The Valley Sun

Gun Club manager J.C. Dovey had his work cut out for him teaching Mrs. Sun how to shoot a shotgun.

As the welcome chill of fall enters the air, Sun Valley Resort looks to its third season. For some, notably the area’s most famous resident Ernest Hemingway, fall is their favorite time of year in the Wood River Valley.

The opportunity to participate in one of Hemingway’s favorite fall activities is one not to be missed. And you don’t even have to kill anything. While Hemingway was an avid hunter, the Sun Valley Gun Club offers the chance for everyone from the most experienced to the novice to get their hands on a shotgun.

I headed to the historic club to see what it felt like to have a shotgun in my city-bred hands. Manager J.C. Dovey took me under his wing, but not before giving me the grand tour of the facilities.

Almost as old as the resort itself, the Gun Club was once one of the most popular non-winter activities here. Pictures along the wall of the club show hundred of shooters lined up at the original club in the shadow of Bald Mounatin during one of the many “shoots” the resort hosted over the years, stretching all the way back to 1936.

The club’s structure is still the original building that once stood across Sun Valley Lake along what is now Fairway Road. “It is actually made from the old Proctor and Ruud sandwich shacks [or day lodges as they were more grandly called],” Dovey said.

After undergoing a few re-locations (the first fifty or so years ago to what is now the White Clouds Golf Course, and then to its current home, a mile east of the Lodge down Trail Creek Road, in 2006), and the installation of marble bathrooms (“I rent them out as baptismal fonts,” joked Dovey), the Gun Club and has re-captured its former glory. This summer the shooting range was a veritable hot bed of activity. While I was waiting for my lesson the phone rang off the hook with would-be shooters. But Dovey assures me fall is the time to be here, it’s a little quieter and is when the locals move in. “About 25 percent of our guests here are locals and regulars, seasoned shooters who own their own guns,” Dovey said.

The lion’s share of the other 75 percent are once-a-year shooters or beginners like myself who have never held a shotgun before. Dovey tells me this is unique in the world of gun clubs. “We get so many people here who have never shot, but we have extensive teaching staff,” he said with obvious pride. “The only other similar club is Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, but we actually do more lessons than they do.”

Sun Valley’s Gun Club is very much a teaching facility with the price of a lesson included in the rental of equipment. “It’s rare for a gun club, we have 5 or 6 instructors,” Dovey said.

Dovey and his team pride themselves on not letting a novice leave without hitting one of those orange clay thingys. So, when I decided to join a long line of resort guests, including many Hollywood celebrities such as Anne Southern, and make the Sun Valley Gun Club my first experience with that icon of the Wild West the shotgun, Dovey had his work cut out for him.

Rudy Etchen - son of Gun Club manager Fred Etchen who was Sun Valley's first Olympic gold medal winner (winning gold for team trapshooting in the 1924 Olympics) - was considered the greatest shotgun shot that ever lived. Pictured here in 1958 with actress Anne Southern, Rudy was one of the instructors at the resort. Today J.C. Dovey and his team continue the Sun Valley tradition of excellent instructors.

Standing at the far end of the shooting range, escaping the hooting and hollering emanating from the group of Idaho Milk Processors’ indulging in something called an “Annie Oakley,” I picked up my first shotgun with trepidation. Orange earplugs firmly shoved in my ears and my shooting stance adopted, Dovey talked me through how I would shoot my first shot. Not suprisingly I missed by a mile. His words were, “I’d shoot it sooner. Try for this county, not Camas.”

I could tell there was some pride at stake here, but Dovey maintained his calm, encouraging tone and before we were through the entire box of shells I had actually hit one. The sound of my hooting and hollering even shut the milk processors up for a few minutes.

While it was a lot of fun, I had to conclude that I’m just not a gun-toting type. But I highly recommend giving it a shot, it’s something of a rite of passage for anyone that wants to call themselves an Idahoan.

Happy trails!

Mrs. Sun

The Sun Valley Gun Club offers Trap, Double Trap, Wobble Trap, Skeet, Duck Tower, 5-Stand and Sporting Clays. Open 7 days a week 10 a.m.–4 p.m. through October. For rates and more details click here. On Sept. 22 the club is hosting a “Sporting Clay Fun Shoot!” 100 targets for $50, including lunch. Prizes on offer for 1st and 2nd place shooters. Call 208.622.2111 or email recreation@sunvalley.com. A special $149 Fun-Shoot room package is available, call 1.800.786.8259.

