Skiing Sun Valley

Union Pacific Railroad's Averell Harriman had a bold vision to restore rail passenger traffic decimated by the Great Depression: create ski tourism in Idaho's remote Wood River Valley. A $1.5 million investment opened Sun Valley in December 1936 with a lavish lodge, luxury shopping, Austrian ski instructors and extensive backcountry skiing. Prestigious tournaments featured the world's best skiers. Chairlifts invented by Union Pacific engineers serviced skiers quickly and comfortably. Ski instructor and filmmaker Otto Lang recalled that seemingly overnight, it became "a magnet for the 'beautiful people,' a meeting place for movie stars and moguls, chairmen and captains of industry, Greek shipping tycoons, and peripatetic playboys--and playgirls--of the international social set." After World War II and Harriman's departure, Union Pacific's willingness to pay the $500,000 yearly subsidy waned. Bill Janss purchased it in 1964 and reimagined it as a year-round resort but lacked the capital for growth. Sinclair Oil owners Earl and Carol Holding acquired it in 1977, revitalizing it into a premier resort with international status. Award-winning ski historian John W. Lundin celebrates America's first destination ski resort using unpublished Union Pacific documents, oral histories, contemporaneous accounts and more than 150 historic images.

Set in America’s original ski resort, Sun Valley, Idaho—SISTERS offers a thought-provoking look at three women . . . and the choices they make when they realize their lives aren’t exactly what they expected. Karyn Macadam is starting over after losing her husband to a skiing accident. A chance encounter with a backcountry pilot might be this young widow’s one shot at a new beginning, but only if she can let go of the past. Leigh Ann Blackburn is the perfect wife, until her husband grows more distant and she believes the worst. An outrageous plan to save her marriage turns the situation on its head and she soon learns not everything is as it seems. Joie Abbott, who always finds a way to mess up her life, has done it yet again. This time a bitter betrayal threatens to expose a heartache she desperately wants to keep secret, especially from her family. Through romance and heartbreak, laughter and tears . . . life is always better with your sisters at your side.

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Sun Valley's founding, respected journalist, distinguished television executive, and renowned raconteur Van Gordon Sauter tells the remarkable story of the transformation of a remote Idaho mountain valley into America's first luxury ski resort and, eventually, one of the country's most beloved year-round vacation retreats. His fascinating anecdotal history is constructed around the personal passions and signal contributions of the resort's three successive owners: New York aristocrat and Union Pacific Railroad chairman Averell Harriman, Los Angeles land developer and Olympic skier Bill Janss, and self-made Salt Lake City oil man and hotel magnate Earl Holding. Sauter lavishes special attention on recounting how Harriman's founding vision was, with breathtaking alacrity over eleven months in 1936, translated into the unique, opulent, and acclaimed reality that formed the enduring base for the spectacular resort we know today.Splendidly endowed by both nature and culture, Sun Valley and its environs are surrounded by four magnificent mountain ranges (one incorporating Bald Mountain, regarded by many as the premier ski mountain in the world) that are watered by four diverse, revered fishing streams, their beauty protected forever by virtue of their abiding largely on federal lands. It possesses a colorful history that includes Native Americans, fur trappers, late-19th century miners and railroaders, early-20th century sheep barons, and, since the 1930's, a low key but glamorous life that has drawn not only the top European and domestic figures in the sport of skiing but also the rich, the celebrated, and the accomplished-among them Ernest Hemingway and Marilyn Monroe, the founders of Facebook and Microsoft, and the author of this book's foreword, Clint Eastwood, to name a few-to this exceptional place. Complementing Sauter's lively text is an offering of stunning vintage and contemporary images, many of them fresh to print, that capture the landscape, the history, and the individuals that have and continue to make Sun Valley an American original.

Records the history of 21 current Idaho ski areas and 72 historical or "lost" areas.

