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contents // features

92

The Great Migration

Pacific Salmon and Steelhead Fight for Their Lives BY laurie sammis

102

Where the Pavement Ends

BY DICK DORWORTH

106

‘This Land Is Your Land’

How Land Use Policy Shaped Idaho and the West

BY ADAM TANOUS

112

Paradise Lost, and Found

Can a Conservation Effort in Africa Show Us the Way Forward?

BY ADAM TANOUS

120

Profiles in Outdoor Life Pete Patterson Travis Vandenburgh Susan Robinson

BY MATT FURBER & KIRA TENNEY

on the cover: Waterfall on Mount Gorongosa, Gorongosa National Park.

20 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

A Chinook salmon on its way to the high country.

Photograph by dec hogan

photo: bob poole

City of Rocks

contents // departments

90

Danny Walton gets some early morning exercise on Redfish Lake.

84

In Every Issue

The Arts

Food & Drink

Weddings

26 From the Publisher

125 Artist Profiles Laura McPhee Gabe Embler Kathryn Stats

143 Dutch-Oven Cooking Gourmet meals made river-side

153 Featured Weddings Kate & Carter Danielle & Ben Amanda & Christian

28 Contributors 33 Local Buzz SheJumps Higher Ground A Day in the Life Music Festivals Events Calendar

134 Gallery Guide

148 Dining Out Restaurant Guide

160 Wedding Resources

47 360 Kids The Spot Summer Camp Girls on the Run 54 Camp Listings 61 Things We Love 71 Body & Soul Body Repair Shop Healing with Herbs Allergy-Free Gardening 81 Get Out There Summer Camping Walking on Water The Long Run Dirt Biking 22 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

61

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Dirt Bike Rider Broc Sheue explores the Idaho backcountry.

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Zoo Boise, in 2013, formed a long-term partnership with the Gorongosa National Park (read our feature on p.112) Not only has the zoo begun a capital campaign to build a re-creation of the park on premises, but it has pledged to donate $2 million to the Gorongosa Restoration Project over the next 10 years. To learn more, go to zooboise.org.

TASTE of Sun Valley, Sun Valley Magazineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s newest publication, provides insight into the Sun Valley dining scene, with chef profiles, feature articles and wonderful recipes. It also showcases the menus of the best restaurants of the valley. Check out our digital edition at sunvalleymag. com/Dining/.

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Fromthepublisher // insight

f a story on Gorongosa National Park, 9,975 miles away on the continent of Africa, seems out of place in Sun Valley Magazine, then please read on.

It is no surprise that locals continue to travel to far flung parts of the world—Fiji, Nepal, Bhutan, Kenya, Tanzania, the Maldives—perhaps just as much in pursuit of the wide open spaces most Idahoans have come to love (and expect), as in a quest for adventure. But the fact that a son of Idaho, former tech entrepreneur and Idaho Falls native Greg Carr, is busy committing both his time and resources in Mozambique to bring one of the grandest national parks in Africa back from the brink of destruction might come as a bit of a surprise. However, it shouldn’t.

After all, Carr, a part-time Ketchum resident who you may just see in line at Java or Atkinsons’, is originally from Idaho. And that love of open spaces, and the people and animals that live within them, is part of his DNA, almost by default. So, he signed a 20-year contract with the government of Mozambique, committing $40 million toward conservation and restoration of Gorongosa National Park. Managing editor, Adam Tanous, sits down with Carr here in Idaho to get insight into what may be one of the most ambitious public-private ecological restoration and human development projects ever undertaken in Africa (Paradise Lost, And Found, page 112).

It is a theme that runs throughout this Summer issue of Sun Valley Magazine—as we celebrate our wide open spaces and tumbling rivers, our trails and waterways and all things pertaining to “Outdoor Idaho.”

Explore how land use policy shaped Idaho and the West in ‘This Land Is Your Land’ (page 106) and discover how little of our state is actually owned by Idaho. Get outside and experience the plethora of outdoor music festivals (page 42), the wave of SUP (page 84), and meet the mountain guides and ultra marathoners passionate about our backcountry (Profiles in Outdoor Life, page 120).

Follow the journey of Idaho’s anadromous fish—Pacific salmon and steelhead—who travel more than 900 miles, climbing 6,500 feet in elevation and swimming upstream in a fight for their lives, just for the one chance to return to the spawning beds of their birth high in the Sawtooth Mountains and other Salmon River lakes and tributaries (The Great Migration, page 92).

With 4.52 million acres of designated wilderness and many millions of acres more of National Forests and Parks, BLM land, and Fish and Wildlife Refuges, Idaho has more federally-owned land than most other states in the U.S. So, head to where the pavement ends and explore a piece of the incredible diversity of life outdoors among the hills, mountains, valleys and waterways of your own outdoor Idaho.

publisher

26 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

Laurie Sammis / editor-in-chief

photo: FiveB studios

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contributors // writers & photographers

The mountains are in Laurel Holland’s blood. The daughter of an alpinist who disappeared in a climbing accident when she was 5, Laurel was taught at an early age to love and honor the outdoors.

Born in Portland, Maine, and raised in Walla Walla, Washington, she graduated from Harvard in 2006 with a degree in French Literature and Language and moved to New York shortly thereafter to pursue an acting career. After nearly a decade in Manhattan, Laurel relocated to Ketchum in September 2014 to complete “Spindrift,” a memoir about her late father, Bill Holland, whose body was recovered in 2010 at the base of the glacier that claimed his life.

“Spindrift” is her first full-length publication. (The Art of Balance, p.

130; What Is the Why?, p. 132)

28 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

Glenn Oakley has documented and explored the people and landscape of the American West as a photographer, writer and filmmaker over a span of 40 years.

A three-time winner of the Banff Mountain Film Festival’s Photo Competition, his photography has appeared in hundreds of publications, including Smithsonian, Outside, Life, Time, and Sunset.

His ability to portray people in the landscape has led to numerous advertising assignments for clients like LL Bean, Yakima, Giant Bikes and resorts from California to Florida. He has written and photographed several books, including “The San Luis Valley,” “The Snake River Plain,” “Wolf!” and two Frommer’s bed & breakfast guides (Rocky Mountains and New England). Glenn plays outdoors on skis, bicycles, boots and boats and plays Dobro and mandolin in the band Slackline. He lives in Boise.

(City of Rocks, p. 102; ‘This Land Is Your Land’ p. 106)

Danielle Flam works as a freelance writer, a French and Chinese translator, and a researcher for an environmental conservation organization. After completing her undergraduate studies in biology at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, she pursued graduate studies in Cultural Anthropology at the University of Chicago.

Her academic training left her convinced that ethnography is the best approach to understanding any subject, and, as such, her research and writing is decidedly ethnographic in nature. After living, studying and conducting fieldwork across the globe, from Beijing to Paris to Chicago, people often wonder why she decided to settle down in Idaho. If you loved whitewater as much as she does, you wouldn’t have to ask. (Recreation Therapy, p. 36; Summer Camp Is Back, p. 50; Exploring the Mystery of Place, p. 126)

Paul Vecsei After completing his Ph.D. on sturgeon at University of Georgia (UGA, Athens), Paul moved to Yellowknife in Canada where he is a fisheries biologist. The fish fauna of this remote region is similar to that of Fairbanks, Alaska.

He has spent the last eight years specializing in underwater photography of northern fishes but takes his vacations down south in “salmon” country along the Pacific Northwest coast. His fish-phototaking adventures have taken him all over the world, from deepwater landlocked char in the Austrian Alps to huge sturgeon on the Volga River. (The Great Migration, p. 92)

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circulation director Taylor Holden Sun Valley Magazine Online: www.sunvalleymag.com email: info@sunvalleymag.com 2015

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photography & illustrations Cassie Abel, Michael Bauer, Zack Brown, James Byrne, Wyatt Caldwell, Greg Carr, Kristin Cheatwood, Patrick Clayton, Heather Linhart Coulthard, Five B Studios, Ray J. Gadd, Tamara Harrison, Roland Lane, Matt Leidecker, Hallie MacPherson, Hillary Maybery, Piotr Naskrecki, Glenn Oakley, Michael Paredes, Bob Poole, Tal Roberts, Salvatore Rugolo, Jeff Trollip, Two Bird Studio, Paul Vecsei, Mark Weber, Craig Wolfrom

From clothing to sports gear, books to housewares, your Gold Mine treasure awaits you.

WRITERS Karen Bossick, Dick Dorworth, Jon Duval, Kate Elgee, Danielle Flam, Matt Furber, Cheryl Haas, Kelly Hennessy, Taylor Holden, Laurel Holland, Julie Molema, Patti Murphy, Margot Ramsay, Laurie Sammis, Adam Tanous, Kira Tenney, Gwen Ashley Walters

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Sun Valley Magazine® (ISSN 1076-8599) is published three times a year by Mandala Media LLC. Editorial, advertising and administrative offices are located at 111 North First Avenue, Suite 1M, Hailey, Idaho 83333. Telephone: 208.788.0770; Fax: 208.788.3881. Mailing address: 111 North First Avenue, Suite 1M, Hailey, Idaho 83333. Copyright ©2015 by Mandala Media, LLC. Subscriptions: $22 per year, single copies $5.95.

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The opinions expressed by authors and contributors to Sun Valley Magazine are not necessarily those of the editor and publisher. Mandala Media LLC sets high standards to ensure forestry is practiced in an environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable manner. This issue was printed on recycled fibers containing 10% post consumer waste, with inks containing a blend of soy base. Our printer is a certified member of the Forestry Stewardship Council, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, and additionally meets or exceeds all federal Resource Conservation Recovery Act standards. When you are finished with this issue, please pass it on to a friend or recycle it.

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local buzz

photo : michael bauer

p. 34 shejumps

p. 36 recreation therapy

p. 38 day in the life

sunvalleymag.com/localbuzz/ who | what | where | now

p. 42 music fests

p. 44 summer events

DON’T MISS •

music

Two and a half decades ago, the Braun Brothers—Idaho music icons—began their annual reunion festival in Stanley. Today, the “red dirt country music” festival is held in Challis and features some of the greats in the genre, including this year, Reckless Kelly, Cody Canada and the Departed and Micky and the Motorcars.

Pictured here are Willy (left) and Cody (right) Braun of Reckless Kelly.

summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 33

BY Kate Elgee SheJumps.org, a nonprofit organization designed to get more women involved in outdoor sports, was created like many great ideas—one late night over a few glasses of wine.

Best friends Lynsey Dyer, a pro skier and Sun Valley native, along with co-founder Vanessa Pierce, decided the girls of the world needed a community where they could encourage, inspire and push one another to new heights, refocus their attention away from computer screens and glossy magazine covers and, most importantly, get outside.

With a clink of glasses and a “cheers” to rad girls everywhere, one of the fastest-growing women’s outdoor programs in the country was born.

Since its inception in 2007, SheJumps has blossomed from a predominantly skiing-only program based out of Salt Lake City to an international organization with 15 regional coordinators and 35 ambassadors nationwide.

With classes ranging from paddleboarding, kayaking and whitewater rafting to yoga, rock climbing, mountain biking and mountaineering, women can get involved in pretty much anything at any adrenaline level.

SheJumps also offers educational classes 34 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

like ski tuning and mountain bike repair, or even avalanche training and safety courses, so one can feel comfortable starting from scratch. The group provides the opportunities, the education, the gear and even the friends to explore the outdoor world together. And since it’s all volunteer-based, it comes at an affordable price.

As many girls know, if you can’t tag along with a boyfriend, dad or other man-friend who is patient enough to teach you (and nice enough to lend you his ill-fitting gear), it’s not always easy to jump into new sports.

Even in a small and athletic community like Sun Valley, it can be hard to find likeminded girls of the same skill level willing to try new things.

That’s where SheJumps comes in. On the SheJumps website, girls can join “The Clubhouse,” an online forum to connect people within their region or abroad. “You can ask to borrow or buy used gear, crash on someone’s couch or just get together and go do something outside,” said Julie Youngblood, a local SheJumps ambassador. “And all the girls are cool.”

After a SheJumps course in the Canadian

| courtesy shejumps

| tamara harrison |

SHEJUMPS Pushes Women to New Heights

courtesy shejumps

GIRLS THAT GO BIG

|

From left, locals Kate Elgee, Abby Siebert, Julie Youngblood, Jordan Youngblood and Kristen Haneman celebrate SheJumps near Mackay, Idaho.

Selkirk Mountains, Youngblood decided she wanted to bring the program back to Sun Valley. She has organized “Get the Girls Out” events throughout the area, including a fly fishing trip on the Big Lost River in Mackay, an International Women’s Ski Day with the K2 Alliance on Baldy and a Level 1 Avalanche Training Course with Sun Valley Trekking.

“I think it’s really important for women to be comfortable and active and to have the confidence to try different things—to see what they do and don’t like,” Youngblood said. “This program gives girls an open platform to try stuff together that they may end up loving.”

As Dyer explained, young girls need not only a supportive female community but also role models that are generated from these programs. “There are incredible women in the world doing incredible things, but no one is talking about it,” she said. “The media is no help.” Dyer would like to see the Lindsey Vonns and Melissa Arnots of the world usurp the spotlight from the Kim Kardashians.

“We need to refocus their attention away from looks—from mirrors and television and Facebook and SnapChat—and get them outside. Nature is so empowering, and we want to push these girls to follow their passions and reach their full potential,” she said.

Dyer, a product of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation, spent her early days ripping around Dollar and Bald Mountains, chasing her ski coaches around the slopes. She said growing up in Idaho, and especially in nature, shaped her into the woman she is today: “Being outside taught me everything I know—discipline,

photos clockwise from top left: tamara harrison

SheJumps programs range from mountaineering to paddleboarding.

courtesy unicorn picnic productions

localbuzz // shejumps

Local anglers Laura Speck (left) and Kendall Friedman in Mackay for some chilly fishing.

Elena Forchielli takes to the trails.

Dyer’s film “Pretty Faces” (Unicorn Picnic Productions) features women “going big.”

EvErything for abovE

summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 35

MA

INE+OL L E I

ER

to figure it out,” she said. “Even after so many doors were slammed in my face.” With no film experience and a graphic design degree from Montana State University, Dyer said she had always wanted to connect the art and the sport of skiing. “I want the message of anything I put out there to be inspirational,” she said. “Especially to inspire women.”

While Dyer is pursuing her film and skiing career from her home base in Jackson, Wyoming, her friend Claire Smallwood has taken over as the executive director of SheJumps. But Dyer continues to live her message—she was the first woman to huck herself off the Fat Bastard cliff face in Jackson Hole, and now more and more women are following suit. “You just have to know you can do it,” said Dyer. “And jump.”

V

confidence, maturity. I owe everything I am to that awesome community.”

Dyer’s skiing career is continuing to blow up—she was the first female on the cover of Freeskier Magazine, and Powder recently named her “Female Skier of the Year.” She has won several big-mountain competitions and has skied just about everywhere in the world (you may recognize her from multiple cameos in Warren Miller and Teton Gravity Research films). And now she wants to inspire others to do the same.

Taking her own advice to jump into new adventures, Dyer recently directed and produced her first documentary film, “Pretty Faces,” based on all-female skiers and crowdfunded entirely from Kickstarter. “I had no idea what I was getting into, but I was willing

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localbuzz // outdoor therapy

recreation therapy higher ground aims to change lives

BY Danielle Flam

Full and Half Day Rafting Trips Kayak Lessons Float Fishing

Sun Valley | Stanley Salmon River

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When Kate Weihe, executive director of Higher Ground Sun Valley (formerly known as Sun Valley Adaptive Sports), began working at the nonprofit in 2008, trying to get veterans to come to Sun Valley and participate in their military program was “like pulling teeth,” she said.

But now, seven years later, Higher Ground’s military program has a waiting list of over 700 people, all eager to participate in one of their nine week-long summer programs that offer military personnel and veterans with traumatic brain injuries, post traumatic stress disorder, military sexual trauma and other polytrauma the chance to raft, flyfish, horseback ride or just hang out at Pettit Lake. Higher Ground also offers a non-military recreational program that serves Blaine County residents with physical, cognitive and developmental disabilities.

This program, too, is growing in popularity, providing unparalleled recreational opportunities and a growing sense of community for approximately 60 people every summer.

36 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

What makes Higher Ground’s military and non-military programs so popular is the nonprofit’s unique approach to therapy: recreation in the outdoors. The programs are all rooted in the idea that outdoor recreation is beneficial to one’s health and wellbeing. Higher Ground also provides an added therapeutic approach, which helps participants set personalized goals to build self-confidence, learn about themselves and reduce stress and anxiety.

It’s not difficult to understand the appeal of the programs; we all love to be out and recreating. It feels good to spend time with friends and exercise and enjoy the natural beauty Sun Valley has to offer. Cara Barrett, recreation program director of the organization, joked that “a lot of people make fun of us (recreational therapists) saying, ‘what did you go to school for? To teach people to play games?’ But that’s basically what it is all about.”

Higher Ground’s recreational therapists work to figure out what participants’ passions

photo : courtesy higher ground

Higher Ground participants in the military program gather after a fishing outing near Ketchum.

are on the sports and recreation level, and facilitates their getting out to start building their confidence as well as their physical skills.

Some of group’s recreational therapists were inspired to go into this line of work by having grown up with a loved one with an injury.

However, what really unites them is that they all believe wholeheartedly in the power of the outdoors and recreation to help people achieve a better quality of life.

As technological advances are made to recreational equipment, the range of adaptive sports is expanding to include activities of even the most extreme variety—whitewater rafting, rock climbing, mountain biking.

For example, Higher Ground offers a program with off-road hand cycles, in which participants go on weekly rides throughout the summer. They even do a multi-day biking trip around Stanley. The program is directed toward adults with spinal cord injuries, but everybody is welcome to participate.

“It’s an area that lots of organizations haven’t really broached yet,” Weihe said, “taking participants with spinal cord injuries, helping them to get out on these singletrack trails that they didn’t think they would ever ride again. They are riding some pretty gnarly stuff.”

The organization has a fleet of offroad hand cycles and other adaptive sports equipment available to loan out, to help people take advantage of all the great outdoor recreational activities Sun Valley has to offer.

Higher Ground’s military program similarly centers on the restorative power of sport and recreation, offering veterans the opportunity to enjoy a week of outdoor fun with their spouse or supporter of choice in Sun Valley. The week of all-expensespaid recreation provides an opportunity for participants to meet veterans and form bonds with others facing the same challenges and injuries. Recreating together and relaxing in the beautiful wilderness setting instills a sense of fulfillment and empowerment and provides a much-needed sense of community.

These benefits aren’t short-lived. The organization has a three-year follow-up plan for every veteran that attends. This last year Higher Ground expanded its military program to include the families of veterans, and it was a huge success as families had a chance to relax and work on reintegration together.

“We’re planning to do more,” Weihe said with a smile. summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 37

The Essence of Sun Valley.

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localbuzz // profiles

A DAY IN THE LIFE...

OF A SUN VALLEY LOCAL photography Kristin Cheatwood It is safe to say that most people living in the Valley are here because they made an active choice to be here. In this vein, we are always interested in exactly how people landed in this part of Idaho, why they love this place and what inspires them.

What is your Sun Valley story? I was transferred here from Seattle

by lululemon athletica. So, I packed up and moved here sight unseen. Needless to say, I fell in love with the town, people and outdoors and got a foster puppy five days after I moved here.

One of the best decisions I have ever made.

Best line you’ve ever heard (or said) in a bar? “You’re pretty

cute for a redhead”…ummm thanks? That is just one of the many ginger lines I have had the honor of hearing.

with a fun, hardworking team. We’re a small, intimate, supportive team, working together like sisters, day in and day out.

Who’s a hero of yours?

Most difficult yoga pose to master? Anything involving hamstring

My day wouldn’t be complete without … A run with my dog, Bell. Rain, shine or snow we get out there.

My heroes consist of those who surround me and are living life to the fullest. Here in Sun Valley we are at no shortage of these kinds of people.

What’s your favorite summer activity and why? A must is going

What is special about Sun Valley? Our strong community.

over Trail Creek and getting lost.

If you could go anywhere in the world next weekend, where would it be? Well, I’d have to

What do you love about your job? At lululemon I get to work

While we’re a resort market town, our community is always present with love and respect for each other and for the place we love.

say Tunisia because my dad is living there now.

What is the worst job you’ve ever had? After college, I worked as a

production assistant at the CBS San Francisco news station. I had to be at work looking presentable at 3:30 a.m. Enough said.

theYOGI Name: lili hansen Hometown: mill valley, ca Years in Sun Valley: 3 occupation: Showroom manager at lululemon athletica & Barre instructor at Gather Yoga Studio

flexibility. I have super-tight hamstrings from running and biking (basically everything I love to do!).

theEDUCATOR Name: hannes thum Hometown: sun valley, id Years in Sun Valley: Most of them occupation: teacher at community school

HISTORIC CHARM • MODERN COMFORT

What is your Sun Valley story? I thank my parents for that, and I’m

what would you be? Probably

grateful for it.

a food truck driver. Or a builder of intricate wooden objects.

My day wouldn’t be complete without … Seeing the sunset colors on

What is special about Sun Valley? The fact that within a few minutes,

the Pioneers.

What’s your favorite summer activity and why? Swimming in

the river to cool down after a day in the sun. I don’t deal well with heat, and the daily jump into the river is a really important summer afternoon ritual for me. Combine the swim with some evening fishing, and that’s about as happy as I get.

If you could go anywhere in the world next weekend, where would it be? Corn skiing in

the Boulders.

What is the worst job you’ve ever had? Washing dishes in a restaurant

in Anchorage. The job itself wasn’t too bad, but at one point the head chef pointed a knife at me and told me to “get out” because I told a corny joke. So that was that.

Who’s a hero of yours?

Lonesome Larry the fish.

If you weren’t a teacher,

LODGING • DINNER

you can be in some of the most beautiful mountains, any time of year, and not see a soul.

I used to worry that if a statement like that went to print, it would spoil it for us. But the quietness of the woods hasn’t changed yet. I’m very grateful for it.

What was the hardest class you ever took and why? I took a

History of Jazz class in college and a student’s whole grade came from being able to listen to short clips of songs and be able to identify artists, instruments, the year of recording, regional influences, etc. I just couldn’t figure it out and barely passed the class. That was about the same time I went to a doctor and realized that I am basically deaf in low frequencies.

RECREATION • EVENTS

What is a cool fact from biology that everybody should know? Biology is the study of

life, but the craziest thing is that science hasn’t been able to define life yet. There are a lot of ideas out there, but none of them truly define what the difference between life and non-life is. Once that concept settles into your head, biology really starts to feel weird. Science isn’t always purely just science. summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 39

IDAHO ROCKY MOUNTAIN RANCH Stanley, ID

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localbuzz // profiles

What is your Sun Valley story?

I moved to Ketchum to play rugby. Scott “Gonzo” Huffman said it would be great! He did not lie!

My day wouldn’t be complete without …

Seeing smiles, and giving hellos to people we know and to new friends we meet.

What’s your favorite summer activity and why?

People watching year-round because I love to see the awe on their faces of where and how we live in this beautiful place.

theBANJOMAN Name: troy “chuy” hartman (aka “spike coggins”) Hometown: Vacaville, Ca Years in Sun Valley: 25 occupation: works at grumpy’s

If you could go anywhere in the world next weekend, where would it be?

Anywhere in Idaho.

What is the worst job you’ve ever had?

Diggin’ holes in the ground.

Best line you’ve ever heard (or said) in a bar?

A couple Aussie teammates were sitting in the Casino talking about our match that day, and a girl said, “I just love yer Southern accent; where in the South you from?” Without missing a beat, they looked at each other and to her and said at the same time, “Texas!” Fell off my stool.

Who’s a hero of yours and why?

My granddad, for his bravery, his compassion, his want for everything he did!

What is special about Sun Valley?

People, weather, Idaho.

What musician would you most want to play music with?

Any and all I have not played with.

Song that best reflects your approach to life?

Roger Miller’s “Can’t Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd.”

What do you love most about being a musician?

The freedom of the art and pouring myself into it.

40 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

Residential // Renovation // Cabin // Commercial

208-726-4263 // oďŹ&#x192;ce@lloydconstructioninc.com // 481-B Bell Drive // Ketchum

Micky Braun, lead singer of Micky & the Motorcars, greets the crowd at the Braun Brothers Reunion.

outdoor music fests

Cody Canada and the Departed will be performing at the Braun Brothers Reunion Aug. 6-8.

a survival guide

BY Kelly Hennessy Summer in Sun Valley means gloriously long days spent playing outdoors. And one of the great outdoor experiences to be had is enjoying fine music in stunning settings.

For those who like to dance on the grass or those who just take it all in, here is a survival guide for some great music events happening throughout the region.

Grand Teton Music Festival

July 1 – Aug. 15 | Jackson, WY World-class musicians gather at the Grand Teton Music Festival to create “top-notch music, equal to the highest level of music making anywhere in the world,” said Susan Scarlata, director of marketing and sales for the festival. Kicking off on July 1, the festival runs for seven weeks, offering eight full-symphony orchestra concerts and 15 additional small ensemble groups.

Insider’s Tip: Be spontaneous—this year the festival is offering $15 “Day-Of ” tickets for all concerts.

Don’t Forget: The GTMF Program Book, so you can navigate the broad offerings; a cowboy hat, to make sure you fit in with the locals; and some sleep—the Grand Teton Music Festival is a marathon, not a sprint.

targhee festivals

July 17 – 19; Aug. 7 – 9 Grand Targhee Resort | Alta, WY The Targhee Music Fest is entering its 11th year this July. This festival boasts an eclectic roster, featuring everyone from blues artist Taj Mahal, to the southern rockers Gov’t Mule, and alternative songbird Brandi Carlile.

For those who enjoy their banjo front and center, there is nothing better than the Targhee Bluegrass Festival. Featuring bluegrass darlings like the Two Bit Franks, Donna and the Buffalo, and Elephant Revival, this festival is well worth the drive.

Insider’s Tip: To the kids out there, explore the trees. According to Jennie White, marketing and social media manager at Grand Targhee, kids often build their own forts in there.

Don’t Forget: A jacket, for when the sun

42 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

ducks behind the mountains; a bike, to get some rides in before or between sets; and an instrument, so you can partake in the jam sessions that often spring up in the campground.

Sun Valley Summer Symphony

In Focus Series: July 26 – 31; Orchestra Concerts: Aug. 4 – 19 | Sun Valley, ID Each year, aficionados and dilettantes alike flock to the Sun Valley Pavilion to enjoy the world-class orchestra. The best part is, it’s all free.

If you’re a more serious classical music enthusiast, you can opt for one of the 1,600 seats inside the Pavilion. For those who hope to enjoy the sunshine and social scene as much as the music, the lawn behind sits 4,000 and even comes equipped with a 14-by-25-foot “big screen.”

Insider’s Tip: Intimidated by classical music?

Take in the family concert. While it may be geared toward kids, anyone who is a child at heart will be delighted.

Don’t Forget: Your corkscrew, a block of Brie and a low-backed chair.

music,” Braun said.

Insider’s Tip: Most artists stay to enjoy the festival, so this is your chance to meet the men (and women) behind the music.

Don’t Forget: Your cowboy hat to get you in the mood for some red dirt country; a fleece, for those chilly Challis nights; and your pickup, so you can crash in at least some kind of bed at the end of a long day.

photos clockwise from top left: michael bauer

|

michael bauer

|

courtesy northern rockies music fest

Carrie Rodriguez performs at the 2014 Northern Rockies Music Festival.

Northern Rockies Music Festival

July 31 – Aug. 1 Hop Porter Park | Hailey, ID Thirty-eight years of folk and rock have solidified this festival as a Sun Valley summer staple. The Northern Rockies Music Festival feels like a neighborhood block party, which just happens to feature some of the top names in music. This year’s festival features Honey Island Swamp Band, a rock band hailing from New Orleans, and Carolyn Wonderland, who Dana Dugan, the NRMF director, described as “a wonder—a major guitar-shredding talent.”

Insider’s Tip: The stage backs right up on the Big Wood River, so bring your suit and cool off between sets.

Don’t Forget: Your kids, to ensure another generation of music-lovers keeps this festival going; your bike, because it would be a waste to drive to a festival right in Hailey’s backyard; and some good stories, as you are guaranteed to be catching up with more than a few neighbors.

Braun Brothers Reunion

Aug. 6 – 8 | Challis, ID Pack your cut-offs and your cooler, and head north to enjoy this family-grown festival. Started by the Braun Brothers in Stanley in 1980, the festival has since moved to Challis, losing none of its originality. It feels like a backyard barbeque with your nearest and dearest.

The love of “red dirt” country cuts across generations and geography, according to Muzzie Braun, one of the titular Braun Brothers. Attendees are generally anywhere from their late 20s to their 60s, and “people come from all areas of the country…all united for the sole purpose of hearing this great

Mountain Home Country Music Festival

Providing Blaine County kids and families with healthy, active recreational opportunities for over 30 years.

July 31 – Aug. 2 20 miles west of Fairfield, ID Country music fans have a treat awaiting them at the end of July. The biggest names in country music will be taking the stage in the foothills just west of Fairfield. Headliners include Blake Shelton, Brad Paisley, Florida Georgia Line, Sara Evans and Clare Dunn.

Insider’s Tip: Nashville has nothing on the Mountain Home Festival with its spectacular backdrop and star-studded lineup.