Van Gordon Sauter, former president of CBS News and Fox News, spoke about his book The Sun Valley Story at the Sun Valley Writers' Conference Saturday. Photo by Kristen Shultz

Van Gordon Sauter is a man with a view, many views in fact. And he’s not one to mince words. So when I heard that this “respected journalist, distinguished television executive, and renowned raconteur” was going to be talking at the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference about his new book The Sun Valley Story, I pulled every string I could to secure myself a spot (not an easy task, as any journalist who has tried to infiltrate the hallowed halls of the conference without publishing their own book will tell you). The fact I have known and worked with Van for the last five years, and that I contributed (in a very small way) to the book he was talking about, undoubtedly weighed in my favor.

The Wood River Valley is very lucky to call Van one of its own. He has had a second home here for many years, and he takes an active interest in the community, beyond just how it will impact his own property. A broadcast journalist and author with a storied career, he is one of the original founders of the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference, and has shared his love of this valley by writing numerous articles on it for the local press (including the Sun Valley Guide, of which I’m editor). Of his many areas of interest, history ranks the highest, so it seemed a natural fit for him to bring his engaging writing style to the entertaining story of the birth of Sun Valley Resort.

The Sun Valley Story is the result of a collaboration between Sun Valley Resort and Mandala Media. Published last year in honor of the resort’s 75th anniversary, the book is described by Van as “an anecdotal history,” one that captures the individual stories and events of Sun Valley’s singular history with his signature flair.

And if anyone can recount a good anecdote it’s Van. His “Break-out session” at the conference on Saturday was full of fascinating tidbits, both from the book and his own experiences in the valley. Including the one time he tried to buy a bar in Hailey that turned out to be insulated by miners clothing, or the story from Peter Duchin’s childhood in the Harriman mansion in New York, where – because his room was so far from the breakfast parlor – he had to hop on a bicycle every morning just to get his cereal. To get them all you’ll have to pick up the book, or corner Van at Cristina’s Restaurant any summer morning, but here are a few choice morsels about the major characters of the book that he divulged at the conference:

Van on Averell Harriman [the founder of Sun Valley]
“In 1935, when Harriman said ‘I want a ski resort in the West,’ that put into motion a project that by today’s standards is incomprehensible. This was and is, if you’ve tried to fly into here recently, one of the most unreachable places in America. At that point nothing came here expect the little train primarily used for hauling sheep. But Harriman said ‘I want it up and I want it up now,’ and low and behold, Union Pacific (and it’s hard to imagine a corporation of that capability today) put up this resort in 11 months. There was no zoning, no politicians, no litigation over environment, they just put it up. From bowling balls to beds to bourbon, the railroad got it here. And 11 months after he made that decision, the front doors open and the customers came.

Van on Eastwood [Clint Eastwood wrote the introduction to The Sun Valley Story]
“Clint Eastwood produced and directed and starred in a movie called Pale Rider, which was shot just north of here in the Boulder Mountains. It was for him a marvelous experience because he could go shoot on location for most of the day and then drive home – he’s had a home here forever – and play golf in the late afternoon. It was just the epitome of an ideal movie-making experience for him, and it was a heck of a good movie.”

Ernest Hemingway loved Sun Valley in the fall, in particular for the hunting opportunities it afforded. Photo courtesy Sun Valley Resort.

Van on Ernest Hemingway
“Hemingway came and stayed in room 206 of the Sun Valley Lodge, a great place to spend the night, a lovely, small suite. It was there he finished his book For Whom The Bell Tolls. He loved it here, his times here were good and he developed an incredibly strong relationship with Gary Cooper. Many of his good times involved being in this town. But ultimately, it ended tragically.”

