KETCHUM, Idaho — Skiers lined up for the 9 a.m. start of lift operations at Sun Valley's Mt. Baldy on Thursday. To earn first-chair honors, four young skiers from Hailey and Ketchum got in line at 2 p.m. the day before.
- Sun Valley's 89th season kicked off on Thursday with 5 lifts serving 3,500 feet of vertical.
- New this year is a 6-pack lift that accesses Seattle Ridge
In March, Sun Valley will host its first World Cupdownhill races since 1977.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
"On a scale from 'not-stoked-at-all,' to 'out-of-my-mind, insanely-excited,' probably the latter," said Franni Camilli.
The first chair of the 2024-25 season at Sun Valley's Bald Mountain went up at 9 a.m. Thanksgiving morning and with it went Franni Cammilli, joined by Hannah Dayton, Briggs Forelli, and Isaac Burks.
Each paid a price to claim the first lift up and earn honorary first-chair jerseys.
"I basically got here at 2 p.m. yesterday," said Dayton. "Spent the night right there on the chair and woke up really early, got ready, and now we're here!"
Sun Valley GM Pete Sonntag told me that weeks of preparation for today paid off.
"Between the natural snow we got over the last week and then the very cold temps over this past month— we're just blessed with great conditions right out of the gate," Sonntag said.
New for this year is a re-vamped Seattle Ridge area, which now features a 6-pack lift to serve the mountain's popular intermediate area, as well as the expert Sunrise terrain that opened a few years ago.
And the resort made big news with this summer's announcement of the FIS World Cup races in March — the top-level downhill racing circuit had been absent from Baldy for a long time.
"1977 was the last time Sun Valley hosted the World Cup ... so, it's been a minute," Sonntag said.
And while the skiing and racing are world-class, the mountain still retains its down-to-earth vibe.
"That's one of the things that drew me to this place and one of the things that I appreciate most is just how down-to-earth it is," Sonntag said. "It is not pretentious in the slightest. We have these amazing buildings here, but they're open to everybody. There's no private club here. Everyone is welcome."