Don’t Forget: This festival provides a perfect opportunity to enjoy some great camping while listening to the biggest names in country music.

don’t miss john butler trio – June 23

This Australian roots and jam band is coming to River Run! sunvalleycenter.org

shooter jennings – June 27

Son of Waylon Jennings, Shooter brings his outlaw country music to Stanley. shooterjennings.com

wilco – August 16

Wilco brings its experimental folk and art rock to the Valley this summer. sunvalleycenter.org

treefort music festival – March 2016 (next year!)

Treefort showcases dozens of performers at multiple downtown Boise venues. The five-day festival features national and regional musicians as well as up-andcoming talent. treefortmusicfest.com

summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 43

Aquatics • Baseball • Basketball FitWorks • Galena Lodge Gymnasium • Harriman Trail • HUB Youth Center • Indoor Playground Lacrosse • Pump Track • Soccer Summer Camp • Croy Nordic Sand Volleyball • Track and Field Wood River Trail 208-578-BCRD • www.bcrd.org

localbuzz // events calendar

Check out

sunvalleymag.com

for up-to-date calendar and events coverage

4th of July parade in downtown Hailey

June 19 – 20

Relay for Life is a community gathering in which everyone participates in the fight against cancer.

Help raise funds to support local programs and services provided by the American Cancer Society. relayforlife.org/blainecountyid

Ride Sun Valley Bike Festival June 25 – 28

The four-day festival kicks off with the SheepTown Drag Race, a comedic battle challenging the brave to race with flaming logs chained behind their bikes. Enjoy races, concerts and clinics. ridesunvalley.com

Sun Valley Half Marathon June 20

Experience one of the most scenic and trafficfree courses imaginable. The Sun Valley Half Marathon, 10K, and 5K races utilize the Valley’s multi-user paved path system through the cities of Sun Valley and Ketchum. woodriverymca.org

The Ketchum/Sun Valley Rotary Club presents its second annual outdoor craft beer festival at Ketchum Town Square. ketchumsunvalleyrotary.org

The Advocates Annual Gala June 26

The Advocates’ annual fundraiser is a black and white soiree not to be missed. This year the band FreddyPink out of Seattle will be rocking the party. theadvocatesorg.org

Hailey Days of the Old West Celebration July 3 – 5

Enjoy the Fourth, Hailey style. The city plays host to a rodeo, fireworks, parade, pancake breakfast, and antique market. There is plenty to do and authentic entertainment for all ages. haileyidaho.com

Higher Ground Hero’s Journey July 6

Join Higher Ground for its signature Hero’s Journey Fundraising Dinner and Event. General Stanley McChrystal will be the honored guest speaker. highergroundsv.org

courtesy tal roberts

Relay For Life

June 20

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The Sun Valley Wellness Festival brings nationally renowned speakers and practitioners of mind, body, spirit and environmental wellness to the Sun Valley Resort. sunvalleywellness.org

Ketchum-Sun Valley BrewFest

courtesy sun valley summer symphony

May 21 – 25

|

A challenge of any Sun Valley summer is finding the time to get to all of the remarkable events in the offering. Headliner concerts, bike festivals, parades, road rallies, food and wine events, symphonies and art festivals—these are just some of the possibilities.

Wellness Festival

photos clockwise from bottom left: courtesy hailey chamber of commerce

summer 2015

/ ride sun valley

The Sun Valley Summer Symphony draws thousands to its free concerts.

Ride Sun Valley Bike Festival draws some of the best bikers in the country.

Sun Valley Summer Symphony July 26 – August 19

With free year-round music education programs complementing free-admission concerts, the Sun Valley Summer Symphony has claimed a place of world-class status in the classical music scene. svsummersymphony.org

Northern Rockies Music Festival July 31 – August 1

This family-friendly, long-running multi-genre music festival is a highlight of summer in the Valley. Enjoy food and arts vendors, camping, raffles and more. northernrockiesmusicfestival.com

Sun Valley Center Arts & Crafts Festival August 7 – 9

Ketchum Arts Festival July 10 – 12

Save the date for the popular Ketchum Arts Festival, which features over 100 visually enchanting art-filled booths dispersed over Festival Meadows along Sun Valley Road. ketchumartsfestival.com

Sun Valley Writers’ Conference July 17 – 20

The Sun Valley Writers’ Conference brings some of the biggest names in the literary world to Sun Valley for four days of talks, discussions, and workshops. svwc.com

SVCA Annual Wine Auction July 23 – 25

Partake in the Sun Valley Center for the Arts’ four-day weekend of extraordinary wine experiences, exceptional food prepared by top chefs, one-of-a-kind auction lots and electrifying entertainment. sunvalleycenter.org

Sun Valley Road Rally July 24 – 25

This no-speed-limit event allows drivers to test their cars at top speed along a stretch of State Highway 75 north of Ketchum. Join a team, or just enjoy the high-speed show. sunvalleyroadrally.com

Ranked as one of the best outdoor-juried art shows in the nation, the Sun Valley Center Arts and Crafts Festival is a three-day outdoor exhibition of 130 artists from around the country. sunvalleycenter.org

Standhope Ultra Challenge August 12 – 15

The Challenge is a four-day, 83-mile stage race through the Smoky and Pioneer Mountains.

The race peaks out at 11,000 feet and passes along the shores of Goat Lake, the highest lake in Idaho. runwildidaho.com/standhope

Wood River Valley Studio Tour August 18 – 23

The Wood River Valley Studio Tour connects artists and art lovers through an annual exploration of local artist studios, art education workshops and collectors’ series lectures. wrvstudiotour.org

Wagon Days September 3 – 7

Every Labor Day weekend Ketchum celebrates the days before railroads or automobiles reached the town. The Big Hitch Parade, for one, should not be missed. wagondays.org For a complete list of outdoor summer concerts, check out our Summer Survival Guide on p. 42!

summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 45

A Celebration of Wine.

A Benefit for Arts and Education.

A Celebration of Wine

A Benefit for Arts and Education

THURSDAY, JULY 23 Registration & Auction Lot Viewing Vintner Dinners Junior Patrons Circle Tapas & Tasting

FRIDAY, JULY 24 Registration & Auction Lot Viewing Wine Auction Gala

SATURDAY, JULY 25 Winning Bidders Brunch Vine & Dine PLUS

Early Entry Indoor Wine Tasting

Vine & Dine

General Entry

FOR TICKETS OR MORE INFORMATION

sunvalleycenter.org/wineauction (208) 726-9491 PRESENTING SPONSOR

Primary dental care from infants to adolescents All children should have a dental visit by age 1 We accept all forms of insurance No referral needed, ages 0-18 Pediatric specialists 317 S. River St. in Hailey â&#x20AC;˘ (208) 578-4500 www.smiles4kidsidaho.com

360sunvalley.com

kids p. 48 the spot

p. 50 higher ground

for the future of sun valley

p. 52 run like a girl

p. 54 kids camps

DON’T MISS •

kids pages

Some consider the Sun Valley area as one big playground for adults and kids alike.

But the little ones have especially rich options given the array of outdoor summer camps, as well as acting, dancing and art programs at their fingertips. In 360 Kids, we highlight The Spot, a new children’s conservatory; Higher Ground’s expanding programs for children with cognitive challenges; and Girls on the Run, which seeks to empower young girls through the sport of running.

summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 47

360kids // theater

the spot aiming to be edgy, relevant, youthful

BY Karen Bossick

Yanna Lantz (right) , one of the founders of The Spot, and Annabel Webster, a high school student and program participant, strike a pose.

48 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

leading a circle of four high school boys and two teenage girls through warm-up exercises, rolling their tongues around in their mouths and screaming, “Baby, you love me!”

They then explored the motivation behind scenes in scripts like “The Breakfast Club,” before acting them out.

“we love to teach, and kids here love to learn” –peter burke, co-founder, the spot “Be slightly theatrical, not overexaggerating,” Lantz told Kristian Whittaker and Cutter Grathwohl, two Community School actors.

“We love to teach, and kids here love to learn,” Burke said.

The Spot hopes to expand to adult classes.

And it hopes to put on concerts and other shows in conjunction with gallery walks and other community events. If all goes according to plan, The Spot will put on its second play—the Tony Award-winning musical comedy, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”—in July and August.

casting call

There are a number of fun summer programs in which young performers can hone their acting, dancing and singing skills. St. Thomas Playhouse, for one, offers a three-week performing arts camp (June 8-20) culminating in public performances of “Schoolhouse Rock Live, Jr.” (children 4-7 and 8-13). The nexStage Theatre has three programs: day camps spanning one, two or three weeks (June 29-July 17); Camp Little Laugh, which is a one-week sleep-away camp (Aug. 2-7); and a Shakespeare Youth Workshop held Aug. 10-23 for performers 14-22. Finally, the Blaine County Recreation District offers Theater Camp June 29July 23, culminating in a performance of Aladdin on July 23. Visit sunvalleymag. com/kidscamps/ for more details.

/ courtesy the spot

district as a conservatory for young artists wanting to hone their voice, dance and acting skills. Founders introduced the venue to the community by screening a short film that locals had made spoofing paranormal researchers. They even served up a potluck of trailer park food like Jell-O salad and Cheez Whiz.

The Spot hosted a concert a few weeks later. Then its founders decided to plunge into “Next to Normal.”

“We want to do shows that delve into what’s difficult about being human,” Moellenberg said.

Jane Reynolds has followed three of the founders’ careers since they started as actors in St. Thomas Playhouse’s youth program. “This is a young group of people who grew up in the area and had a dream. To do the kind of content they did in ‘Next to Normal’ takes a lot of maturity and guts,” she said.

Indeed, Kevin Wade is a Sun Valley native who grew up on the stage of the Community School and St. Thomas Playhouse. He studied acting at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, returning home each summer to coach teenagers in summer theater projects like “West Side Story.” He returned to Sun Valley in May after graduating from Harvard University with a Master of Fine Arts degree.

Peter Burke, a fellow Tisch alumnus, grew up vacationing in Sun Valley. He and Moellenberg began joining Wade in helping out with St. Thomas Playhouse. Burke is now the upper school media specialist at the Community School; Moellenberg directs St. Thomas Playhouse.

The trio researched high school performing arts conservatory programs across the country before setting up The Spot. The group was sitting by the Big Wood River one day, nursing beers, when Yanna Lantz—the fourth founding member—made a toast: “This is the spot,” meaning Sun Valley.

“Kevin said, ‘That’s the name!’ ” recalled Burke.

On a recent warm spring day, Moellenberg and Lantz sat on the floor of The Spot

photograph : roland lane

Brett Moellenberg knew he and his co-stars had struck a nerve as they watched theatergoers file out of The Spot after watching the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Next to Normal” in January.

One person left, an anguished look on his face, after watching the distraught mother in the edgy musical wrestle with bipolar disorder. Another left pleased that the theater company had tackled such a tough issue in its first production.

When all six performances sold out, the cast added additional seats, along with a seventh performance.

“We were blown away by the response— we’re still in shock,” said Peter Burke, one of the founding members of The Spot.

The Spot opened in September 2014 at 220 Lewis Street in Ketchum’s light industrial

Meeting the

It’s your life. We help you live it.

Now seeing patients in Hailey and Ketchum!

Pediatric care is available in the Wood River Valley at St. Luke’s Clinic – Family Medicine.

To make an appointment with pediatrician Dr. Bart Adrian and the family medicine team, call (208) 788-3434.

stlukesonline.org

Needs of Kids and Families

360kids // higher ground

Higher Ground’s kids camp runs for 10 weeks and serves more than 60 Blaine County residents.

summer camp is back Higher Ground Fosters Emotional and Physical Growth Children today spend less time outdoors than any previous generation. In a Kaiser Family Foundation survey of more than 800 mothers, 71 percent reported that they played outdoors more often than indoors when they were young, while only 26 percent said this is true of their kids today.

Kids 8 to 18 years old devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes using entertainment media in a typical day (more than 53 hours a week). All the more surprising because spending time recreating outdoors is thought to provide various emotional and physical health benefits and is thought to be a vital part of a child’s development, contributing to their quality of life and future outcomes.

Children with disabilities risk even lower participation in recreational and leisure activities at home and in the community because of the added adversity they face.

It is estimated that adolescents with disabilities watch about 2.5 hours more of TV daily than kids without disabilities, taking part in fewer organized social activities with 50 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

fewer contact with peers outside of school.

This, however, is not true for the children participating in Higher Ground’s camp this summer, an opportunity for children with physical and cognitive disabilities to explore the Valley and get involved in the wider community through outdoor activities and recreation.

The only program of its kind in the Wood River Valley, the 10-week camp provides a unique setting for individuals who otherwise might not have the opportunity to participate in a day-camp experience. Higher Ground’s summer program is open mainly to Blaine County residents, but the group will accommodate the occasional visitor or second homeowner.

The program has about 60 participants on average that are divided into four groups: Pioneer camp (ages 4-7), Boulder camp (8-12 year olds) and because of its popularity gets further split into Boulder North and Boulder South, and the Sawtooth group (over 13, most are between 20-30). Days

photo : courtesy higher ground sun valley

BY Danielle Flam

are jam-packed with activities: swimming at the YMCA, rock climbing, paddleboarding and canoeing on the lake, whitewater rafting, tennis, soccer, mountain biking, archery, the Korean martial art Subakdo, music, art and more.

These activities provide more than just summer entertainment. They are led by recreational therapists and designed to include a social and personal achievement component, as well as activities to promote emotional and physical growth. “We focus on the recreational therapy portion of the activity we are doing,” Recreation Program Director Cara Barrett said.

Although the choice of activities to select from is endless, one way Higher Ground separates itself from other organizations is that the recreational therapists meet with parents and the child’s occupational therapist to see what specific goals they are working on in school. They then work to find activities that continue to address these specific skills and goals. This helps the kids keep focus and stay up to speed on their skills so that when school resumes in the fall, they are prepared. “So far,” Barrett says, “this has been extremely successful.”

Higher Ground’s summer camp is also coordinating activities with other local day camps to promote acceptance and create awareness within the community of people with disabilities. “When we’re doing trainings or educating people, we try to teach them person-first language, which is just putting the person before the disability. For example, ‘I’m working with a child with a disability’ or ‘I’m working with a boy with autism’ not ‘I’m working with an autistic boy,’ Barrett said.

Higher Ground recreational therapists work hard to remove barriers to active involvement in recreational activities and to design programs that enhance children’s participation.

Camp Big Wood June 8th - august 28th Full day and Half day options available 18 months through 6 years of age (see our camp listings on pg.54!)

online resources

For an extensive listing of the many camps available to all kids, check out our 360 Kids Camp section on page 54. Browse the listings for an array of summertime activities that range from the performing arts to wilderness adventures. Ongoing coverage of all things kids is available at sunvalleymag.com/360/.

summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 51

Fun-filled summer days, Sun Valley style!

Sign up now for Camp Big Wood at

Fun-filled summer days, Sun Valley style!

18 months through 6 years of age Sign up now for Camp Big Wood at the Big Wood School…

Big Wood School • 100 Saddle Road, Ketchum • 208-726-9053

GALENA YOUTH ADVENTURE C A M P

360kids // girls on the run

run like a girl! organization works to empower girls

BY Margot Ramsay

For more information & to register, please call 208.726.4010

www.galenalodge.com

Little girls today live in a complicated, and very grown-up world. Between the Miley Cyrus good-girl-gone-bad persona and the television shows and magazines filled with women whose body mass index classifies them as “medically underweight,” it becomes a challenging task to find an appropriate and relevant role model for girls. Couple that with the current—and the foreseeable future’s—absolute obsession with social 52 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

media, and girls are in need of healthy outlets and positive role models more than ever.

Role models in the form of teachers, moms, friends and coaches—people who look and behave like real women, rather than movie stars or models who promote an ideal that is neither feasible nor healthy.

Girls on the Run imagines a world in which “every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue

her dreams.” It is in this world that Mary Fauth, executive director of Girls on the Run Wood River Valley, spends 10 weeks each season as she and the other coaches mentor and guide girls in grades three to five (Girls on the Run program), and grades six to eight (Heart and Sole program).

“Girls on the Run and Heart and Sole are curriculum-based, after-school programs,” Fauth explained. “They utilize the power of running to provide girls with the tools to honor their voices, recognize their gifts, take care of their bodies and envision their limitless potential. Running is used to inspire and motivate girls, encourage lifelong health and fitness, and build confidence through accomplishment,” she added.

Girls meet twice a week with their volunteer coaches to play running games and discuss topics pertinent to their current reality—making healthy decisions, body image and the media, cooperation and teambuilding and contributing to the community. According to Fauth, Girls on the Run programs have been offered in the Wood River Valley for 12 years and have positively affected the lives of over 1,400 young women in the community.

Local family practice physician and mother extraordinaire—Cortney Vandenburgh—got involved with the board of Girls on the Run of the Wood River Valley during the fall of 2013 when she became interested in the program for her own daughters. Vandenburgh coached during the 2014 season and explained, “We had a small group of third-grade girls, and we discussed topics and offered tools for issues related to peer pressure, gossip and helping others.” As the season progressed, Vandenburgh said the girls looked forward to the classes, and that an important lesson her daughter Anika, who participated in Girls on the Run, learned, was “to help work through problems that we might have with other girls.”

The season ended with a bake sale and a 5-kilometer run. “The girls did an amazing job in the run, and proved to themselves that they could accomplish great things with some hard work and a positive attitude,” Vandenburgh said.

One past participant best summed up the program: “Girls on the Run made me realize that I am the boss of my brain. I know that whatever I set my mind to do, I can do!”

summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 53

Hillary Maybery Photography hillarymaybery.com

208.726.6487 | hillary@hillarymaybery.com Ketchum, Idaho

360kids // kids camps galena youth adventure camp

Galena Lodge

Ages: 8-12 Dates: Weekly June 22-26, July 6-Aug. 21

An adventure-based day camp for ages 8-12 (also offers weeklong camp sessions for ages 6-8). Activities include horseback riding, orienteering, paddleboarding, hiking, biking, climbing, rafting and an overnight in a yurt (during certain weeks). galenalodge.com; 208.726.4010

mountain adventure tours Ages: 3 & up Dates: June 15-Aug. 24

Camping, rafting, biking, paddleboarding and more! To see a full list of camps, adventures and schedules visit mountainadventuretours.org;

kids camps

208.309.1005

day camps

arts & music

science

sports

adventure

movement

the mountain school day camp Ages: 4-13 Dates: June 8-Aug. 28

Plan a fun-packed summer for the kids using our 360 Kids Camps Resource Guide. From drama to river rafting, day camp to sleep away, our camp guide covers all there is to do this summer for the little ones. day camps bcrd summer day camp

BCRD Ages: K-7th Grade Dates: June 8-Sept. 4

An active, recreation-based camp that is safe, accessible and affordable for all. Kinder Camp for kids going into kindergarten, Explorer Day Camp for grades 1-2, Discovery Day Camp for grades 3-4 and Challenger Day Camp for grades 5-7. bcrd.org; 208.788.BCRD

20-24), Vacation Bible School (July 27-31), Kids & Their Kritters / Pet Week (Aug. 3-7), Weird Science (Aug. 10-14), Sun Valley Summer (Aug. 17-21), and Down on the Farm (Aug. 24-28). 208.726.9053 city of ketchum parks

& rec

Summer Youth Program Ages: 8-9 and 10-14

The Summer Youth Recreation Program includes two five-week sessions, Monday through Thursday, June 8-Aug. 13.

Friday activities are available (with advance registration). ketchumidaho.org/registration;

Twelve weeks of Summer Camps! We strive to create summer camps that are an engaging voyage for each child to discover the world and oneself while the magic and wonder of childhood are protected and respected! themountainschool.info; 208.788.3170

ymca day camp

YMCA

Ages: 5-9 Dates: June 8-Aug. 28

Bring your kids to the YMCA for the day or the week. Each week will have a different theme and adventure! Themes include Summer Start Up (June 8-12), Green Planet (June 15-19), Outdoor Adventure (June 22-26), Out of this World (June 29-July 3), Pirate Paradise (July 6-10), Own Private Idaho (July 13-17), Animal Planet (July 20-24), Foodie Fun (July 27-31), Atlantis (Aug. 3-7), Epic Olympics (Aug. 10-14), Amazing Arts (Aug. 17-21) and Summer Rewind (Aug. 24-28).

camp big wood

208.726.7820

Ages: 18 months-6 years Dates: June 8-Aug. 28

galena kids adventure day camp

zenergy kids summer camp

Ages: 6-8 Dates: June 15-19 and June 29-July 3

Ages: 4-8 Dates: June 8-Aug. 14

Big Wood School

A fun-filled summer day camp with themed sessions weekly. Full-day and half-day options available. Themes include: Free to be You & Me (June 8-12), Flower Power (June 15-19), Cooking Kiddos (June 22-26), Tour de Big Wood / Bicycle Week (June 29-July 3), Krafty Kiddos (July 6-10), Pleasing to Our Planet / Ecology (July 13-17), Sports of All Sorts (July 54 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

Galena Lodge

Designed for younger campers to prepare them for the Galena Adventure Camp. Each day provides new adventures and activities while providing a safe and secure environment for young campers to learn and grow. galenalodge.com; 208.726.4010

woodriverymca.org; 208.727.9622

Zenergy

Zenergy Kids Summer Camp offers kids a way to be active and have fun. Activities include swimming, fun and exciting themed art projects, outdoor play, yoga, kayaking, tennis, gymnastics, nature walks and dance as they relate to the weekly camp theme. zenergyts/registration

arts

& music

letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s go to japan

Boulder Mountain Clayworks Ages: 6-12 years Dates: Weekly June 15-Aug. 14 (9:30-noon)

Kids will explore the culture of Japan by making wonderful primitive figure sculptures based on Jomon pottery, trying a bit of calligraphy and designing teacups for a traditional tea ceremony at the end.

The most fun you can have on three wheels!

KICKBOARD SCOOTERS FOR ALL AGES Fuel-free, foldable, smooth gliding, and a convenient way to get around . . . test drive our demos today!

bouldermtnclay.com; 208.726.4484

teen throwing

Boulder Mountain Clayworks Ages: Grades 6 and older Dates: Weekly from June 15-July 31 and (intermediate) Aug. 3-7

An intensive camp for teens with enthusiastic teachers. Learn to wedge, center, pull and push and make mugs, pitchers and some bowls on the pottery wheel. bouldermtnclay.com; 208.726.4484

community kidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; kitchen

Community School

Ages: 5-6 and 7-8 Dates: June 22-25 and July 20-23

An opportunity for kids to experiment with healthy foods and create their own snacks and meals. They will learn how to make an amazing breakfast, lunch and dinner menu while also creating healthy and delicious snacks. communityschool.org

svss music workshops

Sun Valley Summer Symphony Ages: 6-19 Dates: Aug. 3-7

Music instruction by professional musicians in piano, string instruments, woodwinds, brass, percussion and voice for elementary-throughcollege-age students. Applications online: svsummersymphony.org/education; 208.578.5464 micro kickboard

svss music workshops premiere

Combining elegant Swiss design and cutting-edge technology

program

Sun Valley Summer Symphony Ages: 16-23 Dates: Aug. 1-8

An opportunity for upper high school and college students of all musical disciplines to participate in an intensive course of study in their chosen discipline. svsummersymphony.org/ education; 208.578.5464

summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 55

4th & Washington Ketchum

208-726-5966

The Village Shops Sun Valley www.toystoresunvalley.com

Ce l e b r ati n g 36

years of

208-622-5966

toy s

360kids // kids camps

bcrd theater camp

BCRD

5b sports camps Community School

sports leagues

Ages: All ages welcomed Dates: June 29-July 23

Ages: Grades 5-8 and Grades 9-12, boys and girls

Ages: K-7th Grade

Come and have fun with creative movement, expressive games and improvisation, with intentional progression geared toward a final performance! bcrd.org; 208-788-BCRD

Community School offers sports camps designed to develop core skills, fundamentals and agility for all levels in a fun and supportive environment. Camps include: 5b basketball camp

reading

& writing connection camp

Community School

5b lacrosse camp

Ages: Grades 1-3 and 6-8 Dates: July 6-9 and 13-16

Sail into summer with a fun, theme-based reading and writing workshop. communityschool.org; 208.622.3960

science kids’ technology camp

Community School

Ages: 10-13 Dates: July 20-23 and July 27-30

These exciting, challenging and one-of-kind technology-focused camps are designed to advance critical thinking skills, promote fluid intelligence and teach problem-solving techniques. communityschool.org mad scientist chemistry camp

Community School

Ages: Grades 5-9 Dates: July 20-23 and July 27-30

These exciting, challenging and one-of-kind technology-focused camps are designed to advance critical thinking skills, promote fluid intelligence and teach problem-solving techniques. communityschool.org mr d.’s science adventures day camp

Pioneer Montessori

Ages: Grades 2-6 Dates: Weekly from July 6-25

Choose from three different fun-filled day camps, Mo’Ventures (July 6-10), Xtra’Ventures (July 13-17), and Sci’Ventures (July 20-24)! pioneermontessorischool.org; 208.726.9060

Ages: Grades 6-10 Dates: July 13-16

5b middle school volleyball camp Ages: Grades 6-8 Dates: June 29-July 2

soccer school Ages: 9-18 Boys and Girls Dates: July 27-31 For more information and detailed descriptions, please visit communityschool.org

lost river outfitters kids camps

Lost River Outfitters Ages: 7- 13 Dates: June 15-Sept. 4

The most knowledgeable fly shop in town offers the best kids flyfishing camp for the summer! Your kids will learn wading safety, casting, streamside etiquette, catch and release, and more with our fun-filled summer camp. lostriveroutfitters.com 208.726.1706

tennis development camp

Zenergy

Ages: 8-12 Dates: July 6-10, 13-17 and Aug. 3-7, 10-14

Coached by Director of Tennis USPTA Pro Rob Kolb and professional staff. Includes daily USPTA tennis coaching, video analysis, sport-specific swim training with Coach Ed Flory, hiking, and daily sport-specific stretching (9am-noon). 208.725.0595 ext. 108 tennis competitive training camp

Zenergy

Ages: 10-17 Dates: June 29-July 3 and July 27-31

sports city of ketchum parks Ages: 8-9 and 10-14 Dates: June 8-Aug. 13

Ages: Grades 5-12 Dates: July 27-30

& rec

Ball games, basketball, birding, field/lawn games, flag football, golf, kickball, mountain biking, skateboarding, soccer, swim club, tennis, and volleyball. ketchumidaho.org/registration 56 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

A powerful combination of on-court tennis instruction, agility and footwork, tactical drills, mental toughness/mindset coaching, and video analysis along with specialized fitness workouts makes this program unique and successful.

(9am-1pm). 208.725.0595 ext. 108

BCRD

The BCRD provides enriching programs to develop fundamental youth sports skills in a friendly and encouraging environment, with sports leagues offered in Baseball/Softball/TBall, Basketball, Lacrosse, Soccer, Swimming and Track and Field. Visit BCRD.org for more information, dates, and registration forms and signups. BCRD.org 208.788.BCRD movement cecchetti ballet camp level 1 & 2 Ages: 9 and Older Dates: Level 1 (July 27-31), Level 2 (Aug. 3-7)

Footlight Dance Centre presents a workshop in the Cecchetti Ballet Method. Students 9 and older with more than two years ballet experience. Classes in Level 1, 2-3, 4-5 footlightdancecentre.com; 208.578.5462

dancecamp

Footlight Dance Dates: Session 1 (June 15-19), Session 2 (July 20-24) Ages: Grade 2-4 (in September)

Footlight Dance Centre presents its five-day camp from 9am-2:30pm each day with activities including: Ballet, Hip Hop, Tap, Creative, Dance History, Choreography, Craft Activities, Dance Videos. footlightdancecentre.com 208.578.5462

dance tapestry-summer workshop park performances

Footlight Dance

/

/

Ages: 11-adult Dates: July 13-18

Footlight Dance Centre presents a special intensive weeklong workshop celebrating dance with guest artists from Seattle’s dance scene. Classes in Ballet, Pilates Conditioning, Modern, Jazz, Hip Hop. footlightdancecentre. com; 208.578.5462

fall dance refresher

Footlight Dance

Ages: Intermediate and advanced dancers Dates: Aug. 24-25

Classes in Ballet, Pointe, Jazz/Modern to get ready for fall classes. Special guest artist Isabella Boylston, ABT principal dancer in NYC. footlightdancecentre.com; 208.578.5462

Not All ClAssrooms HAve WAlls

pre K-12 dAy & boArdiNg sCHool iN suN vAlley www.communityschool.org 208.622.3960

360kids // kids camps

glacier peak expedition

adventure bike, raft

Community School Ages: 14-18 Dates: Aug. 1-8

& sup

Mountain Adventure Tours Ages: 7-11 Dates: July 29-Aug. 2

Get ready for a big adventure—a private bike course at the ranch, rafting the Salmon or Payette with experienced guides, then standup paddleboarding at Magic Reservoir. mountainadventuretours.org 208.309.1005

camping

Let’s go to Japan and have a Japanese Tea Ceremony Guest Artist Workshops Studio for Potters

Mountain Adventure Tours

101 & 102

Ages: 7-11 (course 101) and 11-14 (course 202) Dates: July 13-16

Do you feel you are ready for a challenge? Now is the time to learn to pack a backpack, read a map and leave-no-trace camping. Includes a double overnight at a beautiful alpine lake. mountainadventuretours.org; 208.309.1005

mountainadventuretours.org; 208.309.1005

Community School

Community School

Ages: 12-18 (July 27-30); 15 and older (July 31-Aug1)

To see full descriptions of each camp, dates, and times, please visit communityschool.org

&

Mountain Adventure Tours/Flourish Foundation Ages: 14-18 Dates: August 14-18

In partnership with Flourish Foundation, Idaho Base Camp is hosting a mindfulness retreat coupled with a wilderness adventure camp for teens. Cultivate mental and emotional balance, awareness and compassion, deepen connections through team building activities, and spend time in the rugged unspoiled wilderness of Central Idaho. Camp includes two days of mindfulness followed by an overnight experience of whitewater rafting, backpacking, rock climbing and/or horseback riding, then a Sweat Lodge Ceremony and wrap up beside the Big Lost River. mountainadventuretours.org; 208.309.1005

58 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

Parents, this is a chance for your children to go to a sleep-away camp only 45 minutes from Ketchum! We have created a week of wild adventure and cliff-hanging fun along the Big Lost River! white otter adventures kayak/ swiftwater rescue

chess/lego/minecraft camp

wild idaho mindfulness retreat wilderness camp

I & II

Ages: 11-14 Dates: Aug. 2-6 and 9-13

Ages: 4-11 Dates: June 8-July 27 (Dates change for sessions)

471 E. 10th Street #B6 Ketchum, ID 208.726.4484 • bouldermtclay.org

communityschool.org

idaho basecamp sleep away

Mountain Adventure Tours

Children’s Clay Classes:

Spend eight days learning to climb in glaciated terrain on Glacier Peak in Washington. The course introduces the basic skills needed to climb in glaciated terrain, including a summit attempt (depending on conditions).