Van on Ernest Hemingway’s Ketchum home
“[After his suicide in Ketchum] the home he and Mary had bought here was given to The Nature Conservancy, which has been both a good landlord and a useless landlord (it’s currently in one of its good phases). The house is in pretty good shape. A lot of the Hemingway material that was left behind has been pilfered, the best of Hemingway in the house was given to the Kennedy Library at Harvard. At one time, I headed an ill-advised committee, of which I was the premier ill advising person, and we worked with The Nature Conservancy to try and open the house for limited public access. The neighbors, and I can understand their motivation, said no, we don’t want outsiders traipsing through here. So the house is marooned and fundamentally inaccessible to the public.”

Van on Bill Janss [Sun Valley Resort's second owner]
“Bill Janss was a marvelous human being. He was generous, he was kind. He was an Olympic skier, who was unable to compete in the Olympics due to the war, and he really got that mountain into remarkable shape. He turned it into the best ski mountain in the country. Unfortunately, he never could learn how to rent rooms, sell food, run retail establishments or sell condos, he had none of those skills.”

Van on Earl and Carol Holding [Current owners of the resort]
“The Holdings have been generous caring owners of this facility, the improvements they have made, from the snow-making to that gorgeous pavilion, have been remarkable. They made it work. Now we have a good valley, we have a great business here, and we need new hotels. The Holding family want to put a big hotel out at River Run, a ‘ski in, ski out’ establishment. But they can’t do that without a better airport. If any of you have tried to fly in here recently you’ll understand. This city, this valley is at a point now where it has to determine whether it has the courage and the capacity to fix the airport or move the airport, so that there can be direct flights from around the country to bring people in here. The Holdings are very old, no one knows what their children want to do, but their children are highly regarded – fundamentally the jury’s out on where all of this will go.”

Van on the future of Sun Valley [in response to the question "Where do you see the valley in 10 years time?"]
“I would say it’s all up to the airport. It’s a double edged sword. If we get the airport so it works here and the airline starts to have direct flights from Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles wherever, we’ll see a dramatic influx of tourists. On the one hand that’s good, but it’s going to change the ambiance of where we live. There’s no doubt about it. My bottom line is, this is a beautiful place even tourists can’t destroy it, and it will be a better and better place if we do make it easier to get here. It’s impossible to get here now, it’s impossible to sell it to a large swath of the public because it’s so hard to get here.”

Van on the airport [in response to a question on the politics of the airport]
“I have been cautioned never to raise politics at this event… . There is a division in the community. Those who want an airport are trying to find ways to either change the airport runway or to move the airport down beyond highways 20 and 75. But their first choice has frigging grouse on it. Here’s a community of 25,000 people, desperately needs an airport and there’s mating grouse there. Can’t these grouse mate somewhere else? Whatever, that site is a long way from the resort, the construction expense would have been enormous. But without an airport that accommodates small commercial jets, this valley will wither and become non-competitive.”

–Jennifer Tuohy
(aka Mrs. Sun)

The Sun Valley Story, by Van Gordon Sauter, was written to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the resort.

Details: Sun Valley Story, written by Van Gordon Sauter, with a foreword by Clint Eastwood, this glamorous coffee table book contains previously unpublished vintage images, as well as lavish four-color photographs from the last decade, including the Castle Rock Fire, the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference, Allen & Co. Conference and the personalities that define Sun Valley today. See some excerpts from the book here, and buy a copy here.

The Ketchum-Sun Valley Ski & Heritage Museum.

Preserving the History of the Wood River Valley

 By Alec Barfield

The Sun Valley Heritage and Ski Museum  (KSVHS) is best walked into when it’s snowing. Of course any season will do, the property is a tree-filled compound of traditional white barns with green trim that is picturesque year-round. But when it’s snowing the museum beckons like a warm fireplace, the hearth by which we can gather and hear stories of Wood River Valley’s rich and colorful history. For reasons that don’t need explaining, this collection honoring skiers and winter soldiers, architects and local celebrities simply kindles brightest when it’s white outside.

First leased by the KSVHS from the National Park Service in 1993, the museum sits quietly on Washington Avenue and 1st Street. The interior, however, was renovated in 1995 and is now contemporary, with exhibits organized spaciously between the separate Heritage and Ski Museum buldings. The first of these are the Jimmy Griffith and the Don and Gretchen Fraser collections, which are housed in the latter. Regional history at its finest. The photo and award displays tell the stories of three Sun Valley residents, each a legend in the sport that has defined this community for more than 75 years.

