Sun Valley - where me and my mate Nat ski.

On Thurs 10 Feb we arrived in Sun Valley, Idaho. There was a big competition back at Snowbasin over the weekend, so Howdy and Pam and a bunch of their friends decided to dodge the crowds by coming up here, and Susie and I tagged along as the token Aussies.  Our sight-seeing route

Pam, Howdy, Rob and Susie on a sight-seeing trip north of Sun Valley

The mountain is fabulous - 3100 vertical feet top to bottom on the longest runs, and the slope is completely unrelenting. No little easy bits to give your legs a rest, and their grading of runs is a tad different to home. Most of the green runs would be blue back home, blues tending to black. Haven't tried the nasty blacks yet, if ever! Sample ski day at Sun Valley (select Terrain at upper right)

Panoramic view

The scenery around here is worth the trip on it's own, and there are lots of older skiers here, probably because it looks like you would need a fair bit of cash to live here. They all ski well, though. We talked to one older guy (73) going up a chair who had lived  here for 20 years who had been a ski instructor in the sixties, alternating between here and Thredbo. He loves the place - says the summers are even better than winter, cos there's fly fishing, hiking, mountain biking, road biking all in abundance, and he does it all. He has one artificial hip, one new knee, and had his right hand in a cast under a sock after breaking it in a x-country skiing fall. No worries - just keep on doin' it!

Met a local lady who asked me if I knew Nat Young. We were chatting and she figured out Susie and I were Aussies somehow, saw the Ripcurl jacket I had on, and immediately said, "Oh, you must know Nat Young." Huh? Um, not personally, but I know who he is - why? Turns out he spends a large part of most years over here skiing, owns a condo here, and is fairly well known to the locals. Figures.

The condo we stayed in included access to the resort"s Lodge and Spa Pool. This was no average spa - being about 15m in diameter and 3m deep in the centre. It was pure bliss sitting or floating in the hot water and  taking the occasional sip from our margaritas. We had 4 days at Sun Valley before heading back to Huntsville and Snowbasin.