White Otter Outdoor Adventures invites you to spend four days learning to whitewater kayak safely and competently on Idaho’s Salmon River (July 27-30). Swiftwater Rescue (Level IV) is a two-day course for private boaters, guides and trip leaders. communityschool.org wilderness first aid (wfa)

Community School Ages: 15 and Older Dates: July 13-14

If you plan to spend time in the backcountry or leading outdoor trips, you need to be prepared. Fast paced and hands-on, this twoday course covers a wide range of wilderness medicine topics. communityschool.org young explorers’ camp

Community School

Ages: 2-3 Dates: June 15-July 30

Explore the world through field trips and our remarkable Trail Creek and Sagewillow campuses. Our program is based on the belief that young children are capable and intelligent and that their own interests should drive their learning. communityschool.org

BOOKING

GUIDE TRIPS ON LOCAL WATERS Multi-day Trips to Yellowstone National Park

FINE OUTDOOR GEAR, CLOTHING & GIFTS

Guided Backpacking & High Mountain Lake Fishing

Ages 12 Months to 12 Years Admission inquiries always welcome!

Now Booking our Stanley Steelhead Lodge Guided Summer & Fall Trout & Upland Bird Trips Kids Fly Fishing Camps June 15 -Sept 4

FISHING TRAVEL

FUN

371 Main St. Ketchum • Open 7am - 10pm • (208) 726-1706 www.lostriveroutfitters.com • info@lostriveroutfitters.com

“Free the child’s potential, and you will transform him into the world.”

– Maria Montessori 211 2nd Avenue South, Ketchum 208.726.9060 www.pioneermontessorischool.org

AGES: 4-14

Your full-service Pharmacy providing traditional and compounded medications.

{

a·poth·e·car·y [uh-poth-uh-ker-ee] noun, plural -car·ies. 1. a druggist; a pharmacist. 2. a pharmacy or drugstore.

}

p 208-726-26RX {2679} f 208-726-11RX {1179} 201 N Washington, Ketchum www.ketchumpharmacy.com pharmadonna@gmail.com M-F 9am-6pm, Sat 10am-4pm

MOUNTAINADVENTURETOURS.ORG 208.309.1005

“Tread new paths.”

BAVARIAN SOUL 380 N WASHINGTON AVE KETCHUM 208.928.6488 • bavariansoul.com SOLD EXCLUSIVELY AT BAVARIAN SOUL

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photographs : ray j. gadd

hot hues

some of the best finds in the Valley

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The coolest, most luxurious and best finds of the season from local storesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; perfect to give, covet or hoard all for yourself!

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1. Maison et Cadeaux: maisonetcadeaux.com, 208.622.3101; 2. The Wildflower: thewildfloweridaho.com, 208.788.2425; 3. Barry Peterson Jewelers: barrypeterson.com, 208.726.5202; 4. Willow Papery: willowpapery.com 208.726.0456; 5. Brass Ranch: sunvalley.com, 208.622.2021; 6. M Design and Interiors: mdesignandinteriors.com 208.928.7872; 7. Zenergy: zenergyts.com, 208.725.0595

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1. M Design and Interiors: mdesignandinteriors.com, 208.928.7872; 2. Elle Rose: 208.726.8873; 3. Zenergy: zenergyts.com, 208.725.0595; 4. The Picket Fence: thepicketfence.com, 866.944.5511; 5. Silver Creek Outfitters: silver-creek.com, 208.726.5282; 6. Brass Ranch: sunvalley.com 208.622.2021; 7. My House Furnishings: myhousefurnishings.com, 208.720.8839; 8. Backwoods Mountain Sports: backwoodsmountainsports.com, 208.726.8826

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7 1. Panache: panachesunvalley.com, 208.622.4228; 2. The Picket Fence: thepicketfence.com, 866.944.5511; 3. Barry Peterson Jewelers: barrypeterson.com, 208.726.5202; 4. PURE: 208.727.9080; 5. Silver Creek Outfitters: silver-creek.com, 208.726.5282; 6. Stuhlberg Interiors: stuhlberg.com, 208.726.4568; 7. Backwoods Mountain Sports: backwoodsmountainsports.com, 208.726.8826; 8. Consign Design: 208.727.9466; 9. SQN: sqnsport.com, 208.721.3575

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1. Elle Rose: 208.726.8873; 2. Silver Creek Outfitters: silver-creek.com, 208.726.5282; 3. Comme Les Filles: 208.622.2771; 4. Willow Papery: willowpapery.com, 208.726.0456; 5. Ketchum Flower Girl Friday: ketchumflower.com, 208.622.7364; 6. Lone Star: 208.788.9158; 7. Panache: panachesunvalley.com, 208.622.4228; 8. The Picket Fence: thepicketfence.com, 866.944.5511 64 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

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1. Elle Rose: 208.726.8873; 2. Architectural Resources: arsunvalley.com, 208.928.6379; 3. Armstrong-Root Opticians: armstrongroot.com, 208.726.4250; 4. Tater Tots: tatertotssunvalley.com, 208.725.5437; 5. Elephantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Perch: elephantsperch.com, 208.726.3497; 6. Topnotch: topnotchonline.com, 208.726.7797; 7. Brass Ranch: sunvalley.com, 208.622.2021 summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 65

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1. Ketchum Flower Girl Friday: ketchumflower.com, 208.622.7364 2. Towne and Parke Jewelry: towneandparkejewelry.com, 208. 622.3522; 3. Tater Tots: tatertotssunvalley.com, 208.725.5437; 4. The Picket Fence: thepicketfence.com, 866.944.5511; 5. The Wildflower: thewildfloweridaho.com, 208.788.2425; 6. Lone Star: 208.788.9158; 7. Brass Ranch: sunvalley.com, 208.622.2021; 8. Maison et Cadeaux: maisonetcadeaux.com, 208.622.3101 66 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

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1. Sun Valley Eyeworks: sunvalleyeyeworks.com, 208.726.8749; 2. Comme Les Filles: 208.622.2771; 3. Stuhlberg Interiors: stuhlberg.com, 208.726.4568; 4. Brass Ranch: sunvalley.com, 208.622.2021; 5. The Wildflower: thewildfloweridaho.com, 208.788.2425; 6. Silver Creek Outfitters: silver-creek.com, 208.726.5282; 7. Madeline + Oliver: madelineandoliver.com, 208.726.7779; 8. Willow Papery: willowpapery.com, 208.726.0456

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1. Moss Garden Center: mossgardencenter.com, 208.726.0949; 2. L L Greenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s: llgreens.doitbest.com, 208.788.9359; 3. Sun Valley Garden Center: sunvalleygardencenter.com, 208.788.3533; 4. The Toy Store: toystoresunvalley.com, 208.726.5966; 5. The Farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Daughter: 208.726.6433; 6. Webb: webbland.com, 208.726.7213 / 208.788.2066 summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 69

Rediscover Your Natural Beauty BOTOX® DYSPORT® FILLERS Voluma® Juvaderm® Restylane Silk® Perlane® SKIN CARE Cellex-C® CosMedix™ Results RX® Silk Peel™ Envy® SkinMedica® CosMedix™ / RX® Peels ®

LATISSE

PROCEDURES Smart Skin CO2 / Erbium Laser Smart Lipo MPX Laser Body Sculpting Endotine®Vertical Face Lift Nose & Eylid Surgery Brava Breast Enhancement™ Fat Grafting VASER® Lipo Sculpting ® Revage Hair Restoration AESTHETICS OF PLASTIC SURGERY TOM CRAIS, M.D., F.A.C.S.

Alumnus NYU Plastic Surgery Institute Diplomate American Board of Plastic Surgery Member American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Consultation by appointment

315 S. RIVER ST. • HAILEY, ID 83333 • 208.788.7700 WWW.BEAUTIFULSUNVALLEY.COM

body & soul p. 72

body repair shop

p. 74

stillroom secrets

sunvalleymag.com/bodyandsoul/

staying healthy, balanced and fulfilled

p. 76

allergy-free gardening

DON’T MISS •

recovery

Summer life in the Wood River Valley is an active life.

And with all of that activity comes the necessary body care and maintenance. Julie Molema, in her article “Body Repair Shop,” talks to the experts about how to recover from those big days of hiking and biking. Cheryl Haas explores the world of healing with herbs in “Stillroom Secrets.” And for those green thumbs out there, Patti Murphy provides some tips on allergy-free gardening.

summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 71

Body&Soul // recreate & recover

body repair shop the importance of muscle recovery

BY Julie Molema

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Are you training for the Sun Valley Half Marathon, the hike to Alice Lake, or the grueling 17-mile Fisher Creek mountain bike ride? Whether it’s after a big event, strenuous hike, mountain bike ride or even a kick-butt session at the gym, recovering properly from strenuous activity is the clincher to keeping your body healthy and happy.

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When recovering after a big workout, our bodies need carbohydrates, protein and, of course, plenty of water. Workouts take a lot of energy, and our body pulls that energy from glycogen that gets stored after eating carbohydrates. Once we have worked out and have used that energy up, it is time to replace it.

“Eating a quality form of carbs like fruit or grains will help replenish our energy for the next workout,” said Emily Fiero, a Wood River Valley nutrition consultant. “We all know that protein is important for muscle growth—this is because when we work out our muscles are actually being broken down and torn—eating protein within 30 minutes of a workout will repair the existing muscle and help it to grow even more,” added Fiero. For your post-workout meal, 72 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

Fiero recommends chicken, brown rice and a salad or a shake with yogurt and berries.

In addition, she advises water before, during and after your workout.

Promote Circulation Maria Morris, L.Ac., owns and operates Nourishing Roots, Community Acupuncture.

In this community acupuncture setting, several patients are treated at once, creating a collective energetic field that is soothing for many patients.

“Acupuncture is very effective for speeding recovery after a workout and for enhancing sports performance overall,” said Morris.

“After a big workout during which muscles can get strained and tighten up, athletes commonly experience a feeling of stiffness and soreness—this comes from the micro trauma within the muscle fibers.”

By promoting increased circulation of blood and energy, acupuncture treats adhesions where scar tissue has formed deep within the muscles, speeding recovery and allowing the potential for training sooner and pain free. “The body can better assimilate nutrients and get rid of cellular and systemic waste, which in turn improves stamina, boosts immunity and provides more energy to do

workouts,” Morris explained.

Acupuncture also affects the mental component of training by reducing stress and anxiety, increasing body awareness and promoting feelings of calm and well-being.

Stretch, rest, repair Besides the mentally beneficial qualities of yoga and stretching, a yoga session after a strenuous activity can help muscle recovery by reducing lactic acid buildup and help increase circulation.

“Doing yoga post activity will improve your mobility and flexibility, which will, in turn, increase your movement efficiency in all activities,” explained Gather Yoga Studio instructor Beth Stuart.

Giving your body the rest it needs is as important as the workout itself. Local masseuse Alison Rosen of Sun Valley Remedies said that allowing our bodies to recover is essential. Some of the benefits of a therapeutic massage after a strenuous activity include: increased relaxation, increased circulation and blood flow, reduction of tension and anxiety, reduced inflammation, increased range of motion and the flushing of lactic acid.

Rosen’s organic-lotion company, Sun Valley Remedies, produces a product that complements a post-workout massage. “Knots Anymore is a blend of essential oils that increases circulation, reduces inflammation, and has a slight analgesic effect,” Rosen said.

“It’s a great way to relieve the post-workout exhaustion and leaves your joints feeling more relaxed, often within minutes of application,” she added.

After a strenuous day, you’re physically depleted, dehydrated and mentally exhausted.

“What you do immediately afterwards has a big impact on your fitness gains,” offered Connie Aronson, ACSM Certified Exercise Physiologist at the Wood River Valley YMCA. First, Aronson recommends recovery nutrition. “Affordable, low-fat chocolate milk is an excellent choice for many athletes,” she said. Second, she touts foam rolling. Two bouts of 60 seconds per area can help reduce muscle soreness while helping tight muscles regain their full range of motion.

“One recovery technique most often overlooked, however, is sleep,” Aronson said.

“You need lots of it, up to 10 hours, research shows, because without proper sleep, you simply don’t recover from exercise.” summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 73

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Body&Soul // healing with herbs

stillroom secrets a modern slant on healing with herbs

BY Cheryl Haas In the days before you could pick up a prescription at the nearest drugstore, people relied on the healing power of herbs.

Cultivated herbs and wild botanicals were a staple of every kitchen, and the knowledge of how to use them was an important housewifely skill. Colonial kitchens boasted a separate small room known as a stillroom in which herbs were stored and treatments prepared.

In the last century, with the advent of modern medicine, the need for herbal remedies faded as we reveled in the “power of the pill” to fix whatever ailed us. However, in recent years there’s been a resurgence of interest in herbs. The Wood River Valley is home to a variety of wild herbs, as well as people who practice herbal healing and are versed in the mysteries of the mind-body-spirit connection.

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“The principle behind the use of herbs is to respect the body’s whole system,” said Julie Johnson, NTP, owner of NourishMe in downtown Ketchum. “When you isolate a body part, you lose sight of the complete working body. An herbal practice is devoted to regulating the body’s vital energies and refining the mind.”

A certified nutritional therapist practitioner, Johnson handcrafts healthy brews onsite: elderberry syrup for coughs and colds, sauerkraut, kefir and kombucha for digestive health.

“My biggest seller during the winter months is bone broth,” Johnson said. Broth from large animals such as cows, elk and buffalo that get their nutrients from plantbased foods is especially potent for humans, Johnson said.

A variety of wild herbs grow in the Wood River Valley: stinging nettle that clears toxins; rose hips that are chock full of vitamin C; arnica to heal bruises; fennel to reduce intestinal pain; white pine needles to boost the immune system; horsetail to heal wounds, improve memory loss and increase bone density; and burdock root, a member of the daisy family, to heal skin ailments such as eczema when applied as a topical treatment.

Medical practitioners such as Heidi Woog, DVM, of the Sun Valley Animal Clinic, and Nanette Ford, PA-C, of Family Medicine and Wellness in Ketchum, integrate a traditional Western approach with what is known as complementary or functional medicine, which often involves Chinese herbal remedies and other “nontraditional” means of healing.

Ford sees herself as a “bridge” between Western and complementary medicine.

“I take the best of both worlds,” she said. “I provide information and options to my patients. Their job is to take that information and integrate it into their beliefs so we can create their treatment plan as a team.” Among the options Ford offers are a natural statin called red yeast rice for high cholesterol and a line of organic mushroom compounds from the Olympic Peninsula to boost the immune system.

Woog combines her Western veterinary training with traditional Chinese veterinary medicine, acupuncture, nutrition and chiropractic modalities. “I work in patternbased medicine—recognizing patterns that I overlay on my Western training. You notice subtle changes in an animal’s stool, movement, digestive or urinary pattern,” she said. “The best treatments come out of an integrated approach.”

Woog said her 13-year-old Lab, Yaquina, is a testament to the efficacies of integrated medicine: “What’s kept her strong—covering rough terrain as a search and rescue dog—is her raw diet, glucosamine, fish oil, routine acupuncture and the attention I give to her balance of movement.”

Chinese medicine is based on the belief that when the body’s vital energy (chi or qi) that flows to internal organs is blocked or out of balance, disease occurs. It’s as important to keep the energy moving as it is to keep it in balance. Acupuncture and cupping can unblock energy that is stuck.

SPECIAL promotion

Concussion: Protect Your Brain

st. luke’s celebrates 15 years in the wood river valley A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that occurs after a bump or blow to the head, a violent shaking of the head and upper body, or a fall—any of which causes the head to move rapidly back and forth, shaking the brain inside the skull.

Concussion Signs

Joan Scheingraber, L.Ac., practices Chinese medicine in both Ketchum and Hailey. “Chinese herbs are given in formulas comprising four to 20 herbs,” she said.

“Each herb has its function, so when you choose a formula for a patient, you have to ask: ‘Do I need to increase the yin or yang, drain the phlegm or tonify the chi?’”

In a modality called moxibustion, Scheingraber burns the herb moxa—or mugwort—above acupuncture points on the patient’s body so the heat warms the qi in the blood. Native American shamans used the herb for lucid dreaming and to increase psychic powers.

In the Wood River Valley, gardeners will find that drought-tolerant herbs do well: tarragon, thyme, sage, hyssop, lobelia, evening primrose, mullein, lady’s mantle, chervil, basil, anise, dill, parsley, chamomile, chives, mint, oregano and lavender will brighten up a sunny spot in addition to serving a practical healing function.

Maybe it’s time to bring back the stillroom! summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 75

Some signs are obvious—others are not. They can last for days, weeks or even longer. Watch for: • Headache or a feeling of pressure in the head • Temporary loss of consciousness • Confusion or feeling as if in a fog • Amnesia surrounding the traumatic event • Dizziness or “seeing stars” • Ringing in the ears • Nausea, vomiting • Slurred speech • Delayed response to questions • Appearing dazed • Fatigue • Concentration and memory complaints • Irritability and other personality changes • Sensitivity to light and noise • Sleep disturbances • Psychological adjustment problems and depression

•

Disorders of taste and smell

Signs in Young Children Head trauma is very common in young children. But concussions can be difficult to recognize in infants and toddlers who can’t describe how they feel. Nonverbal clues include: • Appearing dazed • Listlessness and tiring easily • Irritability and crankiness • Loss of balance and unsteady walking • Crying excessively • Change in eating or sleeping patterns

•

Lack of interest in favorite toys

A concussion is always serious; each one injures your brain to some extent and can lead to lasting problems if not managed appropriately. The good news is that most people recover fully with time, rest, and medical care. If you suspect a concussion, talk to your doctor right away or call St. Luke’s Center for Community Health at (208) 727-8733 to learn about free concussion evaluation.

Body&Soul // summer gardening

allergy-free gardening how to curtail that summertime sneezing

BY Patti Murphy The breezy, summer weather brings out the gardener in many of us, but, unfortunately, it also brings out the blossoms, swirling pollen and things that make us go achoo! But, take heart. If you are itching to get outside and garden in your backyard, there is a way to take control of your own space and create a more allergy-free landscape.

It’s About the Sex Choosing plants for backyard landscaping comes down to a bit of “girl power,” according to Thomas Ogren, a California horticulturist and expert on “allergyfree” gardening. Ogren has spent decades researching plants that are troublesome for people with allergies, and he has zeroed in on one of the biggest culprits: male plants that spread their pollen every which way. And we have a lot of them in our cities.

In his newest book, “The Allergy Fighting Garden,” Ogren writes that in the 1940s, the U.S. Department of Agriculture began urging American cities to plant male trees and shrubs on streets and in public parks.

The idea was that male plants were tidier and easier to maintain because they don’t produce fruit and seeds that create litter like their female counterparts.

“What was missed,” Ogren writes, “was that these same male trees and shrubs would, of course, all produce allergenic pollen.”

planning your garden Ogren’s website, allergyfree-gardening.com, features a video of him patting the branch of a male cypress tree, and swirling puffs of pollen float from the branch into the wind. Some U.S. cities, like Albuquerque, N.M., have passed pollen control ordinances prohibiting the purchase and planting of such trees.

Ketchum doesn’t have an allergy-free planting policy, according to Jen Smith, director of the Ketchum Parks and Recreation Department. “Ketchum is a small area surrounded by hills and forests that contain a variety of pollen-producing plants,” she said. “I think that an effort to plant only allergy-free plants within the city might be negated by this.” However, Smith encourages homeowners to work with landscapers to create an allergy-free space in their own garden.

Derek Ruhter, garden center manager with Webb Nursery, agreed that not much can be done about pollen blowing in from the surrounding hills and forests. “Unfortunately, that’s a price we pay for being in the outdoors and as close to nature as we are,” he laughed.

However, he offered a quick lesson on the three types of plants that homeowners should know about when planning their gardens: monoecious, dioecious and perfectly flowered.

Monoecious (dual sex) plants have separate male and female flowers on the same plant.

Some of these plants can be highly allergenic because the pollen from the male flowers must be buoyant enough to float to the female flowers. Examples include oak, cypress, pine, spruce, and juniper.

Dioecious (single sex) plants are either all male or all female. In most cases, the allergenic pollen from male plants is carried by wind currents to female plants. Plants include ash, willow, poplar, holly, some maples, mulberry, and others. Dioecious females do not produce pollen and are therefore allergy safe.

Perfectly flowered plants have flowers that contain both male and female parts within the same flower, and bees, instead of wind, pollinate them. Examples include lilies, tulips, crabapple, magnolia, and hawthorn. For an allergy sufferer, perfectly flowered plants are a good choice.

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One way to select a female plant is to look for flowers, seeds, and pods, although those might not be visible on very young plants.

A comprehensive guide is OPALS, the Ogren Plant Allergy Scale, now used by, among others, the American Lung Association and the USDA Urban Foresters. OPALS measures the allergy potential of all garden and landscape plants on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the most allergenic. For example, pansies, petunias and hostas are ranked at 1; male junipers are at 10.

According to Ogren, an allergy-safe garden doesn’t mean ditching all the males, but proximity matters. Consider that male plants next to a door or under an open bedroom window are likely to bring more pollen inside than those located at the other end of the garden.

Ruhter believes allergy-free gardening is an emerging issue that landscapers are still learning about. “The best thing a homeowner can do is to start the dialogue and research the plant material,” said Ruhter. “Your nursery can help you with that. I could see this turning into a big movement,” Ruhter added. “This is definitely one of those things on the horizon.”

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Body&Soul // special advertising section

A rendering of the soon to be complete Spa at Sun Valley Resort

What is your background?

pampering & luxury Tiffany Cameron talks about Sun Valley Resort’s new 20,000-square-foot spa In June 2015, Sun Valley Resort will unveil the new Spa at Sun Valley Resort as part of the massive renovation designed to enhance the Sun Valley Lodge and guest experience. The project was carefully undertaken to maintain the character and essence of the historic building originally designed by Stanley Underwood in 1935. Tiffany Cameron, director of spa and fitness, took some time to talk about what locals and guests can look forward to when the spa opens early this summer.

78 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

Do you have a signature treatment?

A unique aspect to our spa will be the four VIP Couples Suites, which will allow us to offer special couples treatments, as well as customized day retreats and events for weddings, bridal parties, showers, birthdays or anniversaries. Our VIP Couples Retreat will be a three-hour experience that will start with a bath, with options such as a mineralizing bath, aromatherapy, milk or a silk bath; followed by a full body scrub and 80-minute massage of their choice; topped off by a spa cuisine menu in their private spa suite.

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Tiffany Cameron, director of spa and fitness at the Sun Valley Resort’s new luxury spa.

The opportunity to open up this caliber of spa was something I just couldn’t pass up, and I jumped at the chance to help create something this comprehensive and amazing.

The Holdings are really open to new products, new devices and treatments, as well as to what is state of the art in the industry. The sky is the limit. And I have an opportunity to give the residents of Sun Valley and resort guests the opportunity to experience something they have never seen before.

profile photo : amanda nagy

Why Sun Valley?

renderings : courtesy sun valley resort

I began in the spa business as a certified massage therapist, but I started my career in management about 10 years ago, after returning to Utah and starting with the Canyons in Park City, then Sundance Resort and, most recently, the Zermatt Resort in Midway, Utah.

Do you have a big reveal that nobody knows about yet?

It has been top secret thus far, but we plan to feature the HydraFacial MD®.

One of the most powerful non-invasive treatments available today, this treatment utilizes a state-of-the-art device offering a multistep treatment that combines the benefits of next-level hydradermabrasion, a chemical peel, automated painless extractions (no pinching!) and a special delivery of antioxidants, hyaluronic acid and peptides deep down to the lower layers of skin for real cellular healing and repair. Skin becomes radiant, hydrated and supple, and it has long term, long lasting effects. And we will be the only resort spa in the state that will be offering this process outside of medical doctors’ offices. It is really exciting and truly revolutionary. The really amazing thing is that it does all of this in one quick treatment that delivers real results without downtime or irritation. A bride could have it done the day of her wedding.

How is the spa at sun valley resort different from other day spas?

This will be a place where people can come for health and wellness and make it a destination … make it a vacation. The spa features 15 treatment rooms, including four dedicated VIP Couples Suites. Men’s and Women’s spa locker rooms feature separate relaxation lounges, individual steam and sauna, fully-stocked vanities, and

“experience” showers—a 16-head shower experience not to be missed! The Poolside Café with food and cocktail service, fire pit gathering area, stone hot tub and Lodge Pool offer an added outdoor experience.

insider tips for a day at the spa 1. Come early and enjoy the state-of-the art fitness center and yoga studio, then relax poolside after your treatment and enjoy the newly renovated Lodge Pool and Poolside Café serving snacks, appetizers and cocktails, as well as a custom stone hot tub and outdoor fire pit gathering area—all with stunning views of Baldy.

2. Book one of the Couple VIP Suites for your special event—whether an anniversary celebration with your partner or a bridal shower or birthday celebration with friends, the expanded space and luxurious surroundings will be a treat to make your event memorable.

3. Want to step it up a notch? Live like a diva. Book a Celebrity Suite on the third floor and enjoy stunning views of the surrounding mountains from multiple decks or host a cocktail party in your three-room suite with fireplace and sitting room, then walk downstairs to enjoy a full day of being pampered at the world class spa or to lounge in the gorgeous new stone hot tub or Lodge Pool—the same outdoor experience once enjoyed by the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Jackie O and Oprah.

The reception area for the 15-room facility

The pool area includes a fire pit and the Poolside Café.

Spa lines will include Phytomer, Farmhouse Fresh and Naturopathica.

summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 79

This is The

American Safari.

COME CREATE YOUR OWN LEGACY ON THE MIDDLE FORK • Quintessential ideal setting on the Middle Fork of the Salmon.

• Six days filled with incredible experiences, while guides make sure everything you need is ready and waiting at a camp set for your arrival; leaving you free to enjoy this wilderness paradise.

• You will end the day with dinner at table and chairs. Romantic dinners of tantalizing treats are complemented by fresh linens, fan folded napkins, china and unsurpassed personal service.

• Enjoy safari-styled tents furnished with elevated beds, comfy flannel bedding, full size pillows, and carpet under foot. There is even a nightstand.

Nights are as restful as days are refreshing.

— Steve and Annie Lentz & the Far and Away Crew

Upcoming Special Trips

WELLNESS TRIP: SEPTEMBER 5 – 10

BOURBON ON THE MIDDLE FORK : AUGUST 27 - SEPTEMBER 1 Your opportunity to taste some of the world’s best and hardest to find bourbons, including Pappy Van Winkle and the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, all while enjoying the thrills of the Middle Fork of the Salmon.

Connect with the wilderness while adventure guides setup and break-down five-star camps. Personalized yoga, massage and acupuncture sessions available.

UPLAND BIRD / FLY-FISHING TRIP: SEPTEMBER 18 – 23 When fly-fishing is at it’s peak—chukar season opens!

We’re planning family charters now for 2016 and invite you to come discover the Far & Away difference.

Thirty-five years creating dreams from the town we love. Our innovative approach has earned accolades in media from Anchorage to Miami and 50 more in between.

RESERVE AHEAD for 2016!

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DON’T MISS •

playtime

If anyone knows what “getting out there” means, it’s Danny Walton and his dog, Nesta. Here, they explore Silver Creek via stand up paddleboarding—not a bad way to spend a lazy summer afternoon. Writer Kira Tenney looks into the sport sweeping Idaho with her article, “Walking on Water.”

For those interested in more grounded fun, check out our articles on summer camping, endurance running and backcountry dirt biking.

summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 81

photo : ray j. gadd

getoutthere // camping

Campers take in the Stanley skyline at twilight.

From bACKPACKS to TENTS ON WHEELS Valley Residents Take to the Woods

BY Karen Bossick Sam Elmes thought he knew everything about camping until his friend Roger Mankus told him of a growing new trend— bike-packing.

Now, that’s Elmes’ favorite way to access hard-to-get-to places like Frog Lake in the White Cloud Mountains. And he wants to do the 500-plus-mile Idaho Hot Springs Mountain Bike Route this summer. The loop takes mountain bikers along dirt roads from Idaho City to Fairfield, Ketchum, Stanley, McCall, Cascade, Crouch and back to Idaho City, passing by some of the Gem State’s geothermal wonders en route.

