Mountain Rides starts winter schedule
Mountain Rides Transportation Authority implemented its full winter schedule on Monday for bus operations in the Ketchum-Sun Valley area.
Mountain Rides has six routes running between the two towns to accommodate commuters, skiers, party-goers and anyone else who wants a free ride.
New brochures are available on buses, at bus stops, at local businesses or at the Mountain Rides website at www.mountainrides.org.
Mountain Fairy offers free ride
With the donation of two cans of foods, passengers using the Mountain Fairy shuttle to Galena Lodge can ride for free on Sunday, Dec. 26. All food will be donated to the Hunger Coalition. Mountain Fairy will depart the SNRA office north of Ketchum at 10 a.m.
For details, call 925-348-3521.
BCRD to offer Nordic lessons
New this winter, the Blaine County Recreation District will offer Nordic ski lessons for youths in second through fifth grades beginning in January at the Quigley Nordic Winter Park near Hailey. Lessons will also be available for adults, including in the Vamps, a women's skate or classic group.
Classes are offered weekly and private lessons are also available for classic or skate technique. For more information, call Janelle at the Recreation District, 578-2273, or go to www.bcrd.org to download a registration form.
Library appoints new trustee
Kristin Orr, granddaughter of Community Library Association founder and benefactor Peggy Engl and daughter of former association Director Nina Carroll, recently joined the library's governing board, becoming the first third-generation trustee in the organization's 55-year history.
Orr is a past board member of both the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation and the Community School, and she currently serves on the board of Sagebrush Equine Therapy Center for the Handicapped.
She is the granddaughter of former Sun Valley Ski School Director Sigi Engl. She lives in Ketchum with her husband, Jason Lynch, and her son, Dylan Prescott.
Swim team to hold pie auction
The SV5B Swim Teams will hold a pie auction fundraiser today, Dec. 22, on the lower level of Giacobbi Square in Ketchum. More than 80 pies will be available for sale. They were donated by local celebrities, sports celebrities, restaurants, churches, caterers and local swim families. The pie sale and silent auction will be held from noon to 2 p.m. From 2-3 p.m., a live auction will be held on deluxe one-of-a kind pies. All pies will be marked by the donors.
Resorts get holiday boost
As of Nov. 30, December bookings are up 4.9 percent compared to the same period last year among participants in the Mountain Travel Research Program.
Reservations taking during the month of November for the remainder of the ski season were up 7.5 percent.
The results are consistent with the trend of the past six months, when business from June through November was up 8.4 percent from the same period last year.
SVSEF appoints development director
Ketchum resident Alexandra Sundali has been appointed development director of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation. According to a news release from the foundation, Sundali brings an extensive background in management and fundraising from her previous professional career, when she was administrator and manager for the Hull Family Foundation and Matlock Capital, both based in Chicago with offices in Ketchum. She has also volunteered on numerous nonprofit boards and foundations in the Wood River Valley during her 30 years as a resident.
"We are very excited to have Alex on board and working with her to reach the development goals set by the SVSEF board in the next five years," said foundation Executive Director Don Wiseman.
Sundali's sons, Taylor and Daniel, both raced on the foundation's cross-country team.
Outdoor ice rink opens
The Christina Potters Outdoor Ice Rink at Atkinson Park in Ketchum opened for the season on Tuesday. Rink hours are dawn until dusk seven days a week, weather permitting. The recreation center will also be open during the day when the rink is operational.
Skating is free and open to the public, and skates, helmets, pucks and sticks are available for all to use. Rink maintenance occurs after dark or early morning and, in the case of snow, during the day.
The Potters Rink is the largest unrefrigerated outdoor ice rink in the Pacific Northwest and is constructed and maintained by the Ketchum Parks & Recreation Department between mid-December and mid-February. A smaller rink is planned for Ketchum Town Square and will open as weather allows.
Park Penguins Hockey Club for elementary school kids will commence in January and the third annual Pond Hockey Tournament is scheduled for Jan. 15-16. Call 726-7820 for information.
All of Baldy open for business
December in Sun Valley just got a little better. Starting today, Dec. 22, 100 percent of Bald Mountain's skiing and snowboarding terrain will be open, the resort announced Tuesday.
"We're very excited to report epic ski conditions for this time of year. Our 75th winter season could not be off to a better start," said Peter Stearns, Sun Valley Resort mountain manager.
One early-winter storm after another has blanketed the region in deep snow. Baldy received 16 inches of snow over the weekend. The mountain has a 55-inch snow base at the summit and 39-inch depth at the bottom.
For updated mountain reports and information, visit www.sunvalley.com.
'Wolfer' writes memoir
Carter Niemeyer, the former wolf recovery coordinator for the state of Idaho, has written a memoir of how he came to be a key player in wolf management.
The book, called "Wolfer: A Memoir," is the story of how Neimeyer, an Iowa native, found himself in Idaho in the mid-1970s. Niemeyer is an expert trapper and as a former employee of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was one of the leaders of wolf reintroduction and management in Idaho.
The memoir is introduced by author Nicholas Evans, author of "The Horse Whisperer," who met Niemeyer while researching a novel about wolf reintroduction. Evans calls the memoir "powerful, moving and full of insight."
The book is available online at www.carterniemeyer.com and on Amazon.
