Your own public Idaho

Sunset, March, 1998 by Jeff Phillips

It was touch-and-go for a while," says Tom Downey as he snaps his boot into the nordic ski binding. He's talking about his favorite subject, the Galena Lodge. It was built in the 1880s, when this part of central Idaho was littered with gold- and silver-mining camps. Looking at the place today, it's hard to imagine that only a few years ago the historic log lodge appeared destined for the wrecking ball.

"The community here really came together," he continues, as we step outside and begin to glide up the smoothly groomed Gladiator Creek Loop. According to Downey, the Galena Lodge began its life as a mining camp lodge, and managed to stay in business long after the boom went bust. By the late 1980s it was being used as .a nordic ski center, but the structure was in such sad shape that the U.S. Forest Service, which owns the land, ordered its owners to fix the building or prepare for the landmark's demolition.

By 1994 the Help Save Galena campaign had raised more than half a million dollars to purchase and restore the building, which was then given to the county. Downey and his wife, Amy, took over management of the lodge in 1996 and now provide services to the users of the 56 kilometers of marked and groomed ski and snowshoe trails.

Gladiator Creek Loop heads northeast from the lodge to one of several backcountry yurts that skiers can reserve for a night. With wood-burning stoves for heat and melted snow for water, they aren't much more than large, comfy tents, but many overnighters indulge in one luxury: dinner delivered to their door.

Back at the day lodge, we pull up benches at a picnic table in front of the huge stone fireplace. A bar against the far wall serves simple but solid fare. A rental shop sits in the back.

Over coffee and a steaming bowl of creamy chowder, Downey pulls out a map of groomed trails. From here, he tells me, I can ski 15 miles down the valley from the Galena system all the way to the Sawtooth National Recreation Area Visitor Center.

Maybe tomorrow. After all, Galena Lodge is going to be here for a long, long time.

* Where: Galena Lodge is 24 miles north of Ketchum on State 75.

* When: 9-5 daily through April 12.

* Cost: Trail passes $7, $2 ages 16 and under. Half-day nordic ski rentals from $12, $5 ages 12 and under; full-day snowshoe rentals $8 and $4. Full-moon dinners at the lodge (the 11th and 12th this month) $20. Yurts $75 per night Sun-Thu, $100 Fri-Sat; they accommodate up to six people. Dinner delivery $12 per person.

* Contact: For reservations and information on skier shuttles, call the Galena Lodge, (208) 726-4010. For Ketchum/Sun Valley lodging information, call (800) 634-3347.