With nearly a foot of fresh snow falling Sunday night into Monday morning, Sun Valley Co. has opened more ski runs on Bald Mountain heading into the busy Christmas holiday.
The resort was able to meet its perennial target of opening Seattle Ridge before Dec. 25, with the ski patrol having lowered the ropes to most of the runs on that part of Baldy, including Muffy's Medals, Gretchen's Gold, Christin's Silver and Broadway.
While the Lookout chair has yet to open, Seattle Ridge can be accessed by Gun Tower Lane, which starts near the Roundhouse Restaurant and goes to the Seattle Ridge chairlift. The Mayday chair is in operation taking skiers back from the base of Seattle Ridge to the top of Baldy, where they can get to River Run or Warm Springs.
The first big snowstorm of the winter led to other openings over the weekend, including International, Limelight, Canyon, Upper Picabo's Street, Ridge, Blue Grouse, Holiday and Upper Can-Can.
Also open are the Seattle Ridge and Roundhouse restaurants.
All of Dollar Mountain's lifts and runs are open, with the exception of Otto's Run and those facing Elkhorn Village.
Sun Valley Co. spokesman Jack Sibbach said that with more snow forecast, as well as continued snow-making efforts, more runs are likely to open soon.
The new Sun Valley Nordic Center on Trail Creek Road opened Monday along with some trails—Practice Loop, Leif's Loop, Trail Creek Loop and the Snowshoe Loop. More groomed nordic trails are scheduled to open soon.