STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

It was a bit surreal with one long ribbon of snow plunging more than 3,000 feet down Bald Mountain threading its way through brown sagebrush-covered slopes, a snowless valley below.

But that didn’t matter to the hundreds of skiers who turned out for the opening day of Sun Valley Resort’s 90th season Wednesday morning.

Skiers were enthusiastic and excited as they rode the Lookout Express through a blizzard of snow from snow guns blasting snow onto Canyon, Mid River Run, Roundhouse Slope and the cat track leading from College Boulevard to the Roundhouse.

Twins Sybil Hanson and Sandra Sheeline, who skied nearly every day of Sun Valley’s 89th season at age 89, show off their commemorative 90th anniversary mugs.

Then they happily carved tight little turns down College Boulevard, which was amazingly smooth with fun fluff on top.

Sun Valley Resort beat other Western ski resorts, including Targhee, Deer Valley and Mt. Baker in opening top-to-bottom skiing in what has so far been a warm runup to winter.

“We’ve got more snow coverage than any other place in the West,” said Jess Fiaschetti, who handles media for Sun Valley. “Snowmaking is our saving grace.”

Even with its abundant snow making, Sun Valley Resort wasn’t able to open on Thanksgiving Day, as planned, due to warm temperatures that prevented early snowmaking. But the mid-week opening didn’t cut down on the crowd of people who showed up to make their first run of the season.

Nic Morgan demonstrates how the new RFID technology works.

Sun Valley gave out 1,500 cream-colored commemorative mugs by the time the ski lifts cranked up, said Marie Brickman, who organizes many of Sun Valley’s special events.

Sibyl Hanson and Sandra Sheeline were among those who grabbed mugs filled with creamy hot cocoa. They feel a particular kinship with Sun Valley since they will celebrate their 90th birthday on Jan. 4.

“We’re so proud to be here today, among the first to ski the opening day of the 90th season,” said Sheeline. “It’s amazing—all other resorts have no snow.”

First in line was Hemingway STEAM School eighth-grader Brodie Forelli who, with three others, was rewarded with denim vests that said “Ski on the Sunny Side—Sun Valley” on the front and “First Chair 90 Sun Valley 1936-2026” on the back.

Those on the first chair prepare to bust through a banner welcoming skiers to Sun Valley’s 90th season.

Forelli staked out his spot at 11 a.m. the day before Sun Valley’s opener, then played poker with others, camping under a full moon wrapped in a sleeping bag and a couple blankets.

“It wasn’t too cold—maybe a low of 20. But I was determined to be first because my brother took my place last year. It’s important to be first because you get the first crack at the mountain,” he said.

Forelli was joined by Aiden Eisanek, Greg Karabinos and Otto Olson, who tunes skis at the nearby Pete Lane’s.

“I’m going to be awfully tired after I finish skiing,” said Olson. “I only got a couple hours of sleep—I tried to stay warm walking around, playing cards, cornhole—I watched ‘Star Wars’ on my phone.”

Otto Olson shows off his First Chair denim vest on a cloudless day with morning temperatures in the 20s.

Among those waiting in line was Daniel Bragg, who had driven 19 hours from his home in West Texas after learning that Sun Valley was opening. The proud owner of an Ikon pass, he is trying to ski all the ski resorts the pass offers, even skiing at resorts in Japan and Chile last year.

“I’m just so happy to be here skiing,” he said.

Hailey resident Annie Erickson came to Sun Valley in 1969 after learning to ski at 2 in Montana. And she worked her way up to become the first female supervisor for Sun Valley’s ski school

She recalls when skiers skied the entire mountain on skinny GS skis instead of the fat all-mountain skis many use today. She remembers when the chairlift crossed the Big Wood River, instead of starting at the River Run Plaza. She watched the Holding family build the luxurious River Run Lodge, which replaced a trailer for ticket sellers. And she’s seen the mountain transformed by high-speed chairlifts.

“Today’s like a feeding frenzy with all the people here—there’s a lot more people skiing than there used to be,” she said. “I’m still here because it’s a habit.”

Skiers and boarders will find four new gladed ski runs, including one named for Sun Valley’s former general manager Tim Silva, in the Olympic area.

“We gladed over 90 acres as a continuation of our efforts to improve the forest health,” said Pete Sonntag, COO for Sun Valley Resort. “It’s a really spectacular area. When we get snow, it’s going to be some of the best skiing on the mountain.”

Dollar Mountain skiers will find a new family-friendly adventure park that will include tunnels for children to ski through when the mountain opens—hopefully, on Dec. 13.

“It’ll create more of a fun learning experience for kids,” said Sonntag. “And we’re making lots of snow there so you’ll be able to see it pretty soon.”

The change skiers saw Wednesday was the RFID Radio Frequency Identification technology, which was installed at the River Run and Warm Springs base areas. It detects skiers’ passes, opening gates to the chairlift without them having to take passes out of their pockets to show lift checkers.

“It’ll move more people through more smoothly,” said Sonntag, who kept an eye on the new technology as he stood at the bottom for a half-hour greeting skiers as they passed through.

“I think everybody will love it way more,” said Bob Knoebel, a longtime ticket checker at Sun Valley. “The ticket checkers will get to be Sun Valley ambassadors and talk to people and ask them how their day is going.”