August, 2009 - We had been in Ketchum / Sun Valley for several weeks,
but we were enjoying ourselves so much we didn't want to leave. The
town was bustling with activity, and there was always something going on.
We arrived in time for the Farmer's Market one afternoon, and after
eyeing up the beautiful produce, we made our way over to the Sun Valley
Lodge.
I had heard about the summer figure skating at Sun Valley when I
was growing up, and it was a thrill to see the outdoor rink. It is
shaded from the hot sun by a mesh canopy, and it sits across
from an open air outdoor restaurant at the Lodge.
On Saturday nights in summertime there is a full-fledged ice show,
and diners can enjoy a gourmet meal at the cafe's tables while
watching World and Olympic champions perform.
While we were there it was an open public skating session. Kids and
adults of all ages were playing, practicing and having fun. We watched
a few young skaters diligently training with their coaches.
The Sun Valley Lodge complex is spread out over a large area and
includes not just the outdoor ice rink but an indoor one as well. There
are extensive walking paths that wander between quaint buildings and
little shops, taking guests to the Opera House and the Sun Valley
Pavilion where the symphony orchestra performs outdoors every night
in August. We got lost quite a few times and found ourselves going in
circles.
There is a little pond that is home to several swans. The Lodge itself
is a grand old structure with an elegant entrance.
Inside the Lodge we found
a cozy fire burning brightly
in an inviting living room
just inside the lobby.
Upstairs there is a huge
library that overlooks the
outdoor skating rink, as well
as an elegant dining room.
Along the walls there are
dozens of photographs of all
the celebrities that have
visited Sun Valley. Averell
Harriman, Sun Valley's
founder in 1936, invited
everybody who was
Somebody to be a guest at
his resort.
Hollywood legends were regulars, and he encouraged artists and writers like
Ernest Hemingway to make this new resort area their home. Many
presidents and their families were photographed out on the slopes.
I was naturally
drawn to the figure
skating heroines of
my youth: Dorothy
Hamill and Peggy
Fleming. We also
visited the Ski &
Heritage Museum
where there are
skis of every
imaginable type, many
hand-made by miners
and ranchers to get
around in winter. The
museum showed video
clips of 1956 Olympic
champions Dick Button and Tenley
Albright at their winning moments.
Every famous winter athlete has
spent time in Sun Valley.
Over at the Ore Wagon museum we
learned that fifty years before Sun
Valley was created, Ketchum was a
hotbed of mining activity. "Galena,"
a silver-lead ore, was found throughout the
mountains in the area, and the ore was carried
by wagons down to the railroad trains and
smelters in Ketchum.
The Ketchum Fast Freight Line consisted of
many teams of horses, mules and oxen that
pulled these wagons on a 160 mile loop
through the rugged mountains, stopping
at the mining camps to deliver goods
and pick up loads of ore. Thirty wagons
were on the road at any one time, and
the grades these teams of 14-20
animals climbed were as steep as
12-15%. Once the mining faded,
Ketchum became home to Peruvian
sheep herders, and in 1920 was second
only to Sydney, Australia in sheep
production.
Today the peaceful valley boasts multi-million dollar celebrity homes on
every hillside. A quick scan of the real estate page lists eye-popping prices
that make you wonder where the regular folks live. Chatting with a caterer
and a former maid, I learned that most ordinary people live in the outlying
towns of Hailey and Bellevue. However, the pretty, light fog that drifts
between the mountains around Ketchum/Sun Valley each morning doesn't
know the difference between miners, sheep herders and VIPs.
We took the paved bike path through the Elkhorn area
southeast of town and stopped at Hemingway's memorial, a
humble little statue under a tree.
The views all around town are spectacular, and it is easy to imagine
an artist finding his muse in this setting. A group of artists were
coming to town to set up easels outdoors and paint, but our visit had
drawn to a close before they arrived.
We did watch Clint Eastwood's movie Pale Rider while we were in the area, however. The movie was set in the Boulder Mountains
just north of town where we camped, and we learned that the movie people built an entire town back in the hills, shot the movie and
then removed the town once they were done. It was a classic Clint flick, where his stone-faced, gritty, lonely character took on the
gang of local bullies by himself, liberating the defenseless, harrassed miners who had been the bullies' easy prey.
It is hard to imagine the size, sounds and smells of the mine and smelter
that dominated the Ketchum landscape in the 1880's. Today there is a
brand new $5 million symphony concert hall, the Sun Valley Pavilion,
where the prestigious Sun Valley Symphony is in residence all summer,
treating the locals and visitors to beautiful (and free) music almost every
night.
We sat outside
on the grass with
the locals on
opening night
while the
sponsors of the
summer's series
got wined and
dined inside the hall with a private concert. The music is piped outside all
around the hall so listeners can picnic in the grass during each concert if
they wish. Humming along to Rodgers and Hammerstein's best songs, we
were hooked. We returned for three more concerts when the seats inside
were free and the music soared.
They offered a Brahms night, and I was torn between that and the group
bike ride up the long climb to Galena Lodge. Why do the best things
always happen at the same time? Brahms won, as I love his' dark and
brooding music, and wanted to hear it live. Mark wasn't sure about
going until I pointed out that one of the pieces they were performing, the
Academic Festival Overture, sets the stage in one of his all-time favorite
movies: Animal House.
One Saturday was Family Day.
It started with a doll parade in
the morning, where every little
girl in town dressed up as a
fairy princess, and it ended
with a symphony concert
geared towards kids. We
watched the many fairy
princesses prance around
the lawn outside the
Pavilion during the concert.
Some little girls nearby
acted out all the scenes in
Peter and the Wolf. They
showed us the cat, the little bird in the
tree, the duck quacking in the pond
and, of course, the wolf.
We were treated to some pirouettes
and fancy moves, and finally a curtsy. The symphony orchestra had an
instrument "petting zoo" that day where you could check out the
instruments up close. There was a festive, easy-going air to everything
the symphony orchestra did.
Before the concerts,
you could attend the
final rehearsals for
that evening's
performance and
listen to a short lecture about the music to be
played that night. Afterwards, the players and
audience descended on the town. All the stores
stayed open late, and the coffee shops, bistros and
even the grocery store were suddenly flooded with
ruffled white tuxedo shirts, black dress pants and
shiny shoes as the orchestra players mingled with
family and friends.
We enjoyed every minute of our stay in
this area. For all the high-brow music and
fancy homes, there was also a playful side
to this town. Sitting outside a coffee shop
one morning, we watched a roller-blader
doing laps around the center of town. He
kept a smile on our faces as he ducked
and dodged and swerved in and out of
traffic.
The funny dog statue near the ice cream
shop was watching him too. Even the silly
stuffed bear that waited patiently outside
the chocolate shop kept an eye on him.
We had passed a pretty flower-lined fence every day on our way in
and out of town, and it was with a wistful sigh that we got a final
photograph, packed up, and drove north out of town for the last time,
on our way to new sights in Stanley, Idaho.