STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Charlies Williams was among the last to race for the Harriman Cup when Sun Valley Resort was ground zero for ski racing in the United States from the late 1930s to the mid-1970s.

The course, as it was by the mid-1970s, left the top of Bald Mountain, headed down Ridge and the mogul run Rock Garden, which was boot packed. It screamed past the Roundhouse and down the mogul run Exhibition, which a fearless groomer named Lou Richards had groomed with a Tucker Cat.

You made six turns down Exhibition and ended up at the bottom of the mountain near where the bear statue overlooking River Run Lodge stands today. There was a mattress against the lift tower near Rock Garden in case someone hit it coming off Rock Garden, Williams recalled. But a few guys earned trips to the hospital by hitting trees.

Sun Valley Mayor shows off a gift given to the City of Sun Valley by its sister city—Kitzbuhel, Austria.

“I became good friends with John-Claude Killy at that race,” he added. “We spoke through a translator.”

Williams, now 80, was devasted when he heard Sun Valley Resort was going to pause holding World Cup races shortly afterwards.

“I said, ‘Are you kidding?’ Chuck Webb said, ‘Don’t do that--we won’t get the races back for 25 years.’ And here we are.”

In fact, the last World Cup race held at Sun Valley was in 1977, when Phil Mahre held off Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark and his brother Steve Mahre to win.

Alex Romastico holds a statue displaying Kitzbuhel, Austria’s mascot—the mountain goat.

But, with World Cup races returning to Sun Valley for the 2025 Audi FIS World Cup Finals, the City of Sun Valley decided to resurrect the Harriman Cup, which was once one of the most coveted skiing trophies in the world.

The original Harriman Cup was named after Sun Valley Resort founder W. Averell Harriman, who also founded the Harriman Cup race to invigorate his newly founded resort with European ski racers. In fact, the Harriman Cup predates the World Cup, as the Harriman Cup was first awarded in 1937, said Sun Valley City Council President Michelle Griffith.

“It was a big deal part of the race circuit around the world, which included the Hahnenkamm and the Lauberhorn,” said Harry Griffith.

The City of Sun Valley commissioned two Harriman Cup trophies from the company that makes Heisman trophies and will award them to the fastest male and female downhill racers today. The two will also leave Sun Valley with $20,000 each, courtesy of Sun Valley.

Lisa-Marie Allen, a 1980 Olympic figure skater at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, shows off another sculpture of Kitzbuhel’s revered goat.

“We’re just so excited to have the races here,” said Sun Valley Mayor Peter Hendricks. “This is our heritage.”

Sun Valley City Council President Michelle Griffith takes a picture of friends holding the Harriman Cup during an unveiling party thrown by the city.