Sun Valley area campers do it all—from deluxe custom Airstream trailers to getting personal with dirt. Some, like Linda Lynch, enjoy backpacking because it’s so pure: “You’re carrying all the essentials on your back.”

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Others, like Ellen Gillespie enjoy the luxury of pop-up trailers that allow you to turn heat on if it’s cold and sleep on queen-sized foam mattresses you can’t pack on your back.

Buncy Jeffrey still backpacks 40 years after she started. But she needs a good Thermarest now—sleeping on the ground is no longer an option. And she carries a couple shots of espresso already made. “You’re not packing that much in because it’s espresso,” she said, “But I love backpacking because there are so many places you can’t go if you don’t backpack. Like Warbonnet Lake in the Sawtooths—you can’t hike to that in a day.”

Lisa Abaid tells her husband to skip the flowers and box of chocolates. “Some girls dream about diamonds. I want better tires so I can go over Trail Creek. I want gear. And I want more days off,” she said. Abaid travels

as near as Shoshone’s Buck Lake, which is frequented by migratory birds, and as far as Wyoming’s Wind River Range. “Camping gets you out of your safety zone to go places you’ve never been before. And you discover another side of you,” she said.

Doran Key started off backpacking in a backpacking camp for kids when she was 9.

She spent those early years sleeping in plastic tube tents with a rope running through the top and rainwater coming in everywhere.

Despite the discomfort, it got under her skin. She still relishes camping by a running creek, listening to “the quiet of the wind” and gazing at the stars splashed across the sky. But she typically does it in a 37-year-old Tioga II motorhome.

Ed and Carmen Northen still occasionally go backpacking as well. But they’ve put 340,000 miles on their Volkswagen Vanagon.

“It’s great because it’s good in any kind of weather,” said Ed. “It has a stove and refrigerator for food. It gets good mileage and

has good clearance and it’s maneuverable. It’s like always having your tent set up. And it’s a far cry from the tube tent where it could get so wet inside just from the condensation.”

Bob and Kate Rosso introduced their children to camping in the mountains by hiring outfitters to carry their tent and other supplies to the lake destination. That way the children were able to stop and smell the flowers and otherwise explore their environment without being weighed down.

“Some girls dream about diamonds. I want better tires so I can go over Trail Creek. I want gear. And I want more days off.”

–lisa abaid, sun valley resident Parents can also start their children out backpacking by renting backpacks and bags at local outdoor stores and doing relatively easy hikes into places like Baker Lake, Hell Roaring Lake or Fourth of July Lake.

The Rossos now generally use a Teardrop trailer when heading to the City of the Rocks or other campsites. “It’s super easy to pull. And you can disconnect it and push it around by hand,” Bob said. “It’s like a tent on wheels.”

What They Won’t Leave Home Without...

Lisa Abaid wouldn’t go without her 5-year-old chocolate Lab, Jelly. A gear junkie, she’s also fond of a North Face rain jacket that’s light as a feather, an Ultralite cot and a ProLite Thermarest that’s tapered to reduce weight and bulk.

Sam Elmes wouldn’t think of camping without his Nemo Memory Foam Camping Pillow, which packs into the size of a cup.

Or peanut butter and chocolate Don Bars from Galena Lodge. He also keeps the weight in his pack down with foldable cups and bowls, a spork, a Pocket Rocket stove, and a Black Diamond bivouac sack.

Ed and Carmen Northen never leave home without their cameras, classical music tapes for the CD player in the van, wine and chocolate.

Doran Key always packs the same 12 essentials she carries on day hikes, including a first-aid kit, compass, water purifier, space blanket, rain pants, fire starter and extra food and water.

Backpacker Willie Adicoff, with fun on his mind, would never go without his Frisbee and a deck of cards and M&M’s for playing poker.

Motorcycle camper Lisa Horton would never leave home without her French press coffeemaker.

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summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 83

walking on water stand up paddleboarders take to idaho’s rivers and lakes

BY Kira Tenney

photo : ray j. gadd

“Life revolves around water,” exclaimed Todd Bradley, one of the founders and owners of the first stand up paddleboard company in the world, C4 Waterman.

In recent years, stand up paddleboarding has exploded onto the forefront of outdoor recreation, and the ripple is only continuing to unfurl, as newbies try out the sport on lakes, rivers and oceans; experts push the limits going bigger, faster and harder; and everyone who’s out there enjoys the connection, ease and bliss of being on the water.

The beginnings of the sport of stand up paddleboarding, or “SUP-ing,” are rooted in the waves and open oceans of the Hawaiian Islands. Although Africans and many other cultures have stood up on wooden rafts 84 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

and canoes with a long paddle in hand for thousands of years, it is the local beach boys of Oahu and Maui that are credited with the beginning of SUP as we know it.

The combination of two of the traditional Hawaiian sacred rights of passage, surfing and paddling outrigger canoes, gave birth to the stand up paddleboarding of today.

Bradley, born and raised on the island of Oahu, remembers growing up on the beach and seeing “the old boys” standing up on giant tandem boards paddling around with a long canoe paddle. They would give surf

lessons and take photos to sell to tourists, as standing was a way to be chill, relax and keep their non-waterproof cameras dry while out on the water all day.

Bradley and his Oahu crew began to devote more to SUP both for training and for wave riding, creating and building the sport. Simultaneously, Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama were developing SUP on Maui.

For the most part, “SUP-ers” were using long boards, tandem boards and old windsurfing boards, but in 2006, Bradley, Brian Keaulana and Archie Kalepa created the company C4

Danny Walton beats the crowds for a dawn paddleboard session on Redfish Lake.

The Essence of Sun Valley.

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getoutthere // sup sun valley

photos from left: courtesy inflatable films

I

One of the C4 Watermen navigates the Middle Fork of the Salmon River.

“It’s very user friendly and not hard or intimidating to learn, especially on flat water.”

–leah warshawski, filmmaker

Waterman, which made specific boards and paddles for standup.

“In 2010, it just exploded,” Bradley said.

Ketchum filmmaker Leah Warshawski explained the appeal this way: “It’s very user friendly and not hard or intimidating to learn, especially on flat water. It can be as easy or hard as you want it to be, can accommodate every size person and is a stable and safe way to get out on the water. You can even bring your dog aboard.”

Warshawski and her husband Todd Soliday documented Bradley along with some of the most talented men and women stand up paddleboarders in the world on a river trip down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River.

The river trip was “a culmination of something that Hawaiians have known 86 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

and developed, and then brought to a place and environment that they’ve never experienced before. Gathering the most experienced water men and women in the world, most of whom have never seen bald eagles or bears, to the remote interior of Idaho, is a profound experience. Stand up paddleboarding on the river simply took their surfing skills to a seventh dimension,” noted Warshawski.

While SUP may have started in the islands, it has taken the mainland, including Idaho, by storm. Sun Valley local Danny Walton got into SUP in 2010 while volunteering at a Higher Ground veterans’ camp and “was instantly hooked.” In 2013, Walton became the first person to paddle the 35 miles across Western Lake Erie as a fundraiser for children’s cancer. It took him

12 hours to dig in against the current and make his way to Canada.

Walton and Guy Robbins own and operate the Sun Valley Paddleboard Company (SVPC), which offers accredited American Canoe Association stand up paddleboard instruction and a fleet of boards for rent. Walton said that while SUP can be easy or a great workout, it’s also a profound way to get out on the water and experience nature. He described experiences of an osprey dropping in next to him to snatch a fish and happening upon an elk rounding the bend while on a paddle at Redfish Lake.

Many of the best SUP racers in the world congregate in the small rural town of Cascade, Idaho, every June to compete in the Payette River Games (PRG) at Kelly’s Whitewater Park on the Payette River in

Danny Walton paddles his way through the reedy waterways near Stanley Lake.

The Essence of Sun Valley.

hopes of claiming a piece of the $50,000 in cash prizes. This year the event is from June 19 to 21, continues to boast gender equality in prizes ($25,000 for each male and female event) and will hold a Super G race and a SUP Cross. PRG invites everyone, from “the world’s biggest stars to the weekend warrior,” to participate in this event, which pampers all participants with free local and organic meals, camping, and riverside hot tubs.

Whether you attend a yoga SUP class (that’s right, doing yoga while balancing on a board in the water) at the YMCA in Ketchum, go fishing on your board or take your chances riding the rapids of the rivers, stand up and get out on the water this summer. While life revolves around water, you may just begin to revolve your life around SUP. summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 87

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getoutthere // ultra running

On a Running High The Challenge and Reward of Endurance Running

BY Karen Bossick

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Colin Rodgers (in the lead) and Nate Scales traverse the south side of the Sawtooth pass between Alice and Toxaway lakes.

photo : craig wolfrom

Wood River Valley residents Dave Keir and Gadrie Edmunds are soul mates when it comes to pursuing their passion—training for and running endurance races. But come the end of the race, this husband-wife team seems like the odd couple.

Keir savors the finish, his lips turning up in a wry smile, while Edmunds sits and bawls.

“I feel good, energized at the end of races,” said Keir, who’s run the Race to Robie Creek, the Foothills 50K Frenzy, the Redfish Lake Half Marathon and the Harriman Boulder Dash.

“I sob, I think as a release. It’s like: I did it!” said Edmunds. “I started out running as a way to get in shape. I was not super active as a teenager. So, I’m still amazed I can do it.”

When Edmunds and Keir started longdistance running, there were a handful of backcountry runs in south-central Idaho, including The Elephant Perch’s 10K and 16K Backcountry Run started 35 years ago.

The number of races has proliferated in the past few years, with runs bearing names like the Pickled Feet Run, the Beaverhead Endurance Run, Wild Idaho and the River of No Return Endurance Run. The latter follows an old stagecoach trail in the Yankee Fork area. Cresting 10,000 feet, it’s “one of those courses where even the downhills seemed uphill,” blogger and runner George Velasco wrote of the 2014 race.

The Standhope Ultra Challenge, started last year by a Challis software programmer, towers above all the rest and not just because it takes runners to 11,000 feet and past the highest lake in Idaho. The four-day stage race, to be held August 12 to 15, takes runners 83 miles and 23,000 vertical feet through the Pioneer Mountains. Runners choose on the final day whether to do a 60-kilometer or 11-kilometer stretch atop Trail Creek Summit to Goat Lake.

“It’s so steep in parts that even the best runners have to walk parts,” said Bob Rosso, owner of The Elephant’s Perch in Ketchum.

“But it’s fun to run slow enough to see the scenery because that run has some of the most spectacular scenery in all of Idaho. “It goes through a boulder field with rocks the

size of this room,” he said, pointing to the front salesroom of The Elephant’s Perch.

“You feel as if you’re in Switzerland.”

Laura Furtado got her start when she was selected to join a group running around the world in 100 days. The group started in New York and ran to Boston where it caught a plane to Ireland. Then it continued through England, Germany, Belgium, Poland, Russia, China and Japan before catching a plane to San Francisco and running across the continent to New York.

Since, she’s done more, and she wants to

construct her own solo. “I’ll get first place and last place,” she said.

EJ Harpham likes long-distance runs because of the camaraderie that takes place on those runs compared to shorter races.

Others participate in long-distance runs as incentives to lose weight or start exercising.

The organizers for the Perch’s Backcountry Run once considered imposing a cut-off time because some people were walking part of the course, lagging behind the others. “Then we talked to two women, each who had lost 50 pounds preparing for

that race,” Rosso said. “You can imagine what it would’ve been like for them if we had pulled them off the course. We decided then and there: If you walk in, we’ll be there when you walk in, no matter how long it takes.”

The key to running a good long-distance race, runners say, is to start training a few months ahead, rather than running the race cold turkey. Start with a mile-long walk that becomes two. Jog for 15 minutes; then, jog for 30. Or, join a training group like the YMCA’s half-marathon training program that Brad Mitchell offers each spring.

Do your homework beforehand to find out what foods suit you best, Harpham advised. “Force yourself to be out there three to four hours where you need protein to figure out what works,” she said. “I’m not out there on a gourmet eating tour—I just want something to eat to get through the race without cramps, and for me that means something that’s under 300 calories and easy to digest.”

Despite all of the challenges, longdistance runners find that the running gets in their blood.

Just ask Hailey resident Mike Wolter, who did the 25K version of the Standhope last year. “It was super hard and I was so happy when I was done,” he said. “I vowed I would never again do it. But I’m thinking I will do it again.”

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Long-distance running boils down to the feet—if they’re not happy, you won’t be, either.

Enlist sporting goods clerks to outfit you with what fits you best, whether a minimalist barefoot-like shoe or a beefier trail shoe. Someone like Jesse Foster, a physical therapist with St. Luke’s Rehabilitation, can even videotape you on a treadmill to help figure out the right shoe for your anatomy and gait.

Some runners, like Valley resident Gadrie Edmunds, say that long-distance running is a good excuse to treat yourself to junk food like M&Ms, Coke and pretzels.

“For super long runs, it’s important to have food like bananas, instead of gels,” she added. “You’ll get hungry if you’re just using gels, and you might even get sick.”

Other essentials: water, either in a CamelBak pack or a bottle; sunscreen, rain gear, bandages and other first-aid essentials, a headlamp and energy bars.

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Middle Fork of the Salmon trips are conducted under permits issued by the Salmon-Challis National Forest, Salmon, Idaho.

summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 89

photo : wyatt caldwell

getoutthere // backcountry dirt biking

Yancy Caldwell takes a wide line up Red Warrior trail.

Throttling into the Backcountry Dirt Bike Riding Opens Up a World of Exploration

BY Jon Duval Living in the Wood River Valley, it doesn’t take much time or effort to slip civilization and escape into the wilderness. A short hike or mountain bike ride puts you out of view of roads, houses or other indications of development save the occasional single-track trail threading through the mountains.

However, it also doesn’t take long for those jaunts to become the norm and for the feeling of adventure to dissipate, as each tree becomes recognizable, every rock familiar, like so many cracks in the sidewalk in front of your favorite coffee shop.

It’s at this point that the desire to venture farther and deeper into the mountains drives you to look for a means to access these farflung reaches. And it’s at this point you might find yourself swinging a leg over the saddle of a dirt bike.

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“You can just see so much more in the day,” said Bruce Smith, who’s been riding dirt bikes in the Wood River Valley since 1980.

“As much as I love skiing, it’s usually all over in three or four minutes for a run. On a motorcycle, you can keep going for hours and have constant entertainment without having to stop when you get into that groove.”

For the uninitiated, and perhaps contrary to popular belief, there’s nothing easy or lazy about taking a motorcycle off road and onto the hundreds of miles of narrow trails that course across the mountains of the greater Sun Valley area. These machines, usually weighing between 250 and 400 pounds, demand your full attention, a significant physical and mental effort to navigate between trees, over rocks and up steep terrain.

“This sport really complements a lot of the other activities we do around here, especially mountain biking,” said Smith, one of those mid-50s Ketchum residents who easily appears 10 years younger thanks to a steady diet of exercise and mountain air. “It gives you the strength and gets you used to speed.

It’s the sense of motion that allows you to get in a flow where you learn to relax and kind of zone out. As with skiing and mountain biking, this three-dimensional motion—it helps you be one with the universe.”

While there are two local motocross tracks, at Ohio Gulch and Croy Canyon, the majority of the riding community can be found in small groups on the extensive trail system that spans both sides of Bellevue and spreads north, stretching into the Pioneer, Smoky and White Cloud Mountains, and

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up over Galena Pass into the Sawtooth and Boulder Ranges.

“It’s not about going fast or hearing the motor rev,” said Chris Click, who, at 68, has been riding in the Sun Valley area for three decades. “I’ll ski 80 days in the winter, but you just don’t have the same access when skinning or hiking. What’s really specific to dirt biking is seeing how big the world is— this amazing quantity that can come with the quality.”

With a pair of dual-sport bikes, which are heavier than dirt bikes, but well suited to the state’s innumerable fire roads, each with over 80,000 miles on their engines, Click is no stranger to the endurance rides that are available from his mid-valley door.

“I just like to ride with a couple friends and not see anyone all day. I guess that would make my favorite route the ‘No See ‘Em Trail,’” Click said with a laugh.

Unlike many other states, where motorized access to trails is becoming increasingly restricted, Idaho has an enormous amount and variety of terrain available for exploration.

“I hate having to put my motorcycle into a truck, but the Boulders and White Clouds are just so unique because you really feel like you are up in the mountains,” Smith said. “It’s a true backcountry experience where you’re up into the rocks and alpine environment. When you go up between the two ranges and come out in a completely different drainage, you can see and feel how lucky we are to be able to ride here.”

clearing the Trails

With literally thousands of miles of trails and fire roads to explore throughout the Wood River Valley and north of Galena, it’s possible to go out for hours every weekend and never have to travel the same trail twice. That being said, there are some areas that have become favorites of veteran riders, whether because of the challenging terrain, trailhead access, or the lure of traveling away from the spots frequented by those on two feet or two pedals.

These trails are maintained through partnerships between the Idaho Mountain Dirt Riders Association (IMDRA) and both the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service. With these federal agencies’ permission and a whole lot of volunteer work from local riders, trails that have been scorched by the recent fires or threatened by lack of funding have been rebuilt, mapped via GPS and maintained.

By giving input on the North Highway 20 Travel Management Plan, IMDRA members helped the BLM keep almost 100 miles of trails from being closed by heading out to map their favorite trails and take notes on conditions and potential issues.

As well, these riders are often the ones who help clean up trails in early summer, bringing out chainsaws to remove trees that have fallen across popular paths and assisting the creation of new multi-use trails by riding them in after they have been built.

summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 91

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The Great

BY Laurie Sammis

Pacific Salmon and Steelhead Fight for Their Lives

In a trek that was once commonplace in Idaho, a coho salmon travels upstream to the spawning grounds of its birth. Snake River coho salmon were considered extirpated in Idaho after one solitary coho returned in 1986.

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photo: paul vecsei

summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 93

forms and flashing tails of Idaho’s anadromous fish, their numbers so great it was said you could walk across the backs of the salmon to cross the stream. Each fish had traveled thousands of miles, navigating the gauntlet of waterfalls, log jams, weirs, shallow waters and rockslides, just for the one chance to flicker through the streams of their birth and spawn the next generation of their species.

Eventually, bears, birds, otters, foxes and wolves feasted on the carcasses of spawned-out male and female salmon, thus spreading the marine-rich nutrients this once silvery denizen of the deep brought with it from the waters of the Pacific, the Aleutian Islands, the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Bering Sea. In this way, the ocean came to the high alpine landscapes of Idaho and Montana. It washed across the alpine deserts of Nevada and spread deep into the Canadian Rockies within the provinces of Alberta and Calgary. All of it, fed by the great Columbia River Basin watershed—more than 13,000 river miles covering 260,000 square miles of North American continent and encompassing six American states and two Canadian provinces.

The Columbia River was once home to the single largest anadromous fish runs in the world—fish born in freshwater who migrate to saltwater for most of their adult lives and then back to freshwater to spawn.

Historic runs in the late 1800s have been estimated to be between 10 and 15 million fish. Consider that as recently as 145 years ago— the year construction began on the Brooklyn Bridge—an average 13 million salmon and steelhead were swimming upstream from the mouth of the Columbia River. Several million of them turned right at the Snake River and then left up the Salmon River to complete a journey of over 900 miles, climbing more than 6,500 feet in elevation

The Columbia River Basin watershed encompasses more than 13,000 river miles in Canada and the U.S.

94 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

through rapids and up waterfalls to reach their natal streams and lakes in Idaho. This is not legend. It is fact.

Smaller, though still healthy, salmon and steelhead runs occurred as recently as the 1950s. These life-sustaining runs were essentially yearround, extending from March through October, with distinct spring, then summer, then fall “pulses” or runs of fish. Steelhead (the sea-run form of rainbow trout) runs even extended through the winter.

Some oldtimers—like Jerry Myers, a third-generation Idahoan from a ranching family outside Lewiston, Idaho—still remember it. “I’ll never forget the first time I saw a huge fish in a small stream on the ranch,” recalled Myers. “It was a returning Chinook salmon and I still remember the power of that sound. It is one of the things instilled in my DNA now.”

High in the Sawtooth Valley, Redfish Lake—named for the abundance of spawning sockeye salmon that once colored its waters red—saw estimated annual runs of 25,000 to 35,000 returning adult sockeye. Populations of migrating sockeye also once thrived in Alturas, Pettit, Stanley and Yellowbelly lakes. The waters were teeming with so many fish that there was talk of building a cannery at Redfish Lake.

Beginning in 1937 with the construction of the Bonneville Dam 39 miles east of Portland, Oregon, the Columbia and Lower Snake Rivers underwent a transformation during the ensuing 50 years as multiple hydroelectric projects were completed, many between 1961 and 1975.

The hydroelectric dams were huge feats of modern engineering, often taking 10 or more years to complete and were built with the intent of providing power, and, in some cases, flood control and navigation for the growing populations of the West. The Lower Granite Dam just west of Lewiston was the last constructed (1975) in this stretch.

As each Columbia watershed dam came online, increasingly accurate fish counts were implemented. In the early 1950s, for example, before most of the dams were built, counts for returning sockeye salmon at Bonneville Dam averaged over 190,000 fish.

By 1986, the same year the last solitary coho salmon swam into the Snake River in Idaho and then disappeared, the counts told a different story. The numbers had dropped to a staggering 15 sockeye at Lower Granite Dam, which was the last of eight hydropower dams the fish now had to bypass before swimming up Idaho’s free-flowing Salmon River to reach their home at Redfish Lake. By 1989, the count had dropped to just two returning sockeye salmon at Lower Granite Dam. Fish count numbers tell a compelling story about the plight of Idaho’s anadromous fish. In the words of the American Fisheries Society, “Populations of anadromous fishes in Idaho declined precipitously following the construction of hydroelectric dams in the Snake and Columbia rivers. The effect was disastrous for all anadromous species.”

In particular, coho salmon were extirpated from the Snake River by 1986. Idaho’s sockeye salmon almost disappeared and were declared under extreme risk of extinction by authority of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1991. Snake River spring/summer and fall

map: courtesy epa.gov

In the beginning, the waters ran red with the sleek

photo: paul vecsei

Hundreds of coho salmon fry, or parr, distinguished by the vertical stripes along their sides, feed in a side channel.

After hatching, coho spend approximately one year in freshwater before smolting and out-migrating to the sea.

summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 95

In their journey back to their birthplace to spawn, Idaho’s salmon and steelhead travel up the Columbia, Snake and then Salmon River (pictured here), a trek of more than 900 miles.

The Columbia River Basin was once home to the single largest anadromous fish runs in the world.

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Chinook salmon were classified as threatened with extinction by the ESA the following year, and Idaho’s steelhead were listed as threatened in 1997.

Today, the numbers are still grim. It is estimated that 35 percent of Pacific salmon stocks in the Columbia River Basin have been lost and 40 percent are now endangered or threatened.

Mapping the Journey

The story of Idaho’s anadromous fish is one of mythic proportions and strength. It begins with a 900-mile marathon sprint.

It ends with death, decay and, eventually, rebirth; all of which could provide fodder for the best of Hollywood blockbusters. But, at its heart, it is a simple tale of a fish born in the mountains and its journey to the sea and

back. This great migration from freshwater to saltwater and back, and the physiological changes that take place to enable it, is what defines anadromous fish.

Born in freshwater, juvenile salmon have a biological clock that starts ticking as soon as they begin their journey to the ocean.

These small fry need to undergo changes that will allow them to adapt from freshwater to saltwater creatures. What’s more, timing is essential and they need to arrive at the ocean at the same time their bodies have completed this transformation. This process is called smolting, and, as soon they begin their outward migration, fry are known as smolts.

In an energy-conserving adaptation illustrating the incredible evolution of the species, most anadromous fish smolts simply allow the river to carry them downstream,

Sockeye Salmon Oncorhynchus nerka

Also known as red salmon or bluebacks, sockeye utilize lakes for rearing. Kokanee, the resident (landlocked) form of sockeye, are not anadromous. Lifespan: 4-6 years.

Avg. Size: 21-30 inches, 4-15 lbs.

Coho Salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch

photo: glenn oakley i illustrations / zack brown

Often called silver salmon, coho appear similar to Chinook salmon in the ocean, but are distinguished by black mouths with white gums. Lifespan: 2-4 years.

Avg. Size: 24-28 inches, 6-12 lbs.

Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha

tail first, watching the waters of their natal streams disappear from view. This is one of the most vulnerable stages of a young salmon or steelhead’s life cycle. Traditionally, the spring runoff assisted smolts in their downstream migration, rushing them toward their ocean destination in less than three weeks. But with a series of dams now slowing the Columbia and Snake rivers, the journey currently can take six weeks or more.

While the dams themselves pose obstacles, court-ordered water spills enacted in 2006 and other juvenile fish passage systems have improved dam passage immensely. A larger threat remains the large slackwater reservoirs behind the dams. Increased smolt mortality can be due to rising water temperatures, high turbidity and increased predator opportunities from species thriving in the now warmer and

slower moving water.

Perhaps most detrimental to the smolts is that they must expend precious energy to swim across large reservoirs on a journey to the ocean in which, historically, they were swept by river currents. The challenge is compounded by the demands of osmoregulation—body chemistry changes that enable the fish to move from freshwater to saltwater (or vice versa). Many have simply not adapted to this new—in an evolutionary sense—reality of their reproductive cycle.

While in the ocean, smolts develop into silvery machines of speed and agility, using celestial navigation, by means of natural or polarized light, and following the ocean currents in search of food, sometimes for thousands of miles. Pacific salmon and steelhead may spend from as few as one to

Also known as king salmon or blackmouth (due to black gums and jaws), Chinook are the largest of Pacific salmon, and can weigh over 125 pounds. Lifespan: 3-6 years.

Avg. Size: 28-40 inches, 10-30 lbs.

Steelhead

Oncorhynchus mykiss

Steelhead are the anadromous form of rainbow trout. Unlike Pacific salmon, that die after spawning (semelparous), some steelhead may spawn more than once (iteroparous). Lifespan: 4-8 years.

Avg. Size: 25-36 inches, 6-18 lbs. summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 97

two years to as many as eight years at sea and grow from 5-inch fry into 24- to 45-inch adults weighing anywhere from 8 to 80 pounds or more.

And then, at some point in their ocean life—when exactly is still a mystery to science—the salmon turn home, gathering en masse at the mouth of the river. After having survived the ocean’s perils and the predation trap from sea lions and other predators at the estuaries, the returning adult spawners undergo even more radical body chemistry and physiological changes in their transition from saltwater foragers to freshwater reproducing organisms. Many species begin to take on the bright red color of sexually mature fish, or the hooked jaws, called kype, of spawning males. Salmon and steelhead stop feeding as they enter freshwater, and because their stomach is no longer needed, it begins to disintegrate, leaving more room for the reproductive organs and developing eggs and sperm, or milt. Ocean feeding is essential to anadromous fish because throughout their freshwater journey they must live off the stored fat in their tissues, literally consuming themselves in their migration back to the spawning grounds where they were born.

Scientists still can’t explain the homing mechanism of a salmon or steelhead. Theories abound about the use of polarized light patterns, the earth’s magnetism, olfactory cues or river landmarks to guide them home.

Recent research even suggests that Idaho’s tiny salmon and steelhead fry develop the unique and specific chemical imprint of the waters of their birth before beginning their journey to the sea. This is an astounding thought, given the many twists and turns returning adult salmon and steelhead may have to make, upstream, into and past tributaries, irrigation canals and main stem rivers on their journey home—and this, after many years spent roaming thousands upon thousands of miles of open ocean.

Studies have shown that even blind salmon can find their way home. Through PIT-tagging—the process of embedding a tiny radio frequency device that transmits a unique code to readers along river bottoms— individual fish can be tracked along their journey. Mark Davidson, director of the Idaho Water Project at Trout Unlimited and a 13-year veteran of anadromous fish conservation, explained that PIT-tagging has

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helped illuminate specific fish migratory and habitat behavior. “We’ve seen a Chinook salmon poke his nose into one tributary and then back out of the stream shortly after, only to return to the spawning beds of his birth,” Davidson said with admiration. “That’s a finely tuned homing instinct.”

Funding Recovery

The politics and policies of anadromous fish recovery are a complex web entangling much of the Pacific Northwest. The ESAlisting of Idaho’s salmon and steelhead touches everybody from power users, irrigators, river navigators, ranchers and farmers, to salmon protectors, recreationists, commercial fishermen and federal, state and tribal agencies.

In truth, there are so many agencies and groups to aid their recovery that it is nearly impossible to get a substantiated number on dollars spent per fish. But the numbers are high. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) alone spends $28 million annually.

Mike Edmondson, a fisheries biologist and program manager at Idaho’s Office of Species Conservation managing Idaho’s recovery efforts for over nine years, estimates that his office spends $8-$12 million per year and points out that his number does not include IDFG funds, federal funding from the Mitchell Act Funds, Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Funds or Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) fish accords. The latter was an agreement signed in 2008 in which BPA (a part of the U.S. Department of Energy that markets wholesale electrical power from 31 federal hydro projects in the Columbia River Basin and other power plants) guarantees money toward anadromous fish recovery. In fact, the BPA Columbia Basin Fish & Wildlife Program, which the BPA fish accords fall under, spans a four-state region and is the largest environmental program of its kind in the world, with an annual budget of around $270 million (2013). The irony that these funds originate from the hydropower system which threatens anadromous fish survival is not lost on those working closely on recovery efforts.

