STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

When Sun Valley Resort was named the host for the 2025 Audi FIS World Cup Alpine Finals March 20-27, those running the City of Sun Valley decided it was time to bring back the Harriman Cup.

The Harriman Cup was awarded to those who won the classic Hariman Cup downhill race which was the America’s most prestigious and competitive ski race in the late 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.

City of Sun Valley officials didn’t skimp when it came to getting the trophies made. They went to the top, turning to the same trophy manufacturer that has been making the Heisman Trophies since 2005.

Wood River Valley residents can have their picture taken with the Harriman Cup during a pizza party on Wednesday, March 12.

“We began our search for a trophy maker and we quickly thought, ‘Who designs the Heisman Trophy?’ ” said City Council President Michelle Griffith.

The City of Sun Valley is inviting the community to a Harriman Cup Trophy Unveiling from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 12, at Sun Valley City Hall.

Spectators will have the chance to get their pictures taken with the Harriman Cup Trophy and view other ski heritage items. Pizza and other refreshments will be provided to make the occasion even more festive.

MTM Recognition of Del City, Okla., which makes the Heisman Trophy, made the Sun Valley trophy with a lost wax casting method in which they pour wax into a mold to create a cast. The cast is then filled with molten bronze.

Colored etchings display the Sun Valley Barn and Bald Mountain.

Each $5,000 trophy stands about two feet high and weighs perhaps 10 pounds. At the bottom it’s identified as “World Cup Finals-Harriman Cup Winner/2025-City of Sun Valley.”

The somewhat futuristic trophy curls up to reveal a waistline onto which is etched the iconic red Sun Valley barn, Bald Mountain and pine trees in various shades of green with a black train running the remainder of the way around the trophy.

The train represents the Union Pacific, which founded Sun Valley and its head Averell Harriman who gave out the Harriman Cup to the winners of Sun Valley’s prestigious race.

“We wanted it to be like a World Cup Globe but not an exact replica of a World Cup Globe,” said Griffith.

A train runs around the remainder of the piece.

The Harriman Cup was given to the ski racer who had the best combined race scores in downhill and slalom. Ski racers are so specialized now that few excel in both the downhill and slalom. So, city officials decided to award the trophies to the top male and female downhill racers.

The trophies will be delivered to the racers’ homes so they don’t have to lug them home in carry-on baggage.

The City of Sun Valley has also made souvenir pins to hand out that say “City of Sun Valley Harriman World Cup 2025” with pictures of Bald Mountain, the famous Sun Valley sun and a skier.

Both Sun Valley Mayor Peter Hendricks and Griffith have viewed the world-famous Hahnenkamm downhill race in Sun Valley’s sister city of Kitzbuhel, Austria. So, they know how big ski racing is in Europe.

Michelle Griffith shows off a specially made Harriman Cup hat, as well.

“Ski racing in Europe is very different than the United States,” said Griffith. “It’s THE sport—their Super Bowl.”

In Europe, Griffith said, thousands of spectators can easily attend the Hahnenkamm, which is the world’s second oldest alpine skiing competition having been held since 1931, because they can take any number of trains to town for the day.

That can’t be replicated in Sun Valley because of the resort’s isolation and the lack of train transportation between Sun Valley and other cities.

“It’s my guess there’ll be more people watching our races on TV in Europe than here because there’ll be running them in prime time there—dinner time,” she said.

That fact that Sun Valley’s World Cup Finals will be more intimate in term of in-person viewers doesn’t mean it’s any less special, said Hendricks.

“Kitzbuhel wasn’t so huge when it started. It’s grown over time. We’re honored that the FIS has recognized our ski racing legacy in in Sun Valley and is bringing this to us,” he said. “This is a BIG, BIG deal. It’s going to be incredible world-class skiers on course, whether Super G or downhill. It’s going to be like watching Mickey Mantle hit homers or Brett Favre throw a football 60 yards.”

The designation of Sun Valley Resort as the site of the 2025 World Cup Finals was still a secret in the United States when Griffith attended the Hahnenkamm in January 2024. But, in Europe, everyone knew it was going to Sun Valley.

“They were all congratulating us,” she said.

Even as Sun Valey prepares for its Harriman Cup Unveiling on March 12, it is getting ready for its big party on Monday, March 24, in what is now named Festival Meadow.

Festivities will start at 11 a.m. with the renaming of Festival Meadow to Champions Meadow in honor of the growing number of statues honoring Sun Valley Olympians. Picabo Street will be on hand to see the unveiling of her statue, which will be the fifth in the group.

Street and others whose famous ski images have been cast in bronze, such as 1984 Olympic medalist Christin Cooper and multi-medalist Paralympian Muffy Davis, will offer a few words. Kaitlyn Farrington, who won a gold medal in Snowboard Halfpipe at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, will not be there as she is guiding backcountry snowboard trips in Japan.

The mic will be turned off at high noon, said Sun Valley Mayor Peter Hendricks, to make way for Sun Valley’s Wild West Skijoring Invitational. The sport features riders on horseback dragging skiers and snowboarders down a course in which they’re expected to navigate jumps and spear rings. Organizers hope it will be a hit with European visitors who may never have seen such an event before.

Professional racers in the open category are expected to gallop 40 miles per hour down the course. There also will be a sport and women’s category.

The exhibition, expected to last from noon to 3 p.m., will be followed by live music by Boise’s Prairie Blue, which plays a mix of country music, sad songs and waltzes, until 5 p.m. There also will be live music throughout the day.