STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Skiers woke up Thursday morning hoping for a fresh dollop of snow on Sun Valley’s Bald Mountain. What they did not expect was a river of mud on a major ski run.

Those arriving at River Run Plaza Thursday morning were greeted with a swirling mess of brown mud that contrasted with the pristine white snow on Lower River Run.

Skiers were forced to board the Roundhouse Gondola instead of the Lower River Run chairlift to get to the top of the mountain as a snowcat worked to assure that Lower River Run was suitable for skiing. Lower River Run was opened to skiers at 10 a.m., but skier’s right was blocked off as workers continued to work on the pipe.

This is the second time this year that Sun Valley employees have had to dig through the ski slope to address a pipe issue. There was another issue with a pipe about three weeks ago just uphill from the lower terminus of the Lookout Express chairlift.

The leaky pipe affects much more than snowmaking on Lower River Run.  It actually affects about two-thirds of the snowmaking system, including Seattle Ridge where just Broadway run is currently open. The ski resort was able to keep the guns blasting on Upper Warm Springs, however.