STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
You can’t deny that it hasn’t been pleasant skiing—or hiking or biking.
Thursday’s temperature of 46 degrees came just short of breaking the previous record of 48 for Jan. 15. As it was, it was 15 degrees above the average temperature of 31 for that date.
And Thursday was not an anomaly.
Despite a prolonged warm winter—are we having winter?--the groomers have been skiing great at Sun Valley Resort and the Nordic trails from Ketchum north are skiing well, as well.
That said, the annual Billy Goat Loppet, originally scheduled for Saturday, has had to be cancelled because of low snowpack at Sun Valley Nordic. The trails that are open, including Trail Creek Loop, have great snow and a fantastic groom. But Proctor Loop, which is a big part of the Loppet, has not been opened yet as the Nordic Center paces itself with about two inches of snow underfoot in some places.
The irony is that the Blaine County Recreation District just opened Billy’s Bridge 17 miles north of Ketchum this week. Billy’s Bridge was the original site of the Billy Goat Loppet when Ted Angle and Jenny Busdon organized it for the first time on behalf of the Sun Valley Ski Club in 2002.
But it was moved to Sun Valley Nordic Center because of lack of parking in the years before the BCRD worked with the Sawtooth National Forest to expand the parking at Prairie Creek, which sits across the highway from Billy’s Bridge.
“Such a shame that we had to cancel the Loppet, especially when the Blaine County Recreation District was able to open up Billy's Bridge this past weekend!” said Busdon. “This would have been the 24th annual Billy Goat Loppet.”
Sunny days with above-average temperatures are expected to continue through next week, likely canceling the Jan. 31 Ski the Rails, as well, since the Wood River Trail that runs from Bellevue to Hulen Meadows has hardly any snow south of Gimlet.
That said, preparations have already begun on the Harriman Trail for the Feb. 7 Boulder Mountain Tour as the area from SNRA north has ample snow.