STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Carve a few turns on Bald Mountain for $60 and support air service in and out of Sun Valley at the same time.

Ski for Air Service Day will return on Sunday, Jan. 26. Skiers and boarders will be offered full-day $60 lift tickets to ski Baldy or Dollar mountains at Sun Valley Resort.

The event is presented by Fly Sun Valley Alliance and Sun Valley Resort with all proceeds supporting air service at Sun Valley’s Friedman Memorial Airport.

The $60 lift tickets may be purchased in advance online from Jan. 8 through Jan. 25 at https://flysunvalleyalliance.com/ski-for-air-day/. There is no limit to the number of tickets an individual may purchase; tickets are not refundable and lost tickets cannot be replaced.

No $60 lift tickets will be sold on Jan. 26.

Sturtevants in Ketchum and Hailey and PK’s Ski & Sports in Ketchum are joining in by offering discounts on demo skis and boards and rentals. Several Sun Valley-area lodging properties—Alpine Lodge, Hotel Ketchum, Kentwood Lodge, Knob Hill Inn, Tamarack Lodge, Wood River Inn and Sun Valley Inn--will have discounted deals, making it an extremely affordable ski weekend for both locals and visitors.

Proof of purchase of a Ski for Air Service Day lift ticket must be provided to secure ski rentals and lodging deals.

It’s expected the limited number of deeply discounted tickets, which are about a third of the going price for regular lift tickets on Sun Valley’s Bald Mountain, will sell quickly, said Carol Waller, executive director of Sun Valley Alliance.

“Ski for Air Service Day has been a tremendous success over the years, and we appreciate Sun Valley Resort continuing to partner with us on this popular annual event,” she added. “You can get a terrific deal on skiing Sun Valley while supporting our important air service initiatives.”

More flights than ever before have been scheduled for the 2024-25winter season in Sun Valley with the help of Ski for Air Service Day and local LOT taxes.

The schedule includes daily nonstop flights to six cities—Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Denver and Salt Lake City—with multiple flights on key routes. The overall air seat capacity for the 2024-25 winter period—November through April—is up 14 percent from the previous winter season, according to Waller.

Friedman Memorial Airport has a 95 percent-plus flight completion rate during recent winters thanks to a new landing system approach technology used by the airlines.