Let it Snow!

I knew it was another great Hailey morning without even looking out the window; crisp, clean, and beautiful.  That’s pretty much the norm around these parts!  As I opened my door to begin the short walk to The Inn, I was not prepared for the sight of a light white dusting of fresh snow that had been prepared for me the night before.  It’s nearly melted off by now, but I remain optimistic that this will be a good snow year…. and by this point I’m happy with whatever we get!  To add a little icing to the cake, Weather.com is predicting snow over 80% of the forecast area for Thursday, November 29th.  It has also cooled off significantly over the past week, so any moisure received from here on out SHOULD be in the form of white gold!

On another  note, the Sun Valley Resort will be open from top to bottom beginning this Saturday, December 1st, for their 72nd ski season.   Happy trails!

Steve

Winter….. Bring It On!!!!!

Like most of you out there, the first TRULY cold weather brought with it the feeling for just one or two more weeks of warmth.  “I’m not ready!” my body screamed via numb fingers and toes every time I stepped into the below freezing temperatures of the Hailey nights.  Now that the frost has cleared from my eyes, some of the cool things about winter here in Sun Valley are starting to set in… like the free outdoor ice skating rink next door at Roberta McKercher park.  With the first onset of cold weather, crews set up the hockey goals, the boards, the warming hut/skate hut, lights for night skating, and pretty much just wait for the weather to sustain good ice.  Once the ice does come, it’s groomed daily to ensure smooth skating.  I’ve tried my hardest to take advantage of this opportunity and can definitely say that without this outdoor rink, ice skating is an activity that would never have entered my reportoire.

It’s great to remember that the onset of cold cold cold brings with it those sports with the ability to warm the blood like no other… yes I’m talking about alpine skiing! On my last drive north to Ketchum I couldn’t help but notice the fresh white dusting of powder on the mountains, but even more telling was the white mist enveloping the ski slopes as the snow-guns did their work to ensure a Thanksgiving Day opening on Bald Mountain.   A decent snowfall in the next 7 days would help guarantee this, and right now the weather channel is predicting about a 30%-40% chance of snow showers in the forecast area for this time period.  Given this and the cooler temperatures, I’d say the chances of opening are good.

If outdoor winter sports don’t stoke that inner fire, there’s always hot chocolate and the fireplace back at The Inn!