Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Baldy opener still a no-go

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By JON DUVAL
Express Staff Writer

PK’s ski shop co-owner Brian Webber shaves the head of shop manager Scooter Carling as a sacrifice to the snow gods in an attempt to hurry the start of the ski season. Photo by Willy Cook

The eagerly-awaited start of the Sun Valley ski season will require more waiting. Warm temperatures and lack of snowfall continue to frustrate efforts to open the lifts on Bald Mountain.

Sun Valley Co. spokesman Jack Sibbach said Tuesday that barring four consecutive days of snow, the mountain would not open by this weekend. Mountaintop temps hovered at 35 degrees Tuesday.

Sibbach said the the resort would continue making snow at every possible chance to allow the resort to open from top to bottom at the earliest feasible date.

"This kind of late start has happened before and turned into very good snow years," Sibbach said.

The late opening doesn't only affect skiers. Sibbach said employees ranging from lift operators to restaurant workers to housekeepers at the hotel are without work due to the absence of snow.

"It's not easy because we're talking about people's lives and incomes," Sibbach said. "But this happens frequently with a seasonal business."

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Sibbach said there is some fear of losing employees who can't afford to wait until the snow flies to receive a paycheck. The resort tries to make the situation more manageable, he said, by offering free food and housing in the company's dormitories.