The state of Idaho’s approximately $35$40 million annual spend also doesn’t include the tens of millions of dollars spent by the other states crucial to the path of anadromous fish recovery—Washington and Oregon.

Nor does it include dollars spent by tribal agencies related to the $25 million settlement known as the Snake River Basin Adjudication

(SRBA). Combine all those dollars and it is a staggering figure equaling hundreds of millions of dollars.

And with only 757 adult returning sockeye salmon counted at Lower Granite Dam in 2013, that equates to a lot of dollars per fish.

Money aside, consider the fact that over 106.4 million hatchery-raised Chinook salmon are released in a typical year and only 149,926 adult fish return (2013). Put another way, this means more than 106.3 million Chinook salmon do not make it back to their spawning grounds. And while salmon and steelhead runs have been rebounding in recent years from the lows of the 1990s, the staggering magnitude of those numbers begs the question of whether or not mitigating for the dam construction is truly working.

The Science of Recovery

The question of why anadromous fish populations are in trouble and just when the trouble began is a topic of heated debate.

Dam opponents point to the eight dams along the route back to Idaho—four along the lower

The question of why anadromous fish populations are in trouble and just when the trouble began is a topic of heated debate.

Columbia River and four along the lower Snake River. The first of these, the Bonneville Dam, was built in 1937, with most of the remaining seven dams being built in a relatively short burst of activity from 1961 to 1975, making the once mighty ColumbiaSnake watershed one of the most dammed river systems on Earth.

Dam opponents are focused on the four lower Snake River dams as being the most detrimental to anadromous fish survival and recovery, and cite scientific studies indicating “Snake River stock recovery would be assured with (their) removal” as stated by the American Fisheries Society (AFS). Opponents also note that the low energy production at the lower Snake River dams relative to other Columbia River dams minimizes the impacts to the region and its ratepayers of their removal.

Dam proponents and their supporters cite poor ocean conditions as the culprit of anadromous fish declines. They point to a history of poor practices from logging to mining and other commercial and industrial uses that degrade habitat essential to fish spawning and survival. Besides, they argue,

dismantling dams will cost electricity ratepayers billions of dollars, and hundreds of millions of dollars have already been spent on anadromous fish recovery, including retrofitting dams with fish ladders and bypass routes to make them more fish friendly.

“Over many, many years, the U.S. systematically spent hundreds of millions of dollars to deconstruct the aquatic resource that these fish rely on,” Edmondson said. He pointed out that it started before we were a nation with private companies coming into the West and trapping beavers. “In the absence of beavers, the physical nature of our aquatic systems changed. We combined this with poor historic practices related to every extraction industry—systematically changing floodplains into agricultural lands by reshaping and redirecting the landscape, dewatering our streams and destroying crucial habitat and water quality due to poor historic mining and logging practices such as clear-cutting.”

“We have learned to employ modern methods (of logging) that are more compatible with the aquatic systems,”

“Millions of fish gone from the landscape makes a difference.

Marine-derived nutrients are now missing from these watersheds.”

—Mark Davidson, director of Idaho’s Water Project, Trout Unlimited

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Sockeye salmon (pictured here) typically stage at the mouth of a river before heading upstream.

explained Edmondson. “But it has had profound effects on the aquatic resource, and, if we want to get it back, we have to turn back the clock.”

What exactly it means to “turn back the clock” is a question of constant debate by everyone from policymakers and politicians to biologists, hydrologists and geneticists.

“We can’t agree on what the science is, we can’t agree on what the right policies are, we can’t agree on who the right people are,” Trout Unlimited’s Davidson said.

The Four H’s

Although the various stakeholders may not agree on the same science or policy decisions, one thing they all can agree on are the four cornerstones of anadromous fish recovery— hydropower, habitat, hatchery and harvest.

The detrimental effects of the hydropower system, while providing what was originally touted as “clean” or “renewable” energy, have been well documented through fish count 100 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

numbers and the subsequent ESA listings, making it the lynchpin of recovery efforts.

Harvest refers to both state-mandated angling limits and commercial fishing harvest limits set by NOAA while the fish are in their ocean phase of life. Many of these downstream policies affect Idaho fish without Idahoans having any say in what policies are being set. And certainly, overfishing and cannery operations in the 1900s, long before the first dam was ever built, contributed to declines in salmon runs, in particular. Still, overfishing or environmental factors related to ocean conditions, as argued in recent reports, simply cannot account for the magnitude of declines that prompted ESA listings beginning in 1991.

A distinctly different situation on the freeflowing Copper River in Alaska seems to bear this out: the 2013 fish count for just one run of Copper River sockeye salmon was nearly 1.27 million fish, as reported by the Alaska Department of Fish & Game. Idaho’s sockeye run in that same year totaled a mere 757 adults returning above Lower Granite Dam.

Habitat Restoration

Mark Moulton, water fisheries program leader and a hydrologist with the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA), said, “the SNRA is in a unique position of being the barometer of the species since we are at the farthest reaches of their natural habitat.”

Trout Unlimited’s Davidson pointed out that “the Salmon River is not a flow-restricted river, but many of its tributaries in the upper basin, such as the Lemhi or Pahsimeroi, are. The Lemhi River alone has about 55 to 60 diversions along its length and much of our work involves taking those large public funding resources (from BPA) and leveraging them against the private dollars we raise in order to implement very large, complex projects involving eliminating or consolidating irrigation diversions, restoring flows and compensating landowners for taking riparian habitat out of production, protecting land through conservation easement, restoring overwinter habitat and increasing lateral habitat.”

photo: patrick clayton

HatcherY Vs. Wild Stocks

Hatcheries represent a fourth issue in anadromous fish recovery. And while the hatchery programs were developed as a mitigation response to the hydropower system and funded in larger part with Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) funds, they can be nearly as controversial as the dams themselves.

“It’s important to note that all hatchery programs are supplementation programs,” declared Jamie Pinkham, vice president of Native Nations for the Bush Foundation and former tribal council leader for the Nez Perce tribe. Pinkham, who worked for 12 years in anadromous fish recovery with the Nez Perce tribe, said quite simply, “Hatcheries will be used to boost the numbers of salmon runs as long as the hydro system is in place. It is a way to compensate for the domino effect of the mortality of out-migrating or returning fish that occurs at every single one of the dams.”

There are currently 208 salmon and

steelhead hatchery programs in the Columbia River Basin, with BPA funding contributing $86 million or more per year toward their efforts. More hatcheries are planned for the future, but many anadromous fish conservationists and biologists would like to see them go away altogether.

“What we are finding is that genetics really, really, REALLY matter,” emphasized Davidson. “That’s why there is so much emphasis now on preserving wild stocks.”

Wild runs of salmon and steelhead have adapted over millions of years to their unique areas of migration. For example, long-distance migrants such as those returning to Idaho’s upper Salmon River tend to have fewer and smaller eggs combined with smaller and more compact bodies than short-distance migrants so that they can survive the more rigorous demands, longer distances and more challenging river hydraulics that are part of their journey. Hatchery strays (escapees) sometimes migrate into streams and spawn with wild fish, which dilutes this gene pool.

That said, hatchery science has come a long way, and there are some hatchery programs that have been very successful in the face of the alternative—the potential extinction of the species. Idaho’s sockeye in Redfish Lake are a prime example of a population that dropped to nearly zero, and one that wouldn’t have been rebuilt without a hatchery-driven recovery effort.

The issue as Pinkham sees it is related to an overreliance on scientific methods. “For the longest time, we have relied on technological fixes to recreate or restore these natural functions,” he said. “Hatcheries themselves are actually a technological fix for a natural function. And it is not always successful.

We need to put more emphasis first on restoring natural functions, and second, on reaching out to find new partners in the recovery effort.”

A Keystone Species

The matter is far from resolved. Massive litigation related to the Biological Opinions compiled by NOAA and the relicensing of the hydro facilities—the ones along the lower Snake River, in particular—has been ongoing and is an electrifying issue in many states and agencies.

“At the heart of all fisheries are people,” said Idaho’s Edmondson. “There is no fishery if there isn’t a human being interacting

with it. So without people it doesn’t fit the definition of a fishery, which means that as we’re managing these fisheries, we need to think about the people that interact with them, too. All of them.”

Like Edmondson, Trout Unlimited’s Davidson has a broad perspective on the issue.

“Millions of fish gone from the landscape makes a difference,” he said. “Marinederived nutrients are now missing from these watersheds. And from our perspective, we are trying to figure out what we can do differently. Can we pull together a coalition that can actually start to have an honest dialogue about restoration of anadromous fish? Can we find ways to agree on what the right science is? Can we find ways to agree on what the agricultural community really needs? Can we open the dialogue to have a conversation with the understanding that taking down the lower four Snake River dams is not the start of taking down all dams?”

These are all questions we should be asking ourselves. Because, in the end, we just might have to let rivers be rivers. It might be time to allow them to flood and create multiple thread channels and lateral habitat, to encourage thick riparian zones and large wood in streams. It might be the only way to preserve a species with one of the greatest migrations on Earth, a species that valiantly embarks upon its upstream migration, against all odds, again and again in search of the exact waters of its birth.

“People need to care about these fish,” said Edmondson. “Society has to want to have this keystone species back in their natural habitat and in these wild places.”

In the end, this is a story with hope.

However, it only matters if all those who make their livelihood in the Pacific Northwest—not just the scientists and anglers—tell it.

“There is truth and inspiration we can gain from salmon about life and about death,” said Pinkham. “Salmon just exert this innate passion, and today they are overcoming every barrier—whether it is physical or political—to fight their way back to their healing waters to renew life. And at the same time I think they give us inspiration about death because, even in death, a salmon’s duty is far from over.

For in death, with their own aging body, they nourish life in a river meant to give life. And in this way, their existence becomes timeless.”

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Greg Moore makes his way up Terror of Tiny Town, Buzzard Perch in the City of Rocks.

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photo : mark weber

THE CITY OF ROCKS ‘WHERE THE PAVEMENT ENDS AND THE WEST BEGINS’

BY Dick Dorworth PHOTOGRAPHY Glenn Oakley & Mark Weber In 1849, James Wilkins, one of the first wagon travelers along what became the California Trail through southern Idaho, wrote, “We encamped at the City of the Rocks, a noted place from the granite rocks rising abruptly out of the ground. They are in a romantic valley clustered together, which gives them the appearance of a city.”

Unfortunately, Wilkins, an accomplished and well-known Britishborn artist, did not leave any paintings or sketches to go with his artistic naming of the area. However, his wistful naming of the area stuck, and more than 165 years later those striking granite spires continue to hold watch over the valley. Today’s travelers, however, are able to enjoy the amenities of a modern city that were unavailable to Wilkins in 1849.

The best way to the City of Rocks is from the east, through the town of Almo where, as one local advertisement has it, “The pavement ends and the West begins.” All of the other roads to the City (as it is commonly referred to) are dirt roads between 20 and 70 miles long.

Today, more than 100,000 people from all over the world visit the City each year, most of them rock climbers. However, climbing is just one slice of the recreational, cultural and historical attractions that have made it one of the most popular tourist spots in southern Idaho. summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 103

The City of Rocks was made a national reserve in 1988, a status different from a national park in that it “reserves” some uses for the public in acknowledgment of the history, culture and economies of the area. At the City, those include permitted cattle grazing, hunting and trapping—in accordance with Fish and Game rules and regulations— and collecting pinion nuts, currants, chokecherries and elderberries for personal, though not commercial, use.

Summer is the busiest season and some holidays like Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day will see all the available designated campsites and lodging accommodations filled. Last summer, every campsite at the City was booked every day during the month of June, the first time this has happened. It is unlikely it will be the last. There are, however, some BLM and Forest Service lands around the Reserve that are available for dispersed camping.

The best and most comprehensive guidebooks to climbing at the City, as well as the nearby Castle Rocks State Park, were written by longtime Wood River Valley resident Dave Bingham. Bingham is currently working on a new and updated guide to both areas.

In one of his books he writes, “The early days of climbing at the City of Rocks are still shrouded in mystery.” It is hard to imagine that hundreds of years ago the more adventurous of the indigenous Shoshone-Bannock boys and girls did not find a way to scramble up the granite formations, if for no other reason than that they were there.

Nonetheless, a 1999 guide book written by Tony Calderone states that “Jean Nicholson was the first person of record to climb many of the major formations in the City. Jean lived on the Circle Creek Ranch and explored the City of Rocks as a young girl.”

Archeological evidence suggests that humans have been in the City of Rocks for 9,000 years. Before the 19th century, that presence comprised people of the Shoshone-Bannock tribes. America’s westward expansion during the 1800s, and the settling of Idaho, would displace the centuries-old hunting and gathering lifestyles of the ShoshoneBannock tribes, forcing those peoples in 1968 onto the Fort Hall Reservation in eastern Idaho.

The first Anglo-American settlers in the late 19th century were dry-land farmers and ranchers. Through the drought years of the 1920s and ’30s, however, only the ranchers were able to survive. Until climbing began to turn the area into a tourist attraction, Almo was a

small, quiet, ranching community with a grocery store, gas station, church, post office and an elementary school. No alcohol was sold in the store (Tracy’s), and there were no restaurants, hotels or motels.

By the 1960s and ’70s, climbers from Utah and Idaho and other parts of the West were establishing routes on those fine granite rocks.

Their increasing presence brought some economic activity but also altered the culture and amenities of the area in ways the earliest settlers would never have imagined.

Today, there are over 100 campsites, including 38 at Smoky Mountain Campground accessed via a paved road. The City of Rocks sites include several vault toilets, which most visitors consider the cleanest they have ever seen, two water pumps and three group camp sites. The more expensive and comfortable Smoky Mountain sites include electrical and water hookups at every site, showers, bathrooms with flush toilets, and dump facilities. There are six horse sites, and all sites are pet friendly.

Climbing is the most popular City activity, but it is far from its only attraction. There are more than 22 miles of hiking trails, from short flat loops to long steep peaks, winding through the Reserve.

Mountain biking along some, but not all, of these same trails and the roads within the area is growing in popularity. In addition, the area is a bird watcher’s paradise in which more than 150 species have been documented and where more than 100 species have been counted in a single day.

Horseback riding is a part of the City culture and has become a popular recreation activity. There are several equestrian trails and day horse trailer parking in two spots. For those who don’t have their own horses, Indian Grove Outfitters is a licensed outfitter for the Reserve. Hunting is allowed in both the City of Rocks and at Castle Rocks, though there are restrictions on where firearms may be discharged, as well as on field dressing and the disposal of animal waste.

The official website of City of Rocks states that auto touring is “more popular than climbing” at the City. And both by car and foot, those interested in geology and photography will find enough to keep them engaged for, at least, a lifetime. Some of the spectacular granite towers visible at the City of Rocks are among the oldest exposed rock on Earth, dating back 2.5 billion years.

if you go...

EAT: There are now two restaurants in Almo that serve beer and wine: the

Almo Inn (closed in winter) and Rock City. Rock City makes its own pizza dough from scratch and has a wine and beer selection based on requests from climbers.

STAY: The Almo Inn offers eight rooms plus three cabins of rustic elegance,

including “a deluxe room, or the Cowboy’s choice with a Jacuzzi in your room.”

The Lodge at Castle Rock Ranch sleeps six adults, a bunkhouse that sleeps eight to 12 adults and two yurts that sleep four to six adults.

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PLAY: For those with sore and tired bodies from recreating, Durfee’s Hot Springs has four pools of different temperatures to relax in.

more info: The City of Rocks is open year-round, though some roads

may be impassable in winter. The visitor center in Almo is open seven days a week in summer, and Tuesday through Saturday in winter. Information about camping, tours, activities and road conditions can be obtained at the center or by phoning 208.824.5901, or by contacting nps.gov/ciro.

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photos clockwise from top : glenn oakley

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| glenn oakley | mark weber

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How Land Use Shaped Idaho and the West

BY Adam Tanous

Idaho, like so many of the Western states, is a place with dueling narratives. One is the elegantly simple story of the land, the other a maddeningly complex story of land use.

The first spans the millions of years before nations and governments came along; the second plays out over the most recent few hundred years when Europeans and the nascent Americans brought to a wild America the concept of land ownership.

Purists with a long view of the world would argue that no one can truly own the land. Nonetheless, the way in which land is owned and designated, whether in the broadest terms as a collective public domain or as a private commodity, has a profound effect on our relationship to the land and how we use it. The West looks the way it looks—with its vast stretches of open land—not because it was wilder or less tamable than the East, but because it was literally man-made. The politics of the West’s land acquisition and ultimate disposal sealed its fate.

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photo : glenn oakley

‘this land is your land’

Dawn in the Stanley Basin of the Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho.

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Photographer Matt Leidecker, camped above Baron Lakes in the Sawtooth Mountains, scopes out a potential high alpine sunrise shot.

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U.S. increased its land domain fivefold, adding 1.84 billion acres. That’s the equivalent of adding about 35 Idahos to the nation.

The dizzying expansion began with the 13 original states ceding to the new federal government title to all of the lands between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. With the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803, the U.S. added 530 million acres. Soon to follow were the additions of the Florida lands in 1819; the annexation of Texas in 1845; the Oregon Country cession from Great Britain in 1846 that included all of the land from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean between the 42nd and 49th parallel (Idaho’s southern and northern boundaries, respectively); and the Mexican cession of 1848, which included California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and parts of Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico. When the U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867, a final 378 million acres were added to federal lands.

Almost as fast as it was acquiring vast stretches of the West, the U.S. government was disposing of lands through the General Land Office, precursor to the Bureau of Land Management.

Largely because it had significant debts after the Revolutionary War, the U.S. government began selling and transferring lands—ultimately 816 million acres—to private landowners through the Homestead Act and to the private railroad companies. The hope was to settle the West and reap the rewards to follow.

The federal government gave away another 471 million acres to new states, including provisions for schools in every township of every new state. Upon becoming a state in 1890, Idaho, for instance, was endowed with 3.6 million acres of land to support state institutions, including public schools, the University of Idaho, state hospitals for the mentally ill,

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Given its size, Idaho is a place that is hard to fathom from the ground. However, take to the air over the state and the seemingly endless majesty of the place unfolds in every direction. The geography appears uncommonly simple: three broad strokes of geological wonder. First, a great swath of the Rocky Mountains runs north from the bulky center of the state on up into Canada. Second, as if cradling the Northern Rockies, the massive Snake River Plain, created by a series of basalt (lava) floods of the Yellowstone hot spot, stretches its wide smile across the full width of the state. Finally, basin and range regions run across the southern and southeastern regions of the state. The Lemhi and Big Lost Ranges, which drain into wide fertile valleys, are typical of this area.

Of course, the specific geology of how this enormous tableau was assembled is far from simple. Nonetheless, the appeal to the soul of such grand strokes of the natural world could not be more basic. What Idahoan wouldn’t be proud of such a place?

The irony is that, according to the Congressional Research Service, most of Idaho does not belong to Idaho. Nearly 62 percent of the land within its borders belongs to the federal government. Other Western states—Alaska, Nevada, Utah and Oregon—have similar or even higher federal ownership.

How did Idaho become a minority stakeholder in its own state? It is a direct result of decisions, specifically acts of Congress and international treaties, made in the formative years of the nation.

photos left to right: matt leidecker

Three Broad Strokes

glenn oakley

The Fisher Creek Trail is in the 778,000-acre Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA).

The Middle Fork of the Salmon is a wild and scenic river within Idaho’s Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, which spans more than 2.3 million acres.

Lewis-Clark State College, Idaho State University, state veterans’ homes, the Capitol Commission, Idaho School for the Deaf and Blind, and the juvenile corrections system and prison system. Any income generated by these lands—for example revenue from land leases on McCall’s Payette Lake—goes into the Idaho Department of Land’s endowment fund and is then distributed to these beneficiaries.

In all, 1.29 billion acres were disposed of in a flurry of 19th century largesse.

If there was one event that changed the course of federal land policy from disposal to retention, it was the exploration of lands that what would eventually become Yellowstone National Park. While Native Americans had been in the area hundreds of years earlier, it was an expedition in 1871 by geologist Ferdinand Hayden that was pivotal in paving the political path to park status. Hayden brought along photographer William Jackson and painter Thomas Moran to document the trip, which enabled members of Congress to see through art the wonders of Yellowstone. Even with the seemingly boundless resources of the West, Congress recognized the value in preserving land for later generations. In 1872, the U.S. Congress, with the signature of Ulysses S. Grant, created Yellowstone National Park, the world’s first national park and one “dedicated and set aside … for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.”

Land Management Era Once Yellowstone changed the tide of federal land policy, the U.S. government began to actively manage the properties it owned.

For example, in an effort to protect federal timber and long-term sustainability of the timber industry, Congress passed the Forest

Reserve Act of 1891. The law gave the president the ability to create forest reserves—later renamed national forests—from public domain lands. According to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), which administers these lands, national forests now comprise 193 million acres nationwide, 20 million of which are in Idaho. The Forest Service’s management goals for these lands include maintaining recreation opportunities, livestock grazing and preserving wildlife and fish habitats.

“A wilderness ... is hereby recognized as an area ... where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”

- Wilderness Act of 1964

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On top of this framework of federal land protection, Congress in the 1960s and early ’70s added four pieces of legislation that have had a profound effect on land use and conservation. These were the Wilderness Act of 1964, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. Senator Frank Church of Idaho sponsored the first two of these bills.

The Wilderness Act not only defined wilderness for the first time, but it also imposed certain prohibitions on land deemed to be wilderness. In the words of Howard Zahniser, once executive director of The Wilderness Society and author of the bill: “A wilderness … is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”

To ensure that the land would be “untrammeled by man,” Congress prohibited commercial enterprises, structures, permanent roads, and motorized vehicles—even mechanized transport such as the use of a bicycle was prohibited. Just as national park designation was more stringent than that of a national forest, wilderness area designation was more protective still.

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Key Conservation Legislation

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Energy also maintains lands, primarily for their national labs, such as the Idaho National Lab, which spans 570,000 acres in Idaho.

And, finally, according to data compiled by Abelardo Rodriguez of the University of Idaho, Native American lands in Idaho comprise 1.9 million acres across five reservations. While not federal land, the Native American territories represent approximately 4 percent of Idaho’s land area.

photos left to right: matt leidecker

As the number of national parks and monuments increased dramatically through the turn of the century and the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, in particular, Congress created in 1916 the National Park Service (NPS) to manage and preserve natural, historical and cultural resources in the park system. These resources today include national monuments such as Idaho’s Craters of the Moon; national reserves like City of Rocks; and national recreation areas, such as the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. The Park Service is challenged with balancing preservation of the resources with providing public access and enjoyment of them.

The federal agency that administers more federal land than any other is the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)—originally the General Land Office. It manages 248 million acres nationwide and 12 million acres in Idaho. The BLM’s management mission is similar to the USFS in that it is trying to maximize return on multiple uses, including recreation, livestock grazing, timber harvesting, and wildlife habitat.

Unlike the BLM and USFS, which must balance multiple uses within their lands, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has a primary-use mission; that is, to conserve plants and animals. Some consumptive uses, such as mining, timber harvesting and even hunting, are permitted but only if they do not threaten the needs of wildlife. Nationwide, the FWS administers 89 million acres, most of which are in Alaska. Within Idaho, the FWS oversees seven refuges: Kootenai, Deer Flat, Camas, Minidoka, Grays Lake, Oxford’s Slough, and Bear Lake.

One of the last pieces in the federal lands puzzle is the Department of Defense, which manages 19 million acres nationally—a little over 4,000 acres in Idaho—for use as bases and training areas. The Department of

tal roberts

Strawberry Point above Warm Spring Creek provides a stunning panorama in the White Cloud Mountains.

Rep. Mike Simpson has proposed creating three new wilderness areas in the Boulder-White Cloud Mountains. Pictured here are the Big Boulder Lakes in the White Cloud Mountains.

Zeb Stroebel-Haft rides the backside of Dollar Mountain which, unlike Bald Mountain, is private property.

The act has had a significant effect on Idaho, as nearly 4.52 million acres of federal land within the state has been designated as wilderness.

Only Alaska and California have more wilderness acreage. Perhaps the most notable such area in Idaho is the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, which encompasses 2.3 million acres in the center of the state. Of the 12 wilderness areas in Idaho, some of the more prominent are the Craters of the Moon, Sawtooth, Gospel-Hump, Selway-Bitteroot, and Hells Canyon Wilderness Areas.

The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 sought to achieve similar protections for rivers, stipulating that rivers so designated would remain “free-flowing” and protected for future generations. The law goes on to further designate “wild,” “scenic,” and “recreational” river stretches with corresponding restrictions on use. Idaho boasts 891 miles of wild and scenic stretches, including parts of the Main and Middle Fork of the Salmon, sections of the Bruneau and Clearwater Rivers, as well as a stretch of the Snake River below Hells Canyon Dam. The third major piece of legislation shaping land use in the West and Idaho in particular is the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Designed to stop and reverse species extinction caused by human development, the law protects not only endangered species, but also the habitats on which they depend. It is the latter stipulation that has been the grist for many protracted legal battles. Politics aside, the law has worked as intended in that it has brought many species back from the edge of extinction. Some of the animals saved to date include bald eagles, grizzly bears, California sea otters, and peregrine falcons.

Finally, if there is a point at which the massive disposition of

federal lands formally ended and, therefore, previously conserved lands were locked in place, it was the passage of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) of 1976. Not only did the law repeal the Homestead Act, federal land sales and transfers, but it also asserted that the “public lands be retained in Federal ownership unless … it is determined that disposal of a particular parcel will serve the national interest.”

All That Endures When the bill to establish Yellowstone Park was debated, Senator Cornelius Cole of California, an outspoken opponent of the legislation, said on the Senate floor, “The natural curiosities there (Yellowstone) cannot be interfered with by anything that man can do.”

He may have had a point in 1872, but today there seems to be little limit to our capabilities or to the impact private ownership has on land use. However, perhaps the larger point to consider is not what man can do to the “natural curiosities,” but what the “natural curiosities” can do to man.

With the creation of Yellowstone, pristine land was for the first time in the history of our nation deemed to have inherent value. There was recognition that an aesthetic experience in the natural world might save a soul as readily as would a timber job. What was then just an inkling of an idea is now part of our cultural values: that when people go out into great wild places something transformative can happen. A connection is established to a bigger, natural world that will likely endure forever. At least, that is the hope.

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photo : courtesy gorongosa national park

Village elders gather each April under the Sacred Tree to pray to their ancestors and to the animals in the park in a ceremony formally opening Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique.

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Paradise Lost, and Found Can a Conservation Effort in Africa Show Us a Way Forward?

BY Adam Tanous

Each year in April, after the rainy season in Mozambique has passed, Greg Carr finds himself at the base of a sacred tree on the southern edge of Gorongosa National Park. Village elders lead a gathering of people from the traditional communities surrounding the park, along with Carr, in a ceremony of prayer. In accordance with their traditional beliefs, which might be loosely called animism, they pray to the tree, and they pray to their ancestors’ spirits who live in trees. They then pray to the animals in the park nearby and tell them that tourists will be coming soon, as a courtesy to the animals.

The occasion is joyous—a specially brewed concoction is passed around—as it marks the formal opening of the park for the year.

How did a former tech entrepreneur, Idaho Falls native, and part-time Ketchum resident end up in such a place? The answer lies in the story of a park once considered the grandest of Africa, a country decimated by war, and in what may be the biggest ecological experiment of our time.

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Rain that falls on Mount Gorongosa flows into a massive floodplain savanna and eventually into Lake Urema.

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Lion recovery in Gorongosa is critical as they are a draw for tourists.

photos clockwise from top left: kristin cheatwood | jeff trollip / gorongosa national park archives | james byrne / gorongosa national park archives

Greg Carr relaxes in a playroom in his Ketchum home.

photo: michael paredes

ozambique lies on the eastern coast of southern Africa, directly across from the island of Madagascar. Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama was the first European to land on its shores in 1498, and Portugal more or less controlled the land for the next 450 years. Established as a national park in 1960 by the Portuguese, Gorongosa National Park, with its wealth of wildlife and spectacular natural beauty, became a tremendously popular tourist destination through the 1960s and early 1970s.

Situated on the southern end of the Great Rift Valley of Africa, the park spans over a million acres and is home to diverse ecosystems, including savanna, floodplain grasslands, dry woodland forests, and a rainforest atop Mount Gorongosa. The mountain, which stands 6,112 feet, and its rain forest receive over 79 inches of water annually and serve as the water catchment system for the entire park. It is the literal lifeblood of the land below as water flows down through a network of rivers and streams into Lake Urema and a massive floodplain.

In 1972, South African ecologist Dr. Kenneth Tinley conducted an aerial survey of the park and found a land teeming with life. Tinley estimated there to be 14,000 buffalo, 2,500 elephants, 3,500 hippos, 3,500 waterbuck, 3,500 zebra, 200 lions, and thousands of other herbivores. One could call it an Eden, of sorts, but one millions of years in the making. However, the paradise that was Gorongosa was to suffer a fall that nearly extinguished it.

Soon after Mozambique won independence from Portugal in 1975, civil war broke out. It was a brutal, bloody struggle for 16 years. A million people were killed; several million fled in exile. People were tortured and maimed; land mines were deployed. In the frenzy of battle, schools and health centers were wantonly destroyed. As the park was a major battleground, the animals suffered immensely, as well.

The fighters killed them for meat. Elephants that weren’t killed were traumatized by the bloodshed. By the end of the war, in 1992, the land remained; the animals were gone.

