STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Put your skis back in storage.

Sun Valley Resort officials announced Thursday that they are postponing the much anticipated Thanksgiving Day opening.

Eleven inches of snow fell on the top of the mountain during the morning-long rainstorm that passed through Sun Valley Thursday. But it fell on what had been mostly snow-free slopes.

The bottom half of the mountain remained bereft of snow. And, with the thermometer registering temperatures in the lower 40s at the bottom of Bald Mountain, it was too warm to make snow on Lower River Run.

As a result, Sun Valley officials said they had reluctantly decided the resort will not open on Thanksgiving Day or on the Friday after. Nor, will they have the mountain open for the pre-Thanksgiving race camp that traditionally takes place on Bald Mountain.

They’re hopeful that colder temperatures in the forecast will allow them to make snow this coming weekend into early next week.

“While this isn't the start to our 90th season we hoped for, our teams are working as hard as possible to open as soon as conditions allow, and we will update you as we make progress toward opening,” said Pete Sonntag, the resort’s COO and general manager. “We look forward to welcoming everyone for our milestone 90th season with updates to the mountain experience—from new RFID technology for seamless lift access to four new trails in the Olympic area, featuring 90 acres of newly gladed terrain.”

Things are no better on the cross-country ski front. Galena Lodge picked up three inches of snow on what had been bare ground Thursday morning.The amount of snow needed to begin packing trails for grooming depends on how dense the snow is, said BCRD spokesperson Morgan Buckert. But groomers usually like more than a foot of snow before they start packing trails.

The valley has seen persistent rain storms for more than a month in what has been an uncharacteristically rainy fall for Sun Valley.

While valley residents have welcomed the rain, it’s been frustrating for skiers who have been calculating the inches of snow they would have been shoveling had the temperatures been colder. Some have even worried that Sun Valley will run out of its yearly allotment of precipitation before the snows come.

The last time the situation was this dire was 26 years ago in 1999 when a dry fall and temperatures climbing close to 60 degrees prompted Sun Valley’s general manager Wally Huffman to announce the resort would not be open for Thanksgiving.

Then temperatures plunged a couple dozen degrees, and the resort was able to fire up its snow guns and move enough pre-existing snow around on Lower River Run to open the one run. It wasn’t a full plate of Thanksgiving ski carving, for sure, but it was enough to start breaking in the quads for the season.

Some valley residents that year ended up barbecuing steaks outdoors instead of cooking turkeys. And Sun Valley Resort beefed up activities, bringing out its bicycles for people to cruise the bike path, extending hours for ice skating and bowling and offering matinee showings of Warren Miller’s latest ski flick.

Many Western resorts, including Targhee Ski Resort, are also suffering from lack of snow.

Bogus Basin Ski Area 16 miles out of Boise successfully experimented over the summer with a Finnish snow storage system to protect a 300-foot-long, 80-foot-wide, 30-foot deep pile of snow. But it  but did not save enough to cover its entire beginner run, and the resort only got an inch of snow out of the storm that crowned the top of Bald Mountain with 11.

Still, the Snow Secure system, which uses a white polystyrene mat to insulate the snow, was successful enough that Bogus Basin officials told KTVB that they're considering expanding the operation next summer.

Snow makers like temperatures to be below 22 F. Any warmer and it’s far more expensive to make snow. But Sun Valley Resort has not been one to back away from making snow when it’s needed.

The forecast through Sunday calls for highs in the upper 40s with lows in the mid-20s. Things finally begin to cool down on Monday with temperatures in the upper 30s and lows in the teens through Wednesday. Thanksgiving Day will top out at 30 degrees with a low of 9.

While skiers won’t be able to feast on ski turns, Sun Valley Resort will still have its Thanksgiving Buffet, as well as shopping, ice skating, bowling and movies at the Sun Valley Opera House:

Thanksgiving Buffet: Spots still available for 6pm seating only

Pete Lane's River Run Tune & Repair Shop: (Open Daily 10am-4pm)

Brass Ranch River Run: (Open Daily 10am-4pm; 11/27-11/28: 9am-5pm)

Brass Ranch Village: (Open Daily 10am-7pm; 11/27: 9am-5pm; 11/28: 9am-7pm)

Pete Lane's Village: (Open Daily 9am-6pm)

Sun Valley Signature's: (Sun-Thurs 9am-6pm, Fri-Sat 9am-7pm)

Sun Valley Ice Skating: (Mon-Sat: 11am-12:45pm, 2pm-3:45pm, 5pm-7pm; Sun: 12pm-2pm, 3:30pm-5:30pm)

Lodge Pool: (Open Daily 8am-9pm; Guests or Day Passes available)

Bowling: (Open Daily 3pm-9pm)

Movies at the Opera House: Wicked: For Good (PG) (Daily at 4pm & 6:45pm)

Sun Valley Spa: (Open Daily 8am-6pm)

River Run Lift Ticket Window: (Open Daily 9am-6pm for pass pickup).

DID YOU KNOW?

Sun Valley had no snow—just acres of brown sagebrush—for its grand opening on Dec. 21, 1936. And the resort had no snow making in those days. The snow finally started arriving on Dec. 27.