Beautiful sunrises at Sun Valley Lodge in Idaho

Nathan Borchelt
Visit Sun valley any day and it’s simple to check why this a part of south-central idaho became the house of the country’s 1st destination resort. Dominated by nine,150-foot Bald Mountain, the landscape is covered in dense groves of evergreens, columns of bone-white aspens, rolling hills, and also the gentle saddle of the large Wood watercourse, simply outside the city of Ketchum and a world faraway from anyplace else within the country. And once winter dumps as much as 220 inches of snow every year, the whole region transforms into snow-globe perfection, with foremost sport and snowboarding, snowshoeing and skiing, and family-friendly pursuits like ice-skating and conduit, all complemented by a dizzying range of eating choices.

The resort’s decades-long quality with the prosperous set—from its beginning in 1936, celebrities like Gene Kelly and Marilyn Monroe flocked to Sun Valley—has connected a haute rep to the resort. however Sun natural depression additionally wears its straightforward love of winter with pride on its sleeve, imbuing the high-toned, classic European vibration with a hearty dose of the Wild West. this can be why such a big amount of realistic winter Olympians decision it home and why ski bums square measure still a staple; Warren Miller himself lived out of a automotive in Sun Valley’s car parking zone until he skint out as the pioneering ski film maker.

The profuseness of snow makes this one in all the most effective playgrounds on the continent, however it additionally adds one surprising element: generally it’s arduous to urge to Sun valley. Storm systems habitually shut the landing field within the close city of Hailey, that adds slightly of island-like isolation to the region. assume island snuggled in a very snow-choked alpine setting. however once you’re there, you’re there.

The moment the primary chair lift of the season starts to run, usually in late November, the prime winter draw of Sun valley is that the sport and snowboarding—and with smart reason, as the resort boasts more than two,000 skiable acres with 121 runs, a minimum of one stretching up to 3 miles. The resort itself is split into the 2 mountains that 1st caught Austrian Count Felix Schaffgotsch’s eye in 1936, when he discovered Sun valley and turned it into a snow-lover’s paradise. Bald Mountain known by locals simply as “Baldy” caters to most ski levels, however it’s a veritable playground for intermediates, advanced, and consultants, with deep bowls, dense glades, and long runs that carry a sustained pitch from top to bottom. Access is from 2 base areas, river Run and heat Springs, each simply accessible from city.