A young baboon

Gorongosa National Park

n what could only be considered a parallel universe, Greg Carr was an Idaho Falls teenager when the Mozambican civil war broke out. He was the youngest of seven kids, son of a surgeon and a homemaker. After studying history at Utah State University, Carr went on to earn a degree in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. In his final year at Harvard, 1986, Carr had an idea for creating what we have come to know as digital voice mail. Carr and Scott Jones, a young scientist at MIT, formed a company they called Boston Technology. Within four years, Boston Technology was the leading provider of voice mail systems to the telephone companies.

By the end of the Mozambican civil war in 1992, Carr had limited his duties at Boston Technology to involve himself in other ventures, one of which was to serve as Chairman of Prodigy, an early Internet service provider. But by 1998, he was done. He had amassed a great deal of money, resigned from boards, formed the Carr Foundation and committed his life to furthering human rights through philanthropy.

Carr’s first move was to donate $18 million to create, in 1999, the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School.

The next year he built the Museum of Idaho in his hometown of Idaho Falls. In 2001, he bought the court-impounded former Aryan Nations compound near Hayden Lake and promptly donated it to the North Idaho College so that it could become a peace park. Then, in 2002, Carr joined with others to enable the construction of the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial in Boise.

These projects, however grand, paled in comparison to the challenge Carr saw in Mozambique. He began visiting the country in 2002 and returned a number of times over the next few years. What he saw was one of the poorest countries in the world. According to the World Bank, the per-capita income in Mozambique in 2002 was $230 per year. Life expectancy was 48 years, and malaria and AIDS were ravaging the country.

“I first went to Mozambique thinking about how we were going to help these people lift themselves out of poverty,” Carr told me during one of several visits this spring. “They’ve got a health care crisis, they’ve summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 115

oney and time commitment notwithstanding, the complexity of repopulating and restoring life to a million acres of African savanna was daunting. To provide a frame of reference, Carr said that early on he could “drive all day and see nothing, maybe one warthog, maybe one baboon, but, I’m telling you, you didn’t see wildlife.”

One of the world’s preeminent biologists, Edward O. Wilson, has spent time in Gorongosa, and, in his book “Window on Eternity,” he reports the decimation of the animal population that occurred between 1972 and 2001. “The number of Cape buffalo counted in the park went from 13,000 to just 15; the wildebeest fell from 6,400 to one; hippos went from 3,500 to 44; and instead of 3,300 zebras, there were 12. Elephant herds and lion prides were reduced by 80 to 90 percent.”

How does one rebuild an entire ecosystem—in practice, many ecosystems—essentially from scratch over an area greater than a million acres? Certainly, the Noah’s Arc approach is not the way to do it. The answer is to do it with great care and deliberation, and with expert help.

An ecosystem is a dynamic entity with many interdependent variables. Introduce too many lions too fast and grass-eating herbivores like buffalo get wiped out. Then the grasses grow out of control and grasshoppers explode in numbers. When the grasshopper numbers blow up, the praying mantid population goes off the charts. And the ripple continues. Make too big of a wave and the system gets so far from its natural equilibrium that it can’t find its way back.

The next question then becomes: what is the equilibrium you are aiming for? Carr pointed out that ecologists wrestle with this question.

“One theory is that given the water and the soil and trees and such in this particular park, there should be a natural equilibrium of animals.

So, you would go back and look at the 1960s and, say, ‘that is the natural state, let’s get back to that.’ Another theory is that there is more than one possible equilibrium state. And we may move to a new equilibrium that is stable but different.”

Peter Naskrecki, an associate at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology and who is working on the Gorongosa project, illustrated to me how two different species might occupy a similar ecological niche.

As the buffalo population went to near zero through the course of the war—perhaps because they are better tasting than waterbuck and were 116 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

hunted nearly out of existence—the waterbuck population increased by a factor of 10. “Waterbuck breed faster and took over,” Naskrecki said. Where there were 3,000 waterbuck before the war, there are now 34,000. Buffalo have been reintroduced and have climbed up to number 600. The question Carr and many ecologists are asking is, “Ten years from now, will the buffalo make a recovery and start to replace some of the waterbuck, or have the waterbuck permanently established themselves such that the buffalo can’t come back? We don’t know.”

In big systems like this, ecologists like Naskrecki tend to think in terms of biomass, which is the total mass of a type of animal, say herbivores, in a given ecosystem. So, the relative proportions of animals for a given biomass may fluctuate—varying numbers of buffalo, hippo, elephant, waterbuck, and zebra, for example—while the total biomass might be stable.

According to Marc Stalmans, director of scientific services at the park, the total biomass observed in the park in 2014 was close to the level that was there in the ‘70s, though there are spatial variations across the park—some areas are more densely populated than others.

Nonetheless, as Naskrecki put it plainly, “The restoration is working.”

Ketchum resident and videographer Bob Poole has spent many years in Africa. He has filmed extensively in Gorongosa, working with Carr, and has observed the changes. “It’s staggering how the numbers of animals have increased since I first started going to Gorongosa,” he said. “From the beginning of my time in the park, there were always lots of warthogs and baboons and plenty of waterbuck on the floodplain, but now we call it Serengeti South. Not just because of the vast numbers, but the variety of species such as impala, kudu, sable and now even buffalo.”

Whether a new but different equilibrium of the Gorongosa ecosystem will be healthy is hard to know. What Carr is aiming for as the project advances is to establish “the maximum number of species and the maximum resiliency. So, buffalo, waterbuck, lion, leopard numbers could bounce all around, you just don’t want any one of them to get to zero.”

Part of Naskrecki’s mission is to gain an understanding of the park’s ecosystem as a whole, which involves collecting a tremendous amount of data. “We are creating a baseline of species diversity and how they

photo: bob poole

got poverty, and what are we going to do? Then I stumbled on to this idea of, hey, if we restore this national park we’re going to create a lot of jobs and economic activity. And they’re good jobs, jobs I like— biologists and park rangers. It’s not going to be a bunch of people at the bottom of a coal mine.” It was Carr’s entrepreneurial instincts at work to do social good. His thinking was, “If Kenya could have a billion-dollar tourism industry, why couldn’t Mozambique?”

Not only would the park create jobs, but it would also generate fees that could go to sustaining the park in the long term. What’s more, Carr thought, tourists and tour operators could be part of the solution in helping an ecosystem. With tourists moving around the park, he would have that many more eyes looking out for illegal snares that might kill a lion or illegal logging that would threaten the soil or the water catchment.

After a couple of years of planning discussions, Carr signed an agreement with the Mozambican government to restore and co-manage the park for 20 years. In that agreement, Carr pledged $40 million of his own money.

Gina Poole, who has worked with her husband Bob Poole on the restoration project, relaxes in the rainforest on Mount Gorongosa.

photos from top: courtesy gorongosa national park | courtesy greg carr

One of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s preeminent biologists, E. O. Wilson (center), discusses restoration efforts with Carr. At left is Professor Rob Pringle of Princeton University.

The Cape buffalo population has climbed to 670 (2014) from a low of 15 in 2001.

summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 117

A baby crocodile emerges.

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Mother and baby elephant

photos clockwise from top left: salvatore rugolo / gorongosa national park archives | piotr naskrecki | james byrne / gorongosa national park archives

A child enjoys water from one of the many borehole wells Carrâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s team has dug.

interact—what they eat, their health, how the ecosystem changes with the seasons,” Naskrecki said. To this end, they are collecting biological data not just on the big animals but the insects, frogs, plants, and microorganisms that form the foundation of the ecosystem. He said that when they started their database in 2012 there were only a few hundred documented species in the park. Now, they are up to 4,000 species, and he estimates that ultimately the number will be between 50,000 and 75,000 species.

photo: courtesy gorongosa national park

erhaps what is most challenging about the Gorongosa Park restoration project is that it is integrated into a comprehensive human development project. About 200,000 people live in the border areas of the park, and many still live in the park despite the difficulties of having elephants eating their farms, poisonous snakes slithering about and crocodiles in the rivers. Nonetheless, Carr respects their prerogative. In fact, he even wrote in his contract with the government that no one would ever be forced to move out of the park.

The theme Carr often comes back to in talking about this work is the importance of gaining the trust and participation of the local people.

“We have to be really involved in their lives,” he explained. “The park has got to be helping their lives in a lot of different ways, so that they say, ‘you know what, we’re better off with a park than without a park.’”

To that end, Carr’s organization has been building health clinics, both mobile units and permanent facilities, as well as schools. In addition, it helps farmers by providing better seeds, as well as encouraging crop rotation, the use of mulching and modest fertilization. And while he won’t kick anyone out of the park, he tries to encourage them to move into the buffer zones bordering the park. He does this by working with the government to help farmers secure title to land that they otherwise couldn’t get.

Bob Poole and Jen Guyton examine a bat wing during a 2013 biodiversity study.

To solve the problem of farmers deforesting the rainforest on Mount Gorongosa and thereby threatening the entire water catchment system of the park, Carr’s team has initiated a shade-grown coffee program.

Coffee plants are grown between trees in the forest. There is also an extensive nursery and tree-replanting program in place.

Paramount, according to Carr, is that “you have to ask them: ‘What does better off mean to you?’ And they’ll say, ‘we want boreholes (wells) because we don’t like walking five kilometers to the river, and, by the way, there are crocodiles waiting for us there. And they want health care and schools and help with farming and jobs in the park. Those are the big five. And I think we’ve done all of the things they’ve asked. The key is, you have to ask.”

Carr reiterates this idea because so much of the success of this conservation project depends on gaining the trust of the locals. Carr admits that the most challenging part of his efforts has been, as he put it, “Who the heck is Greg Carr, and why is he in our country? It has been a 10-year process, step by step, of building trust. I would say that I have made a lot of progress … but it has been step by step.”

As if that weren’t a precarious enough process, there are politics to consider. This year a new president was elected, and new ministers were appointed. Fortunately for Carr, and the park, the new minister overseeing Gorongosa seems to be on board with both the park restoration and development projects in progress. ne could look at all that is going on in Gorongosa and see two independent problems: a difficult biological puzzle that lots of smart and dedicated people are trying to solve alongside a human development challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. But the real experiment is a much bigger one because the two problems are not independent.

The Gorongosa project really raises a broader question of human ecology: to what extent are we able to move forward with the natural world and its biodiversity intact?

Talking to Carr, it is obvious he thinks about this a lot. His experience at Gorongosa has clearly shaped him. He referred to this century as a “bottleneck century,” though he said this without a hint of resignation.

“I like thinking about human beings as being one among many millions of species on this planet. I like thinking about the fact that we have to find a way to live here in harmony with the other species. There is a certain comfort in the feeling that we belong here. This Earth is our home, and we darn well better figure out a way to protect it and find a sustainable way of being here, or we could be toast in a hundred years.”

Carr is certainly doing his part to figure it out. And after 10 years of trying to solve the giant puzzle, he shows no sign of getting weary. His enthusiasm is palpable and infectious. In fact, in his recent discussions with the government, Carr restarted the clock on his contract for another 20 years. His new contract runs through 2035.

It is hard not to look at that date and think that it is an awfully long time. But Carr couldn’t be happier. I asked him if he could see beyond the Gorongosa project, that is, for himself.

Ever thoughtful, Carr considered the question for a good long moment. “No. I think this is what I do. There are so many pieces to it.

I’m never going to get bored. There’s the science. We make films now.

It’s endless. I mean, I’m growing coffee!” he said with the joy of a child.

“Gorongosa coffee!”

summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 119

photo: courtesy pete patterson

Pete Patterson contemplates his next skiing line in Greenland.

PROFILES in outdoor LIFE

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One would be hard pressed to find more impressive yet down-to-earth individuals than the three we are profiling in this issue. Pete Patterson, Travis Vandenburgh and Susan Robinson all live lives of passion and commitment to the outdoors.

Life Lived in the Mountains Pete Patterson Leads the Way

BY Kira Tenney

If you want to learn about the amazing accomplishments of Sun Valley native Pete Patterson, don’t bother asking him. He’d rather talk about how magnificent other people are. You’ll leave the conversation not knowing exactly who this guy with bright eyes and a huge smile is. You will, however, be inspired by his humble charisma and his absolute presence in whatever adventure is right in front of him. And there are many.

Pete Patterson was born in Sun Valley in 1957. At the time, there wasn’t a lift on the Warm Springs side of Baldy, but being the son of two ski instructors and living in a house that would later become the North Face Hut, precursor to the Warm Springs Lodge, Patterson would ride the bus around to River Run, blast around the mountain all day and then ski the backside to get home.

Early on, Patterson participated in the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation racing program and found enormous success at a young age, not just because he was a good skier, but more so because he loved the sport and trained extraordinarily hard. He secured a place on the U.S. Ski Team at age 16 and sped into a 13th-place downhill finish in the 1976 Olympics and a fifth-place downhill finish in the 1980 Olympics, which was, to that date, the best U.S. men’s finish in downhill. In the 1978 World Championships, he won a bronze in the alpine combined (downhill and slalom events), earning the only medal for the U.S. “If they know, people say, ‘Wow! You did that?’ But in ski racing, I’m only 20 percent of it. It’s a team of friends, family, coaches, and everyone on the ski team that makes it happen. Athletes can’t do it on their own.

The reality is they need the support and help of many, but a lot of people can forget that,” Patterson explained.

After his race career, Patterson made his way back to Sun Valley and began helicopterski guiding, looking for and finding a different way to enjoy the mountains outside the race gates.

Bozo Cardozo, fellow guide and close friend, recounted the first time he met Patterson, which was on a $25, one-lift tour with Sun Valley Heli-Ski before either of them were guides for the company. “We landed on the ridge and immediately Pete asked the guide if we could hike higher. That exemplifies Pete: he was fired up and wanted to go skiing.”

In 1996, Patterson founded the international guiding company Mountain Spirits with his climbing, skiing, rodeoriding, piano-playing, Nepali-speaking, business-major wife Kim Jacobs. Mountain Spirits offers trekking, mountaineering, river, bike and ski trips to exotic locations such as Bhutan, Greenland, Nepal, Italy, India and Chile (to name a few).

“We wanted a broad-based company that wouldn’t just appeal to skiers and climbers but to families and people that simply want to be out there,” Patterson said. “At first, people sign up for a one-time trip of a lifetime, but now they’re on their 13th trip. These experiences change their lives and ours. A highlight for me is that after spending three weeks in the Himalaya with a group, guests that I had never met before are now some of our best friends.”

For Patterson, relationships with people and establishing homes and communities around the world keep him passionate about guiding. “While traveling, we see how lucky we are and how amazing these people are in Africa, Asia, all over,” he noted. “Many are struggling for everything, yet keep such a great spirit and attitude, living life like you should, regardless of how difficult it is; it’s really inspiring to me.”

As it turns out, Patterson is the inspiring one. Cardozo put it this way: “Pete’s a charming human and incredibly talented guide and skier who does a good job of finding the best in people and bringing out the best in people. He genuinely loves the mountains, and it shows.” summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 121

localbuzz // xxxxxxxxxxx

Running After Lights Out Vandenburgh Pushes Past 50 (Miles)

BY Matt Furber

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noisy disc breaks, broken carbon fiber or flat tires, although, as in any game, sometimes the wheels do come off. Or lightning can intervene as it did at his first ultra attempt, the Grand Teton 50 Mile, when racers were evacuated from the course due to weather.

Vandenburgh started training for marathons when his wife Cortney was in medical school in Kansas City where they had moved from Jackson, Wyoming. “I had a really hard job, and I was going through all sorts of thoughts about my career. Running helped me sort my brain out and come back more refreshed. It continues to be therapeutic.”

Between teaching seventh grade, coaching soccer, work with the Community School’s outdoor program and being a husband and a father, Vandenburgh has plenty to contemplate on constitutional runs right out the door to his home. As a family man, his wife Cortney and daughters Anika (10) and Torin (6) come first, however, so Vandenburgh runs on the margins of the day. Does that explain the bobbing light on Carbonate Mountain in the wee hours of winter?

“I try to have a mindful balance between family and running. This is my hobby, not theirs,” Vandenburgh said, explaining that as the school year gets under way, running largely takes a back seat. It’s a time for focus elsewhere and rest. Once the school year routine gels, a 10-to 20-week training cycle commences with distances ramping up through the dark of winter.

Weekly mileages can get as high as 70-80 miles during the peak. “I don’t want to project or infect my passion on other passions my kids or spouse might have or develop. Much of my training happens when they are sleeping. You get good at running with a headlamp.”

A soccer player from Amherst, New Hampshire, Vandenburgh says he was the slowest one on the field, which may be the key to success as an ultra runner, more tortoise than hare. Other runners, like Community School Outdoor Program Director Rob Landis, himself a two-time

winner of the Wasatch 100 in the mid-eighties, turned Vandenburgh on to the idea of racing ultras after he moved to Blaine County.

“Rob and I have done some long runs in the Pioneers and the Sawtooths in the last five or six years,” Vandenburgh said, explaining that it’s important to have a buddy on deep backcountry runs for safety because getting home is mandatory. And, as much as races have a pleasing mix of challenge and camaraderie, like Sheridan, Wyoming’s, upcoming Bighorn 100, which will be Vandenburgh’s first 100-mile attempt, ultimately, it’s the solitude that drives him.

photo: kristin cheatwood

For the uninitiated, ultra running is anything on roads or trails longer than a marathon, anywhere from Pocatello, Idaho, to Grindelwald, Switzerland. Hailey runner Travis Vandenburgh, a Community School teacher, has been competing in the sport since 2008.

Popular ultra distances start at 50 kilometers, roughly 31 miles. The most famous U.S. race is the Western States 100, started in 1955 as a one-day horse race from Squaw Valley to Auburn, California. In the 1970s it eventually became a foot race after Gordy Ainsleigh left the horse behind to complete the course on foot in 23 hours, 42 minutes.

“You talk to some folks, and they don’t entertain the term ‘ultra’ until you get to 50 miles,” Vandenburgh said. “Some runs I’m consumed with thinking about my children, my marriage, or my students. Some runs I’m listening intently to my body to see where I’m at in my training cycle. Some runs I’m completely in tune with the sights, smells, and sounds of the trail. Most long runs, all of these things happen.”

Last July, Vandenburgh and his wife Cortney ran the Eiger Ultra 51K in Switzerland and celebrated their 15th anniversary with 10,000 feet of elevation gain.

“We competed in the couples division and placed second to our total surprise and found ourselves in an awards ceremony complete with Swiss cowbells and a handshake from the mayor the next day.”

Brushing the cheek-blushing moments of fame aside, Vandenburgh says his true bliss is running alone. It’s his yoga. He foregoes bikes for cushiony and comfy Hoka shoes, his preference of fat footwear over the lingering popularity of minimalist treads. The Hailey resident doesn’t even own a mountain bike, which his friends frequently tell him he will one day regret. Maybe, he says, but unlike mountain bikers he can spend the day running a three or four day backpacking trail in the Sawtooth Wilderness. Wink.

Jest between user groups aside, Vandenburgh is at peace with his outlet, not only because he doesn’t have to fidget with

On Pace Beyond the Race Susan Robinson Forges Outdoor Bonds

photo: kristin cheatwood

BY Matt Furber Trailside repairs happen on mountain bike rides, but Susan Robinson doesn’t shy away from changing flats or reconnecting broken chains. When exploring Sun Valley single track with friends or clients, there are mishaps, but it’s all part of something bigger—collegial empowerment through sport—all in the arms of Mother Nature.

After decades riding the trails of Blaine and Custer Counties on a casual basis, Robinson has become a leader in the field of guided mountain biking. Her husband, Scott Robinson, is owner and co-founder of First Light, the Ketchum-based purveyor of hunting attire. Susan pitches in there on the rare occasion, but her main vocation is advocate, especially for women, of mountain biking.

“Mountain biking is one of the things that I love to do,” Robinson said, explaining that her path to the sport as a guiding professional is a trajectory that started when mostly men shared the starting line. “It was really intimidating at first … But I think what I’ve enjoyed about racing is more of the camaraderie. Everyone has the pre-start jitters—their personal journey during the race and the re-cap after the finish—all of which makes for entertaining stories.”

Robinson came to the Sun Valley area at age 22 after she finished college at the University of Montana in her home state.

“I moved here to be a ski bum,” she said.

“People told me if I liked the skiing, I would love the summer, and I do. Early on, single track was something I dabbled in, but in the past 10 years it’s become much more of a focus.”

That focus included helping biking champion Rebecca Rusch start the Gold Rusch Tour, a nationwide series of events to encourage women’s participation in biking and to foster their empowerment. Robinson says her fondness for the sport grows with camaraderie gleaned from being an activist for it. Her commitment to the sport deepened when Jen Biondi of Biondi Upcycle suggested that she get certified as a coach.

The business and pleasure of mountain biking is helping to get people out for a dose

of pedal-powered exercise, Robinson says, in the playground she has called home since she graduated from college.

“I love where I live,” said Robinson of her place out Warm Springs Road. “I can access single track in under a minute from my home and feel fortunate that that’s a big part of my life. It’s a great distraction from daily life since I need to focus on what I’m doing presently as opposed to worrying about issues life seems to serve up.”

Her Blaine County world has been a full, outdoor-oriented life, punctuated by a few years in Portland, Oregon, where Robinson cut her teeth road and cyclocross racing. “Riding has taken me to places I may not have seen otherwise. Meeting amazing people from all over the world keeps me healthy—unless I crash—and constantly challenges me.”

Her former habit of riding once or twice a week has become a regimen of five or

six days a week during peak season. When outfitter Sturtevants in Ketchum was granted a U.S. Forest Service permit for guided mountain biking several years ago, it raised the temperature on Sun Valley’s already hot single-track draw. Robinson approached owner Olin Glenne about doing some women-specific clinics and now works as a licensed guide for the Ketchum shop.

While the main focus is keeping mountain biking fun, Robinson says, she does her best to make sure clients and students are in a safe environment, and that includes making sure their equipment is functioning properly. The work also entails working on bike handling basics, riding constructed stunts in a park and listening to rider feedback. “As much as I want someone to challenge themselves, and I can help with that, there’s no reason to expose someone to a serious injury.”

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THOM ROSS

“It Went Up With A Bang” acrylic on canvas 48” x 36”

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sunvalleymag.com/SPARK/

the arts p. 126 laura mcphee

p. 130 gabe embler

art | design | innovation

p. 132 kathryn stats

p. 134 gallery showcase

photo : laura mcphee

DON’T MISS •

outdoor art

Photographer Laura McPhee has had a long relationship with the city of Kolkata, India (formerly Calcutta).

Her image presented here, “Courtyard, Mitra House, North Kolkata AP,” is featured in her most recent photographic book, “The Home and the World.” As writer Danielle Flam reports in her profile of McPhee, the artist also spent five years documenting the Sawtooth Valley in her series “River of No Return.” Also in The Arts, we profile sculptor Gabe Embler and painter Kathryn Stats.

summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 125

thearts // laura mcphee

Exploring the Mystery of Place Laura McPhee’s Inspiring Photography

“Sacred Bo Tree (Ficus Religiosa), Supported by an Eighteenth-Century Terra Cotta Temple, Dwarhatta, West Bengal” by Laura McPhee

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In 2003, Laura McPhee was invited to spend a year as an artist-in-residence in the Sawtooth Valley. Having grown up on the East Coast, McPhee didn’t know what Idaho was like, and considered not accepting the residency because she wasn’t sure what exactly she would do here. The terms of her residency didn’t require she make pictures, and she was intimidated by the prospect, given the photographic accomplishments of her 19th-century counterparts. Nonetheless, she decided to come for a couple of weeks to check it out. Then she returned, again and again. The Sawtooth Valley so captured her imagination that she spent five years exploring the region for her inspiring photographic series: “River of No Return.”

Part of what captivated McPhee’s imagination was her personal connection to this place. Her grandmother lived out West, the daughter of an itinerant schoolteacher who taught in mining towns.

Her photography, interestingly, and her methodology, capture something of this particular historical moment—the early 1900s—and the legacy that period left on the way we live in and experience this place today.

McPhee’s images, like that of a settler’s cabin at the edge of a new subdivision, or a cyanide evaporation pool in a now defunct silver and gold mine, tend to depict places throughout the Sawtooth Valley that feel heavy with the weight of history. And despite being mostly of landscapes, her images never lack a human presence, whether the depressions fishermen’s footsteps have left in the tall grass or the remains of an abandoned elk carcass. We think of nature as this thing outside of culture, but McPhee’s photographs speak to the way we construct our idea of nature through culture, a reflection of human values, choices and judgments.

With her photography, McPhee told me that she is “trying to make sense of the puzzle of what a particular place means and how we live it.” In the mixed land use environment of the Sawtooth Valley, this is a fairly complex

photo : laura mcphee

BY Danielle Flam

MARCIA MYERS PAINTINGS FROM HER PERSONAL COLLECTION SUMMER 2015

GAIL SEVERN GALLERY 400 First Avenue North

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thearts // laura mcphee

to half a second, pulls out the dark slide and takes the picture. This process adds a formality to the relationship with her subjects that most photographers don’t have. “We approach cameras with this automatic grin, then it’s over really quickly,” McPhee explained. “This challenges that experience.”

McPhee likes to get to know a place and its people as deeply as possible before documenting it. Her most recent photographic book, “The Home and the World,” was born out of her 17-year relationship with the city of Kolkata. The photographs in the series similarly seek to understand how cultures are woven together with place.

She examines the public and private spaces of the city, engaging its architecture and people from her unique point of view. The collection is a beautiful and nostalgic meditation on a visually stunning place.

“The Home and the World” will be on display at the Gail Severn Gallery in August 2015.

photo : laura mcphee

endeavor, with issues like endangered sockeye, the reintroduction of wolves, mineral mining, and population loss.

Her method, like her subject matter, is also evocative of an earlier time—McPhee shoots with a large-format Deardorff camera, a very basic idea of what a camera is.

“You set up the tripod, put this big mahogany box on it, then get under a dark cloth,” McPhee explained. This somewhat antiquated tool not only provides her images with a clarity and sharpness that is unrivaled, but also changes her relationship to her subject. “It’s really slow,” McPhee said. “You have to take your time. There’s no hit-andrun aspect to it.”

For each photograph, McPhee slides an 8-by-10 negative sheet into the camera and gets under the dark cloth to focus. She steps back outside of the cloth, talks to her subject, then, when she’s ready to take a photograph, she asks people not to move for about a quarter

“Corner of the Drawing Room, Bose House, Howrah” by Laura McPhee

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thearts // gabe embler

The Art of Balance Carving Time with Sculptor Gabe Embler

BY Laurel Holland

130 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

Untitled winter sculpture by Gabe Embler

trembling of the earth—can mess with you. Tear it down, break it apart. Are you willing to try again? Fail again? Fail better?”

An accomplished photographer, student of the Japanese Samurai tradition, polyglot, ordained minister, and (yes) certified midwife, Embler is as metamorphic as his medium. With granite, jasper, shale, and lava he has played with form and function—from his practical and usable vessels to the private pieces and public installations he has been commissioned to create. And though Embler has garnered attention in recent years for his stone balances, balancing is a study he began exploring as an instrument of meditation and comprises a mere fraction of his work. “Balancing is just a device. It’s about the bigger picture. How do the random, disparate parts of your life balance themselves? Even for a little while? No one’s balanced forever.”

In a year when the Theory of Relativity celebrates its centennial, we are reminded of a universal truth: energy can neither be created nor destroyed. This is the root of Embler’s ethos. “I don’t quarry, I use what’s given. It’s what Michelangelo said of (his sculpture) ‘David’: I didn’t make any of this, I just carved away what shouldn’t be there.”

With the memory of rock and the forgiveness of water, Embler approaches his sculpture and balancing as a practice in letting go. “The shape I give a rock is just a snapshot in time. Think of the resiliency of grass: it’s quick to bend but it’s hard to break. That’s what I aim for in my life, my work. That kind of elasticity.”

photo : courtesy gabe embler

If you’ve ever gone hiking in the Pioneer Mountains and been met on the trail by an intricate mandala of stones and dried leaves, or perhaps you’ve caught sight of a cairn of man-sized rocks balanced impossibly in the rushing waters of the Big Wood River, chances are Gabe Embler was there.

Embler, a local sculptor, mason, and mountain man, is the Banksy of balanced stone installations. An artist whose currency is earth and ephemera, Embler has been leaving his mark in stone and sand for nearly a decade. But his path to artistry—from the woods of Washington to the craggy peaks of the German Alps, from bartending and restaurant management to guiding mountain tours in Europe— has been shaped by a greater connective tissue: a longtime love of rocks and a life spent in the outdoors.

An autodidact who learned to read at the age of 2, Embler was raised in Chelan, Washington, by his single mother and spent his childhood on the banks of Lake Chelan and in the woods outside the city limits. From his earliest years, he honed his senses in the wild and taught himself what it means to truly pay attention—not just to see the little things but to hear them, smell them, reach out and touch them.

In college, Embler worked two night jobs to put himself through school. But after an unsatisfying first semester spent fulfilling core requirements and rehashing the texts he had read for pleasure as a boy, Embler quit his jobs, withdrew the $500 in his savings account, and, with the funds intended for spring tuition, bought a one-way ticket to Munich.

For three years he hiked and traveled through Europe, eventually landing a gig with the Armed Forces Recreation Center in GarmischPartenkirchen, Germany, teaching snowboarding and managing a small bar. He returned stateside in 1997, and, after hitchhiking across the United States, moved to Ketchum the following year to work for a custom tile and masonry outfit constructing granite countertops and setting intricate mosaics in local homes and businesses.

