STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Levon Blatz was just 1 when he began skiing at Rotarun Ski Area. Now 5, he says he can ski downhill from the third tower no sweat.

“I know how to ski from the top, but it’s scary so I can stop at the third tower,” he said. “And I love the night skiing.”

Blatz, who attended the Hailey ski area’s opening day Saturday with his father Nick and 3-year-old sister Remy, knows it’s a special place. And Scotty McGrew, the volunteer director of Rotarun thinks other children will buy into that, as well, thanks to five history panels that were unveiled Saturday at the “little mountain with a big heart.”

“When kids walk off the blue bus that brings them here, they’re going to feel like they’re part of something. And, when you feel like you’re part of something, you own it and you want to protect it,” he told a small crowd that gathered for the unveiling and a flapjack feed hosted by the Hailey Rotary Club. “They’re going to feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves. This will become their story, and there are a lot of stories left to be told on this small but mighty mountain.”

The Rotarun History Preservation Project, constructed with a grant from the Wood River Women’s Foundation and volunteer labor by the Savaria family, Carl Rixon Jr. and Skip Merrick, tells the story of Rotarun Ski Area from its founding in 1948 through today.

It’s the brainchild of Heather Foster, a Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation planner who became fascinated with the stories her husband Jesse Foster told her about the ski hill while serving as Rotarun’s board president.

“Whenever I take a road trip, I love to pull over on the side of the highway and read the signs about Sacajawea or the headwaters in Montana,” she said. “One reason to preserve history is so people who come here can understand how it came to be. So many people have their fingerprints on this area and so many have stories. Jesse and I were even married here on Dec. 12, 2019--the first day they turned on snowmaking.”

Foster pored through a large box of faded newspaper articles, handwritten notes, pictures and T-bar blueprints that Joan Davies had saved on behalf of the Hailey Rotary Club, for which the ski area is named.

By most accounts, Foster said, the ski area was founded in 1948 by three men who attached a pulley to a tractor to pull skiers uphill by rope. Anne Jeannette Winn, the daughter of a Gannett beekeeper and an  alpine ski racer in the 1948 Winter Olympics, was among the first to teach youngsters to ski on the hill.

“My father--Jim Savaria--said he paid her $10 for lessons,” recounted Pat Savaria.

“Most people don’t know that the platter lift we use came from a little ski hill in Austria, said Foster. “Earl Holding, who owned Sun Valley Resort, bought a new chairlift for the 2002 Winter Olympics at Snowbasin and the platter was able to hitch a ride on the boat with the chairlift. A lot of community members drove down to Snowbasin to drive the parts for the new lift back, and Jim Savaria used his bulldozer to recontour the hill for the new lift.”

In addition to Jim Savaria’s work, his son and daughter-in-law Pat and Adelle Savaria started the LASAR program, a free afterschool Learn to Alpine Ski and Race program for kids. Pat Savaria was even out there Saturday morning, coaching the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation’s female high school racers as they made laps at 7:45 in the morning before the sun had even peeked over the nearby hills.

“This is an amazing place,” said Pat Savaria.  “I remember some years before Sun Valley got its snowmaking when we’d come out here to train in December because a storm would come through the south valley without hitting Baldy. We’ve had races like the Kindercup here. And, now, with snowmaking, SVSEF and even Master’s racers are able to train here.”

Scotty McGrew learned to ski at Rotarun, his father “dragging” him and his friends around the mountain in blue jeans. He credits that with leading to him being so involved in the ski world.

“It was my entrée to the mountains, a safe and welcome playground….and I want to pay that forward for the next generation of kids,” he said.

McGrew noted that there were a thousand Mom and Pop-type ski areas like Rotarun in the country in the 1960s. Now there are just 480. Some have closed because they’re located in areas where it barely snows anymore. Others have closed because people have forgotten why they’re important.

“We lose much when we lose these ski areas,” he said. “These places have an impact that’s immeasurable. A lot of these areas are looking now to Rotarun—it’s become a model for other communities on how to survive.”

In fact, Rotarun came close to becoming a footnote in history 10 years ago, in part because it was no longer getting the snow it used to. Jesse Foster, Craig Johnson and Ben Frank staged a campaign to get water rights and snowmaking.

“When we got the water rights, it was no longer a pipe dream,” said Jesse Foster.

The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation temporarily took over the ski area management in 2017.

“We realized we needed cash for things like a snowcat, and we needed people. I told my board if we didn’t do something, we were going to lose Rotarun,” McGrew said.

Donors pitched in to purchase the necessary equipment, and SVSEF started Rota-Rippers, a free learn-to-ski and ride program to bring more children and their families to the mountain. And, finally, the little ski area was able to secure snowmaking.

“The first couple years we were out here flying kites with the kids because there was no snow. Snowmaking has been a game changer,” said McGrew, noting the ski hill now serves 250 youngsters in afterschool programs. “And Sun Valley Resort has been very supportive of Rotarun, as well, sharing resources and even employees.”

Foster said she plans to add solar panels lights to the historical display so skiers and boarders can check out the panels while taking part in night skiing. She also plans to do an indoor installation in the refurbished lodge.

“And I want to add a mailbox to give people an opportunity to share their stories about their experiences here,” she said.

IF YOU GO…

Rotarun Ski Area, three miles west of Hailey in Croy Canyon, is open from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays for free skiing beginning in January. It’s also open from 6 to 9 p.m. Fridays beginning in January and from noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays now.

Lift tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for youth and free for children 5 and under.