Sun Valley, Idaho - All the Glamour and the First Chair Lifts in the World
A magical place just north of an old mining town becomes a star attraction, and my brief home in 2012.
The Sun Valley Ski Resort was founded just north of Ketchum, Idaho by Union Pacific Railroad chairman Averell Harriman in 1936. An avid skier, Harriman had dreamed of creating a world-class ski resort in the United States for years, something comparable to the opulent and adventurous resorts in the Swiss Alps, places like Davos or St. Moritz. Unfortunately for Harriman, the sport of snow skiing was largely ignored outside of Europe. These sentiments began to change with the 1932 Winter Olympics, which were held in Lake Placid, New York.
Convinced it was time to make his dream a reality, Harriman enlisted the services of Austrian sportsman Count Felix von Schaffgotsch, a noted alpine skiing expert. While traveling the country in search of the perfect site, von Schaffgotsch visited Mount Rainier, Mount Hood, Yosemite, the San Bernardino Mountains, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Jackson Hole just to name a few, but couldn’t quite find the perfect balance of snow and mountain. After all, the mountain couldn’t be extremely difficult because snow skiing would be a new endeavor for most Americans, and all the mountains that seemed perfect didn’t have adequate snowfall.
On the verge of abandoning his search for an ideal location, a Union Pacific foreman in Boise, Idaho, casually mentioned that the rail spur to Ketchum, an old mining town about 150 miles away in the Wood River Valley, cost the company more money for snow removal than any other branch in the line. Immediately the Count made his way to the Ketchum area to explore this new possibility.
What von Schaffgotsch found was a winter wonderland that had all the earmarks of fantastic resort. Harriman agreed with the Count’s assessment and was overjoyed that the area already had existing rail service, which made the addition of passenger cars no significant problem.
Within weeks Harriman went to work. The Brass Ranch, which encompassed 3,888 acres deemed necessary to the project, was purchased for $15,552. Construction began in the spring of 1936, with the centerpiece of the grand resort, The Sun Valley Lodge, opening for business on December 21, 1936. The price tag for the entire resort complex was an eye-opening $1.5 million, which was quite a sum considering America was in the midst of the Great Depression.
No matter the times, Harriman was a forward looking man, and the entire project was an investment in the future. His goal was the finest ski resort in the world, and in achieving this objective money would even flow into the method by which skiers traversed the mountain. Harriman had his engineers construct the world’s first chair-lift system at Sun Valley. That’s right, the first motorized chair lifts in the world were debuted at Sun Valley, and of course, they are ubiquitous today.
Union Pacific engineers used the same technology that banana farmers in Central America used to transport fruit from the field to the packing facilities, only they were carrying people up a vertical slopes instead of fruit. Naturally, the chair lifts were all the rage and became standard in Europe over the next few years with Harriman and Union Pacific Railroad taking all the credit.
The opening of the Sun Valley was a press extravaganza, with stars and sociallights flocking to the little-known area. Los Angeles publicist Steve Hannagan named the resort "Sun Valley" and developed the tag line: "Winter sports under a summer sun.” The Sun Valley Lodge became the place to be seen during the season, welcoming such stars as Gary Cooper, Lucille Ball, Marilyn Monroe, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, and Katharine Hepburn.
The author Ernest Hemingway arrived in 1939, staying in Suite 206 long enough to complete his novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. Hemingway would eventually purchase a home in Ketchum, Idaho, just south of the resort and live there off and on for 20 years. He is buried today in the Ketchum city cemetery.
I had the pleasure of living in Sun Valley during 2012-2013, and the place will always have a special place in my heart. I’ve visited several resorts in Colorado, but there is something very special about Sun Valley. If you ever have the chance to visit, do make the effort. It will make a lasting impression, that much I know for certain.
Thanks for another interesting post! Ketchum/Sun Valley are on my bucket list.
I certainly enjoyed our visit there! A beautiful place!!