Short on cash at Christmas in 2004, Embler fashioned a series of jewelry boxes and bookends from granite scraps in his workshop and gave them as gifts to family and friends. From necessity sprang inspiration; Embler realized he could channel his gift for masonry into something more creative. It was then that the artist truly began to crystallize.

Since then, Embler has grown into an accomplished and celebrated sculptor. With no classical training, the rite of repetition and daily practice has been his education. “The only way you learn is by making mistakes,” he said. Attack the hardline of a slab of quartz with too much force or haste and it will crumble. Spend hours locating the balance points between two boulders and a heavy rain will topple them. “All the things out of your control—the wind, a bird, the

LAURA MCPHEE

THE HOME AND THE WORLD

A V I E W O F C A L C U T TA

SUMMER 2015

GAIL SEVERN GALLERY 400 First Avenue North

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PO Box 1679 • Ketchum, ID 83340 • 208.726.5079 • 208.726.5092 Fax W W W. G A I L S E V E R N G A L L E R Y. C O M

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info@gailseverngallery.com

thearts // kathryn stats

What is the Why? On Location with Kathryn Stats

BY Laurel Holland

“Capitol Reef” by Kathyrn Stats

Kathryn Stats is not a plein air painter.

Native to Idaho and raised in the sweeping countryside of central Utah, Stats first discovered her fascination with painting in her high school art class when the instructor presented the concept of linear perspective. Something about it itched like a small bug bite. And so she scratched.

After high school, Stats spent a nomadic young adult life traveling the expanses of the American West, drifting from the red rocks in Colorado to the mesas of Arizona. “Everything I saw, I loved,” she recalls. “It made me alive.”

Shortly after marrying, her husband’s work took them to Brazil.

While living in Rio, Stats bought a starter oil set and began copying images from postcards—scenes of Copacabana, of Tijuca Forest, of the bustling life that permeated the streets of the crowded city. As she practiced, her agility with the brush and her eye for color grew. But so did the itch.

When Stats and her husband returned to Utah the following year, she began to study the classics. Inspired by the impressionist work of Emile Gruppé and John F. Carlson, Stats set to distilling what her taste and sensibility as a painter was. She followed what spoke to her but with a self-aware and discerning eye.

“So often, people see something they love and they want to capture it—on canvas, on film. But ask them why, and they have no idea. Why does the sunlight filtered through the trees like that speak to you in the way it does? What compels you about the way dust is kicked up by the 132 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

wind? You see something you love, you have to find out why. You may never find an answer—or it may change with time—but you can never stop asking. You can never settle.”

In her decades of ongoing study since, Stats has never settled.

A prolific, award-winning artist recognized internationally for her dexterity with color, her play with light and her gift for perspective, Stats’ work—which ranges from rural landscapes to seaside cliffs, floral still lifes to the quaint unmapped villages along the Mediterranean— possesses a lyricism and rhythm that is uniquely hers. Artists’ blogs and online reviews, collectors and colleagues unequivocally praise her impressionistic eye and the efficacy of her brushstroke. But Stats will be the first to argue her success is a function of practice and repetition, not of raw, God-given talent.

“I don’t believe in talent. I believe in brain structure and how you learn. Put in your 10,000 hours and it will come.”

This spring, 12 artists will join Stats in logging more canvas time.

From June 8-12, Stats and fellow artist, Kathryn Riedinger, will host a plein air workshop in and around Ketchum. The workshop, intended for intermediate and advanced students with some plein air experience, will focus on transposing shape and color patterns on canvas and address the issue of painting in constantly changing light—by far one of the greatest difficulties in plein air work.

For Stats, all the frustrations of open-air work—shifting daylight, changing temperature, sudden wind—are recurring and familiar. But what challenges her also brings her back to the canvas again and again.

“The learning curve must be a pleasure. And the ability to bounce back is essential. You have to be open, pliable. Quit fighting and be messy. But take your time. Some of my fastest paintings unfurl when I’m deliberate and not rushing. Hurry—slowly.”

The untold hours Kathryn Stats has logged in the outdoors boils down to more than technique and paint on canvas. Here—in the mountains, by the sea, at the desert’s edge—is where she found her voice and learned the art of storytelling. Recalling her father’s unexpected death at the age of 8, Stats spoke of the outdoors as more than just a medium; she spoke of a temple and a home.

“People in grief often say being outdoors is the only respite from that kind of pain. In a way, we’re all healing from something. Just being outside is a regenerative act. So no,” she went on decisively, “I’m not a ‘plein air’ painter. I just believe in being on location. It makes you a better artist.”

photos : courtesy kathryn stats

“Water Garden” by Kathyrn Stats

“Capitol Reef Shadows” | Oil on Canvas | 30” high X 40” wide

Kathryn Stats Wood River Fine Arts is proud to represent these fine artists Christopher Blossom | Gary Carter, CAA | G. Russell Case | Walt Gonske Logan Maxwell Hagege | Richard Loffler | Dave McGary (1958-2013) | Jim Morgan Terri Kelly Moyers | John Moyers | Ralph Oberg | Andrew Peters | Daniel Pinkham Grant Redden, CAA | R. S. Riddick, CAA | Mary Roberson | David Roberson | Amy Sidrane Matt Smith | Kathryn Stats

360 East Avenue, Ketchum | In The Courtyard | 208.928.7728 www.woodriverfinearts.com

thearts // xxxxxxxxxxx

gallery showcase art galleries offer exciting summer exhibits The art scene in the Sun Valley area is as dynamic as it is sophisticated. World-class artists show their work in more than 20 galleries sprinkled throughout town. Here’s a preview of what you’ll find with a much-recommended art walkabout. frederic boloix fine arts Galleria Building 351 Leadville Avenue Ketchum, ID 208.726.8810 www.boloix.com

aurobora 340 Walnut Avenue Ketchum, ID 415.546.7880 www.aurobora.com

friesen gallery Sun Valley Road at First Ave. Ketchum, ID 208.726.4174 www.friesengallery.com

works on paper | www.aurobora.com | 340 Walnut Avenue, Ketchum | 415.546.7880

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William Morris, CINERARY URN blown glass with woven enclosure, 10” x 8” Julian Voss-Andreae, Slender Woman, Bronze Sculpture, 71” x 14” x 12”

Established in 1994, Frederic Boloix Fine Arts specializes in 20th Century Masters and Contemporary Art. Over the past 20 years we have shown and represented works by masters Picasso, Matisse, Miró, Chagall, Francis Bacon, Françoise Gilot and by contemporary artists Gustavo Acosta, Salustiano, Rainer Gross, Julian Voss-Andreae, Martin Herbst and Julio Larraz. We also offer consulting services and expertise in building art collections.

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Friesen Gallery exhibits contemporary paintings, glass and sculpture by widely recognized and acclaimed artists: Adela Akers, Christopher Brown, Mia Brownell, Rachel Brumer, Nicole Chesney, Ford Crull, Dennis Evans, Lawrence Fodor, Jeff Fontaine, Gregory Grenon, Isabella Huffington, Steve Jensen, Richard Jolley, Mary Josephson, Tom Lieber, Holly Lyman, Dara Mark, Nancy Mee, William Morris, Trinh Nguyen, Piper O’Neill, Lisa Occhipinti, Phranc, Chris Richter, Ginny Ruffner and Barbara Vaughn, among others.

2015

Severn Art ServiceS since 1974

GAIL SEVERN GALLERY 400 First Avenue North • Ketchum, ID 208.726.5079 • www.gailseverngallery.com

Master Framing & Installation

Lynda Lowe, Poiesis, Watercolor, oil and wax on panel, 40” x 36”

Severn Art Services has been the principal framer to collectors and galleries for over 39 years.

Specialized in quality custom and archival framing, featuring exquisite copies of vintage and contemporary frames for fine art, mirrors, and three-dimensional objects of all sizes. We provide experienced installation and curatorial services for homes, offices, collectors, and corporations. We also provide cost effective framing and care for prints, posters, personal mementos, and family photos.

Severn Art Services offers professional conservation and restoration services.

When your needs include rearranging or hanging new acquisitions we can provide cost effective professional services for both indoor and outdoor installations.

Please visit us in our showroom, next to Gail Severn Gallery in the Severn Building at 400 First Avenue North, Ketchum, ID.

Art Hanging & Installation Hardwood • Leather • Speciality Mats • Plexiboxes Gold Leaf • Custom Metals • Period Frames Conservation & Restoration

Celebrating 37 years featuring contemporary painting, sculpture and photography: Jenny Abell, Victoria Adams, Nicolas Africano, Squeak Carnwath, Linda Christensen, James Cook, Kris Cox, David deVillier, Raphaëlle Goethals, Morris Graves, Michael Gregory, Rod Kagan, Jun Kaneko, Margaret Keelan, Lisa Kokin, Gary Komarin, Hung Liu, Lynda Lowe, Robert McCauley, Laura McPhee, Gwynn Murrill, Ed Musante, Marcia Myers, Luis González Palma, Robert Polidori, Joseph Raffael, Christopher Reilly, Jane Rosen, Brad Rude, David Secrest, Mary Snowden, Julie Speidel, Jack Spencer, Mark Stasz, Allison Stewart, Boaz Vaadia, and Theodore Waddell. Visit Severn Art Services for all your custom picture framing, art installation needs, packing and art shipping.

Follow us on Twitter Gail_Severn. gilman contemporary 661 Sun Valley Road • Ketchum, ID 208.726.7585 www.gilmancontemporary.com

Severn Art ServiceS 400 First Avenue North • PO Box 1679 • Ketchum, ID 83340 208.726.5088 • artservices@gailseverngallery.com

Jennifer Bellinger Gallery 511 East 4th Street • Ketchum, ID 208-720-8851 www.JenniferBellingerFineArt.com Paintings: Jennifer Bellinger, Ian Roberts Sculpture: Dave LaMure Jr, Ken Newman, Russ Lamb “Mountain Guide” bronze by Lou Whittaker Gabriel Embler Stone “River Rock” Vessels Love Those Lemons oil © J. Bellinger ‘15

Michele Black Art Jewelry, Wes Walsworth Furniture

Tom Chambers, Foul Play, photomontage

Summer of 2015 will feature fresh work and new artists at Gilman Contemporary.

London-based collage superstar Peter Clark, as well as mixed-media master James Verbicky, will present their pieces for the first time at the gallery. In addition, Italian tour de force Marco Cassentini will exhibit his architecturally based paintings in July.

We welcome his deceptively simple abstract works that highlight texture as much as color. In August, storyteller Tom Chambers will unveil his photomontage series taken in hauntingly beautiful Iceland.

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Frederic Boloix Fine Arts 20th century masters and contemporary art

GUSTAVO ACOSTA “THE RATIONAL SIDE” – OIL ON CANVAS 50” X 96”

PABLO PICASSO ~ HENRI MATISSE ~ MARC CHAGALL RENÉ MAGRITTE ~ FRANÇOISE GILOT ~ JULIO LARRAZ SALUSTIANO ~ GUSTAVO ACOSTA ~ MARTIN HERBST JULIAN VOSS-ANDREAE ~ RAINER GROSS

351 Leadville Ave. N (Galleria Building on 4th and Leadville) · Ketchum, ID 83340 208 726 8810 · www.boloix.com · www.facebook.com/boloixfinearts

Kneeland Gallery 271 First Avenue North • Ketchum, ID 208.726.5512 • fax: 208.726.3490 art@kneelandgallery.com www.kneelandgallery.com

sun valley center for the arts 191 Fifth Street E • Ketchum, ID Liberty Theatre, 110 North Main Street Hailey, ID • 208.726.9491 www.sunvalleycenter.org

Spring Break, William Berra, oil on linen, 14” x 14”

Alwyn O’Brien, Clay Drawing (detail of installation, Archer Gallery, Clark College), 2013. Courtesy the artist and James Harris Gallery, Seattle.

Rugs Made for the American West

Exhibiting paintings & sculpture by nationally recognized as well as emerging artists living and working in the West. Featured artists include Steven Lee Adams, Carol Alleman, Joe Anna Arnett, Virginie Baude, Ovanes Berberian, William Berra, John Horejs, Shanna Kunz, Jennifer Lowe, Robert Moore, Jean Richardson, Thom Ross, Carl Rowe, Linda St. Clair, Sherry Salari Sander, Linda Tippetts, Bart Walker, Andrzej Skorut & Pete Zaluzec. Additional artists can be viewed on our website.

lipton fine arts 411 N. Leadville Avenue Ste. 3• Ketchum, ID Gary Lipton • 248.561.5120 liptonfinearts.com/

The Center brings world-class arts to our community through concerts, lectures, classes, theatre and visual arts. This summer features Company of Fools’ “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” and “August: Osage County;” concerts with John Butler Trio, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue and Wilco; the exhibitions “Moving Pictures: Early Animation and Its Influence” and “Defying Gravity: Interventions in Clay;” and classes for adults, families and kids. See website for details. wood river fine artS 360 East Avenue • Ketchum, ID (In The Courtyard) 208.928.7728 www.woodriverfinearts.com

Six levels of rugs, furniture, jewelry, textiles and architectural elements.

Benj. F Packard, In the Strait of Juan de Fuca, 1903 oil on linen, 22” high x 36” wide

Alexander Calder Black Man Face, 1970 lithograph, 29.5” x 43”

131 First Avenue N. Ketchum, Idaho (West of the Magic Lantern) 208.726.3453 • www.daviesreid.com

Enjoy world-famous artists such as Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso, Jim Dine, Alexander Calder, Robert Motherwell, Annie Leibovitz, and Jean Dubuffet. Lipton Fine Arts not only carries contemporary art, but features dozens of inspirational media such as sculptures, Native American art, antiques, Oriental rugs and pottery. For more information, call Gary Lipton at (248) 561-5120. For media and press inquiries, contact Sabina Dana Plasse at sdanap@gmail.com.

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Wood River Fine Arts features traditional and contemporary works by artists who capture the natural grandeur and unique peoples of the American West. The awardwinning paintings and sculpture of these contemporary masters have received national and international acclaim and appear in private and public collections throughout North America. In addition to CAA award winners Grant Redden, James Reynolds (1926 – 2010) and R.S. Riddick, gallery artists include Christopher Blossom, G. Russell Case, Walt Gonske, Logan Maxwell Hagege, Richard Loffler, Dave McGary (1958 – 2013), Jim Morgan, John Moyers, Terri Kelly Moyers, Ned Mueller, Paul Mullally, Ralph Oberg, Andrew Peters, Mary Roberson, Amy Sidrane, Matt Smith and Kathryn Stats.

works on paper | www.aurobora.com | 340 Walnut Avenue, Ketchum | 415.546.7880

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Valley Self Store South Valley Storage Moving the Valley Since 1969

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The Sun Valley Gallery Association (SVGA) hosts Gallery Walk—festive evenings of art and conversation at the association’s member galleries. Art lovers stroll the town taking in the new exhibits, sip wine and share thoughts on provocative works. Often artists attend and discuss their work. Both Wood River Valley residents and visitors to the Sun Valley area enjoy this free event held seven times a year. Below are the scheduled evenings for this year’s upcoming Gallery Walks. Visit svgalleries.org for details and to view member galleries.

2015 Gallery Walk Dates Friday, July 10 Friday, August 7 Friday, September 4 Saturday, December 26

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a hub for the arts

It is no surprise that Ketchum was named one of “America’s Top Twelve Small-Town ArtPlaces” by ArtPlace, which is a collaboration of leading national and regional foundations, federal agencies, banks and financial institutions committed to accelerating creative place making. It all began in Sun Valley more than 40 years ago with the founding of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts on land deeded by then-owner of Sun Valley Company, Bill Janss. The Wood River Valley now features monthly gallery walks, open studio tours, one of the West’s premier Arts and Crafts Festivals, several theater companies, the prestigious Sun Valley Writers’ Conference, the Hemingway Festival, the Sun Valley Summer Symphony, and a plethora of other arts-related events and offerings. Don’t miss a single event—visit sunvalleymag.com/arts for an updated calendar of arts events and happenings.

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photo : courtesy friesen gallery

gallery walk

Lipton Fine Arts Summer Shows MAY 29 - JULY 31

AUGUST 6 - SEPTEMBER 25

Paulette Phlipot | Photography

Jo Rabjohn | Drawings

NOVEMBER 20 - FEBRUARY 28

CONTINUING

Leslie Rego | Painted & Stitched

Alexander Calder 1971, Gouache on Paper, 29” x 40”

CONTACT GARY LIPTON: 248.561.5120 • Sun Valley, Idaho • LIPTONFINEARTS.COM

Let’s Eat

A TAsTe of sun VAlley

From the valley floor to the top of Baldy, dining adventures abound in Sun Valley. You’ll find every type of cuisine from family friendly to some of the Northwest’s finest dining. Call restaurant reservations for seasonal hours 622-2800 or visit www.sunvalley.com/things-to-do/dining/ Gretchen’s 208-622-2144

trail creek cabin 208-622-2019

short line deli 208-622-2060

konditorei 208-622-2235

a la Mode 208-622-2243

bald Mountain Pizza 208-622-2143

the raM 208-622-2225

duchin lounGe 208-622-2145

food & drink p. 144

dutch-oven cooking

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pork loin recipe

sunvalleymag.com/yum/ a blog about food

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dining guide

DON’T MISS •

going dutch

Anyone who has spent time on the great rivers of Idaho likely has had the treat of enjoying a dessert or entrée cooked in a Dutch-oven.

River guides take special pride in their creations— everything from pineapple upside-down cakes to bacon-wrapped pork loin roasts. Food writer Gwen Ashley Walters talks to local outfitters to learn some of their secrets, which, as all Dutch-oven masters know, reside in the murky overlap of science and art.

summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 143

food&drink // dutch oven cooking

Dutch ovens are used to prepare everything from desserts to meat entrées.

ROMANCING THE COALS THE LURE OF DUTCH-OVEN COOKERY “The Dutch will burp,” explained Steve Lentz, owner of Far and Away Adventures, personifying an innate object critical to his business—the Dutch oven. During cooking, pressure builds inside the oven and the lid pops slightly, releasing a perfumed bubble of air. “Your nose will catch that scent of ginger, and that’s your clue you’re 10 minutes away” from a fresh-baked spice cake.

Lentz’s river adventure company has fed thousands of guests over the past 35 years on six-day float trips down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. Among the many rewards of river running—experiencing the thrill of rugged, unspoiled habitat, whitewater rafting and world-class fly fishing—one of 144 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

the richest is rather simple: dining under the stars. But on Lentz’s trips, as well as a handful of other river outfitters, the grub is far from a pot of chili and dump-and-stir cakes. These outfitters practice the highest form of Dutchoven cookery, preparing gourmet meals— think crab-stuffed mushrooms and red winebraised lamb shanks—in a different camp every night. It takes organization and practice, as well as knowing a thing or two about the tools of the trade.

Dutch ovens are made from cast iron or aluminum, with or without legs, and come in various diameters and depths.

River runners choose anodized aluminum Dutch ovens for practical reasons. Anodized aluminum is sturdier and less likely to react

photos : courtesy far and away adventures

BY Gwen Ashley Walters

horseradish-encrusted pork loin roast from “the outdoor dutch oven cookbook” by sheila mills

ingredients 1 pork loin roast, 3 pounds, rolled & tied Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon olive oil 3/4 cup toasted breadcrumbs 3 tablespoons prepared horseradish 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard Spicy Apricot Sauce 1 jar (18 ounces) apricot preserves 1/3 cup fresh lime juice 1 garlic clove, chopped 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1 pinch cayenne pepper (or to taste) 1/8 teaspoon salt directions Season pork with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in Dutch oven or frying pan and brown roast on all sides over medium-high heat. Remove from heat and let cool.

In medium bowl, combine breadcrumbs with horseradish and set aside. Completely cover pork with Dijon mustard and then pat the crumb mixture on until pork is covered.

Place in Dutch oven and roast for 1 hour or until a thermometer inserted in center registers 160°F or pork is still slightly pink.

For a conventional oven, roast at 350°F for 50 to 60 minutes.

Slice and serve with warm Spicy Apricot Sauce: Blend all ingredients in a food processor at home. When ready to use, bring to boil in heavy saucepan. Simmer 1 minute. Stir well. Serve immediately on the sliced pork.

Aluminum Dutch ovens are usually preferred by river outfitters simply because they are lighter than cast-iron versions.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

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food&drink // dutch oven cooking

oven potatoes) to the gourmet (horseradishencrusted pork loin).

“We cooked with charcoal briquettes,” she said, explaining there is a method to the madness of arranging briquettes and stacking ovens for synergy and logistics. “Baking or roasting at home, you turn the oven to 350 degrees. Outside on a Dutch oven, it takes about 15 briquettes on top and 10 or 12 on the bottom for the same temperature.

We taught our guides to use their noses to smell for doneness and to use their watches to time it. Taking the lid off too much is like opening the oven door. You lose all that heat,” she said.

According to the International Dutch Oven Society, a nonprofit organization formed to preserve and promote Dutch-oven

cooking, a general rule of thumb is that one briquette burns between 20 to 25 degrees (Fahrenheit). Coal placement is driven by a formula: two times the oven diameter minus four. For example, a 12-inch oven would have a total of 24 coals, split evenly between the top and bottom, but then four coals would be moved from the bottom to the top, resulting in 16 coals on top and eight on the bottom.

“It’s all about heat management,” Lentz said. “Every guide will embrace one of our Dutch items and say, ‘this is the perfect amount (of coals). Don’t you dare put one more on or take one off!’ It’s about knowing your oven.”

Including knowing that when your Dutch burps, it is time to eat.

photos : courtesy far and away adventures

with acidic foods when cooking than is untreated aluminum or cast iron. Aluminum weighs significantly less than cast iron.

A 12-inch aluminum oven weighs seven pounds, compared to 18 pounds for a cast iron equivalent. Aluminum heats up and cools down more quickly, saving cooking and cleaning time in a mobile environment. Cast iron requires “seasoning” to create a cooking surface patina, and cannot be washed with soap and water like aluminum.

Having the right Dutch oven is half the battle. Knowing how to cook in it is the other. Sheila Mills is considered a Dutch oven cooking innovator. Now retired, Mills and her husband Dave owned Rocky Mountain River Tours for 35 years before selling the business two years ago, although it still operates trips on the Middle Fork, even using her recipes to feed guests. Mills’ most recent cookbook, “The Outdoor Dutch Oven Cookbook,” is in its second edition and contains more than 225 recipes from the basics (Dutch-

Dutch-oven meals are a common treat on river trips down the Middle Fork of the Salmon.

A berry cobbler prepared riverside.

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To stack or not to stack ... Some Dutch-oven cooks swear by stacking Dutch-ovens. Others wouldn’t even consider it.

100% organic and vegan

cold pressed juices • smoothies entrees • to go foods • raw cacao cleanses • fasting • classes

live food café

Monday-Saturday • 10Am-5pm • Closed sundays 380 Washington Avenue#105 • Ketchum ID, 83340 208.725.0314 • www.glowlivefood.com photo: paulette phlipot

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food&drink // dining guide

dining out the best in local cuisine Looking for a bite? Explore the options in our Valley restaurant listings.

For a look at full menus and to learn more about the Sun Valley dining scene, check out our newest publication, TASTE of Sun Valley. asian fusion

dang’s thai cuisine

Also known as “Dang Good,” Dang’s Thai Cuisine is a favorite among the locals! A newer addition to the Wood River Valley, Dang’s offers a wide selection of popular dishes ranging from Sushi, Green Papaya Salad, Pad Thai, and their famous Green Curry with Chicken.

If you like spicy food, don’t forget to ask for the little jars of Sambal and Thai Chili Sauce.

Highly recommend as an affordable, flavorful and fun experience in Hailey! 310 N Main St., Hailey, 208.928.7111

at the center of a talented crew of sushi chefs that delight in creating dishes that are as appetizing to look at as they are to eat. 260 Second St., Ketchum, 208.726.9319

To satisfy sweet-tooth cravings or just to warm up on a chilly day, the café offers a full complement of artisanal coffee and hot chocolate drinks, plus house-baked European pastries. Sun Valley Resort, 208.622.2235

breakfast & cafes java coffee

& cafe

Truly a great coffeehouse! Baking from scratch daily. Serving the finest Fair Trade and organic coffees. Sound like a local and order the “Dirty Hippie Burrito” and a “Bowl of Soul.”

Wake up and live! Ketchum: 191 4th St. W., 208726-2882, Hailey: 111 N. 1st Ave., 208.788.2297

the moose girls cafe

Formerly known as the Rustic Moose, The Moose Girls Café is a locals’ favorite, owned and operated by twin sisters Maxine and Marlene. The spacious open patio with views of Baldy and Ketchum Town Square make it a great spot for breakfast or lunch. 360 East Ave., Ketchum, 208.727.9767

sushi on second

Established in 1994, Sushi on Second is the Valley’s oldest sushi restaurant. But don’t let age fool you. Head sushi chef Zack Venzon is 148 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

konditorei

Lunch dishes range from pumpkin spatzle with sausage and apples to roasted chicken crepes with spinach and spicy Liptauer cheese.

johnny g’s subshack

“The Subshack” was born in 1992 with killer sandwiches, toe-tapping music, cold beer and

Live music Sat & Sun 6-9pm

Best Deck in Town!

Serving irresistible homemade ice creams such as Sea Salt Caramel or Peanut Butter Cup. Milkshakes and Banana Splits are made exactly the way you like while you enjoy a sunny Sun Valley day!

OPEN DAILY!

11AM - 9PM

10PM ON WEEKENDS! SUN VALLEY VILLAGE 208.622.2243

“Ketchum’s Killer Meal without the Killer Price A Great Kids' Menu Too!”

Grill Open 11:30am - 10:30pm Daily (Bar open late) Burgers, Salads, Wings, Hoagies, Fresh Cut Fries and More!

HD Satellite TV Sports “All the Games, All the Time”

For Takeout Call: 726.2744 231 6th Street, Ketchum at the corner of 6th & Washington

www.sunvalley.com

Wake up and Live Enjoy our hand-tossed pizzas, homemade pasta and salads while you dine in the heart of Sun Valley Village!

S OP UN V ER AL A H LE OU Y SE

Get TWO FREE movie tickets to the Sun Valley Opera House when you dine with us!* *One ticket per person

Home of the Bowl of Soul two convenient valley locations

Sun Valley Village 208.622.2143 www.sunvalley.com

JAVA HAILEY

JAVA ON FOURTH KETCHUM

111 1st ave. n.

208.788.2399

191 4th street west 208.726.2882

food&drink // dining guide

personal service. Only the finest quality meats and cheeses on delicious fresh-baked bread are used at Johnny’s. Take it to go, or stay awhile— you won’t leave Johnny G’s wanting.

371 Washington Ave., Ketchum, 208.725.7827

perry’s

4th St., Ketchum, 208.726.7703

wrapcity

Wrapcity is fast, fresh, and fun food! Located next to the Kentwood Lodge on Main Street, Wrapcity serves up creative wraps and salads, homemade soups, and unique quesadillas.

Wrapcity also serves breakfast wraps all day with special breakfast creations on Saturdays and Sundays. Voted “Valley’s Best Lunch” in 2011. 180 Main St. S., Ketchum, 208.727.6766 a la mode

Sun Valley Resort has a new sweet spot serving irresistible gourmet cocoas, sundaes, shakes and sodas. A la Mode is located in the Village next door to the Short Line Deli. You’ll be tempted by 17 specialty cocoas such as the Raspberry Snowball, Sea Salt Caramel, or the Orange Dreamsicle. Sun Valley Resort, 208.622.2243

503.349.0035

the power house

mexican kb’s

The New York Times named KB’s as a must stop in its article of top 10 things to do in 36 hours in Sun Valley, Idaho. Travel writer Sarah Robertson wrote, “Even when people are far away, they’re still thinking about the food at Ketchum Burritos. This cheerful, laidback burrito joint serves delicious fish tacos and offers a make-your-own burrito, with a choice of 27 fillings.” Ketchum: 260 N. Main St., 208.928.6955, Hailey: 121 N. Main St., 208.788.7217

From the deli case to the sandwich board, over 15 sandwiches can be made to order, such as The Challenger, Italian ham, dry salami, genoa salami, banana peppers, roasted red peppers and provolone piled high on a baguette.

Sun Valley Resort, 208.622.2060

& pasta

A family-friendly restaurant featuring handtossed pizza, pasta bowls and salads.Very casual and fun fare for kids. A full take-out menu is available and Bald Mountain Pizza delivers to Sun Valley Resort properties. Sun Valley Resort, 208.622.2143

smoky mountain pizzeria grill

Smoky Mountain Pizzeria Grill is a comfortable, casual, dynamic family restaurant in downtown Ketchum. Our extensive menu features unique pizzas and pastas, delicious 150 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

Bikes, beers and burgers! Outside Magazine ranks Power House as one of America’s Top 10 best bars for cyclists. With over 150 bottled beers and 20 on tap, there is something to quench the most basic thirst and challenge the most critical palate. The menu showcases the virtue of less is more. From the housemade ketchup to the hand-patted burgers and locally made organic challah buns, the menu delivers. A few of the popular offerings include mahi-mahi tacos, fresh-dipped corn dogs, steak chili and hand-cut fries. 502 N Main St., Hailey, 208.788.9184

pubs & grills the cellar pub

The Cellar Pub serves the best pub food in the Sun Valley Ketchum area. From traditional pub fare such as Buffalo Burgers or Fish & Chips to original dishes such as our Flank Steak Salad, we have something for everyone in your party. We have a full bar and feature a great selection of draft beer and fine wines.

