Sunset great ski getaways - includes related articles

Sunset, Nov, 1993

HISTORY

SUN VALLEY

America's grand resort--from Hemingway to Hollywood

Averell Harriman, chairman of the board of the Union Pacific Railroad, may have built Sun Valley, but promotional wizard Steve Hannegan is the man who put it on the map. It was 1936 when Harriman, looking for a way to increase passenger traffic on UP's lines into the West, decided to build a little lodge near Ketchum as a way to attract skiers to the area.

Hannegan convinced Harriman that to attract people to a ski resort in the middle of nowhere, they'd need to do it right--a first-class hotel, ice-skating rink, outdoor swimming pool, bowling alley, and movie theater. Then Hannegan brought in the creme de la creme from high society and Hollywood.

And it worked. When Sun Valley opened on December 21, 1936, there was no snow on the ground, but there were stars: Claudette Colbert, Robert Young, and Sam Goldwyn were just some of the guests the first night.

Author Ernest Hemingway, who began visiting the area in the late 1930s, drew further attention to the area, as did the filming of "Sun Valley Serenade," starring Sonja Henie, in 1940. Hollywood publicists, eager to get attention for their stars, often sent them up to Sun Valley for publicity photos that Hannegan could almost guarantee would run in newspapers and magazines nationwide. Early publicity stills show Lucy and Desi posed uncomfortably on ice skates, and Marilyn Monroe camping it up for the cameras in a snowbank. Dick Powell and June Allyson are enjoying breakfast at the lodge, while Gary Cooper and Clark Gable are actually out skiing with famed instructor Sigi Engl.

The lack of early season snow continued to plague the resort sporadically until 1990 when Sun Valley spent over $8 million installing one of the most sophisticated automated snowmaking systems in the West. Today, some 435 acres of quality snowmaking guarantee top skiing all season. And while skiers still like to wander through the historic Sun Valley Lodge, a bigger draw is the recently completed 16,360-square-foot, log-cabin-styled day lodge at the base of Warm Springs. For information, call Sun Valley Resort (800/786-8259).

LESSONS

TAOS SKI VALLEY

Some say this New Mexico resort has the best ski school in the nation

It makes perfect sense that a ski area with some of the most challenging terrain in the nation would also want to develop a fine ski school. After all, if you're going to invite guests to a party, it helps if they can dance.

Taos' ski school is named after the resort's founder, Ernie Blake, a ski trooper in World War II who developed Taos because of its steep terrain, not in spite of it. "I thought the skill of American skiers was advancing so fast that they'd want more difficult skiing," he once explained.

At the Ernie Blake Ski School, you can get down some of those black diamond runs, which make up slightly more than half of the area's 1,096 acres of skiable terrain. Especially popular is the Ski-Better-Week, five or six days of lessons, plus video evaluation of your skiing and free Nastar racing. To help accelerate your learning, classes are kept small and geared to all ability levels. Even better, if you really want to step up your skiing ability, are the Super Ski Weeks, offered throughout the year, where you'll get intensive instruction with Taos' top instructors.

If five to seven days sound like too much, consider the special half-day workshops, offered on selected afternoons, where you can fine-tune your mogul skiing or ski with a pro on some of Taos' little known runs.

There are several ski school programs just for kids as well. Junior Elite is an all-day program for kids from three to 12.

While Taos has received a lot of press over the years describing the difficulty of its terrain, you'll be happy to know that there are also plenty of gentle bowls for intermediate and beginner skiers. "Don't panic," reads a sign for lift riders near a particularly fearsome looking run." You're looking at only 1/30th of Taos Ski Valley. We have many easy runs, too!"

To learn more about the Taos Ski School programs, call the resort (505/776-2291).

CORA/MT. BACHELOR

Mt. Bachelor, an extinct Central Oregon volcano, got its name from early explorers because it seemed to stand alone and apart from the loftier peaks in the Cascade Range.

Today Mr. Bachelor stands as one of the most popular ski areas in the state. Here you'll find 54 Alpine runs with terrain for novices to experts, 55 kilometers of machine-groomed cross-country trails and six day lodges.

Opening for the '93-'94 ski season are three new express chair lifts, for a total of ten lifts. One new ticket is computerized and charges for runs you make. For Mt. Bachelor information call (800) 829-2442. CORA (Central Oregon Recreation Association) offers a toll-free number (800/800-8334) for one-stop vacation planning.

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