Sun Valley Resort prepares for summer lift service

Sun Valley Resort, Idaho – home to the award-winning Trail Creek Golf Course and soon-to-open White Clouds Golf Course – has announced the summer lift service on Bald Mountain will begin June 28. Due to a U.S. Forest Service mandate protecting elk calving season, mountain bikes will be allowed on the lifts starting July 1.

Lift hours will be from 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. (last round-trip). One adult ride will be $15 or all day for $20. Children ages 3 through 12 can ride one time for $7 and all day for $10. All mountain bikers must sign a waiver and wear helmets. All downhill bikes rented from Pete Lane’s will include one free summer chairlift ticket, a trail map, lock and helmet.

New for this summer season are the free Sun Valley White Clouds Hiking and Biking Trails located across from the Sun Valley Lodge entrance. Five miles of new hiking and biking trails surround Sun Valley’s new nine-hole White Clouds Golf Course, offering spectacular 360-degree views of the Wood River Valley.

“Whether hiking or biking, Bald Mountain offers an amazing experience and our summer lift service is always greatly anticipated,” says General Manager Wallace Huffman. “On top of that, the miles of trails added this season provide guests with a brand new adventure, whether they’ve visited Sun Valley before or are enjoying the resort for the first time.”

Designed by Donald Knott, the White Clouds Golf Course is an “Alpine links” design with dramatic elevation changes. Sun Valley also will unveil a 25-acre practice facility, 18-hole putting course named Sawtooths (patterned after the Himalayas putting course at St. Andrews), a 54,000-square-foot clubhouse, and the Sun Valley Music Pavilion that will cater to the area’s thriving arts scene.

The existing Trail Creek Course – named after the creek that traverses the course seven times – is a parkland-style design with narrow fairways bordered by beautiful Cottonwood trees. Originally opened in 1937, the course was redesigned by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and Knott, his lead architect, in 1978-79.

For more information about Sun Valley Resort, visit Sunvalley.com.