Whether you live in the area or are visiting for the first time, come on down to The Cellar Pub; we’d love to serve you. 400 Sun Valley Rd., Ketchum, 208.622.3832

short line deli

bald mountain pizza

a variety of locations throughout weekends, including next to Whiskey Jacques’ from 12 p.m. to 2 a.m. and evenings at the Sawtooth Brewery in Ketchum, filling a niche for late night bites. Warm Springs Rd. & 7th St., Ketchum,

Sun Valley, 208.622.5625

Voted “Best of the Valley” by Mountain Express readers numerous times for breakfast, lunch, and sandwiches, Perry’s Restaurant has been a Ketchum fixture for 26 years. 131 West

italian & pizza

salads, sandwiches, grilled steaks, hamburgers and more. You’ll also find a kids’ menu, an exciting selection of seasonal appetizers, entrées and desserts, daily lunch specials, an extensive beer and wine selection, TVs, catering and fast, friendly delivery service. 200 Sun Valley Rd.,

lefty’s bar

& grill

Lefty’s has been a local and visitor favorite for more than 20 years, and for good reason. Lefty’s has a great casual dining menu, including killer burgers served on fresh-baked bread, monster hot sandwiches, wings, salads and our specialty, fresh-cut French fries. For families, Lefty’s has all the foods kids love, at a price you’ll love. There is no better place to watch sports than Lefty’s, whose motto is “All the games, all the time.” Live music.

Great outdoor deck! 231 6th St. East, Ketchum, 208.726.2744

the haven

Ketchum’s food truck! The Haven is located in Ketchum at the Play Hard Give Back landing pad off Warm Springs Road and 7th Street. The food truck is open Monday through Friday from 12-2 p.m. as well as at

whiskey jacques’

Whiskey’s is the premier live music venue and sports bar in Ketchum, with eight HD bigscreen TVs and one projector screen. Whiskey’s kitchen is famous for their brick-oven pizza, awesome wings, refreshing salads and tasty grinders. The upstairs room is available for your private event. 251 N. Main St, Ketchum, 208.726.5297

regional northwest atkinsons’ markets

Atkinsons’ Markets serving you and your family at our three locations in the Wood River Valley. Ketchum: 451 E. 4th St., 208.726.2681, Hailey: 93 E. Croy St., 208.788.2294

bigwood bar

& grill

The Bigwood Grill is an outdoor restaurant with amazing views of Baldy, the Boulders and Galena Peak. It’s open for lunch and dinner from June through late September. The Grill features a full-service bar with daily Happy Hour specials from 3-5 p.m., lunch served from 11-3 p.m., with dinner service starting at 5:30 and ending at 9:30. Bigwood Golf Course 115 Thunder Spring Rd., Ketchum, 208.726.7067

ck’s real food

Real food from real places featuring local and Northwest regional ingredients and fresh fish nightly. Great wines from all over. Dine in a comfortable, casual and energetic space. Eat here, eat well! 320 Main St., Hailey, 208.788.1223

elkhorn clubhouse

When summer hits, hit up the Elkhorn Clubhouse for lunch or early dinner, and recharge with a little Valley R&R. Dine inside for a touch of classic clubhouse ambience, or grab a table on the patio and breathe in the pristine Dollar Mountain view surrounded by the Elkhorn golf course. Either way, the seasonal, locally focused fare will treat you right with signature plates like legendary crab cakes, lamb sliders, and fresh, inventive twists on classic sandwiches and salads. 97 Badeyana Dr., Sun Valley, 208.622.2820

jersey girl

Jersey Girl offers fast, fresh, quality food that’s handmade with love. Fresh daily soup and salad specials complement a full sandwich board of local favorites like the Bacado or Godfather. Each sandwich starts with a fresh La Brea baguette. We roast our own turkey and beef daily, all of our soups and salad dressings are made from scratch and our desserts are all fresh-baked just for us. Come on in …

It’s all good downtown! 14 East Croy St., Hailey

and the public and doubles as the Sun Valley Nordic and Snowshoe Center in winter. 1 Trail Creek Rd., Sun Valley, 208.622.2919

steak & seafood the ram

Modern steakhouse with organic and local Idaho products, full service. Live music with Larry Harshbarger on the piano. Located in the Sun Valley Inn. Make your reservation now! Sun Valley Resort, 208.622.2225 trail creek cabin

A romantic hideaway since 1937, Trail Creek Cabin is a must Sun Valley dining adventure.

Wagons depart for the restaurant from the village near the Sun Valley Inn during the summer season, sleigh rides during the winter season, and you may also drive. The purchase of a wagon ride ticket confirms a reservation for dinner at Trail Creek Cabin. Dinner is additional and is paid for at the cabin. The seasonal menu has a Western flair all complemented by a great wine list and a full bar. 51 Trail Creek Rd., Sun Valley, 208.622.2800

208.788.8844

rasberrys

Whether you are seeking a quiet getaway place for lunch or are wanting to host an elegant gathering for friends, Rasberrys’ two establishments in Ketchum and Hailey will meet and exceed your desires. Callie and Maeme Rasberry believe all the senses must be involved in meal preparation; therefore, the menu is eclectic, just like the chefs, with dishes prepared with fresh local ingredients when available and their own take on comfort and ethnic food.

taste the valley

For a complete list of restaurant menus, pick up a copy of TASTE of Sun Valley on newsstands throughout the Valley. We also feature chef profiles, our favorite local dishes and wonderful recipes to try at home. Visit sunvalleymag.com/Dining/ to read our digital edition, and keep in mind the new summer issue will be on stands in June.

Hailey: 315 S. Main St., 208.928.7711, Ketchum: 411 Building 5th St., 208.726.0606

roundhouse

Perched midway up Bald Mountain on the River Run side, the Roundhouse was built in 1939 by Sun Valley’s founding father, Union Pacific Railroad Chairman Averell Harriman.

Today this restaurant is a culinary destination not to be missed. Serviced by the Roundhouse Gondola, the restaurant is accessible for skiing and non-skiing clientele. Bald Mountain, Ketchum, 208.622.2012

the club house

Possibly Sun Valley’s most popular lunch spot. The Sun Valley Club is open for guests summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 151

SUN VALLEY R E S O R T

W E D D I N G S

                     WEDDINGS@SUNVALLEY.COM 208 6222081

sunvalleymag.com/hitched/

weddings

photo : hillary maybery

p. 154 rustic elegance

p. 156 mountain chic

planning a sun valley wedding

p. 158 india in idaho

p. 160 wedding resources

DON’T MISS •

romance

With stunning scenery, sun-drenched days and a wealth of talented vendors who truly know how to throw memorable weddings, Sun Valley has long been a storybook wedding destination. Here we feature three celebrations from last summer that highlight the array of possibilities for tying the knot in the Wood River Valley—from mountain chic, to India in Idaho, to rustic Idaho elegance. In the following pages, be a guest at all three …

summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 153

photos : hillary maybery

weddings // xxxxxxxxxxx

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vendor list date: July 26, 2014

venue: Bride’s Family Residence (Gimlet) event planner: Barbara Amick floral: Sue Bridgman

hair/makeup: Danielle Anspach of Vertu catering: The Catering Company dessert: Cristina’s

music: Nathan Hudson dress: Luly Lang

rentals: Barbara’s Party Rentals photographer: Hillary Maybery

secondary photographers: Kristin Cheatwood

& Hallie MacPherson

Kate & Carter

BY Taylor Holden

When two Sun Valley natives travel the United States exploring exotic wedding locations yet still return home for the most important day in their lives, it’s an indication of just how special Sun Valley is. Kate Dondero and Carter Minor—both born and raised in the Valley— married, fittingly, outside on a spectacular July day last summer with more than 200 friends and family there to share the day.

Years after having grown up together, Carter and Kate reconnected and instantly fell in love. Carter proposed with a breathtaking ring—a large canary diamond surrounded by exquisite white diamonds.

Locals through and through, Kate and Carter held a truly Idaho-themed celebration with birch logs holding Idaho-shaped seating cards, shot glasses showing off the map of Idaho with a destination star for Sun Valley, and, of course, red and white beer coozies. The couple’s two retrievers also participated in the day, providing their own dash of joy.

The bride wore a lovely mermaid train and fitted lace gown with rhinestone trim. Covered buttons and an X- back detail, illusion veil, and exquisite 3-carat diamond drop earrings— family heirlooms—brought gasps of wonder from the guests as she walked down the aisle.

Their three-tiered, bright pink cake provided a fun and fresh treat at the reception.

After the festivities, the beautiful couple jetted off to honeymoon in California. summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 155

One Fun 208-736-7268 onefunphotobooth.com

weddings // mountain chic

vendor list date: July 26, 2014

wedding planner: Taylorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d Events

catering: Judith McQueen Entertaining dessert: The Sweet Crumb

music: Mark Zuziak with Nathan Hudson dress: Monique Lhuiller

rentals: Diamond Rentals invites: Minted

photographer: Two Bird Studio

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IL L

OW P APE R

Y

W

Your one-stop stationery & gift store All occasion printing: Invitations, menu cards, place cards Unique & personalized gifts Greeting cards & wrapping paper Last minute in-store printing

6 Range of specialty lines

danielle & ben photos : two bird studio

BY Taylor Holden

The Sun Valley destination wedding of Danielle Krueger and Benjamin Rodgers last July was an easy decision for the two who considered the area a “home away from home.”

Their theme was “mountain chic,” complemented by a palette Danielle chose to match the “natural beauty of the landscape.” Pink, cream, blush, white roses, fluffy hydrangea, budding lilac, greenery and mercury glass blended beautifully into the late summer sun washing over the mid-Valley home they chose as their venue. With 200 guests looking on, Danielle and Benjamin exchanged vows under a grapevine arch adorned with the wedding flowers. Wedding photos shot in a lush meadow in late sunlight reflected the ethereal beauty of the day.

Danielle’s lacy, strapless gown with tulle mermaid skirt and illusion veil tucked into her blonde loose bun and her diamond drop earrings were elegant. Three tiny attendants—two little girls in ballerina skirts, flip-flops and blonde tendrils as well as their dapper escort, in suspenders—added a sweet touch to the day.

Danielle, who walked down the petal-strewn aisle to Van Morrison’s “Have I Told You Lately,” said the highlight of her day was the calm and love her father showed her before the start of the ceremony. Ben and Danielle partied with their guests at Whiskey Jacques’ after the wedding, then slipped out for a Hawaiian honeymoon. summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 157

Arzberger Crane & Co. Pickett’s Press The Printery Sugar Paper Vera Wang William Arthur

Featuring

Kristy Logan Jewelry 380 N. Leadville Avenue Ketchum 208.726.0456 willowpapery.com info@willowpapery.com facebook.com/willowpapery

weddings // india in idaho

Years of experience creating unforgettable events

galenalodge.com • 208.726.4010

BY Taylor Holden The marriage of Amanda Nicoletti and Christian Meier was not only joyous, but perhaps a first for many of the guests. India in Idaho was the couple’s theme, and Amanda, who shares not only a USC background with her groom, Christian, but a love of the exotic, wanted a “party that was colorful, eclectic, unique but casual, too. We wanted people to celebrate in our favorite place in the whole world but also get our love of Asia.”

The wedding, held at Our Lady of the Snows Church, had Christian’s 10 groomsmen in classic attire and Amanda’s six bridesmaids in Bellini peach silk with loose wreaths of rose, stephanotis and greenery in their hair. Amanda wore a strapless gown with sweeping panels of embroidered lace and rose gold Manolo Blahnik heels.

The wedding reception, held in a private home, carried an Indian theme throughout the night with handblown water glasses and candle votives in electric colors, bamboo guest chairs, custom table runners soaked in the deep colors that define India, saturated turquoise jugs holding voluptuous deep pink peonies, massive jai mala garlands, fragrant flower leis that stretched across the swimming pool, and live sitar music.

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photos : hillary maybery

Wedding & Reception Catering • Corporate Parties Rehearsal Dinner • Brunch Private Getaway • Entertainment

amanda & christian

VENDOR LISTâ&#x20AC;¨ date: June

28, 2014

wedding planner:

Heather Minor Events floral: Tara Bella Flowers music: Party Crashers catering: CKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Restaurant dessert: The Sweet Crumb dress: Naeem Khan invites: Olive Route rentals: Diamond Rentals photographers: Hillary Maybery, Kristin Cheatwood & Hallie MacPherson

Photos by Kirsten Shultz

Heather Minor Events Event Planning & Design

heather@heatherminorevents.com heatherminorevents.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF HILLARY MAYBERY

This day is yours.

Let me make it the best.

PHOTO COURTESY OF HILLARY MAYBERY

weddings // wedding resources

Absolute Weddings was featured in Martha Stewart Real Weddings Special Issue 2012

getting hitched? the best in local wedding vendors

beauty simply skin

With over 12 years of experience in medical aesthetics, Deidra Piper is dedicated to serving her clients with the most result-driven, innovative procedures available. Her everyday mission is to help you feel beautiful in your own skin.

We offer many top grade medical aesthetic services, injections, fillers, Intense Pulsed Light, Laser Hair Removal, Sclerotherapy, Microdermabrasion, facials, chemical peels and more!

208.725.0150 | simplyskin511.com WEDDING AND EVENT COORDINATOR

208.720.4713

amandaseaward.com amanda@amandaseaward.com

sun valley resort spa

Newly renovated in 2015, the 20,000-square foot full-service spa and salon offers resort guests 160 sunvalleymag.com | summer 2015

and the local community access to a wealth of relaxing treatments, health and wellness activities, salon services and more. The spa harmoniously interacts with the beautiful Lodge pool and the spectacular views of Baldy. It includes 15 private treatment rooms for both individuals and couples, large locker rooms with steam and sauna facilities, relaxation lounges, a yoga studio and a full state-of-the-art fitness facility.

208.622.2160 | sunvalley.com

zenergy day spa

Zenergy is the valleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s premier health club and spa. This 48,000-square-foot facility features a world-class spa with nine treatment rooms, a variety of massage modalities, acupuncture,

photo : hillary maybery

While always joyous and memorable, wedding celebrations are not easy to pull off without help. With that in mind, we have highlighted in our listings below the best in the business to help you create the day of your dreams.

reflexology, a nail salon, Greg Hinshaw’s hair studio, and tanning services. The health club includes indoor and outdoor saline pools, tennis courts, cardiovascular and weight training gym, squash court, Pilates, group fitness, indoor cycling, and yoga studios—but that’s just the beginning of all that Zenergy has to offer.

208.725.0595 | zenergyts.com

entertainment & event rentals barbara’s party rentals

With 26 years of experience, Barbara’s Party Rentals has everything you need to make your special event perfect. Classic and transparent tents, wedding and party planning, beer and wine sales, tables, chairs, linens, dance floors, and casual to elegant place settings and clever accessories to personalize every detail. They’re the local know-it-alls that you can trust to deliver quality to your event.

208.726.3778 | barbaraspartyrental.com

nathan hudson entertainment

Known as the best DJ in Sun Valley, Nathan Hudson started his career in 1995 in Pensacosummer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 161

c h e a t wo o d p h o t o . c o m • 208.72 1 . 1 6 4 1

Miller’s Limo “the silver standard”

weddings // wedding resources

la, Florida, at the Grand Central Station Club (The Office). He then moved back to Boise, Idaho, where he helped open and launched three nightclubs. Nathan then added weddings and parties to his resume by starting Nathan Hudson’s DJ Services & Entertainment in 1997. He is currently a Mix Show DJ for Radio Boise, a resident DJ at Whiskey Jacques’ in Ketchum and a mobile DJ for about 70-100 parties and events a year, spinning all styles of music. djn8entertainment.com

one fun photobooth

Nothing beats a One Fun Photobooth to bring everyone together and capture those smiles. Your wedding or event will have the family, friends, guests and associates smiling and laughing like they never have before.

We have the right package for your next celebration. Our photo booths are available for your wedding or event in Twin Falls, Magic Valley, Sun Valley and most anywhere in southern Idaho, northern Nevada and Utah.

208.736.7268 | onefunphotobooth.com

event locations galena lodge

Natural beauty and romantic design are brought together to create the perfect secluded mountain venue. Nestled in the Boulder Mountains, Galena Lodge offers the perfect backdrop for your wedding reception, rehearsal dinner, bridal luncheon or a small intimate dinner. A unique mountain setting with incredible handcrafted food.

208.726.4010 | galenalodge.com

idaho rocky mountain ranch

Privacy and breathtaking natural beauty create the picture-perfect setting for your wedding or private party at historic Idaho Rocky Mountain Ranch. Charming accommodations, excellent cuisine and a gracious staff provide a perfect celebration event. Martha Stewart Weddings named IRMR an outstanding wedding destination venue.

sun valley’s premier car service 208.720.3861 | millerslimo@gmail.com millerslimo.com

208.774.3544 | idahorocky.com

shore lodge

With a spectacular lakeside setting, generous accommodations and well-equipped facilities, Shore Lodge is the perfect place for your special day in McCall, Idaho. Our experienced on-site event planning and catering staff is

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available to assist with all aspects of your wedding to ensure a worry-free and memorable experience. Our combination of rustic elegance and natural beauty provides a backdrop for weddings like no other. No matter the season, weddings are always magical here.

800.657.6464 | shorelodge.com

sun valley resort

Whether you envision your special day as a quiet retreat in the mountains or a celebration as spectacular as the setting, Sun Valley’s wedding services can help bring your dream wedding to life. We offer a number of wonderful locations, both indoors and out, that add an unmistakable natural beauty to your occasion.

208.622.2101 | sunvalley.com

event & wedding planners absolute weddings

Absolute Weddings is a full-service wedding and event planning business that has been operating and making dreams come true in the Valley for over 10 years. We will help you with all details, from invitations and save-the-dates, to appointments, vendor selection and budgeting. Absolute Weddings’ hands-on approach allows you to relax and enjoy this special time with friends and family. We will take over all details to make your event, day and experience stress-free.

208.720.4713 | amandaseaward.com

heather minor events

Heather Minor Events offers creative wedding planning and event planning services that will help you create an event that reflects your own personality and style. We are here to make your magical day a reality from start to finish. Our proven approach ensures that your event will be meticulously planned and perfectly executed so you can sit back and enjoy. We look forward to working, with your help, to plan your big day or next event.

208.309.1014 | heatherminorevents.com

taylor’d events

Taylor’d Events offers full wedding and event planning services. We will work with you to develop a vision for your wedding, and then handle all the details for you. We will identify locations, coordinate save-the-date cards and invitations, arrange for rentals and catering, and will design and create the complete environment for your wedding. We also offer full floral services,

summer 2015 | sunvalleymag.com 163

SUN VALLEY’S FINEST FLORIST Since 1973

511 leadville avenue • ketchum free wedding consultations by appointment

208-726-7788

weddings // wedding resources

from a single arrangement delivered for a special occasion to a full floral scheme designed, created and installed for your wedding or event.

208.725.2027 | taylordeventssv.com

florists primavera plants

& flowers

Primavera Plants and Flowers is Sun Valley’s premier florist specializing in weddings, parties and home décor. Orchid plants, blooming and foliage plants, baskets, candles, pottery and planters. Gourmet gift baskets, fresh, silk and dried flower arrangements.

We deliver and wire flowers anywhere.

208.726.7788 | primaverafloristsunvalley.com

tara bella gardens

& floral designs

Tara Bella specializes in beautiful destination weddings and eye-popping special events. Celebrated for her unique style and meticulous attention to detail, Tara Ooms and her talented staff tailor custom elegant floral designs for every occasion. Ooms’ passion for flowers shines through with the grace and hospitality that only a true Southern belle could possess.

208.788.4046 | tarabellaflowers.com

gifts & invitations

ketchum flower co.

Ketchum Flower Co. provides the Valley with eclectic, affordable gifts and aweinspiring clothing. The store has created strong bonds within the community and continues to exude a vibrant, local feel.

208.622.7364 | ketchumflower.com

picket fence

Proudly serving our loyal clientele for over 30 years, The Picket Fence offers stylish tabletop settings, luxury gifts, unique home décor and fine bath products. Conveniently register online, and have your gifts wrapped and ready for pick-up, or let our friendly staff assist you in our Sun Valley store.

jewelry barry peterson jewelers

Since 1971, Barry Peterson has been matching the elegant beauty and sophisticated elegance of Sun Valley with his stunning jewelry designs.

Along with the iconic “Sun Valley Sun” design, which was done at the request of former Sun Valley Company owner Bill Janss, Barry Peterson is well known and highly respected for his work with diamonds and precious stones, as well as his designer and unique collection of custom-made jewelry and wearable art.

208.726.5202 | barrypeterson.com

towne

& park jewelry

A visit to Towne and Parke Jewelry is always rewarding. Tom and Laury Keenan dedicate their hard work to the positive experience of the customer. Their knowledge, expertise and dedication to style and quality are unmatched. Come explore our fun, relaxed atmosphere where everyone is welcomed and appreciated. We are located in the beautiful, historic Sun Valley Village.

208.622.3522 | towneandparkejewelry.com

photographers cheatwood photography

Kristin Cheatwood began her photographic career in the field of motorsport racing, with images published in numerous national and international magazines. Seven years ago Kristin decided to turn her artistic eye toward capturing the joy of weddings. Kristin’s ability to capture unique moments, coupled with a refined sense of composition and intimate, photojournalistic style, has earned her a reputation as a sought-after wedding photographer in the Sun Valley area. Kristin is also available worldwide.

208.721.1641 | cheatwoodphoto.com

dev khalsa photography

Celebrating in Sun Valley? Let Willow Papery help. A full-service stationery boutique, Willow Papery carries a wide range of invitations, gifts, greeting cards, wrapping paper, ribbon and Kristy Logan Jewelry. We’re also here to assist with last-minute printing needs: menu cards, place cards, gift tags and so much more.

I am a documentary photographer at heart, but, to me, photographing weddings is more than simply capturing the moments before me. Providing truly great images goes beyond technical expertise. It requires insight, intuition and the ability to connect on an emotional level. Success, for me, is measured by the amount of laughter and tears my images provoke. My goal is to create images that are bold, authentic and enduring. As a wedding photographer, I am devoted not only to creating spectacular images, but also to ensuring a wonderful experience for my clients.

208.726.0456 | willowpapery.com

208.788-2849 | devkhalsaphotography.com

866.944.5511 | thepicketfence.com

willow papery

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flaviu_grumazescu@yahoo.com

Sheepskin

Flaviu Grumazescu Photography

Coat Factory

tuxedo rentals

since 1971

511 SUN VALLEY ROAD KETCHUM 208.726.3588

www.sheepskincoat.com

Weddings, Gardens & Floral Design

NATHAN HUDSON ENTERTAINMENT

T H E N E W G E N E R AT I O N OF WEDDING DJS. “Nathan is always my very first call.”

- Taylor Sturges of Taylor’d Events

Featured in Brides, Inside Weddings, Style Me Pretty & Martha Stewart Real Weddings 208.481.0138 | ksweddings.com

“I love recommending Nathan to all my clients!”

- Megan Gergen, Wedding & Special Event Coordinator, Sun Valley Resort

208.788.4046 tarabellaflflowers@gmail.com tarabellaflflflowers.com

208.353.1731 | djn8entertainment.com

weddings // wedding resources Wedding Coordination Floral Design Event Planning

flaviu grumazescu photography

I am passionate about life and photography because of the way pictures tell stories and evoke emotion. God’s beauty surrounds me, but nobody else can see what I see, so I share my photography.

208.309.2987 | flaviu_grumazescu@yahoo.com

kirsten shultz photography

An award-winning editorial and wedding lifestyle photographer, unobtrusively documenting the beauty of the day as it unfolds.

Recently featured in “Martha Stewart Weddings.” Available in Sun Valley and worldwide.

208.481.0138 | ksweddings.com

thia konig photography

ecorating * W ay D edd lid in Ho

CHRISTINE MARIE STUDIOS PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER

CHRISTINEMARIESTUDIOS.COM Taylor’d Events s Linen Re nta Sale * ine ls W *

Barbara’s Party Renta ls

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taylordeventssv.com 208 725 2027

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Taylor’d Events

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208.720.8809

I graduated with honors from Brooks Institute of Photography in 1991 and have been hopping on boats, buses, camels, and canoes ever since. I look at life from the perspective of “half full” (with a sense of humor and a slice of wit), and strive to focus on all that’s beautiful and right in the world. I want you to smile with a sense of wonder for this spinning rock we all share, and perhaps foster a greater connection when you look at my imagery.

208.727.3686 | thiakonig.com

transportation miller’s limo

Miller’s Limo is owned and operated by Don and Barb Miller, a husband and wife team that moved to the Wood River Valley in 2002. We are capable of packing in your skis, snowboards, dogs, bikes and whatever else you need to enjoy your vacation. We’re perfect for taking you and your family for a day trip up to Stanley, or picking you up at the Boise, Twin Falls, Idaho Falls or Salt Lake City airports and heading up to the Valley. Whatever your needs, Miller’s Limo can deliver! We also provide transportation for weddings, private parties & special events.

s Party Specialist Established 1985

208.720.3861 | millerslimo.com

208.726.3778

wedding attire

om raspartyrental.c

www.barba

planning a sun valley wedding

Get inspired at www.sunvalleymag.com/hitched/

sheepskin coat factory

because your life is beautiful

Sheepskin Coat Factory is the local place to rent tuxedos and related formal wear for men who want to look handsome on their wedding day or for any special occasion that calls for a suit or tuxedo. Ladies may also find elegant sheepskin coats for a winter wedding.

208.726.3588 | sheepskincoat.com

thiakonigphotography.com | 208 727 3686

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SHOWCASE photo : heahter linhart coulthard

a collection of the valleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s finest properties

sun valley Showcase is a new addition to Sun Valley Magazine that highlights premier properties throughout the Wood River Valley. In this issue, we focus on a stunning project walking distance from the Sun Valley Village: the Diamond Back Townhomes at White Clouds, which is being built and sold by the Sun Valley Resort. The Holdings, owners of Sun Valley Resort, have a long history of creating spectacular buildings. The Diamond Back Townhomes are no exception.

The Diamond Back Townhomes are entering the final stages of construction and will be available for occupancy starting this summer.

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mountain views a stroll from the village the diamond back townhomes at white clouds

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Pioneer Mountains, Dollar Mountain and the golf course. Huffman’s wife, Lauren, has designed the interiors, which Wally Huffman and Mark Thoreson are leading include fine finishes such as Pental Quartz the development at the White Clouds. countertops, self-closing drawers and cabinets, and elegant bathroom fixtures.

Beyond their aesthetic value, the designs foot price would be about $600. “This is recognize the pragmatic considerations of very competitive in the local market, and if mountain living: walk-in closets, mudrooms, you compare it to like-properties in sister lockout owner storage areas (to facilitate resorts (Jackson Hole and Park City), we’re renting), decks plumbed with natural gas for at about half, in some cases, of their new, barbeques and fire pits, and even dumbwaiters finished price per-square-foot (for luxury for the three-level models. townhomes).”

Huffman and Thoreson have found The Holdings have owned the resort that many of their potential buyers want to for over 38 years now, and, if there’s one move into turnkey properties. To meet that thing the community has come to know demand, they are offering three different them for, it is building exquisite, quality amenity packages that include furniture, buildings—think River Run Lodge, Seattle bedding, even silverware. As Thoreson said, Ridge Lodge, the Sun Valley Club. Now, they “With the amenity packages, they plug in the turn to townhomes. As Huffman pointed coffeemaker, and they are ready to go.” out, “We benefit greatly from the reputation Much of the project’s success to date can Mr. Holding earned—by the way he built be attributed to competitive pricing and the buildings.” quality of the construction, which is being “Mr. Holding broke trail for us,” Thoreson done by Magleby Construction. Huffman added. “His name comes up almost every day. said that his average finished per square He’s very much a part of this project.”

rendering : courtesy sun valley resort property

Carol Holding and her late husband, Earl Holding, owners of Sun Valley Resort, have long dreamed of reinvigorating the Sun Valley Village area. To that end, they recently undertook a massive remodel of the Lodge and built a state-of-the-art spa facility on the southwest side of the Village. So, when former Sun Valley Resort general manager, Wally Huffman, proposed developing new townhomes on the opposing side of the Village within walking distance of the Lodge, the Holdings gave him an emphatic yes.

Huffman, along with Mark Thoreson, another longtime Sun Valley Resort employee, comprise the lead development team in what is called the Diamond Back Townhomes at White Clouds, a phased project offering luxury four-plex (3 BR/3.5 BA) and duplex townhomes (both 2 and 3 BR models) located between the first and second holes of the White Cloud Golf Course. Or as Huffman put it, “750 steps from the Village—It takes me 6 minutes and 20 seconds to walk it.”

The architectural designs by Ruscitto Latham Blanton incorporate vaulted ceilings and roomy decks with expansive views of the

photo : heahter linhart coulthard

A rendering of one of the duplexes at Diamond Back Townhomes

Conceptual Rendering, Subject to change

Lots 5 & 6 Absolutely stunning elevated Fairways lots in the Back Pay Subdivision overlooking the 14th

SOLD

and 15th holes of the Sun Valley Golf Course.

Lot 5 1.41+– acres $2,950,000 Lot 6 1.41+– acres $3,250,000 SOLD

Dick Fenton 208.726.3317

Wallace Huffman 208.720.1112

McCann Daech Fenton Realtors, LLC dfenton@mdfrealtors.com

Sun Valley Resort wallyhuffman@sunvalley.com

You Dream. We Build. ™

C O N S T R U C T I O N E S T AT E HO M E S

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COM M ERCI A L

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L E A R N MOR E:

M agl eby S un Va l l e y. c om L ayne Thompson 208.720.5988

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