The Overview
Michael Fulton
Melbourne-based skier and snowboarder with 50+ resorts across 5 continents. Specialises in Australian resorts and international resort comparisons.
Sun Valley's summit reaches 9,150 feet, dropping 3,399 vertical feet to a base at 5,751 feet across 121 runs spread over 2,054 acres near Ketchum, Idaho. Terrain splits 42 per cent intermediate, 36 per cent beginner, 20 per cent advanced and 2 per cent expert, with average annual snowfall of roughly 220 inches. The resort carries Ikon Pass access across its Bald Mountain and Dollar Mountain terrain. Nineteen lifts, including nine quad chairs, one six-person chair, three triple chairs and a gondola, serve the two mountains alongside two double chairs and three surface lifts.
Sun Valley holds a unique place in ski history as North America's first purpose-built destination ski resort, a status reflected in its world-class grooming and consistently low lift-line waits despite its fame. Bald Mountain carries the resort's main advanced and intermediate terrain, while the gentler Dollar Mountain serves beginners and families. The resort's Hollywood-era glamour heritage remains part of its identity alongside its modern Ikon Pass destination status.
In 1935, Union Pacific Railroad chairman Averell Harriman set out to build North America's first destination ski resort, sending Austrian ski instructor Count Felix Schaffgotsch to scout locations across the American West. Schaffgotsch chose Ketchum, a mining town surrounded by mountains, and construction began in May 1936 on the 3,200-acre former Brass Ranch. Sun Valley Lodge opened in December 1936, followed by the Swiss-style Sun Valley Inn in 1937 and The Ram restaurant in 1938.
That same 1936 season, Sun Valley became the birthplace of the modern ski lift: a railroad engineer who had built a system for loading banana bales onto cargo ships adapted the concept into the world's first chairlift, installed on Dollar Mountain. Publicist Steve Hannagan coined the resort's name and tagline, 'Winter sports under a summer sun,' and orchestrated the celebrity visits that made Sun Valley famous, with Ernest Hemingway becoming its most notable long-term resident. Adult daily tickets run from 89 to 149 US dollars, with season passes from 975 dollars for Dollar Mountain-only access.
3,399ft
Vertical
121
Runs
2,054 acres
Skiable
18ft
Annual snow
Ikon
Pass
The Terrain
121 runs across 2,054 acres skiable
Sun Valley spreads 121 runs across 2,054 acres skiable of terrain. It leans intermediate at 42%, with 44 beginner runs to find your feet and 26 advanced or expert runs when you want to push.
Terrain split
121
runs
121 runs across 4 grades
Beginner44 runs · 36%
Intermediate51 runs · 42%
Advanced24 runs · 20%
Expert2 runs · 2%
Time it right
When to visit Sun Valley
The 2025-26 season at Sun Valley ran from 25 November 2025 to 19 April 2026, a roughly twenty-one-week season supported by average annual snowfall of around 220 inches. While this snowfall total is moderate compared with some Pacific Northwest resorts, Sun Valley's extensive snowmaking and grooming operations have long been central to its reputation for consistently excellent surface conditions. Season dates can shift slightly year to year.
Midwinter, from December through February, typically offers the most reliable natural snowpack across Bald Mountain's advanced terrain. As an Ikon Pass destination with a nearly ninety-year history, Sun Valley draws visitors from across the country, with holiday periods bringing the heaviest crowds despite the resort's reputation for well-managed lift lines. Weekday visits generally remain calmer.
Sun Valley's identity as North America's first destination ski resort continues to shape its seasonal programming, with a heritage of celebrity visits and Hollywood-era glamour still part of the resort's marketing and atmosphere. Dollar Mountain's dedicated beginner terrain supports significant ski school and family programming throughout the season. School holiday periods bring particularly strong demand for these family-oriented offerings.
Specific event programming beyond standard lift operations and ski school is not confirmed in available resort information. The resort's long-running association with author Ernest Hemingway, who lived in the area for two decades, remains part of the broader Sun Valley and Ketchum cultural identity through the winter season. Grooming quality across Bald Mountain remains a defining feature cited consistently by visitors.
Season 2025 - 2026
25 Nov 2025
Opens
19 Apr 2026
Closes
145
Days open
18 ft
Annual snow
Getting there
Getting to Sun Valley, and where to stay
Sun Valley sits adjacent to Ketchum, Idaho, with a base elevation of 5,751 feet and a summit at 9,150 feet across a 3,399-foot vertical drop over 2,054 acres split between Bald Mountain and Dollar Mountain. The resort and Ketchum together form one of the most established mountain communities in the American West, built specifically around the ski resort since the 1930s.
Ketchum itself offers extensive lodging, dining and shopping befitting Sun Valley's decades-long status as a destination resort, with a level of infrastructure that has grown alongside the mountain since 1936. The broader Wood River Valley combines skiing with a resort-town culture that has attracted visitors, celebrities and long-term residents throughout the resort's history. Ketchum's compact, walkable centre sits within easy reach of the mountain itself.
