Wednesday, February 7, 2007

They came, they skied, and they spent

Boulder Mountain Tour provides spark to valley economy


By TREVOR SCHUBERT
Express Staff Writer

Elephant?s Perch employee Roger Mankus puts the finishing touches on skis bound for Boulder Mountain Tour competition on Friday. The Perch reported tuning and waxing between 75 and 100 skis in the days preceding the race. Photo by Willy Cook

For the past 32 years, the Wells Fargo Boulder Mountain Tour has grown into one North America's premier Nordic ski races. Along with the rising caliber of talent and participant numbers, the tour brings out the wallets, pocket books and collective purchasing power of Nordic ski enthusiasts.

"This is certainly a big winter event for our community and one of the busiest weekends of the winter," said Carol Waller, executive director for the Sun Valley-Ketchum Chamber & Visitors Bureau.

The growing size of the event and the momentum generated over decades of competitive racing has spilled over into the ski shops, lodges and local restaurants.

This year saw 818 skiers cross the finish line Saturday, Feb. 3, the most the Boulder Tour has seen in its three decades in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. The race saw a strong local contingency with 168, or 21 percent, of all skiers holding local addresses, reported race director Kevin Swigert. The majority of out-of-town participants were from Utah and the Bend, Ore., area.

"The downhill crew has no idea how huge it is," said Libby Holtz, of Backwoods Mountain Sports in Ketchum. "The day before the race is one of our biggest business days of the year. We see women looking for entire new outfits, while the men usually just need a new pair of tights."

The emergence of the northern Wood River Valley as one of the sport's foremost ski destinations has solidified the local Nordic ski industry's standing as well.

"The Sun Valley area is usually a year or more ahead of the rest of the industry," Holtz said. For example, "insulated garments are the new thing in all the magazines this year, and we saw their emergence five years ago. We've consistently been ahead of the curve."

Holtz said the reason the Wood River Valley takes the lead in industry standards is twofold.

One is the "huge Nordic community" that calls the Wood River Valley home. The sheer numbers of skiers taking to some of the best trails in the country lead to a natural progression of the sport, Holtz said.

Second is simply "our weather," Holtz said.

"We live in an area where people wear parkas nearly every day during the winter," and manufacturers are constantly looking to provide lighter and warmer clothing, Holtz said.

Aside from cutting-edge fashion and clothing, the tour saw increased numbers of tune-ups on the leading edge of Nordic skis.

"We must have tuned between 75 and 100 pairs of skis on Thursday and Friday," said Kate Rosso, soft goods buyer for The Elephant's Perch in Ketchum. "We see a lot of visitors from Utah and Oregon and some from Montana."

Rosso added that "most of the people we see (over the weekend) are somehow involved with the race, and many are repeat customers that we see year in and year out.

"Friday is always our busiest day, and overall it looks like our numbers are right about the same as this weekend last year," Rosso said.

"When the weather's nice, which it was this weekend, we usually see people buying less," said Rosso, citing adverse weather as a strong motivation for clothing upgrades. "Saturday and Sunday were a little slower for us than last year."

Retail and ski tune-ups were not the only indication of the Boulder Mountain Tour's economic impact on the Wood River Valley.

Premier Resorts Sun Valley, the official housing provider of the tour, reported strong lodging numbers as well.

"This was a very good weekend," said Joe Vallance, director of sales and marketing of Premier Resorts. "The number of bookings we made was right about even with last year and right about what we did for The Ski Tour."

The Ski Tour, a new tour that showcases skiercross races, halfpipe skiing competitions and live music, kicked off in Ketchum and Sun Valley in mid January.

Local eateries also saw a spike in business. In years past, the Boulder Mountain Tour was punctuated with an awards ceremony and dinner at Sun Valley Co.'s Limelight Room. When skier numbers ballooned over the Limelight's 600-person capacity, a change in venue was necessary. This year the awards ceremony was moved to The Community School's gym and the dinner crowd dispersed throughout Sun Valley and Ketchum, peppering local restaurants and pubs with hordes of skiers.

"This was the best weekend we've had so far this year," said Scott Mason, owner and chef of Ketchum Grill. Mason reported that Christmas was a little better business wise, but "this weekend was busier than The Ski Tour."

Mason said the Ketchum Grill and the Boulder Mountain Tour have both been around for a long time and many of the patrons they served have been coming to Ketchum and visiting his restaurant for years.

"Overall, the numbers were almost exactly the same as last year," Mason said. "That's a really good sign because I've heard (hotel) occupancy rates are down slightly."

Dane Hoerst, chef for Felix's Restaurant in Ketchum, agreed with Mason's assessment.

"We just had a great night (Saturday)," she said. "Normally, we take some walk-in guests, but we were pretty much booked solid."

The Roosevelt Tavern in Ketchum may have seen the largest gain in sales from the previous Boulder Tour weekend.

"We were busier than last year, up nearly 15 to 20 percent," said Christopher Calhoun, manager of The Roosevelt. "It's an event that we look forward to every year. It has progressively grown bigger and bigger each year."

Calhoun, a 10-year local resident, reported, however, that the Roosevelt did have higher sales during The Ski Tour, "but we put on a lot of events for them."

Business and economics aside, Waller reminded valley residents that the Boulder Mountain Tour not only provides an economic boost.

"The event is a great showcase for our superb Nordic trail system," she said. "The trails really are an asset for us compared to other resort towns."

Local eateries also saw a spike in business. In years past, the Boulder Mountain Tour was punctuated with an awards ceremony and dinner at Sun Valley Co.'s Limelight Room. When skier numbers ballooned over the Limelight's 600-person capacity, a change in venue was necessary. This year the awards ceremony was moved to The Community School's gym and the dinner crowd dispersed throughout Sun Valley and Ketchum, peppering local restaurants and pubs with hordes of skiers.

"This was the best weekend we've had so far this year," said Scott Mason, owner and chef of Ketchum Grill. Mason reported that Christmas was a little better business wise, but "this weekend was busier than The Ski Tour."

Mason said the Ketchum Grill and the Boulder Mountain Tour have both been around for a long time and many of the patrons they served have been coming to Ketchum and visiting his restaurant for years.

"Overall, the numbers were almost exactly the same as last year," Mason said. "That's a really good sign because I've heard (hotel) occupancy rates are down slightly."

Dane Hoerst, chef for Felix's Restaurant in Ketchum, agreed with Mason's assessment.

"We just had a great night (Saturday)," she said. "Normally, we take some walk-in guests, but we were pretty much booked solid."

The Roosevelt Tavern in Ketchum may have seen the largest gain in sales from the previous Boulder Tour weekend.

"We were busier than last year, up nearly 15 to 20 percent," said Christopher Calhoun, manager of The Roosevelt. "It's an event that we look forward to every year. It has progressively grown bigger and bigger each year."

Calhoun, a 10-year local resident, reported, how-ever, that the Roosevelt did have higher sales during The Ski Tour, "but we put on a lot of events for them."

Business and economics aside, Waller reminded valley residents that the Boulder Mountain Tour not only provides an economic boost.

"The event is a great showcase for our superb Nor-dic trail system," she said. "The trails really are an asset for us compared to other




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