My last day Sun Valley finally lived up to its name with spotless blue skies. Parasails were being launched from the top of Baldy all morning so they are in the background of some of the pics. The weather and some weekend business also resulted in liftlines of ~20 people or so at Challenger and on Seattle Ridge vs. zero anywhere Thursday/Friday. Here's typical morning cruising on Ridge/Blue Grouse with the raised snowmaking guns and parasailer in background:
Another cruiser with Seattle Ridge in background:
After a couple of Warm Springs runs I moved to Seattle Ridge and decided to ride the Mayday chair to survey the bowls. Unfortunately the south exposures that might have softened had already lost cover, even up high.
Looking the other way the east exposures are still adequately covered.
Upon exiting Mayday I had this view of the August 2007 burn area:
The fire came up the backside of Seattle Ridge. Sun Valley turned on the water for Seattle Ridge's snow guns, and the resulting mist and high humidity kept the fire out of the ski area.
Despite the sun the snow in the bowls remained firm and crusty so I did not try them. I should mention that I spent a week in Sun Valley at the end of March 1983. That was their second best snow year, with 300 inches snowfall and a natural 100-inch base. It also snowed 7 inches the second day of that trip. So all of the bowls were fair game that week, though grueling as they got bumpy.
Sun Valley has installed snowmaking on Christmas Bowl, which drops SE from the top of Baldy. So it had a good base, softened to some degree by midday Saturday, so I did a couple of runs there. Riding the Christmas chair is another view of Seattle Ridge with the valley south to Hailey in the distance.
Here's the view from near the top of Baldy to Ketchum and the Sun Valley resort area.
All 3 days I started skiing about 9:45AM. On Friday I stopped for lunch at noon and took one run before the snowmaking tour that lasted until 3PM. Skiing just the morning and the last hour I totaled 29,100 for a 2 day record of 75,000. Friday night walking back from dinner I slipped on black ice and had a very sore hand the next morning. So I was by myself Saturday as I wasn't sure how skiing would go. I could grip the pole fine but not plant it aggressively. Not really a problem on groomers, so I skied another 25,800 when I stopped at 1:15 for lunch and then to return to the Sun Valley Inn for the NASJA meetings. 3 day total was 100,800.
Given the hours I skied it's obvious that it's possible to ski much more. A few people have been allowed to start the day an hour early to get 100,000 in one day. If you ski normally and don't stop you can do about 10,000 per hour on the groomers. Karl Weatherly knew about a 72 year old guy who once skied 8.5 million vertical in a season. That's an average of 50,000 per day.
Another cruiser with Seattle Ridge in background:
After a couple of Warm Springs runs I moved to Seattle Ridge and decided to ride the Mayday chair to survey the bowls. Unfortunately the south exposures that might have softened had already lost cover, even up high.
Looking the other way the east exposures are still adequately covered.
Upon exiting Mayday I had this view of the August 2007 burn area:
The fire came up the backside of Seattle Ridge. Sun Valley turned on the water for Seattle Ridge's snow guns, and the resulting mist and high humidity kept the fire out of the ski area.
Despite the sun the snow in the bowls remained firm and crusty so I did not try them. I should mention that I spent a week in Sun Valley at the end of March 1983. That was their second best snow year, with 300 inches snowfall and a natural 100-inch base. It also snowed 7 inches the second day of that trip. So all of the bowls were fair game that week, though grueling as they got bumpy.
Sun Valley has installed snowmaking on Christmas Bowl, which drops SE from the top of Baldy. So it had a good base, softened to some degree by midday Saturday, so I did a couple of runs there. Riding the Christmas chair is another view of Seattle Ridge with the valley south to Hailey in the distance.
Here's the view from near the top of Baldy to Ketchum and the Sun Valley resort area.
All 3 days I started skiing about 9:45AM. On Friday I stopped for lunch at noon and took one run before the snowmaking tour that lasted until 3PM. Skiing just the morning and the last hour I totaled 29,100 for a 2 day record of 75,000. Friday night walking back from dinner I slipped on black ice and had a very sore hand the next morning. So I was by myself Saturday as I wasn't sure how skiing would go. I could grip the pole fine but not plant it aggressively. Not really a problem on groomers, so I skied another 25,800 when I stopped at 1:15 for lunch and then to return to the Sun Valley Inn for the NASJA meetings. 3 day total was 100,800.
Given the hours I skied it's obvious that it's possible to ski much more. A few people have been allowed to start the day an hour early to get 100,000 in one day. If you ski normally and don't stop you can do about 10,000 per hour on the groomers. Karl Weatherly knew about a 72 year old guy who once skied 8.5 million vertical in a season. That's an average of 50,000 per day.