Boise, ID

Mike and I visited Idaho for the first time during Presidents Day Weekend 2018. We flew non-stop from Los Angeles, CA to Boise, ID in a little over an hour. Our plans were to rent a car and then drive to this Airbnb we rented 2.5 hours away near Sun Valley, ID, but unfortunately I was not feeling well, so we ended up finding a Marriott for the evening right near the airport.

In the morning, we woke up bright and early and headed off on our drive to Sun Valley Resort to go snowboarding for the weekend. The drive was decently scenic; it had long stretches of prairies with carved mountains in the background. We later learned that there are flights from Los Angeles to Sun Valley once a day on Delta Airlines and Alaska Airlines; we would probably fly directly there next time as the airport is 10 minutes from the town.

 

Sun Valley, ID

We stayed at the beautiful Sun Valley Lodge, which is known for having many famous people stay at the lodge. We arrived early in the morning, and check in starts at 4PM, but the lodge staff were extremely helpful and let us change in the spa locker rooms, and held all of our bags for us until our room was ready, and then they brought our bags right to our room. The hotel was definitely pricey, however, we decided it was worth it for the location and the amenities.

 

Ice skate at the Sun Valley Lodge

At the Sun Valley Lodge, they also have other fun activities such as ice skating and ice sculptures. We walked around the Sun Valley Village to enjoy the sites and shops.

Heated Pool and Hot Tub

Another great thing about staying at the Sun Valley Resort was that we had access to their year-round heated pool and hot tub. At night, both were packed, but we managed to sneak in some time during the day when it was not as crowded. I really enjoyed how relaxing this was!

Snowboarding at Sun Valley

We ordered our Lift Tickets online in advanced for a discount. Lift Tickets can be picked up at any River Run, Warm Springs, or Dollar Ticketing Location or the Sun Valley Recreation Office. Most of the ski resorts we’ve been to lately provide a pass that goes in your pocket, but Sun Valley gave is the old school passes that you zip tie to your jacket.

Bald Mountain

We took a free shuttle from the Sun Valley Lodge over to the River Run Lodge at the base of Bald Mountain. Bald Mountain had over 12 chair lifts with 80 runs open when we were visiting. You can check the mountain snow report here. At the base of the mountain at the River Run Lodge, there were tents set up for champagne and a local brewery, and they were playing really fun music for people to enjoy. I had hurt my back before the trip, so I did not end up snowboarding, so I sat at the base of the mountain with my hot chocolate, and Mike would come down and say hi to me. They also had food options right there as well for people to take a break. Even though I did not snowboard, I still really enjoyed myself.

Dollar Mountain

Sun Valley also owns Dollar Mountain and your lift ticket allows you to ski or snowboard there as well too. This Mountain only offers blue and green runs. We never made it over here, we saw that they had a lot of children’s activities. If we ever have kids and come back here, we would definitely stop by this mountain.

Ketchum, ID

Sun Valley itself is a city just for the property of the lodge. There is a town right next to it with other hotels, restaurants, and shops called Ketchum. A famous restaurant in the town is called Pioneer Saloon, and it is said that Hemengway himself used to frequently visit the restaurant. We ate lunch in town at a cute little mom and pop shop, and we found a tourist store to buy a shirt, magnet, and shot glass. The town was really cute, and everyone was so nice.