Although these days Sun Valley is the common label for the entire Wood River Valley area - in the center of southern Idaho, 150 miles west of Idaho Falls and east of Boise - technically it is just the name of a ski resort . This was the 1930s brainchild of Union Pacific Railroad chairman Averell Harriman, who, on discovering his railroad was obliged to maintain a passenger service, decided an alpine ski center would be an ideal stimulus to tourism. His scout, Austrian ski champion Count Schaffgotsch, set out to find dry powder snow on open treeless slopes, sheltered by higher mountains and not at too strenuous an elevation. Having turned down Aspen for being too high, he decided Dollar and Bald mountains fitted the bill, here in the relatively gentle foothills of the Sawtooths near the old sheep-ranching village of KETCHUM . The Sun Valley name was chosen because the snow remained even in the brightest winter sun; early brochures showed skiers stripped to the waist. The world's first chairlift was built here in 1936, and the resort was an instant success.

Sun Valley's season runs from late November through to April; as well as downhill skiing (daily lift pass $63 at Bald Mt, $25 at Dollar Mt), you can also set off cross-country. Ketchum itself is a lively little town with plenty of accommodation, and an oasis of nightlife in this otherwise thinly populated zone. Up to a point, it resembles the Colorado ski towns, though summer trade is not quite as busy. Among summer outdoor activities are cycling along thirty miles of excellent trails - including the former railroad tracks, long since paved over - mountain biking on the superb lift-accessed trails on Bald Mountain and rafting on the rivers to the north. The Sports Complex (tel 208/622-2387) on Sun Valley Road, south of Dollar Road, offers a Nordic ski center, tennis, ice skating, winter sleigh rides and guided horseback rides.

Ernest Hemingway completed For Whom the Bell Tolls as a celebrity guest in the resort in 1939, and lived in Ketchum for the last two years of his life, before his suicide; his very plain grave can be found in the town cemetery.

Sun Valley

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