Sun Valley

Idaho is not your typical state for a ski vacation, but Sun Valley has always been a notable exception, having continuously operated for longer than every other Rockies destination mountain. The resort has changed significantly over time—it’s even shifted location before—but one thing’s for sure, Sun Valley has retained a loyal following from dedicated guests for decades. This resort is much more remote than its competitors, so let’s take a look at whether the experience is worth the hype.

While moderate in size compared to some destination resorts, Sun Valley offers varied terrain across its footprint. Lower- and mid-mountain terrain is chiefly below-treeline, mainly consisting of tree-defined trails and glades. In the uppermost reaches of the resort, the very top of Bald Mountain hosts some high-alpine bowl terrain.

Sun Valley has attracted visitors for years thanks to its luxury bonafides, and this becomes immediately apparent as you step into one of the resort’s many on-mountain lodges. These facilities are some of the highest-caliber in the business, boasting fancy carpets, throne-like couch seating, fantastic views, and just an overall grandiose ambiance that makes you feel like royalty. And despite the unmistakably affluent atmosphere, it’s not like these buildings feel overly built-up or commercialized. It’s worth noting that the centrally-located Lookout and Roundhouse lodges are a bit smaller than the resort’s other facilities and reach capacity during peak times.

While its Rockies location might suggest copious quantities of snow, Sun Valley sits in an area that doesn’t live up to snowfall expectations. The resort averages less than 200 inches of snow a season, far less than competing destinations. The problem is compounded by a modest elevation; Sun Valley sits thousands of feet lower than many Rockies counterparts, resulting in less favorable snow preservation. The resort enjoys powder after snowstorms, but conditions can deteriorate quickly and get crusty after a few days without significant accumulation—this is especially the case in the sun-exposed high-alpine areas. While much of its skiable footprint faces north, Sun Valley as a whole is an east-facing mountain, and it’s common to see completely bare rock on the unskiable south-facing ridges. This is just not a good look, and it makes the snow cover on the mountain feel artificial and out of place.

That being said, Sun Valley still stands out with absolutely incredible views across the resort. Lower and mid-mountain areas offer charming views of Ketchum, which, unlike some mountain towns, still maintains a local, uncommercialized feel. But visitors will really be blown away by the views in upper-mountain areas, especially in the bowls. It feels like a completely different world up there, with astonishing vistas of surrounding snow-capped mountain ranges that go on for miles. The mountain occasionally sees different weather patterns at different elevations, and when they occur, the view down on weather inversions is absolutely breathtaking.

When they’re open, Sun Valley’s bowls feel one-of-a-kind in and of themselves. These high-alpine areas are some of the most beautiful out there, extending across the extensive Lookout Ridge and feeling like they go on with no end. The above-treeline portion of these runs only lasts for so long, but given the broad range of terrain, it’s hard to take the same path twice.

Sun Valley is really a family-oriented resort, and its terrain arguably suits this demographic well. For a mountain of this caliber, the resort offers an extensive array of green terrain—beginner-rated trails can be found off every single chairlift. That being said, some green trails are pitched fairly steeply for beginner runs, and many would, in all likelihood, be considered blues at other resorts; this is especially true of the Seattle Ridge area, which features almost entirely green terrain that will catch inexperienced beginners by surprise with the gradient.

Despite harder-than-average green terrain, Sun Valley’s blue trails are generally comparable in difficulty to other resorts. Most resort areas offer intermediate options, but the best cruisers can be found off the Challenger and Frenchman’s lifts. Christmas Ridge is also home to some incredible intermediate bowl terrain. The majority of blue runs receive regular grooming, but those that remain ungroomed are good practice venues for moguls. The resort also offers three terrain parks that are tailored towards beginner and intermediate visitors.

Sun Valley offers some fairly steep terrain, and the overwhelming majority of black-diamond runs are ungroomed trails, glades, and bowls. While these runs aren’t the longest in the world, they tend to develop huge moguls, especially after a few days with no new snow. As a result, it can take quite the workout to complete them. Few resort areas truly specialize in advanced terrain, but a handful of single-black runs can be found off nearly every lift.

Despite the Sunrise Bowl expansion for 2020-21, Sun Valley still isn’t ideal for expert skiers and riders. Advanced visitors will find the overwhelming majority of terrain doable, with just a small minority of trails at the south end of the resort boasting true expert pitches. The Sunrise Bowl offers a new opportunity for technical bowl and tree terrain, but it’s subject to extremely variable openings; the area was only open for a few weeks in its inaugural season.

One thing that the Sunrise Bowl expansion has brought about is a more modern lift setup. The Broadway Express, which was built as part of the project, replaces the ancient Cold Springs double and finally provides a high-speed route out of the Seattle Ridge and Bald Mountain zones. Nearly all resort areas are now serviced by detachable lifts; only the two triples providing service to the very top of Bald Mountain—Lookout and Mayday—remain fixed-grip. Sun Valley doesn’t attract nearly the same traffic as some other Rockies destinations, and it’s rare to see overly long lines at any one lift, even during peak times.

For the 2023-24 season, Sun Valley completely redesigned its Warm Springs base area. The resort removed the two lifts at its Warm Springs base area, Challenger and Greyhawk, and replaced them with two brand-new detachables—the Challenger six-pack, and the Flying Squirrel quad. The new Challenger lift directly replaces both the Challenger and Greyhawk lifts, but it’s 20% faster than the old chairs, making for a much speedier ride up the 9,000-foot lift line. The new Flying Squirrel high-speed quad runs in a completely new alignment, allowing much simpler and quicker access to points south of the Warm Springs area than in years’ past. These updates make it much less of a pain to spend time in the Warm Springs area and have helped spread crowds more evenly across the two lifts there.

That being said, guests may still find a few minor annoyances with the lift network. The new Broadway lift route is more out of the way from most trails than the old Cold Springs one, somewhat diminishing the time saved from the high-speed upgrade. One other note—Sun Valley’s lift scanning technology is behind the times, meaning that guests will have to have their passes out physically to get scanned. 

At least it’s not too bad to get around Sun Valley thanks to clear signage with lift and trail directions. Some less-central areas such as Frenchman’s are a bit hard to find at first, but after a few days on the mountain, it becomes pretty intuitive to get around the entire resort.

Lodging

Sun Valley’s Bald Mountain area sits adjacent to Ketchum, a charming mountain town with lots to do. The actual town of Sun Valley is a few miles down the road; this area is more sprawled out than Ketchum—although it does boast a nice walking village—and gives off country-club-like vibes. Accommodations chiefly consist of upscale-to-luxury hotels and condos, especially in Sun Valley proper. However, Bald Mountain does not have any lodging options directly on-site; the closest condos are a short walk from the Warm Springs base. Those looking for economical accommodations won’t have many choices; the cheapest options are Ketchum’s two Best Westerns, but they’re actually pretty nice despite the brand name.

Aprés-ski

Sun Valley exudes a moneyed, upscale vibe, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t fun to be had in the area. Both base lodges offer pleasant aprés vibes after a day on the slopes, and numerous bars can be found in town. However, Sun Valley contains much more of an inner-social-networking scene than an environment to meet new people, and nobody will mistake the area for a true party town.

Verdict

So Sun Valley isn’t a bad mountain, but it faces a lot of stiff competition from resorts with substantially more snow and larger, more difficult footprints. The resort has remained popular over the years thanks to its extremely loyal customer base, charming town, and upscale amenities, not because the physical mountain is overtly superior to other, easier-to-reach Rockies destinations. That being said, lift ticket prices—while steep—aren’t the most expensive in the world, and it’s easy to see how the resort offers a unique appeal to the right crowd.