Stories

Attention, BCRD Nordic Season Pass Holders!  The BCRD invites you to come and celebrate the end of a great Nordic season with us at Galena Lodge on Sat., April 3

For more information call 788-2117 or go to bcrd.org.

Ski in the Sawtooths!

Grab your skis and head for the hills,  it's time for the 8th Annual Sawtooth Ski Festival!

Mark your calendar for March 6th and 7th 2010, and join us in the Stanley Basin and Sawtooth Valley,  where the cross country ski trail systems of Park Creek and Alturas Lake are showcased  during the Sawtooth Ski Festival. 

The fundraiser begins with the Park Creek Poker Run and Chili Feed on March 6.  Festivities kick off at eleven  and chili is served from noon until 2 pm.  At Park Creek, 7 miles west of Stanley,  skiers  and  snowshoers  follow a  course,  pick up cards at check points and the best poker hand wins  new snowshoes from Backwoods Mountain Sports!!!   Enjoy a bowl of  homemade chili, some cornbread and delicious cookies provided by our volunteer cooks. Spend the day enjoying  the incredible trails and stunning views at Park Creek.

At 5:30 pm,  Saturday evening,  at the Stanley Community... (more)

By Kay Hummel - Four Idahoans have qualified among the nation's top 78 men and women to compete in nordic collegiate events at the 2010 NCAA Ski Championships March 10-13 in Steamboat Springs, Colo.

Two Boiseans competing are Rose Kemp, Univ. of Utah sophomore, and Wyatt Fereday, Colby College junior. Kemp and Fereday are Boise High Schoolgraduates and alumnae of the Bogus Basin Nordic Team. The other two NCAA Idaho competitors are Ketchum natives Kaelin Kiesel, Montana State Univ., and Alexa Turzian, University of Colorado. Both grew up skiing for the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation nordic squad.

The four athletes will compete in two disciplines at Howelsen Hill near Steamboat. Men's 10-kilometer and women's five-kilometer classical cross-country races take place Thursday, March 11. The women's 15-kilometer and men's 20-kilometer freestyle (skate) races will be held March 13. (Alpine events take place March 10 and 12.)

The University of Denver returns to the National Collegiate Men's and Women's Skiing Championships... (more)

NBC Previews the competition here.

Update: The U.S. Team came in 12th with Arritola skiing the 3rd leg.

The women's 4x5km relay determines which cross-country skiing nation has the best team depth. In this mass start event, two legs of classical skiing are followed by two legs of the freestyle (skating) technique. The winning team is the one whose anchor-leg skier first crosses the finish line.

The U.S. will be led by Anchorage, Alaska skier Kikkan Randall. The two-time Olympian will likely be joined by Olympic debutantes Liz Stephen of East Burke, Ver., and Morgan Arritola of Sun Valley, Ida.. The best result for the U.S. women at the Olympics is 7th, achieved at the 1980 and 1984 Games.

Inga-Lami- all women's Norwegian Tour at Quigley Nordic Center

The famous Norwegian Nordic Olympic Team chose Sun Valley as their pre-Olympics training base prior to the Olympics. In this profile, we meet some of the Olympians as they share their experience in Sun Valley.

Ketchum resident Morgan Arritola, a member of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Olympic Development Team races this afternoon. Her race starts at 2pm Mountain Time. The pursuit format is one where the skiers race half the race using the classic technique, switch skis and then finish the race in freestyle/skate technique. Morgan is one of the feature athletes in the Sun Valley Champions program run by the Sun Valley/Ketchum Chamber and Visitor's Bureau.

Update: Arritola was the top finishing American in 38th place 3:27.8 behind the Norwegian Gold Medalist, Marit Bjoeren, who trained in Sun Valley prior to the Olympics.

Below there are some videos of her send-off, training and her bio.

Diamond Sun Productions put together a video from the good luck send-off for Morgan at the Sun Valley Club. Her coach, Rick Kapala comments on Morgan's work ethic in the first video below including her habit of running 6 miles home after workouts.

Morgan shown at the Canmore World Cup ascending... (more)

Ketchum resident Morgan Arritola, a member of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Olympic Development Team races this morning. Her start time is 11:20:30 Mountain Time. NBC will start its broadcast at Noon. Morgan is one of the feature athletes in the Sun Valley Champions program run by the Sun Valley/Ketchum Chamber and Visitor's Bureau

Update: Arritola finished as the 2nd American in the 10km Freestyle just 4 places behind the top American. Overall she was 34th place out of 78 racers putting her in the top half of the Olympic field. Her time was 27:04.4 which was 2:06.0 behind the winner.

Diamond Sun Productions put together a video from the good luck send-off for Morgan at the Sun Valley Club. Her coach, Rick Kapala comments on Morgan's work ethic.

Morgan shown at the Canmore World Cup ascending a steep hill

Training 6 months ago in New Zealand. Morgan discusses & demonstrates her technique with Andy Newell

Just to show it's not all fun & games, the following clips are from strength training... (more)

For the Feb. 10th BBC showing, keep in mind that Mountain Rides makes stops immediately in front of The Community School on the Blue Route upon request. Depending on direction the bus will stop before this event at 6:08, 6:22, 6:38 and 6:52pm. After the showing, Blue Route buses will run until after 11pm. Don't grab your keys! Grab a Mountain Ride Today!

