure of taking your boots off at the end of the day.
4. Figuring out just how to carry all your stuff.
5. Inevitably losing some of your gear.
6. Frostbite on your face from a cold, windy day and then having to cover it up for weeks after.
7. Digging your pass out from under your jacket on the coldest of days.
8. Flat light on Warm Springs at 10 am.
9. The walk from the River Run parking lot always seeming so much longer and more difficult at the end of the day.
10. Never being able to actually take a good solo run because inevitably you run into someone you know on the chair or in the lift line.
What do you think? What little things comfort you when you can’t make it up the mountain?
(And don’t worry, by tomorrow we’ll all forget about these trivial things and be right up there with you.)
Check out our pics of some these “Finer Things of Skiing” that really aren’t that bad….
Snow Safety Assistant Bryant Dunn updates us on the latest mountain conditions.
Part of a generation of kids born and raised in the Ketchum/Sun Valley area, Langely McNeal, has had skis on her feet since she could walk. For her, Sun Valley is home and Baldy holds a special place in her heart. And now, for the past few years she has been training to get closer and closer to every skier’s dream, the Olympics.
Langely is one of two American women in the hunt for the Vancouver Games in the new event, SkiCross. Much like a motocross race on skis, with all the bumping, pushing and crashing, SkiCross is fast, furious, and terrifying. But anyone who has seen Langely on the hill knows this ball of fire can definitely hang. Langely, who still calls Sun Valley home and trains on Baldy, is a member of the US Ski Team’s SkiCross team (part of the US Freestyle team) and a member of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation’s Olympic Development Team. As the top ranked US woman in SkiCross and with support from the SVSEF and the US Ski Team, Langely will be traveling to Europe to compete in several qualifying races in hopes of earning herself a spot in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Keep an eye out for our local girl and check out the five things she loves about Sun Valley below.
5 Things I Love about Sun Valley
1. The steep terrain on Baldy that feeds right into the non-existent lift lines.
2. The feel of carving a ski on the perfectly groomed runs, then having hot chocolate and whip cream at Warm Springs Lodge.
3. Being able to walk out my front door with a mountain bike, road bike, running shoes, whatever, and knowing I’ll be able to find some sweet trail in any direction.
4. The people, hands down. So many great personalities in our valley and amazing friends that you can’t find anywhere else.
5. The ridiculous amount of sunshine we see all year round… so spoiled!
“Don’t be fooled by the snow report because the skiing in Sun Valley is amazing right now. The snow making has been off the charts this year as we opened on Thanksgiving day with 3,000 foot vertical runs from top to bottom runs on both River Run and Warm Springs sides. I’m super impressed with the new management (at Sun Valley Company) and their commitment and willingness to improve the facilities. The super pipe will be open prior to Christmas and the new Gondola is top notch. I’ve been skiing every morning and racking up 30,000 vertical feet before noon. There is no place I would rather start the season than right here at home, getting my legs strong…”
Reggie Crist
1992 U.S. Olympic Team
