STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Peter Wolter didn’t have Miles Fink-Debray challenging him to be first to the top of Baldy this year. But Alexa Turzian had her running shoes full fending off Mali Noyes.

A record 235 men, women and children took part in the 46th Baldy Hill Climb this past Saturday, and familiar faces prevailed as Wolter missed setting a new course record by a minute and Turzian won her third Baldy Hill Climb.

“This is my third victory, and I’ve been battling with Miles the last few years. It’s always great going head-to-head, but I had to challenge myself this year,” said Wolter, who began racing with the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Nordic team at 2. “It was definitely brutal, but it’s very much suited to my style of power hiking. The hardest part was the third quarter, but I made it through.”

Noyes caught Turzian part way up the mountain.

“I almost gave up,” said Turzian, who won in 2018 with a time of 47.33 and again in 2022 with a time of 47.26. “Then decided to try it one more time.”

“It was like climbing a steep wall,” said Noyes of a steep slope just under the I-80 cat track. “I think my poles helped.”

The official ski season in Sun Valley starts on Thanksgiving Day when the lifts start running. But many consider the Baldy Hill Climb--with its 1.86-miles covering 3,140 vertical feet-- the start of the ski season, said POWDER magazine founder Jake Moe. “The leaves are changing signaling that fall’s here and the Baldy Hill Climb signals it’s time to get in shape for the ski season.”

Dozens of Olympic and other well-known ski personalities have won the climb over the years, including Susie Patterson, Gabriela Andersen, Alison Kiesel, Ruthie Mathes, Michael Tobin, Dave Bingham, EJ Harpham, Dave Bingham, Katie Feldman, John Steel Hagenbuch, Muffy Ritz and Mary Rose.

Nordic Olympian Morgan Arritola holds the women’s course record at 39.51 minutes and Miles Havlick at 35.04. Miles Fink-Debray retired this year rather than push for a 12th win—his 11 victories remaining the most among men. Adrienne Leugers has the most victories of anyone at 12.

Not only does the Baldy Hill Climb offer bragging rights to those who finish the grueling run or hike to the top, but it gives people a barometer to measure their physical fitness from one year to another, said Moe.

“The people who do this have a dedication and love for Baldy,” he said. “Baldy is our home—it’s not Sun Valley or Ketchum. Baldy is our home and we are tied to it with our umbilical cords.”

Among those who have done it since the start are Kathy Wygle.

“I’ve done about 20. I did some in the beginning and missed a few when I was busy with work. Now I’m back. It’s just a good yearly goal,” she said.

Carly, Liam and Sofie Tempest and Kelly Callahan Guyre, meanwhile, were among those doing it for the first time. “I’m excited. I did the River Run side last year when they had this side closed off to put in the new chairlift, but I haven’t done this side.”

The aspen were turning golden as the hikers headed up the rock strewn slopes that sported the dried remainders of summer wildflowers on a cloudless day. Gradually, they strung out into a long line that resembled Klondike miners heading up the trail in Skagway.

Liam Tempest, a mountain bike racer, was the first of the hikers to make it to the top with a time of 54 minutes 22 seconds.

“I started out walking with my mother—Lauren Cord--at the start but she was pretty slow so she told me to take off. I’ve biked Baldy numerous times but this is my first time climbing up,” said Tempest, a 16-year-old sophomore at the Sun Valley Community School. “It’s a tough climb.”

“Slow” Lauren Cord wasn’t far off. She was the first of the female hikers to reach the top, doing so in 1 hour, 1 minute and 9 seconds.

“I usually ski this. It’s a lot harder hiking it,” she said. “I thought: Don’t push it. Just keep walking.”

Among the hikers was James Miner and Skeeter Moore, a 70- and 61-year-old from Duluth, Minn., who were visiting relatives. They had done a half-marathon in Wisconsin 10 years ago but this was the first time they had tackled something with the elevation gain of Baldy.

“It’s hard but worth doing,” said Miner. “We’re going have to sign up now for next year,” quipped Moore.

“We’re just so proud that so many people came out and supported the cross-country team,” said Kelley Yeates. “And what’s neat this year is that we have a bunch of high school and middle schoolers participating.  It was a beautiful day on top of Bald Mountain and we are already looking toward next year.”

Now that the Baldy Hill Climb is over, Wolter said he was ready to start training in earnest for the upcoming cross country ski season. The Middlebury College economics graduate who works at Decked, will kick it off with clinics at Park City, Utah, and Canmore, Alberta, then do his first race at Cable, Wis.

“I want to stay domestic the first half of the winter so I can focus on racing better at the end of the season. Then, hopefully, I’ll qualify for World Championships,” said Wolter who had some World Cup starts during the 2023-24 season.

The top 10 winning runners ranged in age from 15 to 41. The top 10 winning hikers ranged in age from 16 to 61.

OVERALL RACE WINNERS:

Peter Wolter 36.04 (2) Sam Wood, 0:38:30 (3) Neil Bangs, 0:39.12 (4) Jackson Long 0:39:56 (5) Duncan Fryberger, 0:41:19 (6) Jake Adicoff 0:43:26 (7) Alexa Turzian 0:44:19 (8) Mali Noyes 0:44: 19 (9) Lincoln Gage 0:45:31 (10) Charlie St. George 0:47: 42. Ganz Taylor, the third-place female, came in with time of 48:39.

TOP TEN HIKERS

(1) Liam Tempest 54:22 (2) Mark Hayden 56:53 (3) Kyle Rafford 58:11 (4) Eric Huus 59:32; (5) Lauren Cord 1:01:09; (6) Kyle Sela 1:03:49 (7) Anna Rothgeb 1:04:15 (8) Lori Cooley 1:04:57 (9) Addison Rafford 1:05: 57 (10) Laura Moore 1:07:47.

FIRST PLACE FAMILY

O/Sullivan/Fryberger comprised of Tess O’Sullivan, Nina O’Sullivan and Duncan Fryberger.

For complete race results, go to https://svsef.org/baldy-hill-climb/.