Some random SV observations from the trip my friend John and I made late last winter.
The busses stopped every half hour. John drove from Bend and had his truck but we didn't need it.
The flight into Hailey was a connection from SLC. The plane was a little puddle jumper and it was snowing. The agent at SLC said it was stormy in SV and we'd only have a small window to land. I asked what would happen if we got there and couldn't land and was told they'd turn around and take us back to SLC. Oh oh. Luckily we landed without incident.
Our room at the Tyrolean was perfect. It had a separate living area where we could spread our gear out and there was a great free breakfast every morning. As mentioned the hotel was right at the far end of the resort parking lot yet still close to town.
Part of the time I skied solo while John took care of an issue with his truck. I made a friend on every lift ride and was always invited to ski with any groups I met. I'm in my 60s and was a relative youngster on the hill. Many older folks, most who seemed to own their own properties in town, and all were monster skiers. Made friends at every liftline, lodge stop, bar and restaurant.
Snowboarding is allowed at Sun Valley but you might not even know that by the scarcity of 'boarders there. Most everyone was on skis and very - very - well turned out.
The snow was absolutely great (which I understand isn't a guarantee there), the grooming was at least as good as Deer Valley's, the runs were wide open, with nary a flat portion to let me catch my breath. The Warm Springs run was incredible and if you wanted bumps or bowls they had all anyone could want short of scary alpine chutes (which I wasn't hunting anyway). The Seattle Ridge area had steady pitches and were the bluest green runs I've ever encountered. Bump lovers could find all they could want on such iconic runs as Exhibition and Limelight.
The lodges looked like the template Deer Valley used for their own without any evidence of the wear and tear I've noticed at DV.
There was no big base village but where were ski shops and lodges at both the Warm Springs and River Run base areas. We used River Run as our base due to its proximity to our hotel.
The town of Ketchum gave me the feel of Park City decades ago. The town is small, close to the mountain, prosperous, and with about everything I'd ever think I'd need. John and I are pretty much burgers and beer kinds of guys and we loved Grumpy's. Our last night we hit the Pioneer Saloon for a steak. Pricing for everything seemed less pricey than we'd encountered in Park City, too. Whiskey Jacques was recommended by some but the consensus was that we should do Grumpy's instead.
See you there!
