KETCHUM, Idaho — Sun Valley Resort has plans for expansion on Bald Mountain that will add new terrain and a new lift for the start of the 2020 ski season.
Mike Fitzpatrick works at Sun Valley and conducts tours on the mountain, Fitzpatrick took us past the ski boundary to show us the new terrain.
"It is going to be so great, it is going to add variety to the mountain," said Fitzpatrick. "It is going to add more beginner and intermediate terrain, true expert terrain, some real glades, shoots and bowls, it is going to add another dimension here to Sun Valley which is what some consider the best in the world.”
The new terrain will include 380 acres on the south end of Bald Mountain below the Seattle chairlift, but Fitzpatrick said it will actually be closer to 500 acres unofficially with the chutes coming off the Cold Springs lift.
The expansion will also include replacing the Cold Springs lift, a two-person chair that is the oldest lift on the Mountain.
A new high-speed Dopplemeyer Quad will replace the Cold Springs lift, but it will be built in a new location which will help skiers and snowboarders access this new terrain.
"So many lifts nowadays are just a replacement for some of the terrain that is already there, but we truly wanted to expand the terrain and the Sun Valley experience," said Fitzpatrick. “This is a really big undertaking and we are very thoughtful because when we do something big, we go pretty big.”
Sun Valley will also sell the Cold Springs chairlift to a ski resort in California.
The beginner run of the new expansion will extend the Lower Broadway Run where the resort will have more snow making machines bringing the total on the mountain to more than 600.