Idaho State Highway 75 connects Ketchum and Sun Valley to the wider region, running north from the interstate network through the Wood River Valley. Winter driving conditions on the approach can include snow and ice, though the route is well maintained given the resort's status as a major destination. Local shuttle services within Ketchum and Sun Valley reduce the need for a vehicle once visitors arrive.
Friedman Memorial Airport in nearby Hailey, nearly the closest airport to any major US ski resort, offers direct flights from several major cities and sits a short drive from the resort itself. This convenient air access has long supported Sun Valley's role as a fly-in destination for visitors from across the country, reinforcing its identity as America's original purpose-built ski resort.
Where to stay
Search all stays →Hotels and lodges near Sun Valley, powered by Stay22.
Latest News
From the SnowStash desk
FIS Weighs Holding World Championships in Almost Every Winter, Starting 2032
The International Ski and Snowboard Federation is looking at a major shake-up to its title events calendar. From 2032, World Championships could run not just in odd-numbered years but in every non-Olympic winter too, effectively putting a global title event on the calendar almost every season. The FIS Council has approved the concept following a feasibility study, though an accelerated rollout as early as 2028 is also under consideration.
4 Sept 2026
Mount Buller Becomes Latest Australian Resort to Call Time Early on 2026
Mount Buller closes out its 2026 season this Sunday, joining Falls Creek, Hotham and Charlotte Pass in a cluster of closures landing almost simultaneously and roughly a month ahead of schedule. The culprit is stark: Spencers Creek's benchmark snow depth hit 31.2cm on 3 September, just 18% of the 73-year average and an all-time low for this point in the season. Six of Victoria and NSW's best-known resorts will have shut their lifts early within a span of about two and a half weeks.
4 Sept 2026
Tremblant to Add New Timber Summit Ski Sector for 2027/28 Season
Tremblant has confirmed a major expansion of its Quebec ski area, with a new Timber Summit sector adding 62 acres of terrain, eight trails and a high-speed quad chairlift for winter 2027/28. It's part of a CAD 42.5 million investment that also includes a new beginner learning zone at Versant Soleil opening this coming season. The project has grown considerably since it was first announced back in 2020, when it carried a far smaller budget and an opening date that never eventuated.
2 Sept 2026
Mount Hotham to Close for the 2026 Season on Sunday, September 6
We knew when the Bird Bath Pond Skim showed up on Hotham's Instagram that the season was on its way out. It's been a rough one - I only managed two days on snow all year, at Falls Creek - and now Baw Baw, Selwyn and Hotham have all called it, possibly the worst Australian season I've seen in a decade. Hotham's last day of lift operations is Sunday, 6 September, with a Retro Day, Father's Day après and closing sales before the lifts stop turning for good.
1 Sept 2026
Thredbo to Replace Ageing Gunbarrel Quad With New Six-Seat Chairlift for 2028
Thredbo Alpine Resort has confirmed plans to replace its 37-year-old Gunbarrel quad chairlift with a new six-seat Doppelmayr D-Line, targeting winter 2028. The AUD 35 million project will keep travel time roughly the same but lift capacity from 2,800 to 3,000 skiers per hour. It's part of a broader investment push that also includes doubled snowmaking capacity at Friday Flat for 2027, with the ageing Kosciuszko Express now flagged as the resort's next major lift replacement after Gunbarrel.
31 Aug 2026
Aerial Tram Collides With Crane at Alpe d'Huez: 23 Injured
An aerial tram carrying around fifty passengers struck the boom of a construction crane on the route to Pic Blanc at Alpe d'Huez on Wednesday morning, injuring 23 people, three seriously. The cabin tipped on impact before the operator reversed it to right the car. Most of the injured were treated on site, with five taken to hospital in Grenoble, including a pregnant woman assessed as a precaution.
28 Aug 2026
Why Glaciers Are Collapsing - And What Happens When They Do
A deadly flood on the Nepal-China border, a decade-old tragedy on Italy's Marmolada, and an unstable glacier right now above a village near Zermatt - three very different mountain ranges, the same underlying story. Warming ice is destabilising terrain that was considered settled for generations, and the results range from catastrophic floods to slow-motion monitoring situations that could go either way.
27 Aug 2026
Pitztal Glacier Set to Reopen for the 2026/27 Ski Season on 26 September
Tyrol's highest ski area is gearing up to open a full month ahead of most of the Alps. The Pitztal Glacier is scheduled to start its 2026/27 season on Saturday 26 September, running through to 2 May 2027, with the lower-altitude Rifflsee area following in December. High-altitude terrain up to 3,440 metres gives the glacier a head start on snow, though as always, the actual opening extent will depend on how September's weather plays out. Early online ski pass bookings can save up to 30%.
26 Aug 2026