ilovepugs
Angel Diva
I’m here at Sun Valley right now, tagging along with my husband to a Western Trauma Surgical Association conference (West). West has its annual conference at a ski resort every year, at a resort of the President at the Association’s choosing.
I brought my snowboard with me for this trip. I would rate myself a semi-advanced rider - comfortable on all Eastern blues even in icy conditions, fine on black diamonds, and will occasionally do double blacks on a powder day. I like riding that is playful and prioritize bouncing around and dancing on the mountain over charging hard.
Let’s start with the good:
1. The views are astounding.
(@Christy has posted far better shots in her trip report and I suggest you check it out!)
2. The weather was mostly sunny and 20 degrees both days, and looks to be that way the rest of the week.
3. The staff and facilities are really nice. The food is excellent and the prices are the same as any other ski resort. I ate lunch at the Sierra Lodge twice and was very happy and full both times.
Notice what’s not on this list?
The not-so-good:
Sun Valley hasn’t had a real snow storm since January (perhaps around the time Christy visited), so conditions were, quite frankly, abysmal. The snow at Bald Mountain is extremely hard packed, and while it’s very likely that my edges are in need of sharpening, my husband and I both agreed that the snow/ice did not lend itself to really opening up and ripping down Sun Valley’s famous groomers. I texted a friend that the conditions were “good for Pennsylvania.”
I think that the terrain here would actually be really fun to rip down if there was any snow. The trails are steeply pitched and very smooth, even planes - very different from the rolling groomers that I find most enjoyable; quite a few greens would be classified as steep blues in the East. They But the lack of snow just means that it was challenging to hold an edge, and what little snow that fell last night (2”) was all scraped off the steep pitches early in the day. The even pitches also meant that there was no real opportunity to lose speed if you got moving quickly, which means that any falls would inevitably be painful.
Yesterday, we did a half day, sticking to blue and green terrain, and called it early. Today, I ended up dealing with a work fire drill and didn’t meet up with folks until lunch, but I took one run down a steep icy pitch, and determined that the risk/reward ratio simply wasn’t there for me.
... Especially since I’m not tied to staying local to Ketchum, and Jackson Hole is only 4 hours away!
I brought my snowboard with me for this trip. I would rate myself a semi-advanced rider - comfortable on all Eastern blues even in icy conditions, fine on black diamonds, and will occasionally do double blacks on a powder day. I like riding that is playful and prioritize bouncing around and dancing on the mountain over charging hard.
Let’s start with the good:
1. The views are astounding.
(@Christy has posted far better shots in her trip report and I suggest you check it out!)
2. The weather was mostly sunny and 20 degrees both days, and looks to be that way the rest of the week.
3. The staff and facilities are really nice. The food is excellent and the prices are the same as any other ski resort. I ate lunch at the Sierra Lodge twice and was very happy and full both times.
Notice what’s not on this list?
The not-so-good:
Sun Valley hasn’t had a real snow storm since January (perhaps around the time Christy visited), so conditions were, quite frankly, abysmal. The snow at Bald Mountain is extremely hard packed, and while it’s very likely that my edges are in need of sharpening, my husband and I both agreed that the snow/ice did not lend itself to really opening up and ripping down Sun Valley’s famous groomers. I texted a friend that the conditions were “good for Pennsylvania.”
I think that the terrain here would actually be really fun to rip down if there was any snow. The trails are steeply pitched and very smooth, even planes - very different from the rolling groomers that I find most enjoyable; quite a few greens would be classified as steep blues in the East. They But the lack of snow just means that it was challenging to hold an edge, and what little snow that fell last night (2”) was all scraped off the steep pitches early in the day. The even pitches also meant that there was no real opportunity to lose speed if you got moving quickly, which means that any falls would inevitably be painful.
Yesterday, we did a half day, sticking to blue and green terrain, and called it early. Today, I ended up dealing with a work fire drill and didn’t meet up with folks until lunch, but I took one run down a steep icy pitch, and determined that the risk/reward ratio simply wasn’t there for me.
... Especially since I’m not tied to staying local to Ketchum, and Jackson Hole is only 4 hours away!