BY KAREN BOSSICK

A week ago Sunday Tim Silva said the unthinkable for a manager of a ski resort.

“I’m praying that it doesn’t snow.”

A forecast for a big dump had Sun Valley’s general manager nervous on the eve of Bald Mountain’s biggest event in 40 years—the 2016 Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships. Weeks of race course preparation could have been undone with one big snowstorm.

As it turned out, Sun Valley got only three inches of snow out of that storm—enough to set back the first race by an hour but nowhere near the 15 inches that nearby Brundage Mountain received. And a snowstorm on the last day of the event stayed on top of the mountain for two hours, swooping to the bottom just minutes after the last race had been run.

By all accounts, Sun Valley’s week on skiing’s big stage was a huge success.

“I don’t think these races could have gone better,” said Silva as he helped fellow employees clear tables at the hospitality tent after the races concluded. “They had such a sense of energy and enthusiasm.  And, in addition to not getting snow, we didn’t get 60-degree temperatures, which could have made ski racing difficult.”

Nick Maricich, a member of the organizing committee along with Wally Rothgeb, Tony Parkhill, Terry Palmer and Baird Gourlay, concurred: “The event exceeded my expectations. I raced a world pro race here in 1980 and the whole town came out. It was a huge party, and this was the same.”

Sun Valley Company and Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation employees worked 14 days straight preparing the courses. They were assisted by 400-plus volunteers who helped erect five miles of B-net and escorted athletes to their drug tests.

Ketchum resident Judy Cahill spent six days assisting with registration, hospitality and crowd control. She’s already told organizers to sign her up for the U.S. Alpine Championships when they return to Sun Valley in 2018.

“I’ve been loving it,” she said, as she collected race bibs from athletes. “It is so cool to see Sun Valley on the world map after 40 years. And it’s brought the community together in an incredible way. There’s so much energy and the athletes have been phenomenal—the nicest, most polite kids.”

The Greyhawk race course was steep and relentless, the wall the skiers traveled from Warm Springs “terrifying,” according to some competitors.  The tough technical courses spit out more than half of the racers, including Steven Nyman who got nowhere near the podium despite having the best two years of his skiing career.

Sun Valley’s Ski Patrol had to treat only one serious injury—a broken leg.

“That’s about par for a competition like this,” said Ski Patroller Bryant Dunn. “These competitors are so powerful and so skillful.”

Skiers, who hailed from as far away as Norway, Sweden and Japan, consistently praised Sun Valley for its course preparation. And they added that they had never seen such big crowds turn out for nationals.

Up to a thousand people attended the races each day, taking in the Alpine Combined, Super G, Slalom and Giant Slalom, estimated Sun Valley’s Marketing Director Jack Sibbach. The U.S. Alpine Championships does not run downhill races.

NBC aired a 90-minute segment of the Super G, and many local businesses tuned into the live streaming, including Lee Gilman Builders where former Sun Valley ski racer Wes Powell got his race fix.

Hundreds of people stood elbow to elbow at the Ketchum Town Square for a Parade of Athletes and a salute to Sun Valley’s Olympians. Hundreds more turned out for street parties featuring music by Grammy Award winner Johnny Neel and former U.S. downhill racer Bryon Friedman.

And more than 2,000 people turned out to watch Collin Collins, Banks Gilberti and others perform flips off a 75-foot jump on Dollar Mountain.

“Sun Valley really put on a world-caliber event,” said two-time Olympian Jonna Mendes, who won three national titles and is now program director for the Sun Valley Ski Academy. “All of us who live here know what a beautiful venue we have here. Now we’re sharing it. And these are definitely some of the biggest crowds I’ve ever seen at nationals. If it hadn’t been spring break, we would have doubled the size.”

Out-of-town guests were awestruck by the easy access to the athletes—from rubbing shoulders with them on Warm Springs Plaza to riding up chairlifts with them while gawking at the long straight skis they wore for the alpine combined.

Among those who came to see the races was Tammy Jensen of Spokane. She won the National Women’s GS Championship and the Canadian GS Championships in 1964 as Tammy Dix. An alternate downhill racer on the 1964 Olympic team, she is one of a few women to win the Sun Valley Diamond Sun race. She raced down Ridge, Rock Garden, Canyon and River Run in two minutes and 31 seconds, clocking 70 miles per hour on Canyon.

Guests who stayed over following the races spent Monday morning eyeballing the plunge off the starting gate for the Women’s GS. Then they timidly pointed their skis down Greyhawk, raising their ski poles in victory as they crossed the finish line still etched into the snow.

Sun Valley’s Tanner Farrow, a member of the U.S. Ski Team, said he wasn’t sure if Sun Valley could pull it off because it involved so much work.

“But they did an awesome job. And seeing all these people who really care about skiing and ski racing has given me a renewed appreciation for the sport,” he said.

Sun Valley Haley Cutler, who had an eighth place finish in the alpine combined after winning the U-19 nationals  Super G, agreed: “It’s so cool to be at home and be part of such an awesome event with all this energy and excitement. Everyone wants my autograph. Everyone wants to know how I’m doing.”

Ten-year-old Charlotte Davis-Jeffers, a racer with the SVSEF, joined dozens of youngsters clamoring for an autograph after Mikaela Shiffrin’s slalom win.

“This is so cool—getting to see all these great athletes and watch how they ski. They’re such great role models. Hopefully that’s me in five or 6 years,” she said.

Sun Valley Ski Instructor Bonnie Wetmore agreed that she was blown away by the ski techniques she witnessed: “And I think Mikaela must be working with Resi Stiegler because they look alike in their skiing.”

“It’s cool to see how driven and articulate the athletes are,” said Ben Pettit, head master of Community School and the Sun Valley Ski Academy. “Sun Valley Company and the SVSEF have done a great job.”

The organizing committee is already brainstorming ways it can make the experience better in 2018.

One suggestion is to groom Bricks Island so spectators can easily see racers from a closer vantage point, said Baird Gourlay. Spectators have also suggested stringing loudspeakers up the course, improving signage directing people to viewing venues and introducing U.S. Ski Team members at the Opening Ceremonies.

Tim Silva’s favorite moment? That would have to be watching more than 500 youngters standing in line outside the Brass Ranch at River Run waiting for Mikaela Shiffrin’s autograph.

And Mikaela’s favorite moment?

She tried to play down her narrow win over Regi Steigler in Sunday’s event-concluding Women’s giant slalom. But you could tell she was savoring that win since she doesn’t have as many giant slalom medals as slalom medals.

“A win is a win,” she professed. Then she relented. “But it’s nice to win a GS.”

CHECK OUT Eye on Sun Valley’s SLIDE SHOW depicting scenes from the 2016 U.S. Alpine Championships. The show features photos taken by Nils Ribi and Karen Bossick. Directed by Lynn Pattnosh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGyStzoQtNQ