DREAM HOMES | MASTER BATHS | LOCAL CRAFT FARMS | JAZZ FESTIVAL | SENIOR PROJECTS
Fall 2017/2018
The
Habitat Issue
Sun Valley Bronze is now offering cast brass in two new finishes. 208.788.3631 | sunvalleybronze.com
True to place. de Reus Architects 333 S. Main Street, Suite 206 Ketchum, ID 83340 t: 208-928-7750
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GLASS
photo courtesy of Christopher Simmonds Architects
Masters
118 Lewis st. • ketchum, id 83340 p 208.726.1420 • f 208.726.3301 • w glassmasters.biz
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RUSCITTO A R C H I T E C T U R E
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L AT H A M P L A N N I N G
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BLANTON E N G I N E E R I N G
The last phase at the White Clouds development has commenced. This phase will consist of two 4 bedroom single family detached buildings, six 4 bedroom duplex units, and two 3 bedroom duplex units, for a total of 10 units starting at $2,250,000. Three of these units are already under contract.We expect five units to be completed by Summer of 2018 and the rest to follow by Christmas of 2018. Due to how the previous phases have gone, we know these units will sell very quickly. Don’t miss out on these special Sun Valley homes. w w w . w h i t e c l o u d s r e s i d e n c e s . c o m
D I A M O N D B A C K T OW N H O M E S
D I A M O N D B A C K T OW N H O M E S
RESIDENCES Great care has gone into the planning of White Clouds. Only 22 residential building lots are available with spectacular views of the White Clouds and Trail Creek Golf Course, the Pioneer Mountains and Sun Valley’s Bald and Dollar Mountains. One and two-acre estate lots are located within walking distance of the Sun Valley Village and the Sun Valley Club. Home sites are available starting in the mid-$1 million. Here’s where you will find golfing, hiking, biking, fishing, and Nordic skiing right at your doorstep.
w w w . w h i t e c l o u d s r e s i d e n c e s . c o m
Wallace Huffman, 720-1112 wallyhuffman@sunvalley.com
Mark Thoreson, 720-1922 mthoreson@sunvalley.com
Jasmin Wahlgren, 622-2105 jwahlgren@sunvalley.com
THE ROOFING PROFESSIONALS SINCE 1992
Scott Miley Roofing offers a full range of services for new or replacement roofs, repairs, remodels, green upgrades, siding, gutters, decks, skylights, waterproofing and metal fabrication. FREE ROOF INSPECTION FOR NEW HOMEOWNERS! 1760 Lear Lane | Hailey, ID 83333 | (208) 788-5362 | scottmileyroofing.com
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With Cox Homelife’s security, cameras and door lock control, it’s never been easier for your home to take care of you. And your guard dog.
Architecturally Authentic Lodging Design // Construction // Project Management 208-726-8347
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Specializing in “off the grid� construction in remote locations
The call of the ‌from the comfort of home. Located in spectacular McCall, Idaho, just two hours north of Boise, Whitetail Club is the premier private community in the Pacific Northwest, offering endless adventure and timeless luxury. We invite you to discover our newest homes, The Shore Lodge Cottages, starting at $ 689,000.
The call of the wild awaits at WhitetailClub.com/Discover or call 877.634.1725.
Spruce Model
Obtain a Property Report required by Federal Law and read it before signing anything. No Federal agency has judged the merits or value, if any, of this property. Whitetail Club is represented by Whitetail Club Realty, LLC. We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the nation. Scenes and views may be of a location not on or related to the property. FALL 2017 | sunvalleymag.com
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contents // HABITAT
72
The Sisillis’ dream home in downtown Ketchum | BY PATTI MURPHY
76
Room with a View
Décor in a bath designed by The Picket Fence
And what a view! | BY KAREN BOSSICK
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Architect Profiles JANET JARVIS : A love of craftsmanship MICHAEL DOTY: Bringing a vision to life
PHOTO: R AY J. GADD
A Private Idaho Retreat
| BY KATE HULL
88 Master Baths Tips from the experts | BY CHERYL HAAS
92 The Housing
Affordability Pickle Cities face a complex puzzle of jobs, housing, and long-term viability | BY MATT FURBER
98 Clean Power
in Perpetuity? Living off the grid in Idaho | BY MATT FURBER
102 A Compassionate
Community
The Animal Shelter moves forward with a new animal welfare campus | BY PATTI MURPHY
ON THE COVER Sun Valley bath designed by The Picket Fence | PHOTO BY RAY J. GADD
JOE MARX • TIM CARTER Ketchum, Idaho • www.idahomountainbuilders.com • 208.726.1603
contents // departments
40 54 40 localbuzz
Just Off Main Street Small, local farms offer nature’s bounty
HarvestFest Returns Celebrating local food
46 body&soul
Eating to Win Nutritional strategies for athletic success
Fit for the Snow
120
The importance of preseason ski conditioning
50 360˚kids
Senior Projects Outstanding senior projects from the class of 2017: Jake Michael, Molly Whittington, Chiloé Spelius, Eleanor Zhu
110 inthearts
The Sun Valley Jazz & Music Festival continues to light up the Valley
Don’t Stash That Pack
Rebecca’s Private Idaho The Gravel Grinder takes to the back roads
River Reset Fishing after the flood
Fat Tire Fun Soldier Mountain expands its trail system
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CLOCK WISE FROM TOP LEF T: SQUASH BLOSSOM FARM / PHOTO BY KIRSTEN SHULTZ; CHILOÉ SPELIUS IN CHILE; MELON SERVING SUGGESTION; GALLERY WALK AT THE KNEEL AND GALLERY
Gallery Buzz Upcoming exhibits, artist receptions, gallery walk schedule and map
Where to go, what to bring for fall backpacking
Parochial School Renegade
124
Lawrence Fodor’s rewriting of outdated mythologies
58 getoutthere
‘All That Jazz’
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
124 food&drink
26 from the publisher
The Secret Life of Melons
28 featured contributors
A guide to picking and buying, plus fun ways to eat them
68 calendar of events 106 home décor showcase 128 end page
INTERIOR DESIGN STUDIO
online // sunvalleymag.com
Videographer Guy Hand spent a day at Kraay’s Market & Garden in Bellevue, Idaho. Check out his stunning video of life on a local, organic farm at sunvalleymag.com.
MORE STORIES The Sun Valley Magazine website, at sunvalleymag. com, is user friendly and incorporates responsive design so that you get the same award-winning content on phones, tablets or desktop computers. On our site you will find all of our print stories, as well as a wealth of additional online content, including resource guides, videos and online features. Look for the best of Sun Valley life
To explore our magazine archives, dating all the way back to 1974, visit sunvalleymag.com/magazine. On our digital magazine page, you can enjoy back issues of Sun Valley Magazine. Travel back in time to see what we were covering at the turn of the century (21st!) and beyond. Looking for an old article? Spend some time in our archives—an ongoing, living record of life in the Wood River Valley. Also check out our digital edition of TASTE of Sun Valley on the Food & Drink page!
in our Arts, Food & Drink, Community, Health, Adventure, Home & Design, and Wedding sections. You can also enjoy
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VIDEO IMAGE: COURTESY KR A AYS MARKET & GARDEN / VIDEO BY GUY HAND
PAST ISSUES
ON FILM
fromthepublisher // insight
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kayak. A pair of skis. A notebook. In this issue of Sun Valley Magazine, each object becomes a conduit to much larger ideas of how to explore the world, expanding beyond the bowl of sage-covered hillsides and tumbling streams of the Wood River Valley. Read about former Sage School student Molly Whittington (class of 2017), who used wood and steel designs to delve into her thesis on the value of play as an essential component to the process of growth, while fellow classmate Jake Michael used a pair of skis to understand the ethnography of foreign cultures and mountains. Former Community School student Eleanor Zhu, armed with nothing more than a notebook and an open mind, pursued a quest to understand different approaches to governance during her bold journey across the border into North Korea from China (“Senior Projects,” pages 50-56). Within these same pages, follow Chiloé Spelius, whose kayak taught her that rivers are much more than just waterways for recreation during a harrowing expedition down the Rio Puelo from its headwaters in Argentina through the Andes of Chile to its mouth at the Pacific Ocean. What is unique about each of these explorations is not the that they were taken, but that they were launched from a town with a student popluation of less than 4,900 individuals under the age of 18. Tremendous ingenuity, determination and courage are evidenced in the conception, planning and undertaking of each of these investigative journeys, which seems to illuminate the sense of adventure and open spirit of discovery that are such an integral part of life here in Central Idaho. Each of these students took an essential element of his or her life in Idaho and used it as a touchstone for exploring their place in the larger landscape and global community. This is the spirit that threads through many of the stories in this fall issue of Sun Valley Magazine—our special Habitat Annual, which delves into this concept from a perspective of design, construction, and planning. Explore dream homes and the architects, builders, interiors designers, and landscape architects who collaborate to make those visions a reality (“A Private Idaho Retreat,” page 72, and “Room with a View,” page 76). Discover the rise of CSAs (community supported agriculture) and the individuals and families committed to a way of life that encourages healthy food consumption, local economic viability, and environmental stewardship. The importance of local food systems has the power to reach into all areas of our community (“Just Off Main Street,” page 40). Read about altnerative energy and living off the grid (“Clean Power in Perpetuity,” page 98) and discover the power of building a compassionate community through a new home for The Animal Shelter, a building designed as an animal welfare campus and gathering place (“A Compassionate Community,” page 102). The concept of home has always been about the importance of place, of creating a haven where we live, and extending that out into our larger definition of community, however far that line expands into the world. We in the Wood River Valley are lucky because our sense of place is firmly rooted in the landscape around us and our chosen method for exploring and caretaking those landscapes. This issue is dedicated to fostering both the inspiration and courage to continually expand that line.
publisher
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Laurie Sammis / editor-in-chief
P h ot o gr a p he r : M at t h e w Mi l lm an
I n s p i r ed b y Pl a ce
jackson,wy bozeman,mt
clbarchitects.com
featuredcontributors // writers and photographers
SARAH LINVILLE
KATE HULL
CHERYL HAAS
CHRIS SYMS
Sarah Linville currently enjoys a seasonal life working in the Idaho outdoors. She proudly spends her winters on Bald Mountain with the Sun Valley Ski Patrol. In summer, she will be floating somewhere on the Salmon River. Life is tough. She received her degree in journalism from Northern Arizona University and has since then contributed to Rock and Ice Magazine and locally to BIG Life Magazine. (“Eating to Win,” page 46)
Kate Hull, a Texas native, moved to Idaho’s Teton Valley in 2012. She is a contributing writer and editorial assistant for Teton Valley Magazine and the marketing coordinator at Grand Targhee Resort. Her work has appeared in numerous Intermountain West and Texas-based magazines including Texas Monthly, Texas Highways, Austin Monthly, Images West, and Teton Home and Living. When not writing, Kate can be found exploring her surrounding Wydaho home with her fiancé, Kenny, and cattle dog, June. (“Architect Profile: Janet Jarvis,” page 80; “Architect Profile: Michael Doty,” page 84)
Cheryl Haas has lived in Manhattan and McCall—with a sojourn in the Wood River Valley—but keeps returning to the City of Trees. She’s met a lot of interesting and talented people along the way and relishes the opportunity to tell their stories. She writes for Territory and Sun Valley Magazines and helps corporate clients with marketing communications. At one time, Cheryl worked as a scriptwriter, voiceover artist and professional actor. Currently, she holds a Series 7 license and works in the financial services industry. (“Hot Trends for the Master Bath,” page 88)
Chris Syms graduated Wood River High School in 1970. In 1976 he had a life-changing experience when he enrolled at the Sea Education Association (SEA) of Woods Hole, Mass. His passion for photography grew out of the marine sciences and sailing. Chris earned a B.A. degree in communications at the University of Miami, where he also met his wife, who was working there as a marine biologist. Chris’s photos and articles have appeared in Sailing, Sail, Yachting, and other sail-oriented magazines. In 1980 life changed again when he and his wife sailed to the British Virgin Islands, built and opened the Beef Island Guest House and the Loose Mongoose Beach Bar on Trellis Bay. Their son Jason was born on Tortola in 1987. They began the return home in 1991 for Jason’s education and the awesome experience of growing up in the Wood River Valley. (“The Housing Affordability Pickle,” page 92)
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE WRITERS Karen Bossick, Dick Dorworth, Bryant Dunn, Matt Furber,
PHOTOGRAPHERS Glen Allison, Steve Dondero, Ray J. Gadd,
Jennifer Liebrum, Patti Murphy, Kira Tenney, Gwen Ashley Walters
Linda Guerrette, Dev Khalsa, Matt Leideker, Jon Mancuso, Kirsten Shultz, Kevin Syms, Tory Taglio, Carol Waller, Josh Wells
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FALL 2017
Merry + Bright
Let Webb Landscape help you make this holiday season memorable...
publisher/editor in chief Laurie C. Sammis managing editor Adam Tanous creative director Roberta Morcone guest art director Kristina Mitchell production director Val Thomson
advertising sales manager Heather Linhart Coulthard
copy editor Patty Healey
controller Linda Murphy
circulation director Nancy Whitehead
Sun Valley Magazine Online: www.sunvalleymag.com email: info@sunvalleymag.com
SUN VALLEY MAGAZINE AWARDS 2017 MAGGIE AWARDS Finalist, Best Feature Article - “The Long Journey Back” Finalist, Best Profile - “A Life in the Sky” 2016 MAGGIE AWARDS Finalist, Best Feature Article - “The Great Migration”
ALL YOUR HOLIDAY DECOR NEEDS! Trees, wreaths, poinsettias, bells
and all the bobbles...
2015 MAGGIE AWARDS Finalist, Best Annuals & One-Time Custom Publication/Consumer Finalist, Best Cover/Consumer 2014 MAGGIE AWARDS Finalist, Best Annuals & One-Time Custom Publication/Consumer 2013 MAGGIE AWARDS Finalist, Best Semiannual & Three-Time/Trade & Consumer Finalist, Best Special Theme Issue/Consumer 2012 MAGGIE AWARDS Winner, Best Semi-Annual & Three-Time/Trade & Consumer 2011 MAGGIE AWARDS Finalist, Best Semi-Annual & Three-Time/Trade & Consumer Finalist, Best Special Theme Issue/Consumer 2010 MAGGIE AWARDS Finalist, Best Semi-Annual & Three-Time/Trade & Consumer Finalist, Best Special Theme Issue/Consumer 2010 OZZIE AWARDS Gold Winner, publication fewer than 6 times per year 2010 EDDIE AWARDS Gold Winner, publication fewer than 6 times per year 2010 IDAHO PRESS CLUB Best Magazine Serious Feature & Best Blog 2010 MAGGIE AWARDS Finalist, Best Semi-Annual & Three-Time/Trade & Consumer 2009 MAGGIE AWARDS Winner, Best Semi-Annual & Three-Time/Trade & Consumer 2008 EDDIE AWARDS Eddie Award Winner, Editorial Content Sun Valley Magazine® (BIPAD # 074470772330) is published three times a year by Mandala Media LLC. Editorial, advertising and administrative offices are located at 313 N. Main St., Hailey, Idaho 83333. Telephone: 208.788.0770; Fax: 208.788.3881. Mailing address: 313 N. Main St., Hailey, Idaho 83333. Copyright ©2015 by Mandala Media, LLC. Subscriptions: $22 per year, single copies $5.95.
WEBBland.com | 208.788.2066 BELLEVUE · HAILEY · KETCHUM · TWIN FALLS 30
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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. Postmaster — Please send address changes to: Sun Valley Magazine, 313 N. Main St., Hailey, ID 83333
Printed in the U.S.A.
How do you define health? Physical? Mental? Social? Health goes beyond medical care. It’s how we take care of ourselves, how we interact with our communities, how we take care of each other. Let St. Luke’s support your health however you define it. #pictureyourhealth
w w w. m d a – a r c . c o m 208 .726.4 228
FRESH FINDS INSPIRING DESIGN furnishings + interior design
OWNERS ARIANNE & JOSH HEYSER 6000 sq. ft. showroom 620 Sun Valley Road • Ketchum, ID 208.726.7797 topnotchonline.com
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
PHOTO Tim Brown
Our house is a very, very, very ďŹ ne house.
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131 4th Street Suite 211
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Ketchum, Idaho 83340
Family Owned and Operated for Three Generations
Better Food • Better Price KETCHUM Giacobbi Square 726.5668 HAILEY Alturas Plaza 788.2294 BELLEVUE Main Street 788.7788 www.atkinsons.com
HOME FURNISHINGS FOR INDOOR AND OUTDOOR LIVING
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mdesignandinteriors.com 208.928.7872 Megan Dawson + Laura Morawitz
localbuzz
left: Freshly
harvested garlic below: Sara Berman and Arlo walking through the gardens at Squash Blossom Farm
Just Off Main Street SMALL, LOCAL FARMS OFFER NATURE’S BOUNTY by Kira Tenney photos by Kirsten Shultz
E
at local. The idea is simple enough: by eating locally produced food, you consume fresher, more nutrient-rich cuisine, reduce global carbon emissions by eliminating transport, and contribute directly to your local community and economy. Ultimately, it’s easiest to trace your food if you know who’s growing it. If you do a little bit of exploring just beyond the Main streets of the Wood River Valley, you’ll find the small farms and farmers that produce delicious, fresh food, and give us the choice to “Eat Local.”
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K
Ketchum Kustom WoodworKs
Sara Berman and her husband Ed Zinader bought their seven-acre property in Bellevue in 2014 with the “simple vision” of building a small vegetable farm. Three years later, their vision is in full bloom as their creation of Squash Blossom Farm now grows lettuce, salad mixes, kale, spinach, chard, peas, beans, onions, garlic, squash, radishes, beets, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, and herbs– to name a few. “The tenets of local farming that we value a lot are the health and nutrition side of it,” said Berman, who was born and raised in Ketchum. “Knowing the food that we’re eating and giving to other people to eat is grown cleanly and is so much fresher than most of the stuff you can get in the grocery store is part of why we do it. To us, it’s also really important because it’s our way to be contributing members of the healthy and active community that we live in and all love.” This year Squash Blossom Farm is now at the Ketchum and Hailey farmers’ markets, but it also continues to operate as a CSA, the commonly used acronym for community supported agriculture. The farm’s CSA memberships have more than doubled since
We Build It The Way You Want It. Custom Cabinetry • Architectural Millwork Outstanding Customer Service
118-B Lewis Street • Ketchum • ID • 208.726.1905
www.ketchumkustomwoodworks.com FALL 2017 | sunvalleymag.com
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localbuzz // craft farms below: Carol Murphy of Shooting Star Farm with her children right: Rows of lettuce at the farm
“
With beef, so many people just don’t understand where that comes from. Being local, we can say, ‘Come see our cows and how it all happens.’”
above: Katie Zubia
with her daughter at Wood River Ranch
—KATIE ZUBIA, WOOD RIVER RANCH BEEF
above: Sara Berman,
Ed Zinader, and Arlo. left: Zucchini from the gardens at Squash Blossom Farm
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last year. Members pay up front in early spring and receive an assortment of fresh produce every week throughout the entire growing season, depending on what’s best and plentiful on the farm. Seven miles south of Squash Blossom Farm on Highway 75, you’ll find the home of Wood River Ranch Beef. Katie Zubia has been in charge of the family business’s beef program for the past four years after returning home with bachelor and master’s degrees in animal science. “I know the steers from the time they’re born to the time they’re taken to the butcher,” said Zubia. Wood River Ranch’s beef is “natural grass-fed and grass-finished,” as their 600 cows graze on the 4,000-acre ranch and adjoining BLM allotments. “It’s important to me to make people aware of what’s involved in producing our food,” continued Katie. “With beef, so many people just don’t understand where that comes from. Being local, we can say, ‘Come see our cows and how it all happens.’ It gives individuals more appreciation for the food they’re eating and offers them something to connect to and give a better name to beef and agriculture, in general.” If you head north from Wood River Ranch to Hailey, you’ll find Shooting Star Farm. The one-acre farm was started by Carol Murphy and her late husband Dan Freeman in 2000 and grows everything from arugula to beets to pea shoots.
“Starting out, we were looking for something to do while Dan was developing his patents, art and music, and we wanted to do something socially and environmentally responsible,” recounted Murphy. “Organic farming was socially and environmentally responsible, plus we liked being outside and doing something from home, especially when our kids were young. And it also meant we got to work together.” Squash Blossom Farm, Wood River Ranch Beef, and Shooting Star Farm all clarified that they are not certified organic, but the invitations to visit where the food is produced says it all. In the case of Shooting Star Farm, Murphy noted, “We can’t say we’re organic because we’re not certified. But, we use organic compost and don’t spray anything: no synthetic fertilizer and no GMO seed, no insecticides, no pesticides, no herbicides, absolutely no spraying of any chemical. On our poster at the farmers’ market, we write that it’s just organic compost, soil, seed, sun and water.” She laughed, “And a lot of weeds, too.” When eating local, it is simple enough. Whether at the Ketchum Farmers’ Market on Tuesdays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., the Hailey’s Farmers’ Market on Thursdays from 3 p.m.-7 p.m., online, in select stores and restaurants, or just off Main Street, Wood River Valley farmers are working hard to do it right and give us the choice to eat from our greater backyard. 2 FALL 2017 | sunvalleymag.com
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www.williams-partners.com
FALL 2017 | sunvalleymag.com
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localbuzz // harvestfest
HarvestFest Returns Bigger and Better CELEBRATING LOCAL FOOD
by Gwen Ashley Walters
F
ood lovers: Prepare to feast on fresh, local foods prepared by some of the Valley’s favorite local chefs—all for a good cause. Two events, presented by The Local Food Alliance, whose mission is to create and nurture a resilient local and regional food system, are aiming to bring the community together around the culture of local food, as well as serve as fundraisers for the nonprofit. Other partners include the Wood River Sustainability Center and the Hailey Chamber of Commerce. One event is an annual food festival in Hailey, and a new event, taking place the night before, is a cocktail reception, farm tour and dinner on a working farm south of Bellevue.
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THE ELEVATED TABLE Friday, Sept. 15, The Local Food Alliance presents “The Elevated Table in the Field,” a cocktail, farm tour and dinner at Kraay’s Market & Garden, south of Bellevue. Three chefs, Sean Temple of Warfield (Ketchum), Brian Janego of Town Square Tavern (Ketchum), and Sarah Lipton of Hank & Sylvie’s (Ketchum and Hailey), will prepare a four-course dinner following cocktails and a tour of the small family-run farm. Served family style, in the spirit of the roving Outstanding in the Field national program, guests will be seated at long, decorated tables in the field, joined by the producers who contributed ingredients for the fundraiser. Music will be provided by Kevin Ware (Ware2), a single-guitar local act. The cost of the evening is $250 and tickets may be purchased through The Local Food Alliance’s website.
from left: Last
year’s street party at the Wood River Sustainability Center; locally produced vegetables are featured at the food fair; and a volunteer at daVinci’s serving kabobs at the restaurant walk-around.
1
PHOTOS : COURTESY LOCAL FOOD ALLIANCE / CAROL WALLER
The food fair and market will be held on River Street behind the Wood River Sustainability Center. This free event, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., will feature local producers, food entrepreneurs, and nonprofit organizations. Many will have items to sample and sell. The purpose is to introduce the community to the many families that work to provide food for the Wood River Valley.
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The restaurant walk-around takes place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and costs $45 (kids under 10 are free). This year, 16 restaurants are participating, each featuring products from local farmers and producers, in 2-ounce tastes. The $45 ticket price includes two drink tickets plus 10 tastes among the 15 restaurants. Pick up forks—your tickets for the tastes—at the Sustainability Center between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. A few of the participating restaurants, most of which are located on Main Street or a block off, include Zou 75, diVine, Dang’s, Smokey Bone BBQ and Sawtooth Brewery.
3
The street party, the day’s final event, is also free to the public, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. As with the food fair and market, the street party will be located on a blockedoff portion of River Street behind the Wood River Sustainability Center. Live music will be provided by the local band The Heaters. A longtime local favorite group, the band switches between rock and roll, alternative rock, Motown and their own original songs. Coffee and dessert will be served inside the Center, courtesy of several local businesses, including Atkinsons’ Markets, Hailey Coffee Co., and Hank & Sylvie’s. Ali Long, founder and executive director of Local Food Alliance, said this year’s event is even more family-friendly than previous years, with the addition of the Kids Corral. For $20, parents can drop kids at the Kids Corral at the Sustainability Center from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., for games, face painting and
snacks. This gives parents the opportunity to participate in the restaurant walk-around while the kids are supervised and entertained. In three years, HarvestFest has grown from 10 participating restaurants with 267 attendees to 15 restaurants and an anticipated 500 attendees this year. Proceeds benefit Local Food Alliance, whose work includes farm-to-school food programs, community education and outreach. “The HarvestFest is a wonderful opportunity to build community,” Long said. “It’s a chance to connect the community with our farmers and to give chefs the opportunity to serve their farmers’ products to their clientele. And with the addition of the Kids Corral, we are making this even more familyfriendly. We want everyone to come out and support the community.” 2
THE DETAILS The Elevated Table in the Field Kraay’s Market & Garden 171 Schoessler Lane, Bellevue Friday. Sept. 15, 6 p.m. Cocktails, farm tour and dinner, $250 Tickets: localfoodalliance.org Third Annual Wood River Valley HarvestFest At the Wood River Sustainability Center and Downtown Hailey 308 S. River Street, Hailey Saturday, Sept. 16, 3-10 p.m. 1) Food fair and market, free, 3-5 p.m. 2) Restaurant walk-around, $45, 5-7 p.m. 3) Street party, free, 7-10 p.m. Tickets: woodrivervalleyharvestfest.org Restaurant Walk-Around Participants: Wood River Sustainability Center, Lago Azul, The Red Shoe, Restaurant 103, daVinci’s, Sawtooth Brewery, KB’s, Zou 75, Dang’s, International Cowboy Cocina, di Vine, Hailey Fire Department, Hank & Sylvie’s, CK’s, Smokey Bone BBQ, Sun Valley Brewery, Taste of Thai
Custom Audio • Video Automation Control Electrical • Lighting • Shades Design & Installation
Coffee and Dessert Participants: Atkinsons’ Market, Black Owl Coffee, Hank & Sylvie’s, The Coffee House, Hailey Coffee Co.
FALL 2017 | sunvalleymag.com
Helping make your life and your technology work seamlessly together.
HARVESTFEST The third annual Wood River Valley HarvestFest returns to Hailey on Saturday, Sept. 16, from 3 p.m. until 10 p.m. The oneday festival features three separate events, two of which are free to the public.
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body&soul
Eating to Win NUTRITIONAL STRATEGIES FOR ATHLETIC SUCCESS
by Sarah Linville
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ll athletes know that feeling; it’s only two hours into the race but the legs are starting to feel heavy, motivation is waning, and the idea of paying to run, bike, or swim for this long suddenly seems ridiculous. That feeling is “bonking,” hitting a wall or running out of steam, and it’s an indicator that the fuel tank is running on empty. “If you leave the house buck naked, your main source of fuel (glycogen, which is easily metabolized) will last for 90 to 120 minutes at high intensity,” explained Dr. Terry O’Connor, an E.R. physician at St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center and an ultrarunner and endurance athlete. “If you starve your body past this point, it starts breaking down your own muscle for fuel, essentially cannibalizing yourself.” At this point, what athletes reach for is entirely personal, and nearly every athlete has a different approach. Eating—even strategic eating—is highly individualized. For Rebecca Rusch, a professional adventure athlete with a lengthy and impressive list of achievements, not the least of which includes being a seventime world champion in multiple sports, her nutritional strategy has evolved over the span of her 30-year athletic career. 46
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“I’ve gone from knowing nothing. I was doing long distance races and eating anything,” Rusch recalled. “Anything I craved, like Cheetos and Swedish Fish. I just figured I needed to get food in.” Now, her complete equation for fueling during performance includes a mix of carbohydrates, electrolytes, hydration, and amino acids in the form of foods that are easily digestible. Rusch personally goes for more manufactured packaged foods like GU. And what she eats is just as important as when she eats it. “A barrier is that people assume that fuel is going to dictate their success,” said O’Connor. “For races, especially endurance, if you are relying on a nutrition plan for success and then during the race you get emotional or egotistical, you can mess up your nutrition plan.” In other words, a nutrition plan must match behavior. No speeding up unnecessarily to catch the chubby guy ahead. For sports and races that don’t last more than two hours, fueling during the event is unnecessary. What is important, as with all athletic disciplines, is what is consumed before and especially after training or races. “We often think progress is about training and how much we do,” said Rick Kapala, who has been the cross-country ski head
coach and Program Director for the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation since 1987 and has worked individually with hundreds of athletes. “The recovery process is equally as important. If you don’t recover your muscles properly, it doesn’t matter how much you train.” After a workout, there is a 15- to 30-minute window when the body is most receptive to replacing what has been broken down. A good recovery food has a carbohydrate-to-protein ratio of 3 to 1; for example, banana with peanut butter would be a good choice. “Most people won’t eat until an hour after training,” explained Kapala. “More serious athletes are better organized and can manage the timing of their food consumption. But what they eat is where individual preference comes in. There’s no hard and fast way to do it.” There are simple scientific formulas to match fuel to training depending on weight of the athlete and intensity of the exercise.
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Many professional and serious recreational athletes use those equations, but there is no substitute for the value of experimentation and experience. There is no optimal diet, and there is no silver bullet. “Everybody wants to feel at their best, professional athlete or not,” offered Rusch. “Nutrition is the easiest thing to do and the hardest to master. But the myth is that it’s complicated—it’s not.” 2
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WHAT TO EAT
General Nutritional Strategy for Race Day Before Hydrate and top off protein and carbohydrate levels. (Example: peanutbutter with banana and an egg) During (Assuming the activity is high intensity and lasting for more than an hour and a half), hydrate and consider foods that provide carbohydrates, amino acids and/ or fast sugars and caffeine. These foods should be easily digestible and portable. (Example: energy gels, Shot Bloks or gummy bears, fruit, watered-down Gatorade.) After Hydrate again and don’t forget to take advantage of the short recovery window (15 to 30 minutes) to rebuild muscle for the next workout. A good recovery food has a carbohydrate-to-protein ratio of 3 to 1. (Example: fruit smoothie, with dairy or dairy substitute and a protein powder, whatever looks good. Anything is better than nothing.) Then, have a beer.
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body&soul // ski conditioning
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Replicating the skiing experience on dryland improves technique and, ultimately, skiing efficiency on snow.
1 Running builds stamina, as well as bone mass, which reduces injuries to hip, knee, and ankle joints.
3 Agility exercises improve coordination and help develop explosive muscle power.
Fit for the Snow THE IMPORTANCE OF PRE-SEASON SKI CONDITIONING by Dick Dorworth
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ne reason Mikaela Shiffrin is the finest female slalom skier in the history of ski racing is her dedication to preseason ski conditioning. It is also one reason she has suffered fewer injuries than many others in an endeavor in which injury is nearly unavoidable. Her precautionary wisdom and practice help her win races, avoid injury, and, when she has been injured, recover quickly. While Shiffrin is the gold standard for performance, conditioning and avoidance of and recovery from injury, the importance of preseason ski conditioning is no less for recreational skiers, from beginner to expert, than for world-class racers. Preseason conditioning has always been a prudent approach to skiing, but in recent years it has become something more than that as ski equipment technology has improved the standard of skiing while increasing the severity, quantity and types of stresses on the skier’s body. Scott McGrew has been alpine program director of the Sun Valley Ski Education
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Foundation since 2014 and has worked as a coach for the SVSEF since 2002. He explains pre-season conditioning like this: “Modern pre-season training is designed to develop functional strength that replicates the skiing experience, not to turn bodies into slabs of meat. We emphasize ‘mobility’ rather than ‘flexibility,’ especially with hip flexors. We focus a lot on flexion, extension, abduction and rotation of the hips to boost mobility, improve performance and as a tool of preventing injury. Particularly with the girls, because the structure of their hips is different from the boys, we do a lot of abduction work with bands. And we do all we can to keep pronation of the feet to a minimum, as strong alignment is critical to good, safe skiing.” Like McGrew, Karoline Droege of Zenergy Sports Rehab Clinic is a Sun Valley native who grew up as a ski racer for SVSEF and raced for the University of Utah from 1989 through 1993, where she earned a degree in exercise and sports science. Droege
I do doubles on Monday and Tuesday, take Wednesday off or do easy cardio, do doubles on Thursday and Friday, and the weekend I just get outside and get active— jog or bike ride, or play tennis with my mom.” —MIKAELA SHIFFRIN, FROM A 2014 TODAY SHOW INTERVIEW
PHOTOS : COURTESY SVSEF / GLEN ALLISON
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from left to right: Sun Valley Ski Education
Foundation athletes in dryland training
4 Developing core strength takes stress off hip and knee joints, thereby helping protect them from injury.
has a master’s degree in physical therapy from Idaho State University. “Preseason preparation for skiing is the best insurance policy for a fun, injury-free season, but it is obviously not a guarantee,” Droege explained. “Depending on a person’s activity level during summer, I advise six to 12 weeks of focusing on building strength, endurance and flexibility before the ski season. If you spent your summer strenuously cycling and hiking, and you’re feeling fit going into fall, you can rely on six to eight weeks of preseason training. If you’re approaching the end of summer with lackluster fitness, you should devote 10 to 12 weeks to training before the season.” Droege notes that strength gains are best achieved by working out three days per week but, more importantly, using a high intensity level that leaves you more than moderately fatigued at the end of the workout. Endurance is developed with a good aerobic conditioning program three to five days a week. And mobility comes from daily dedication to stretching, self-myofascial release, yoga, Pilates and/or massage. Most common ski injuries are to the lower extremities, but preseason training should focus on whole-body functional exercises, including the lower extremities and core stabilizers, and the upper body. Richard Odom, Wood River Valley’s bestknown yoga instructor, says that flexible hips from a regular yoga practice are insurance against knee injury from skiing. Preseason ski conditioning, in general, is insurance against injury for the rest of the body. 2
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360°kids
Jake Michael High School The Sage School Project Title Ski Culture Ethnography; Sun Valley to France Post-graduation Plans Bates College, Lewiston, Maine
SENIOR PROJECTS Each year, Community School and The Sage School students undertake ambitious senior projects (Wood River High School has a project program, but it is generally assigned in the sophomore year). Students travel the world, help people less fortunate, develop ideas and products, inspire discussion and innovation. We are excited to share some excerpts from a few of the outstanding projects from this year. Jake on rappel with La Meije in the background.
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and a richer life. For many skiers, taking risks and pushing their boundaries is an essential part of their lives. In my research, I found the sublime to be a powerful force that drew people to take risks and simply spend time in the mountains. The sublime evokes the concepts of awe, deep emotion and psychological inspiration, a danger of the unknown embodied in nature’s grandeur and yet an irresistible force drawing one to a precipice of the unknown that lies beyond rational thought. Ineffable force moves us to push our boundaries to gain a deeper sense of what life has to offer us. The pure, indescribable joy of carving a long arcing turn across a smooth groomer, or the soul-fulfilling bliss of being engulfed in a white cloud of powder as you sink in and bounce out again of deep untracked snow is a physical sensation that elicits the sublime. The French call it “la pleasure de la glisse.” Although there is no phrase in English that embodies these feelings as completely, the sentiment of the phrase is a shared feeling among all those in ski culture. There is a presence felt, a connection or, at least, the longing for a connection to nature and to yourself when you are on snow in the mountains. Your body moves with freedom, the speed exhilarates you with sensations flashing through your body, and you are alive. The expression of skiing as something more than a sport, closer to a way of life, is an attitude I felt expressed in each place I visited, and here at home. Once these sensations have been experienced, you are aware of what makes you happy and what inspires you at a soul level. These experiences can be translated into everything we do; the sensations we seek can be found in other endeavors besides skiing. Recognizing this indicates you are on your own right path. To do what makes your heart soar, to understand your boundaries, and learn what it means to be happy, is a truly unique and special thing in our modern world. My father died doing what he loved—skiing in the mountains. The snow swallowed him, holding his story in the memory of the mountain. I have an even deeper understanding of his connection to the snow, the mountains and skiing thanks to this journey I have had the good fortune to experience. Those of us who still clip into our bindings feel the presence of those we have lost as we leave tracks in the powder for them. 2
....we are
sage
I
spent nearly two months in France conducting an ethnographic study and comparison of ski culture in Sun Valley and in France. I traveled to Chamonix, La Grave, and Serre Chevalier and lived with host families that I arranged through the help of people in our community. The entire project was self-directed and created. I lived with people who are part of French ski culture in each destination and was welcomed into their ski culture; I skied with them, ate with them, shared stories with them, and became friends with them. I was able to work with ski patrol in Chamonix and Serre Chevalier, and tail guide in La Grave. I set out to discover the inner workings and components of ski culture. My working definition of ski culture is as follows: Mountain ski culture is a societal meshing of nature, mountains, snow and the sport of skiing in individual lifestyles and is connected to built environments, and the community’s collective attitudes, perceptions, practices, and behaviors. I achieved my intentions through conducting ethnographic fieldwork that consisted of taking part in and living in the culture of each place, meeting and interacting with people at the centers of these cultures, conducting formal interviews with openended questions (about 60 altogether), and observing the daily attitudes, customs, and relationships. Ethnography is a branch of cultural anthropology dealing more specifically with the customs and individual peoples of a culture. Through my experiences, I found that the people in each place had unique attitudes and perceptions while also sharing some overarching ideas, and perspectives that were unifying across many ski cultures. Based on my study, my thesis reads: Regardless of the differences in national cultures and historical significance of skiing, the people who make up ski culture are rooted in their cohesive and universal love for snow, skiing, and the mountains, driven by a desire for freedom, awareness of personal boundaries, and the allure of the sublime that validates ski culture as a valuable subculture for humanity. It’s not just skiing, it is ski culture. The desire for freedom pushes you to face your fears, which expands your personal boundaries, awakening a deeper personal knowledge and sense of accomplishment. Knowing your boundaries, and facing fears head on, can lead to greater self-awareness
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Reinventing Education for Adolescents in the Modern World
The Sage School Grades 6-12 (208) 788-0120 www.thesageschool.org
360°kids // senior projects
Molly Whittington High School The Sage School Project Title Play and Its Importance in Adolescence Post-graduation Plans Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah
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lay, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is to engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose. This definition, I believe, is a partial definition and incomplete. Play is a complex structure that has been studied by anthropologists, psychologists, biologists, and philosophers and it has been observed throughout the natural world. Play is essential to be fully human; however, its recent decline is a potential threat to our health and hinders our engagement to learning. I believe I have been connected to being playful with the world around me since the moment I was born. I have experienced the joy of simply being outside and all that it has given me. When I was in school, I began to feel my days become longer and more suppressed. I noticed I was enjoying school and life a lot less than I had earlier on in my life. First, I blamed it on the people, then on too much school work, and then I decided to remove myself entirely from that environment. At this point, I still hadn’t realized that play was what was lacking and making me feel that way. I decided to transfer to The Sage School, and on the first day we went for a walk to the river. It was a wonderful way to ease 52
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everyone’s first-day nerves and connect the group. Then right after lunch we went outside for “wellness”—it is a way to forget the daily struggles inside the classroom, release energy, and come back lighter than before. We played all sorts of games: tag, football, kickball, dodgeball, and a few games that were invented by Sage students. I noticed that not everyone was joining in and not everybody was enjoying it. I then began to imagine a playground at The Sage School, because we didn’t have one. This idea grabbed me, and I wanted to pursue the research. So many interesting ideas had come up, but the one that intrigued me the most was how everyone
can associate with one or more “play types.” For example, the kinesthete is someone who has to move to be able to think; he or she focuses best when playing with a soccer ball or when on a run. For the kinesthete I designed an obstacle from American Ninja Warrior called the salmon ladder. It allows kids to hop up and down using their arms and core, distracting the body so the brain can think clearly. Once I knew the general idea of who I was building for, I worked with Chip McGuire and M.O.D.E. LLC design studios, to create the rough architecture plans for these play spaces—each space will serve a play type. 2
The Explorer: “Exploring can be physical—literally, going to new places. Alternatively, it can be emotional—searching for a new feeling or deepening of the familiar, through music, movement, or flirtation. It can be mental—researching a new subject or discovering new experiences and points of view while remaining in [an] armchair” (Brown 67).
The mental explorers can sit an area and search their mind for a piece of something. Mindfulness is considered a mental exercise for the explorer and that is why I designed the sand pit that is to be quiet and only to be used for a peaceful setting.
The Competitor: “The competitor is a person who breaks through into the euphoria and creativity of play by enjoying a competitive game with specific rules, and enjoys playing to win” (Brown 67).
They play to win and have a natural urge to be the best. I designed a Ninja Warrior-type course where people can compete for course times. It is meant to challenge the body and the mind. The Director: “Directors enjoy planning and executing scenes and events. Though many are unconscious of their motives and style of operating, they love the power, even when they’re playing” (Brown 68). The Storyteller: “Storytellers are, of course, novelists, playwrights, cartoonists, and screenwriters, but they are also those who enjoy reading those novels and watching those movies, people who make themselves part of the story” (Brown 70).
I designed a fort that can become a castle, a fortress, a starship, a plane, or really whatever the players and directors can come up with in their minds. The Joker: “A joker’s play always revolves around some kind of nonsense” (Brown 66).
The joker can find creative ways to get across the spider wall. They can get across upside down, on just with their hands or using their bottoms and feet to do a crab-like crawl across the plain.
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360°kids // senior projects
Chiloé Spelius High School Community School Project Title Chiloé Goes to Church Chiloé Spelius taking on the rapids of Río Puelo
Post-graduation Plans Gap year: working as a game ranger, Kruger National Park (South Africa), conservation internships, kayaking.
I
am Chiloé. My parents named me after an island off the coast of Chile, which means baby seagull in the Mapuche Indian language. Those who are not kayakers might not understand the title of my project: “Chiloé Goes to Church.” I was not raised under any type of religion, but I was taught at a young age to appreciate nature’s blood. So, I guess you could say I consider nature my religion. For most of my life I was raised in the depths of Patagonia, which is a region that covers the bottom half of Chile and Argentina. I lived in my own little bubble: horseback riding, playing with lambs, and kayaking instead of going to school like the rest of my classmates. I moved to Sun Valley when I was 14, and it was a total culture shock. For my senior project I was given the opportunity to go back to my roots and explore the places I hadn’t seen, nor imagine existed. My goal was to explore the most isolated and remote places in Patagonia by kayak. It was a personal journey to find the beauty, mystery, adrenaline and magic of adventure behind whitewater kayaking and 54
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the spirit of nature’s blood while trying to understand how the rest of the world sees these rivers and remote places. The rivers of Chile are not protected and have been threatened by dam projects since 1981 when the dictator Augusto Pinochet sold Chilean water rights to foreign private companies. The present water law now motivates rights holders to develop projects, as they have to pay yearly for the rights if they are not developed. Basically, these rivers will remain threatened unless Chile adopts an act similar to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in the U.S.
RÍO PUELO My project began at the headwaters of the Río Puelo, a river that has been threatened by dam projects on multiple occasions. Our mission was to descend the drainage from its source in Argentina to the Pacific Ocean: four lakes, four sections of river, in four days. Most people look at rivers in terms of recreation, but on this journey my perspective changed. I had one of the most spiritual moments of my life.
We started in sea kayaks, traversing a long upper lake, then negotiated a river section with three whitewater rapids. We then crossed into Chile and paddled the length of a lower lake, which fed a lower river. By the time we got to the second river stretch, it was dark. We had to rely on the sounds of the rapids to navigate to a home of a Mapuche family that was waiting for us on the side of the river with flashlights and open arms. There was a Class V gorge just below their cabin, so missing the cabin was not an option. After spending the night on their farm, we continued our journey to the ocean. The next 16 hours were to be spent in a canyon of no return. Once you’re in, you’re in. My dad, Chris Spelius, ran this canyon 35 years ago and remembered only four major rapids and one or two portages. It turned out there were 16 rapids ranging from Class IV to Class V. This was by far the most challenging and stressful nine hours of kayaking I had ever experienced. Any kayaker’s worst nightmare is to miss an eddy and accidently run a class V portage, which is a section of river that is
Spelius in Tierra del Fuego
too dangerous to run. This is exactly what happened to me. I knew the consequences of not hitting the last eddy before a portage, but I underestimated the strength of the river and flipped on the eddy line. As I rolled my kayak up, I realized that the current had sent me to the middle of the river. I felt a combination of feelings that I would not wish on my worst enemy. I was lonely, scared and helpless—and floating toward a massive boulder called the “tombstone” rock in the throat of a class V rapid, the scariest whitewater I had ever seen. I knew at that point that there was nothing else I could do but to go for it and go with the flow. Somehow—I have no idea how—I made it through without even getting my hair wet. I had a perfect line. I didn’t even take a paddle stroke. I just felt my boat buck like a bull gone wild. And, when realized I was still alive, my first reaction was to cry— tears of joy. It were as if someone had pushed my boat with a little golden finger down the perfect line, and it was not my dad, nor my cousin Harley, and it was definitely not me. I honestly thought it was God, or the river gods, or something, but not me. After reflecting on everything that happened that day, I was afraid to continue the expedition. I realized how one simple mistake in underestimating the river could change everything. We still had to run the second gorge, called El Porton (The Gate). I could not help but wonder: the gate to what? I was terrified on the first rapid; there was no clean line, and all the water from the river pushed up on a wall. But I got through, and I finally started to loosen up again. I began to scout and run the rapids with more confidence. The last stretch of the expedition consisted of traversing two more lakes and another river
section that led to the ocean. It was starting to get dark, so my dad and I switched into a two-man sea kayak to bust out the miles faster. There was no way we were stopping before we smelled the ocean. To our surprise the whitewater was not over, and we found ourselves again reading whitewater in the dark, this time as a team. We arrived at the Pacific reflecting on our and the water’s journey across the Andes and Chile. We were exhausted. At this point I was tired of being scared. However, gliding over the most radiant, translucent turquoise water with the words of our native friends in my mind was life changing. This expedition taught me to look at these beautiful rivers through this light.
THE END OF THE WORLD Our final adventure was located at the end of the world in Tierra del Fuego, south of the Strait of Magellan, where we were to embark on a six-day expedition in the fjords of Mount Darwin. With danger all around us, this place redefined my definitions of remote, of beauty, of ruggedness and frigid temperatures. After my adventures in Patagonia, I began to reflect on my time spent in the most isolated places of the world. I came to realize that what impacted me the most were the people and the stories they had to share. Even though I had my ways of looking at the pristine beauty of nature’s blood, I was touched and humbled by the rivers, nature and by the insight of how others view it. The river is crazy scary, fierce and unforgiving. She makes you feel completely insignificant but, at the same time, she sets you free. When you learn how to dance with it, she becomes your church and your place. 2
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360°kids // senior projects Bronze statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital
Eleanor Zhu High School Community School Project Title North Korea Revealed: An Ethnographic and Political Study Post-graduation Plans U.C. Berkeley, Berkeley, Calif.
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began my senior project by engaging in research on several places that I had planned to visit while traveling in Beijing and in North Korea. While I grew up in China and had a good understanding of certain areas in China, I was not very familiar with Beijing, and I had never been to North Korea, so I wanted to learn as much as I could before I got on site and began to analyze life in these two Communist countries.
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I flew to Beijing first, and I spent my time walking around and making observations of daily life. Since I grew up in China, I was basically incognito and was not looked upon with suspicion or as a tourist. I visited a few famous tourist sites and tried to get a sense of how Chinese people think about Communism and governments. Most people have a pride in being Chinese; nationalism is strong. However, when I asked people about how they felt about Mao, different age groups had some different answers: People above 50 admire Mao very much and appreciate what he has done for the country; people between 35 and 49 have very complex feelings about the Communist government because they “are not sure if this is the best for China”; people under 35 also have very conflicted thoughts, but they do think the current government is the best for the country right now. From them, I learned that it is probably not about what kind of government a country has, but rather if the government is making the country better and stronger. From my observations and interviews in China, if the
people in a country are happy and wealthy, they don’t really care about the form of government, at least, that is what I observed in China. During my stay in Beijing, I had a formal interview with a Chinese student who was an exchange student in North Korea for six months. She shared her experiences living in North Korea, and what she understood about North Korean people and their government. The principal message that I got from her is that “people should look at North Korea from different perspectives. North Korea could be a good country according to some people. Western countries are dominating the world right now. That is why the whole world, including China, follows their opinions and think that North Korea is bad … We need to know more before we speak.” Right after my trip to Beijing, I flew to Dandong, the border city between China and North Korea. My connection, Park, a Korean-Chinese, gave me a tour of some important sites, such as Mao’s statue, the stillbroken bridge bombed by Americans, and a secret shelter for North Korean defectors. My
RUSSIA
JAPAN TOKYO
MONGOLIA
DADONG
BEIJING
NORTH KOREA PYONGYANG SEOUL SOUTH KOREA
East China Sea
CHINA
ADVANCING
SHANGHAI
PHOTO: LMSPENCER / SHUT TERSTOCK
“guide” also shared her family history and Korean defectors and encountered one of my personal thoughts of being Korean-Chinese. biggest challenges during my whole project. Her family moved across the border back in Because of their North Korean accent, my the 1930s, and she has relatives in both North translator couldn’t understand many of their TAIWAN from them, I learned 6 and South Korea. Her family has Korea words. Nonetheless, provided that they want people to focus more on 5 help for her relatives escaping from North KoreaKUNMING before, and she always felt lucky their culture, their living situations and their LIJIANG HONGhuman KONG to be born in China. rights, rather than their army or 7 The second day, I joined a travel group of government. PHILIPPINES students and took the train from Dandong to I concluded my trip with two important MYANMAR HAINAN (BURMA) LAOS Pyongyang. The train there tookISLAND seven hours, lessons. First, toppling Kim’s government MANILA including one-and-one-half hours of security S o u t h is not a real solution to all the problems in check. Police got on the train to check out C h i n a North Korea. Radical changes are probably suitcases, bags, phones and any electronic S e a harmful for North Korea, since the North THAILAND devices. We arrived in Pyongyang that Koreans are not 13 familiar with the outside evening and visited the Kim Il-Sung Square. (Western) world. Second, PAMAL ICAN we need to look CAMBODIA ISL AND It was occupied by college students because back and try and understand that North VIETNAM they were rehearsing for the Day of the Sun Korea and other developing countries will (Kim Il-Sung’s birthday). have very different perspectives from what For the next few days, I “toured” North we do about what is good for their country. Korea, and I visited some places that are BRUNEI Many things that Westerners assume are specifically designed for tourists, but I did beneficial for a country may not actually help. manage to get some observations that were At the end of this project, I realized MALAYSIA not censored. The most interesting place that that I wasn’t observing the politics of two I went was the border between South Korea countries, China and North Korea; instead, I and North Korea because there was another was observing people. Everyone has bias, and group from South Korea visiting as well. The for me, the way that I was able to overcome SINGAPORE border is very close to Seoul, only 20 minutes my bias was to get out of my comfort zone away. The last night in North Korea, I went and immerse myself in a different culture for a walk with my group to a North Korean and take risks. This is important for all of INDONESIA “black market” where local people sell and us. It was important for me, and I learned exchange things without the government to appreciate the fact that to understand permits. I tried to get some North Korean Communism, I had to look at Communism bills from them, but all the people seemed from a different perspective. Here at the afraid to talk to us once they realized that we Community School, if we are going “from were foreigners. here ... anywhere,” we need to remember that The next day we flew from the only the view from this campus is only one view, airport in Pyongyang to Shanghai. The and we need to acquire other perspectives by airport was quite interesting because the going out of our comfort zones. Then we can only flights flying out were flights to China. begin to understand the world and make a International Boundaries NowhereHighways else. After coming back from North contribution. 2 Korea, I Primary did phoneRoads interviews with two North
i a
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Major Rivers Lakes
THE CONSTITUTION
CIVIC EDUCATION
GENDER EQUALIT Y
Annual Conference:
CONVERSATIONS WITH EXCEPTIONAL WOMEN September 21-22, 2017 at The Community Library AUSTRALIA
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Don’t Stash That Pack WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO BRING FOR FALL BACKPACKING by Karen Bossick
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h, fall. The aspen are shivering and leaves quaking in their last vestiges of golden glory before winter winds strip them naked. Tiny icicles clinging to the ends of pine needles glimmer in the dim light of the quarter moon. And the air is crisp, invigorating. Some Wood River Valley residents, like Dean Paschall, would rather backpack in fall than any other season. Popular trails, such as that from Redfish Lake to Cramer Lakes, are emptied of people—and bugs. And yellow and red leaves splashed against Idaho’s azure skies give familiar scenery a different look. Plus, there’s no need to stay up until 11 to gaze at the Milky Way. “Fall is spectacular,” said Paschall, who started Community School’s outdoor program in 1980. “I love the crispness in the air. It’s cooler at night so you sleep well. And everything seems a little calmer, a little easier. “Another nice thing is that the water levels are down,” he added. “My 15-year-old son wanted to do a 58-mile solo backpacking trip this summer in the Sawtooth Mountains and 58
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the creek crossings scared me to death. They weren’t just deep, deep. They were chest deep.” Of course, fall backpacking comes with some unique challenges backpackers don’t have to worry about during summer. Foremost is the shorter days. Andy Munter, who owns Backwoods Mountain Sports, said he never goes on a fall backpacking trip without a tent and either a Crazy Creek chair or a Therm-a-Rest chair that can be transformed into a sleeping pad. “You don’t want to spend 12 hours lying down—a good book and chair are a must,” he said. Backpackers can read that book by a Solar Inflatable Lantern that packs into the size of a big deck of cards. It provides eight hours of light and can be recharged on top of the pack while hiking. Filtering water is just as important during fall as during summer, said Michele Krankkala, a retail clerk at The Elephant’s Perch. MSR’s Pocket-Sized Water Filter weighs just five ounces. And the Grayl Ultralight Purifier weighs just 10.9 ounces but removes particulates. “When you have water as high as we did this summer, it’s good to have a purifier that removes particulates,” said Krankkala. “They’re pretty much everywhere any time you have higher water.” Come bed time, a Nemo fillo pillow
provides the same level of comfort as that pillow at home and weighs just nine to 12 ounces. With mornings a little chilly, JetBoil cooking systems can have that cuppajoe ready in no time. And it comes in several sizes from MiniMo to Sumo. “I always take ski poles, as well, to help me keep my footing in the event of snow,” said Sun Valley native Pam Street. While it’s tempting to lounge around a fire on a crisp fall night, pay attention to regulations, cautioned Munter. Munter carries a fire blanket and a foil turkey roaster, which he can pack compactly. He puts a little sand in it before setting sticks on top, then lights it with a lighter around which he’s wrapped duct tape. “Duct tape is a great fire starter,” he added. Paschall took hundreds of Community School students on fall backpacking trips to Baker Lake, which sits under rose-colored cliffs about 1.5 miles from the trailhead. Hell Roaring Lake offers an easy fivemile hike without a lot of vertical gain— and without the bugs that early-season backpackers encounter. Other popular fall backpacking destinations near Sun Valley include the five-mile hike to the green waters of Prairie Lake 19 miles north of Ketchum and the four-mile hike to nearby Miner Lake, which sits under the pointed top of Norton Peak. “I like to backpack in the vicinity of Williams Peak near Redfish Lake because of the beautiful display of aspen in the Sawtooth Mountains every fall,” added Street. 2
TENTS AND HIKER : R AY J. GADD | BOARDWALK: MAT T LIEDECKER
etoutthere
TIPS FOR FALL TRIPS
1
Consider a sleeping pad a necessity as it will provide insulation against the cold ground. And they’re getting lighter and lighter. NeoAir mattresses, for instance, come in different lengths, sizes and thicknesses and weigh 20 percent of what self-inflating mattresses weigh.
2
Pitch your tent on a hill, rather than in a hollow, as warm air rises while cold air settles.
3
Keep your water inside your tent to keep it from freezing at night.
4
Don’t leave your boots out at night, especially if they’re damp from sweat or wading through creeks. Keep them in a stuff sack close to your sleeping bag to keep them from freezing.
A puncheon across a boggy section of trail on the Alice/ Toxaway loop.
5
To warm up your tent, light a candle.
6
Open a vent on your tent to prevent condensation.
7
Wear a Polartec balaclava to cover your head and neck—everything but your eyes— to keep your head warm while sleeping.
FALL 2017 | sunvalleymag.com
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PHOTOS : COURTESY REBECCA’S PRIVATE IDAHO / LINDA GUERRET TE
getoutthere // gravel grinder
Rebecca’s Private Idaho THE GRAVEL GRINDER TAKES TO THE BACK ROADS
by Kira Tenney
60
‘‘
Iowa?” No, Idaho. It is a common and ironic mistake considering the mountainous terrain north of the potato fields for which Idaho—if people have even heard of it—is most commonly known. Instead of trying to explain why she lives in Ketchum, Idaho, professional cyclist Rebecca Rusch decided to create a race so that everyone and anyone could see it for themselves. Going on five years this Labor Day weekend, Rebecca’s Private Idaho gravel grinder will bring 800 riders to Sun Valley to take on the area’s most beautiful back roads.
sunvalleymag.com | FALL 2017
The race starts and finishes in Ketchum Town Square and climbs up over Trail Creek Road into Copper Basin. There is a 50-mile “Small Fry” course and a 100-mile “Big Potato” course. “Idaho has a lot of gravel roads, so this race can bring in road cyclists, mountain bikers, beginners, and pros,” noted Rusch. “From the beginning, one of the most
above: Rusch (#2)
starts the race in downtown Ketchum and (inset) celebrates afterward with her dog.
important things to me was to create an atmosphere in which everyone feels like a local. We host multiple parties and group rides, and over Labor Day, there’s the Wagon Days parade, live music and a whole festival.” Rusch noted that the race brings people from all walks of life, and even while growing every year has maintained 30 percent female participants, compared to the average of 10 percent for cycling endurance races. “I’m proud that we’re getting more women involved. We also have a great age diversity within the race. In past years, we’ve had a
13-year-old finish the 100-miler and someone in their 70s.” Nate Whitman won the event last year, finishing the 100 miles in a mere 4 hours and 55 minutes. Executive director of the New Balance Billion Mile Race and a professional mountain biker, Whitman also holds top finishes in such events as the grueling Leadville 100 mountain bike race. “People of all abilities are out there pushing their own limits and seeing what they can do personally,” Whitman said. “Rebecca’s Private Idaho isn’t road racing, where you’re having to deal with closed city roads, and it’s
above: Racers climb
to Trail Creek Summit.
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getoutthere // gravel grinder
I remember first hearing about Rebecca and everything she’s done after turning 40 years old, and I thought, ‘if she can do that, I can do that.’ So I entered my first mountain bike race, and I got a podium finish.” —MISSY VAIL (PICTURED)
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In 2018 Rusch will be hosting a Private Idaho Gravel Training Camp
not mountain biking, which I love, but on single track there is less of a sense of being in it together. In this race on the gravel roads, there’s a big sense of community and comradery. It’s a great vibe and a challenging course, but a really supportive atmosphere.” Missy Vail, mother of two, only started riding bikes a couple of years ago. It was a commitment to improve her health and change being “overweight and completely inactive.” Once she got on a mountain bike, something clicked, and she never got off. Last year, Vail, her husband, and two friends made their way out from North Little Rock, Ark., to ride Rebecca’s Private Idaho. “I remember first hearing about Rebecca and everything she’s done after turning 40 years old, and I thought, ‘if she can do that, I can do that.’ So I entered my first mountain bike race, and I got a podium finish,” Vail said with a smile. She described talking to a friend about her bucket list dream of riding in Rebecca’s race. “I told her, I would just love to be able to do this ride Rebecca does. It’s in Idaho, right? Is it Iowa or Idaho? I don’t know where Idaho is on the map, maybe around Colorado? Close to California? When we got there and I saw the mountains for the first time, it was the most awe-inspiring thing.
I was just blown away by the magnitude of the place.” This year, Vail’s whole crew is returning and bringing more. “I help run a women’s cycling nonprofit organization called Arkansas Heels on Wheels (AHOW),” added Vail. “We promote women’s health through cycling. Two of the girls coming with me are AHOW girls. We encourage each other to set goals and reach them and to never doubt how strong and capable we are.” Vail is excited that this year they’ve planned a little more time in Sun Valley. Recognizing that many riders come and want to stay longer, in 2018 Rebecca will be hosting a Private Idaho Gravel Training Camp and a stage race so that people can race multiple days. She will also be adding a 25-mile course named “The Tater Tot.” As Rebecca’s Private Idaho grows every year, it raises and donates more and more to local, national and global nonprofits, giving funds to the Idaho High School Mountain Bike League NIKA, the Wood River Bicycle Coalition, People for Bikes, and World Bicycle Relief. In 2013, the race donated $7,500 to charities and since then has raised over $40,000 (not including the 2017 race). As it is, looks like there’s a lot going on in Iowa … wait, we mean Idaho. 2
PHOTOS : COURTESY REBECCA’S PRIVATE IDAHO / LINDA GUERRET TE
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getoutthere // fishing report
In search of a new favorite spot on the Big Wood River
River Reset FISHING AFTER THE FLOOD by Bryant Dunn
64
T
he weather of Feb. 9 and 10, 2017, was dramatic even by big-winter standards of central Idaho’s Wood River Valley. Terribly high winds swirled counterclockwise as a massive low-pressure system dumped frozen precipitation on the mountainous landscape below. Roads became impassible, roofs sagged, and, in many cases, collapsed under the historic snow load. Bald Mountain was closed for two days due to poor skiing conditions and avalanche danger. Mother Nature was throwing a fit of epic proportions. This was a common theme of the 20162017 winter across most of the Western United States. California saw snow totals and flooding unlike anything in recent memory. In juxtaposition to several belowaverage winter snow totals, the effects were magnified. As residents and visitors beheld this environmental tantrum, many with shovels in hand or snow blowers revving, the Big Wood River flowed along the Valley floor as it had done for millennia, undisturbed by such a relatively minor event. Within its waters swam thousands of fish, mostly rainbow trout with a smattering of brown trout, which went
sunvalleymag.com | FALL 2017
about their business per usual, undisturbed. Skooter Gardiner, a member of the Sun Valley Ski Patrol and its snow safety director in charge of weather forecasting, snowpack analysis and avalanche mitigation, was in the thick of it. “I had rarely seen the Bald Mountain snowpack so unstable and dangerous,” Gardiner said. “A profound amount of moisture had accumulated. It was an impressive sight to behold.” Without question, last winter would come to be known as one of the most prolific on record. In fact, during the month of February, 119 inches of snowfall were recorded, ranking as only the second month since official records have been kept of 100 inches or more falling in a single month. The last time that happened was before Americans set foot on the moon. On a sunny, breezy day, three and a half months after February’s violent winter weather event, the Idaho general fishing season opened as it always does on the fourth Saturday in May. The birds sang their springtime songs, elk calved in the wooded quiet of the Valley floors, and the Big Wood River raged. As is often the case in years with a deep winter snowpack, the spring of 2017 featured a river high above its banks. The whitewater was more representative of higher flows in larger rivers. Nevertheless, the resident trout were
“
I enjoy rediscovering my home waters after significant runoff. There is much to explore. New side channels, a redistribution of woody debris and gravel, and the newly developed runs, seams and eddies.” —SKOOTER GARDINER, FISHING GUIDE, SILVER CREEK OUTFITTERS
WOMAN FISHNG: AUROR A PHOTOS / AL AMY | FLOODED RIVER : STEVE DONDERO
finning in whatever sanctuaries they could find as they waited for the raging river flows to ultimately subside. When the Big Wood approximated a fishable flow sometime in mid to late July, much of the river had fundamentally changed. New side channels had been cut by the enormous river flows, and countless cottonwood trees—many more than a century old—had been ripped from the banks and deposited far downstream. Much of the Big Wood River had been completely redesigned by environmental forces. “Perhaps abnormal is the new normal,” offered Gardiner as he evaluated the river in his summertime role as a fly-fishing guide for Ketchum’s Silver Creek Outfitters. “We’ve had large runoff years without a lot of change, and then we had this year. The effects of the runoff were truly impressive.” As a result of the massive flows, anglers have been presented with what in many places is effectively a brand-new river. New drop structures and eddies, new channels and a massive deposition of gravel and natural obstacles have resulted in a river reset and the opportunities and challenges that come with an altered riparian landscape. For local fishermen who consider the Big Wood their home river, and for guests who travel from far and wide to fish the blueribbon trout stream, this has resulted in great opportunity. Though the river flows through the same valley that it has historically, its makeup and design is, in many stretches, utterly new. “As a guide, I enjoy rediscovering my home waters after significant runoff,” Gardiner shared. “There is much to explore.
New side channels, a redistribution of woody debris and gravel, and the newly developed runs, seams and eddies. And, ultimately, it seems to be very healthy for the fishery.” Perhaps the only exception to this was during the spring of 2014 when the snowmelt carried countless tons of ash and particulate matter from surrounding hillsides as a result of the Beaver Creek Fire of the previous summer and fall, a blaze that consumed residences and approximately 115,000 acres of land surrounding Sun Valley. During the spring runoff, the Big Wood’s rushing waters ran black, suffocating thousands of fish and decimating the local entomology. Regardless of that exception, anglers in 2017 have enjoyed excellent post-flood fishing. Areas to focus on include newly cut runs, pools and holding water, often demarcated by glassy water, bubble lines and the deeper greenish hues that accompany greater river depth. Mother Nature, in all her glory, is inarguably fickle. As has been the case through history, weather and precipitation cycles will rise and fall, and every winter and spring will be unique to themselves, offering variations of change throughout the local freestone river systems. But the spring of 2017 will be remembered as exceptional for the fury with which the Big Wood River recreated itself through massive hydrological forces—forces that were set in motion by what visitors to Baldy during the previous winter would certainly describe as some of the best skiing Sun Valley has ever seen. 2
The spring of 2017 will be remembered for the fury with which the Big Wood River recreated itself through massive hydrological forces.
FALL 2017 | sunvalleymag.com
65
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getoutthere // soldier mountain
Skeeter, Soldier Mountain’s mascot, plays on the existing trails, and Matt McFerran (below) flags trails with the Forest Service.
Fat W Tire Fun SOLDIER MOUNTAIN TO EXPAND TRAIL SYSTEM by Karen Bossick
66
ood River Valley mountain bikers are reveling in a fat-tire nirvana, thanks to the opening of 47 miles of new trails at Galena Lodge and a couple new trails constructed this past summer on Sun Valley’s Bald Mountain. Now, there’s news of yet more trails in the pipeline at Soldier Mountain ski area, 11 miles north of Fairfield. Matt and Diane McFerran, formerly of Bend, Ore., who bought the ski area two years ago, recently received approval from the U.S. Forest Service to build 7.7 miles of downhill, lift-serviced trails. The trails will complement a couple rudimentary trails and the Lodge Run-Out Trail on the north side. The plan, as approved, will comprise two beginner trails, three intermediate trails and two advanced trails: one-third of a mile of 10-foot-wide beginner trail; 5.7 miles of 6-foot-wide intermediate trail; and 1.7 miles of 8-foot-wide advanced trail. The trails will be sprinkled around the mountain, which boasts lots of treeless meadows with magnificent views of the Camas Prairie and a vertical drop of 1,425 feet. The Mom and Pop-type ski area, which started with two used rope tows in
sunvalleymag.com | FALL 2017
1948, features 36 ski runs, bowls, glades and a terrain park during winter. Sawtooth National Forest Supervisor Kit Mullen said concentrating the new trails within an existing ski area like Soldier Mountain makes both economic and environmental sense. It will help Soldier Mountain become economically viable yearround. And it will confine trails to an area that’s already developed for recreational use. The McFerrans made a move toward turning Soldier Mountain into a year-round playground by hosting Soldier Mountain’s first archery shoot in mid-July. The Soldier Mountain Showdown 3D Shoot was put on
The plan, as approved, comprises two beginner trails, three intermediate trails and two advanced trails.
PHOTOS : COURTESY SOLDIER MOUNTAIN
Soldier Mountain offered a number of family-friendly activities at the lodge this summer.
by the Rock Creek Archers, a new and fastgrowing archery club out of Twin Falls. It included a campout and other family-friendly activities. Soldier Mountain ski area offered Pilates classes at the lodge during August. The biking will give outdoor enthusiasts one more reason besides hiking to visit the mountain during summer and fall, said Diane McFerran. That suits outdoor adventurers like Ketchum resident Muffy Ritz, who is always game to try new trails. “I would absolutely take the hour-plus drive to Soldier to try them out,” Ritz said. “We have amazing trails here in the Wood River Valley, and more are being created all the time, like the new Galena trails. However, given a new trail system nearby, I would definitely check them out with a group of riders so we all have the same experience and could compare notes.” Ritz said she likes trails that flow and offer some challenges with great views. “It’s always fun to do the chicanes and flow trail-type riding, so I hope the new trails will include that,” she said. “I also like trails that have plenty of vertical climb in them, thus ensuring some fun downhills. And, of course, a big draw for me is being able to have lunch and a beer after the ride in the lodge below.” That said; don’t expect the new trails too soon. The McFerrans also got approval from the Forest Service to build a shop to accommodate its ski operation and forthcoming mountain bike operation. “And the shop is the immediate priority,” said Diane McFerran. “We’re not sure when we get started on building the trails.” 2
FALL 2017 | sunvalleymag.com
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While people rave about the summer and winter seasons in the Wood River Valley, fall is often unjustly overlooked. The colors are spectacular, the skies as blue as they get. What’s more, there is a wealth of great events— both indoor and outdoor—to keep one entertained. Listed here are but a few of the many fun activities and gatherings unfolding this fall and beyond.
FEASTIVAL Sept. 15-17, 2017 Feastival is the annual food and music festival that brings people together to celebrate the harvest. Bring your camper/ tent, your plate, bowl, spoon and fork, a
BALDY HILL CLIMB
dish to share, and sit down with everyone
Sept. 30, 2017
for a communal meal sourced exclusively
The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation
from local farmers and small businesses.
hosts the annual Baldy Hill Climb. This
Camping, hiking, yoga, dancing, live
fundraiser for the Sun Valley Ski Education
music, fishing, sustainable living talks and
Foundation is a fun but grueling hike/
workshops are just a few of the highlights
run up the Warm Springs ski run on Bald
from this autumn weekend.
Mountain. Participants climb 3,200 feet
info@idahobasecamp.org
HARVESTFEST Sept. 16, 2017 dining on mouthwatering local foods during this unique Hailey restaurant walk! The best chefs in the Wood River Valley dish up locally grown items. Nibble your way through Hailey’s restaurants with a small plate at each location. Wine and beer included for those over 21. Top it all off with a street party with live music, drinks and dessert proceeds to benefit the Local Food Alliance.
down Main Street in Ketchum, part of the Trailing of the Sheep Festival; The Yale Whiffenpoofs sing their traditional Whiffenpoof song with a Yale fan from the audience at the Sun Valley Jazz and Music Festival
68
sunvalleymag.com | FALL 2017
the top, one on bike and the other on foot. baldyhillclimb.com
TRAILING OF THE SHEEP FESTIVAL Oct. 4-8, 2017 Enjoy this five-day celebration of sheepherding life and culture. Events include the sheepdog trials, a folk life fair, cooking classes, and live music. trailingofthesheep.org
woodrivervalleyharvestfest.org.
IDEABOUNCE AT KIC
TEDX SUN VALLEY
Enjoy innovating, problem solving and
Sept. 23, 2017
discussing new projects over a beer?
TEDx Sun Valley is an independently
Of course you do, so come join us
organized event, licensed by TED, which features original TEDx talks by people from
top, from left: Sheep are herded
Cheeso Double, which involves two trips to
Celebrate the harvest season with a night of
at Wood River Sustainability Center. All
Check out sunvalleymag.com for up-to-date calendar and events coverage
over 1.9 miles. Fitness freaks take on the
and connected to the Sun Valley community as well as official TED Talk videos and a
Oct. 5, 2017
for IdeaBounce, an informal, monthly gathering of entrepreneurs where we have fun hacking apart problems you have with your new product, help each
musical performance. Several themes from
other with design and generally share an
the speakers include: the rise of millennials,
enthusiasm for creativity and innovation.
tapping into and taming technology,
Contact Jon with questions or for more
innovative approaches to social impact,
details. IdeaBounce occurs every first
and the power of story to inspire.
