Sun Valley extends ski season

By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

a7easter.jpg (12197 bytes) Glen Thomas, left, redeems an egg he found on Baldy Sunday for a Bob Dog Pizza. Sun Valley Company sponsored the egg hunt as part of its week-long spring celebration. (Express photo by Willy Cook)

High skier numbers, healthy hotel bookings and a benevolent Mother Nature have been enough to extend Baldy’s closing date by a week.

At least the Warm Springs side of Bald Mountain will be open until April 25. Closing had been scheduled for April 18.

Sun Valley Company spokesman Jack Sibbach said that if snow conditions warrant, the River Run side of Baldy will remain open as well.

Dollar Mountain’s closure has been extended from April 4 to this Sunday, April 11.

Mostly cloudy Easter skies didn’t deter skiers and snowboarders from hitting the hill last weekend.

More than 2,000 people rode the lifts on Bald and Dollar mountains on Easter, keeping an above-average streak of skier visits going. It also ended an Easter week celebration in which Sun Valley Company and local businesses gave away 150 gifts as part of a mountain-wide Easter egg hunt.

Gifts included dinners, gift certificates, ski tunes and a season pass. Ketchum resident Todd Carrier redeemed the egg holding the pass.

"It was pretty overwhelming," Sibbach said of the public’s enthusiasm for the egg hunt.

The Easter Bunny that gave candy away at River Run each evening was popular with the kids, Sibbach said, and Saturday’s egg hunt on Dollar Mountain was an overwhelming success.

March posted 3,000 more skier visits than it did last year, Sibbach said. So far, April has posted more than 2,000 visits each day. On average, between 1,500 and 1,700 skiers visit Baldy and Dollar daily in April.

Skier numbers should vary greatly for the remainder of the season, depending on the weather. Sibbach pointed out that the beginning of March posted low skier counts, but over the past few weeks, counts have picked up. It was the spring-like temperatures and sunny skies that contributed to that, Sibbach speculated.

Both Bald and Dollar mountains still have good snow cover and skiers report that conditions are good. Everything on Baldy, except for the lower bowls and south-facing slopes, is open.

Dollar is open with the exception of the south-facing Elkhorn side.

Late season lift prices are in effect as of last Sunday. Full day lift passes are $35. With either discount card, which are both good each day of the week for the remainder of the season, a day ticket will cost $25.