STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK

PHOTOS BY JOHN BOYDSTON

The youth on cross country skis flopped as soon as he hit the water.

Another youngster grabbed ahold of the loosely done tie hanging over his bare chest and yanked the knot up near his neck, a big smile on his face, after he aced the skim across the pond.

A boy in a shark outfit self-rescued himself by jumping onto the side wall of the pool as soon as he started floundering. And a blow-up cartoon figure won over the hearts of spectators as he schussed down the hill slowly moving from side to side before hitting the water and quickly becoming submerged.

Sun Valley Resort’s annual Dollar Daze Pond Skim on Sunday marked the end to a terrific season on Dollar Mountain where the snow was plentiful even if the sun was not.

Beth Willis and other members of Guest Services thumbed their noses at the 10-degree start to the day as they blew up palm trees and beach balls while Sun Valley firefighters showed up to fill a swimming pool Dollar Mountain Manager Nick Zelaya and his crew had built at the bottom of the mountain.

Then it was the daredevils’ turn to take over—those who dared to ski or board across the length of the pool on a day when the temperature would never climb past the mid-20s.

Sun Valley General Manager Pete Sonntag tested the waters first, clearing them with hardly a splash. The new mountain manager John Grant wiped out on his snowboard, and Zelaya came next, wiping out on skis.

A ski patroller hauling a toboggan sank to the bottom in a glorious flub-a-dub-dub. So did Sunny the Bear and a zebra.

The sinks only whetted onlookers’ appetite for more.

“I want to do that next year,” said one 20-something woman to her friends.

Despite copious amounts of snow still covering Dollar Mountain in a year where nearly 300 inches of snow has fallen on Sun Valley, Sun Valley Resort officials seems to think that spring will come one of these days. In addition to Dollar Mountain, the resort closed the Seattle Ridge chair on Baldy on Sunday. However, the Mayday and Broadway chairs continue to run, providing skiers access to The Bowls.

Seattle Ridge Lodge and the Roundhouse closed for the season on Sunday, as well.

The Warm Springs side of the mountain will close at the end of the day Saturday, April 8, following a Baldy Bash party on the patio so that workers can begin removing the Challenger and Greyhawk lifts to make way for a new six-pack chairlift to debut in the 2023-24 ski season.

The River Run side of the mountain will close at the end of the day on Sunday, April 16.

The Sun Valley Nordic Center remains open for one more week until April 2 in what is one of its longest seasons ever. And the trails are amply covered.

SKIERS EVACUATED

About 90 skiers were evacuated from the new Broadway lift Monday when the chairlift had a hiccup, according to skier Valerie Logsdon. The lift was stopped for a little more than an hour due to mechanical power source issues and backup power supply utilized  to operate the lift so guests could disembark at top. Those who were at the bottom terminal when it happened were shuttled back to River Run via the access road The long roller coaster-like lift from the bottom of Cold Springs to the Roundhouse, which opened two years ago, is back in action today, however.