STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Sun Valley Resort’s iconic Bald Mountain has taken its place among the mandalas of the world.

While monks from the Mystical Arts of Tibet polished their sand mandala representing conflict resolution and peace this week, Wood River Valley residents and visitors took a stab at creating one of their own.

Over the course of five days, the community created several mandalas using a design of Baldy drawn up by Nick Harman, who heads up the Argyros Performing Arts Center's front of house and box office.

Grandmothers and grandkids alike experimented with running a copper stick over the ridges of a funnel allowing just a few grains of sand to come out or a lot.

Some efforts were messy. Others were very precise as even youngsters endeavored to stay in the lines. And there were always little copper paddles that one could use to shovel misplaced sand back in between the lines.

“I haven’t felt this relaxed in awhile,” said Tayler Bates, a 24-year-old who is on the staff at the Argyros Performing Arts Center.

Nine-year-old Melody Hackleman, whose mother Reggie will be a new math teacher at Sun Valley Community School this fall, said she had difficulty keeping the sane within the lines. "But it's fun," she added.