Ski movie posters form Warren Miller's films.

The ski protion of the museum is a tribute to these heroes and others, an extensive presentation of those who have contributed so much to shaping this resort community. Stroll through the "Ancient Skiers" exhibit and you’ll find rare photos of Andy Hennig, vintage Sun Valley ads from the 1960s and a mountain of classic images depicting life and sport in Ketchum. Equally significant is the fact that the Ancient Skiers Club, a group of individuals who have been skiing since before World War II, recently had a gathering at the museum–living additions to a museum that already features many of the club’s members.

What’s incredible about both the Heritage and Ski Museum is how personal many of the holdings are to people in this Valley. Although 75 years is monumental, the Sun Valley Story, which is also an exhibit, remains a foggy but memorable experience. Yet this won’t be the case for long and the Historical Society is committed to preserving both the recent and bygone eras of Ketchum and Sun Valley. As much as people love to walk the photo-filled hallways of the Sun Valley Lodge, it’s truly a blessing that we can expand our knowledge and appreciation by visiting a substantial museum, who’s only goal is to collect and preserve regional history.

Who knew that Freidl Pfeifer, Sun Valley’s second ski school director, helped to train 10th Mountain Division in the 1940s? Or that Stanley Underwood, the architect behind the historic Sun Valley Lodge, was famous for establishing the now standard aesthetic of National Park Service buildings? Whether you consider these mere pieces of trivia or details that reveal the center-most fabric of our community, the Heritage and Ski Museum is a cultural asset worth exploring.

The 10th Mountain Division exhibit.

For instance, there’s the visually diverse, "Warren Miller and the Art of Ski Cinematography." Miller started his illustrious career in the River Run parking lot, where he lived in a trailer and causally filmed with friends. Relics of his path from there to Hollywood dot the walls of this exhibit. There are timeless posters of Miller’s "Beyond the Edge" and "Ski People," there’s a projector running other famous movies and there’s even a large collage of ski cartoons sketched by the iconic director himself. However, it’s temporary, so go examine the artifacts of this great pioneer before it’s too late.

Another highlight, which has permanent status, focuses on another prominent Sun Valley character, Ernest Hemingway. Housed on the property’s third barn, is the hallway of "Hemingway in Idaho." More than just a few classic images, the exhibit is a full and elegant presentation of Ernest Hemingway’s two decades of living, writing and hunting in the Wood River Valley. This collection of photos is just one of many reminders in the Heritage Museum that the story of this place extends beyond skiing, even if winter sports does anchor so much of its history. So if you’re a fan of Hemingway, this unassuming celebration of the author in an area he loved is a must-see!

Yet "Hemingway in Idaho" and "Art of Cinematography" are just the beginning. The Ski and Heritage Museum has eight permanent collections, with three temporary exhibits currently in circulation. They also host weekly events, like February 1st’s 2012 Sun Valley Ski Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, during which a handful of candidates will be chosen and their plaques placed in the Ski Museum, next to the likes of Bobbie Burns and William Janss. Although only one of many dates on the KSVHS calendar, the ceremony symbolizes the museum’s function; it is the community’s time capsule, that fireplace of memories, while also being the window out which we can admire the present. History is made everyday, and it’s wonderful that the museum recognizes the on-going nature of its subject matter by recognizing Sun Valley’s latest icons.

If you have time on snowy (or even a snowless) afternoon, make a stop by the Heritage and Ski Museum. Wander the exhibits, attend one of the many lecture or just let the legacy of the Wood River Valley warm your soul before returning to the harsh storms of the present.

The hallowed halls of the Ski & Heritage Museum.

Current Exhibitions

Ski Museum:

The Ancient Skiers

Gretchen Fraser, Don Fraser and Jim Griffith

Sun Valley Ski Hall of Fame

10th Mountain Division of the United States Army

Warren Miller and the Art of Ski Cinematography (temporary)

The Sun Valley Story: An American Original (temporary)

Heritage Museum:

Mining in the Wood River Valley

Discovery of Elkhorn Springs: Pre Historic Native Americans in the Wood River Valley

Hemingway in Idaho

The Architecture of Gilbert Stanley Underwood and The Sun Valley Lodge

Women’s Work: Women and the Settling of the American West (temporary)