Happy (Gourmet) trails to us
By DANA DUGAN
Express Staff Writer
The Gourmet Ski Tour on Saturday coincided with St.
Patrick’s Day, adding a bit of extra festivity to the yearly event. The
green and the white of the snow blended perfectly to make a successful day
at one of Ketchum’s most popular benefits.
At the first stop on the Gourmet Ski
Tour the wild gals of the Hailey café Chi Chi’s serve up yummy Asian
Noodle Salad along with a sampling of Haberno and Moroccan sausage, while
wearing St. Patrick’s day hats and lots of green.
North Valley Trails firecracker Jenny Busdon started this
event nine years ago after the former Galena Gourmet Ski tour ceased being
held. The money raised goes to the maintenance of the North Valley Trails
System. This year more than $10,000 was raised from the nearly 250 tickets
Busdon sold. Busdon, who calls herself a one-woman committee, does nearly
everything from organizing the restaurants to putting up tents to placing
silly but encouraging signs on the trails.
"Everybody pitches in," she said modestly.
"It’s such a fun fund-raiser."
She said "quite a lot of tourists" came this
year and enjoyed themselves thoroughly. Claiming she had no connections
regarding weather from on high, the skiers were treated to nearly every
kind of weather imaginable, from sunny and blue sky, to windy and gray
overcasts to snow showers. Though the trails were rather springtime slushy
by the afternoon, it was a marvelous day for both advanced and beginner
Nordic skiers.
Some jolly fellows enjoy Cottonwood’s
Shrimp Curry and Table Rock beer at the entree stop on the ski tour,
Saturday afternoon. From left to right: Bill Alban and John Berry of Sun
Valley and Verlin Campbell and Rich Bray (ex-owner of the Ex Libris
Bookstore in Sun Valley) visiting from Portland. Express photos by
Dana DuGan
Nordic ski team members jauntily covered the trails going
uphill, while the rest of the crowd skied downhill, sort of. Then they’d
re-pass the slower skiers as they reversed the process. The fact was, said
Busdon, the trail had more uphills in it than previously since the
Harriman Trail now takes the tour around the campgrounds instead of
through them.
Despite all of that, the 14k trail was fortuitously broken
up by the three gourmet food stations, where one could obtain sustenance
and Trinity water, donated to keep everyone hydrated.
Of course, in between it was a bit like driving
cross-country with all of Busdon’s signs (a la Burma Shave or Stuckey’s)
encouraging one to keep moving. Busdon had put out these humorous signs
the night before along the entire course. They said such things as:
"Smile you’re on Candid Camera," "Survivor Show
recruiting sign-ups at end of course," "You’re almost to the
treats," which prepped the skiers for each tasty gourmet stop along
the way.
The first stop had Suzanne from Chi Chi’s serving Asian
Noodle Salad and sausage, and Christina’s Restaurant offering a buffet
of grilled chicken, Italian meats, babaganoush, spring rolls, pot
stickers, cheese and breads.
Local artist Gay Odmark remarked to the ubiquitous
Christina: "Everywhere we go there you are¾ it’s like a Zen
Buddhist thing."
The next stop was Esta’s where she was ladling up her
famous matzo ball soup and chili with the works.
Finding a place to sit and rest one’s weary muscles was
a bit of a trick, but some logs thrown on the snow, with an ominous ax
leaning nearby, offered a respite, which sufficed as long as the
restaurants weren’t stocking their fires, and therefore burning the
perches.
The entree was supplied further down the course by Lynn
McCarthy of Cottonwood. She served shrimp curry over rice, with an organic
salad and wine. It being St. Patrick’s Day, Table Rock beer was provided
at this stop as well.
The temptation of cheesecake, brownies and cookies and
coffee at the end of the trail in the SNRA headquarters kept most of the
hearty skiers moving along, despite the incoming snow and low clouds.
From John Jepson in his yearly outfit of tux jacket and
shorts, the green outfits, funny hats and pins for St. Patty’s day to
the delectable scents of food being prepared and devoured in the great
outdoors, the North Valley Trails were alive with whimsy and camaraderie
last Saturday afternoon.