Sun Valley
Sun Valley: the back story
The back story
About Sun Valley: the back story
Sun Valley opened in December 1936, built by the Union Pacific Railroad on a former ranch outside the old mining town of Ketchum, Idaho. It gave the world the chairlift and gave American skiing its first glamorous destination, and nearly 90 years later it still feels like a classic.
A railway’s resort
In 1935 the chairman of the Union Pacific Railroad set out to create North America’s first destination ski resort and, after searching the West, chose Ketchum, Idaho, a mining town ringed by mountains. Construction began in May 1936 on the 3,200-acre former Brass Ranch. Sun Valley Lodge opened in December 1936, the Swiss-style Sun Valley Inn in 1937 and The Ram, still the resort’s oldest restaurant, in 1938.
The first chairlift
A Union Pacific engineer, Jim Curran, drew on his work on conveyor systems that loaded bananas onto ships to design a safe way to carry skiers uphill. Lifts were built on Dollar Mountain and Proctor Mountain in the summer of 1936, making Sun Valley the birthplace of the modern chairlift; the remains of the first terminal can still be seen on Proctor. The runs were laid out by the ski pioneer Charles Proctor.
Sun Valley is America’s first destination ski resort.
Winter sports under a summer sun
A New York publicist, Steve Hannagan, named the resort and coined its first slogan, ‘Winter sports under a summer sun’, and brought the celebrities who put it on the map. Bald Mountain, ‘Baldy’, opened in December 1939 with a 9,150-foot summit and 3,400 feet of vertical, and the octagonal Roundhouse, with its 46 windows, opened on the mountain in January 1940.
Hemingway and Hollywood
Ernest Hemingway first came in 1939 and lived on and off in Sun Valley for twenty years; he finished a novel in Room 206 of the Lodge and is buried in Ketchum. In 1941 Sonja Henie starred in a film shot on location. During the Second World War the resort closed and became a U.S. Navy convalescent hospital, reopening in December 1945.
Our advice
Stay in the Village, walk to dinner, and let the zero-fare Mountain Rides buses take you to Bald and Dollar mountains. Baldy reopens on 26 November 2026.
Why it's on our list
- Construction begins May 1936 on the Brass Ranch
- Sun Valley Lodge opens, December 1936
- The world’s first chairlifts, on Dollar and Proctor
- Bald Mountain opens, December 1939
- The Roundhouse, January 1940
Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Sun Valley: the back story before you go.