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For the week of April 26 through May 2, 2000

Street party caps
ski season


By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

Fantastic spring skiing conditions, some splashes of rain, a flash of lighting and a gala street party combined to cap the ‘99/2000 ski season on Saturday.

A couple hundred locals converged on Picabo Street in Warm Springs on Saturday. On Sunday, Baldy’s lifts ground to a halt until next Thanksgiving—for skiers, at least.

The Bobos and lead singer B-B-Q Bob filled the street with that favorite Sun Valley rock and roll sound, and nectars flowed freely from the area’s watering holes.

Sun Valley Co. spokesman Jack Sibbach said this year’s skier count will certainly be down from last year. He didn’t have exact numbers yesterday.

"It was a fair season for Sun Valley," he said, " but we don’t measure success just by skier count."

Sales and customer satisfaction are among the other things Sun Valley Co. uses, he said.

With only 137 inches of natural snow over the course of the season, Sibbach praised the Sun Valley mountain department for maintaining quality skiing all season long. The average season garners 165 inches, and last year 191 inches fell.

"I think the mountain department did a heck of a job," he said. "I never heard any complaints about any snow conditions."

Throughout the day Saturday, costume-clad riders and skiers appeared. The slopes became crowded then empty as rain came and went several times.

And one nutty Ketchum ski instructor attempted to ski from the summit of Baldy on a pair of 2x4s.

Wray Farmin, 46, who’s been teaching skiing for Sun Valley for 17 years rode a pair of 203 centimeter, Test 2000 (written in black magic marker) wooden planks he crafted at home.

"I skied Warm Springs in about a half an hour," he said. "They didn’t flex and the tips dug in."

And that’s the spirit of a final ski weekend on Bald Mountain: experimentation, fun and revelry.

 

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