Harpham, Hawley, Leugers, Ford, Hovey, Mallory, Thoreson and Turzian fastest finishers from each town.

The Boulder Mountain Tour culminated the week long Sun Valley Nordic Festival. Complete results are on the Boulder Mountain Tour website. Zack Simons of Utah won the men's side and Evelyn Dong of Bend, Oregon won on the women's side. Of the nearly 700 finishers, 167 were from the Wood River Valley and we recognize the fastest finishers of the locals.

In the valley wide race, the fastest woman was Adrienne Leugers and the fastest man was Chris Mallory. Note: The town is based on how the racer registered for the race.

The following are the fastest women from each town:

• Bellevue: E J Harpham
• Hailey: Adrienne Leugers
• Ketchum: Brooke Hovey
• Sun Valley: Susan Thoreson

The following are the fastest men from each town:

• Bellevue: Andrew Hawley
• Hailey: Jeff Ford
• Ketchum: Chris Mallory
• Sun Valley: Bryce Turzian

You can get the complete results breakdown by Wave, Gender, State and more at the official... (more)

Perhaps it's not too late to add this important event to this year's Nordic Festival just to show how we are on the cutting edge here in Sun Valley.

Party @ Perry's!  Celebrating Nordic Ski Festival week by serving dinner from 5 pm to 8:30pm on Thursday, Feb. 4th, to coincide with ski races and music at the Simplot lot, future home of Sun Valley Center for the Arts.  10% of sales will go to procurement of the greatly needed "Vamps Cat" groomer for the Blaine County Nordic Trails. Donations gladly accepted.

The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation and Sun Valley Company are hosting an Olympic Send-Off Party for Olympic Development Team athletes Morgan Arritola and Graham Watanabe on Sunday, January 31 from 4-6 PM at the Sun Valley Nordic Club House. All valley residents are invited and encouraged to come by and wish Morgan and Graham well in the upcoming Olympic Games.

The event, part of the Sun Valley Nordic Festival, will feature an Olympic poster signing and autograph session with Morgan. Graham will be competing in the Winter X-Games and cannot be present for the party. Local elementary schools are making posters for well-wishers and fans to sign. What an exciting opportunity for our community and sports enthusiasts to gather, talk snow sports and get excited about our local heros on the eve of the Games. Email Karoline

All of us at the Blaine County Recreation District and the Galena & the Trails Advisory Council are humbled by our community's generosity in support of Galena Lodge and the Trails. These cherished treasures could not exist without you!

Thanks you for making this event so special and so successful!

[See the video below from a past Galena Benefit]

The 14th Annual Galena & the Trails Winter Benefit would not be possible without the help of the following people:

Our Galena & the Trails benefit Committee

Jenny Busdon: Chair

Bob Rosso

Tessa Westbrook

Linda McClatchy

Kris Stoffer

Susie Quesnel

The Galena & the Trails Advisory Council, the BCRD Board of Directors and incredible staff!

Our Awesome In-Kind Donors:

Randy and Sue Acker

Susie and Whit Atkinson

Atlantic Aviation

Sun Valley Auto Club

Backwoods Mountain Sports

Balloons Above the Valley

John Beehler

Tara Bella Flowers

Kathy Bennett

Tom Bentley & Rebecca Follo

Bigwood at Thunder Spring

Ed Binnie, The... (more)

*Altenberg, Germany.* Boise, Idaho native Sara Studebaker will go to the Vancouver Winter Games as a United States Olympic biathlete in February. Studebaker will be one of four American women competing in several biathlon events. The United States Biathlon Association nominated Studebaker late Sunday after the conclusion of biathlon trials held in Altenberg.

Studebaker grew up in Boise and was a seven-year member of the Bogus Basin Nordic Team. She is a 2003 graduate of Boise High School and skied on the cross-country team for Dartmouth College, where she graduated in 2007.
Since then she has lived and trained biathlon in Lake Placid, New York, at the Olympic training center and site of the 1980 winter games.

*
http://biathlon.teamusa.org/news/2010/01/10/usba-to-forward-
*< http://biathlon.teamusa.org/news/2010/01/10/usba-to-forward->

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*Background / US National Biathlon Team Member, SARA STUDEBAKER**
*Sara Studebaker skied on the Bogus Basin Nordic Team for seven years and competed in five junior national U.... (more)

SUN VALLEY NORDIC FESTIVAL

January 30 – February 7, 2010

The First Annual Sun Valley Nordic Festival will take place January 30-February 7, 2010.  The festival features 9 days of activities, races, clinics and fun events along with a $49, 9-day valley-wide Nordic trail pass, discounts on demos/rentals, lodging and dining which showcase and celebrate Sun Valley’s well-deserved reputation as “Nordic Town USA”.    A trip to the Nordic festival will also be given away at www.svnordicfestival.com.

 Highlights of the festival include:

• Ski the Rails – a family-friendly “ski at your own pace” tour along the Wood River Trail.  Don’t forget the after party at the Sun Valley Brewery featuring live music and downtown shopping specials.
• Nordic Night of Champions – a send-off celebration for local Nordic skiers who will be participating in the 2010 Olympic Games.
• Downtown Ketchum Nordic Night & Concert – a celebration of all things Nordic at the future site of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts.  ...