Nestled in a charming European-style bistro, on a small street in the world-famous ski resort of Sun Valley, Cristina's Restaurant has been serving up seasonal and delicious fare for over eleven years. Cristina and her staff have been cooking and baking for customers that include locals, celebrities, politicians, CEOs and cosmopolitan travelers. She draws upon her memories and experiences of growing up in rural Tuscany, where her family recipes have been passed down from one generation to the next. Now enthusiastic customers will finally be able to prepare more than 75 favorites such as Hungarian Mushroom Soup, San Francisco Airport Salad, and Artichokes with Tomato & Shallot Topping, or enjoy Bread & Tomatoes, Limoncello, and Bacelli & Pecorino--dishes rich in tradition and fresh in their approach. "Cristina brings her sense of classic Italian cooking and sophistication to bear on all that she touches, and her superb restaurant is a rare treat in these mountains." --Jann Wenner, Editor and Publisher, Rolling Stone

Sun Valley "style" has emerged out of the melding of the extraordinarily beautiful scenery of the area, a love of outdoor living and recreation, and the unavoidable influence of the chic movie stars and millionaires who call it home. Sun Valley Architecture and Interiors exemplifies a blend of simple elegance and a refreshingly unpretentious spirit that permeates this Idaho paradise--and that spirit has profound effect on the lives and homes of its people.

*A Boston Globe Bestseller!* *An Outside Magazine Book Club Pick!* *Winner of the International Ski Association's Ullr Book Award!* "A sparkling account."—Wall Street Journal An electrifying adventure into the rich history of skiing and the modern heart of ski-bum culture, from one of America's most preeminent ski journalists The story of skiing is, in many ways, the story of America itself. Blossoming from the Tenth Mountain Division in World War II, the sport took hold across the country, driven by adventurers seeking the rush of freedom that only cold mountain air could provide. As skiing gained in popularity, mom-and-pop backcountry hills gave way to groomed trails and eventually the megaresorts of today. Along the way, the pioneers and diehards—the ski bums—remained the beating heart of the scene. Veteran ski journalist and former ski bum Heather Hansman takes readers on an exhilarating journey into the hidden history of American skiing, offering a glimpse into an underexplored subculture from the perspective of a true insider. Hopping from Vermont to Colorado, Montana to West Virginia, Hansman profiles the people who have built their lives around a cold-weather obsession. Along the way she reckons with skiing's problematic elements and investigates how the sport is evolving in the face of the existential threat of climate change.

Sun Valley and Ketchum are in Idaho's Wood River Valley, gateway to backcountry and wilderness areas. Settlers first arrived in the early 1880s, attracted by a silver rush. In 1883, the railroad connected the valley to the world beyond its borders and brought in outside capital. During the silver depression of the 1890s, mining was replaced by sheep raising, and the area later shipped more sheep than anywhere except Australia. In 1936, during the Great Depression, Union Pacific board chairman Averell Harriman built Sun Valley, the country's first destination ski resort, spending $2.5 million in two years ($45 million today). Sun Valley offered a lavish lifestyle, a luxurious lodge, Austrian ski instructors, and chairlifts invented by Union Pacific engineers. Known as America's St. Moritz, it was a magnet for beautiful people and serious skiers. It had a monopoly on grandeur for decades and influenced ski areas that developed later. Subsequent owners Bill Janss and the Holding family expanded and improved Sun Valley, making it one of the world's premier year-round resorts.

Union Pacific Railroad's Averell Harriman had a bold vision to restore rail passenger traffic decimated by the Great Depression: create ski tourism in Idaho's remote Wood River Valley. A $1.5 million investment opened Sun Valley in December 1936 with a lavish lodge, luxury shopping, Austrian ski instructors and extensive backcountry skiing. Prestigious tournaments featured the world's best skiers. Chairlifts invented by Union Pacific engineers serviced skiers quickly and comfortably. Ski instructor and filmmaker Otto Lang recalled that seemingly overnight, it became "a magnet for the 'beautiful people,' a meeting place for movie stars and moguls, chairmen and captains of industry, Greek shipping tycoons, and peripatetic playboys--and playgirls--of the international social set." After World War II and Harriman's departure, Union Pacific's willingness to pay the $500,000 yearly subsidy waned. Bill Janss purchased it in 1964 and reimagined it as a year-round resort but lacked the capital for growth. Sinclair Oil owners Earl and Carol Holding acquired it in 1977, revitalizing it into a premier resort with international status. Award-winning ski historian John W. Lundin celebrates America's first destination ski resort using unpublished Union Pacific documents, oral histories, contemporaneous accounts and more than 150 historic images.