Thursday of the month.
tedxsunvalley.com/
ketchuminnovationcenter.com
SHEEP: COURTESY TR AILING OF THE SHEEP / TIM TOWER SINGERS : PHOTO COURTESY SUN VALLEY JA ZZ & MUSIC FESTIVAL / JIM GILMORE, NIC ROGGEMAN AND LUCY FULLER
FALL2017
getoutthere // calendar
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SUN VALLEY JAZZ AND MUSIC FESTIVAL Oct. 18-22, 2017 Jazz lovers from all over the country make the journey to Sun Valley for the annual celebration of an original American musical genre. This year the festival offers 40 bands and over 200 musicians playing vintage jazz, contemporary jazz, cabaret jazz, swing, Western swing, big band, zydeco, gypsy jazz, and blues. sunvalleyjazz.com
CROSSTOBERFEST Oct. 27-28, 2017 Crosstoberfest happens each October in Hailey and is a festival designed to promote the cyclocross revolution and showcase brewers and hand-crafted beer and microbreweries from the United States and Europe. The focus of Crosstoberfest remains cyclocross racing combined with the promotion of craft beers and the brewers that create them, topped off with great live music and wacky fun. This year promises new venues and new brews. crosstoberfestidaho.com micro kickboard
Combining elegant Swiss design and cutting-edge technology
LUNAFEST Nov. 3, 2017 Lunafest, the fundraising film festival dedicated to promoting awareness about women’s issues, highlighting women filmmakers, and bringing women together in their communities, will be hosted by Girls on the Run of the Wood River Valley. This unique film festival highlights women as leaders in society, illustrated through nine short films by women filmmakers. lunafest.org
FALL 2017 | sunvalleymag.com
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WILD WEST GAME DINNER Nov. 17, 2017
FAMILY OF WOMAN FILM FESTIVAL
Join the Sun Valley Ski Education
Feb. 26 – March 4, 2018
Foundation for its 41st annual Wild Game
The festival presents films from around
Dinner in the Limelight Room of the Sun
the world that highlight women’s issues
Valley Inn. The fundraiser features an
in different societies. Five feature-length
elegant dinner, silent and live auctions, and
documentaries and dramas from around
live entertainment. svsef.org
the world are presented each year. The films
SVGA GALLERY WALKS
focus on the status of women in different cultures. In addition, the festival offers daily
Nov. 24 & Dec. 29, 2017
screenings, guest speakers and programs
The Sun Valley Gallery Association
for the local schools.
hosts evenings of art and discussion at Ketchum’s many world-class galleries.
familyofwomenfilmfestival.org
Artists are often in attendance. Enjoy a
SUN VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL
glass of wine and discuss the latest in the
March 14-18, 2018
art world. 2018 Gallery Walk dates have yet
The festival offers avant-garde independent
to be released. svgalleries.org
films, mixed media shorts, premieres and discussions with filmmakers and
SUNS HOCKEY Dec. 2017 – March 2018 Valley Ice Rink and the Campion Ice House.
JANSS CUP PRO-AM CLASSIC
The games, with teams from Jackson, Park
March 15-17, 2018
City, Bozeman and Boulder, are always
Join the fun as amateur and pro skiers
exciting.
compete in a fun-filled race series peppered
sunvalleysunshockey.com
with social events. Costumes and fast skiing
The Sun Valley Suns host games at the Sun
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screenwriters. sunvalleyfilmfestival.org
SUN VALLEY NORDIC FESTIVAL
are paramount. svsef.org/fundraising-events
Feb. 2–5, 2018
SUN VALLEY WELLNESS FESTIVAL
The Nordic Festival is a four-day event
May 25-28, 2018
culminating in the world-famous Boulder
The Sun Valley Wellness Festival is an
Mountain Tour, 34- and 15-kilometer Nordic
annual gathering of the top speakers and
races through stunning terrain. The festival
practitioners of mind, body, spirit and
features clinics, town races, and other fun
environmental wellness.
events. nordictownusa.com
sunvalleywellness.org
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sunvalleymag.com | FALL 2017
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FALL 2017 | sunvalleymag.com
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HABITAT A PRIVATE IDAHO RETREAT Right inside Ketchum! by Patti Murphy
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sunvalleymag.com | FALL 2017
PHOTOS : TORY TAGLIO
T
ucked away on a secluded gated property a few blocks up the road from the bustle of shoppers and diners in the heart of Ketchum, the Sisilli home claims both the quiet privacy of a secluded sanctuary while enjoying the enviable location of being close to town. Built in 2016, the 6,521-square-foot residence sits on a two-cityblock area on Sixth Street between Walnut and Spruce avenues. Jason Sisilli, son of owners Vince and Rochelle Sisilli, said the house was built as a “dream home” by his parents, who have had homes in the Ketchum area for 15 years. “There is really nothing like this in town,” said Sisilli. “You don’t give up anything. It’s close to everything, it’s secluded and quiet, and it’s got the view.” Ah, yes, the view. One of the first things you notice upon entering the home is the full-on, uninterrupted view of Bald Mountain seen through an enormous room-sized window in the entryway. The floor-to-ceiling window pane is said to be the largest single pane of glass in Idaho. It was custom made in Italy and completely frames not only Baldy but also overlooks the bright blue lap pool and meticulously landscaped back yard. “One of the most impressive elements of the home is the unobstructed view of Baldy that they have with that large glass,” said the home’s builder, Gary Storey. “There aren’t too many houses where you don’t have to look around a window assembly or the posts in the building to get that type of view of Ketchum and Baldy.” Storey noted that the large window easily weighs “in the thousands of pounds,” and installing it was one of the biggest challenges he had, as it required a crane, a large suction device and a block and tackle consisting of ropes and pulleys to pivot it into the house. He described the architectural design of the two-level home as mountain contemporary, which is reflected in the materials used to construct it. Bold and colorful Oakley stone, quarried from the mines in Oakley, Idaho, and rich cedar wood were used to create a house that, as Frank Lloyd Wright once said, “grows easily from its site and harmonizes with its surroundings.” Storey’s goal was to create a structure that would fit in and connect with the natural Idaho environment by sourcing local materials. He noted that the Oakley quarry was where Frank Lloyd Wright, “one of the most renowned contemporary architects,” according to Storey, mined the stone that he used to design and build the famous Teater’s Knoll just outside of Bliss. Inside the Sisilli home, natural light floods the rooms through large windows and sliding glass doors throughout. The interior palette is a comfortable color of rich creams and white oak. The rift-sawn wide plank oak floors, tongue-and-groove ceiling, and Oakley stone accents carry through the mountain contemporary theme,
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while custom Italian-made crystal chandeliers and marble counters offer a touch of formal sophistication. The look is clean, open and welcoming. Sisilli said that the four-bedroom, sevenbath residence was designed so that much of the living is done on the main level, which comprises the great room, dining area and wine room, gourmet kitchen, master suite, two powder rooms and a two-car garage. To the right of the dramatic entryway is the great room with a large, inviting seating area facing the floor-to-ceiling Oakley stone fireplace and spectacular view of Baldy. On each side of the fireplace is a custom-built sliding-glass-door system imported from Italy opening out to a large entertainment patio that features heated flooring and heating units in the overhang ceiling. All the outdoor hardscape areas such as patios, walkways, and the pool deck are heated. “This makes the outdoor space usable all year round. The only thing literally not heated is the lawn,” said Sisilli. The great room flows into an open dining area that is lit by a one-of-a-kind custom crystal chandelier, and a unique temperature-controlled glass and Oakley quartzitewalled wine room. Adjacent to the dining room is a large gourmet kitchen with rich wood cabinetry, a breakfast area and center island of bright quartzite marble counters and tile. It is a surprise to discover that there are four hidden freezers built in to the center island that are camouflaged to look like the rest of the cabinet drawers. Two dishwashers are also hidden in the kitchen island system, and there is a spacious butler’s pantry. On the other end of the main level is the large master suite which, like all rooms on this level, faces Baldy and includes a fireplace, a terrace, his and hers baths and
two large changing rooms with dual walk-in closets, each with the same custom cabinetry that runs throughout the entire house. In both master baths, no expense has been spared, with rare Calacatta gold and Thassos marble used throughout, which has become somewhat scarce and hard to source, according to Storey. “The cost has quadrupled because it’s become so desirable,” he noted. The lower level of the house features three additional guest bedrooms and baths, an office, a workout room, and a 2,034 -square-foot bonus room that could be used as a second oversized garage for an additional four vehicles, a home theatre, or additional bedrooms. “It has all the plumbing, electrical, insulation and temperature control already built in, making it ready to be split into a living space,” Sisilli said. When the Sisillis moved into the home last year, they had no intention of selling it, said Jason. “No expense was spared in building this house,” Sisilli noted. “The details
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ONE OF THE MOST IMPRESSIVE ELEMENTS OF THE HOME IS THE UNOBSTRUCTED VIEW OF BALDY THROUGH THAT LARGE GLASS.” —BUILDER GARY STOREY
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that went into it are at a whole different level.” But, he said his parents have decided that perhaps they now don’t need a home quite as dramatic, and will be building a smaller Ketchum home and purchasing a house in Malibu. Said Storey, “I’ve been in the Valley for over 40 years, and we’ve knocked down things that people have objected to in order to build other projects. But nobody objected to us taking down the older houses that used to be on this site to build this house. I have gotten a lot of positive comments that this home fits in really well and it’s not overbearing.” Which follows what Frank Lloyd Wright said, “The good building is not one that hurts the landscape, but one which makes the landscape more beautiful than it was before the building was built.” 2
PHOTOS : TORY TAGLIO
HABITAT // DREAM HOMES
The Team ARCHITECT
Ruscitto Latham Blanton BUILDER
Gary Storey INTERIOR DESIGNER
Barclay Butera LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
Ben Young Landscape Architecture
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ROOM WITH A VIEW And what a view! by Karen Bossick
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PHOTOS : JOSH WELLS
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t had its genesis on a couple of ideas sketched on a napkin. And after dozens of meetings, compass in hand trying to get the angles right, Greg and Gwen Weld saw their dream house come to fruition. The 5,780-square-foot mountain-contemporary home built out of Montana Moss stone and barnwood offers a commanding view of Sun Valley’s White Clouds Golf Course, Dollar and Bald mountains and beyond. “We utilized the slope of the hillside, so that when you enter the house it immediately focuses your view toward the panorama outside,” said architect Buffalo Rixon, who designed the home in conjunction with builder Lee Gilman. “And the home has been laid out so that every room has a beautiful view, as well.” Excavators removed 18,000 cubic yards of dirt—the largest excavation ever done here for a single-family home—to tuck the home into the hillside overlooking the Sun Valley Club. “The hillside and ravine posed challenges. But they also opened the door to create a unique setting,” said Rixon, of Ruscitto Latham Blanton. The location was a prime consideration. Not only did the Welds want views but they wanted space for their two Labs. The White Clouds trails outside their home are convenient for walking the dogs and watching early morning deer and coyotes. And Gwen loves talking to hikers who walk above the stone walls built to hold the hill back. “We didn’t want to have to drive back and forth to Ketchum,” said Greg. “My joke is: If we leave at 1 for a 1 o’clock meeting, we’ll be four minutes late.” The driveway climbs around to the back of the home where a three-car garage and the main entry sits off a large circle of pavers. The moment guests step inside their attention is directed past the great room to a wall of windows looking out onto the view.
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HABITAT // DREAM HOMES
The Team ARCHITECT
Buffalo Rixon Ruscitto Latham Blanton BUILDER
Lee Gilman Builders INTERIOR DESIGN
Jennifer Hoey Smith, ASID PROJECT DESIGNER
Abbey Mayhew Jennifer Hoey Interior Design LIGHTING
Elements Lighting LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
Eggers Associates
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“
IT WORKED BECAUSE THE OWNERS PUT TOGETHER A FULL TEAM TO DESIGN IT, INCLUDING AN INTEGRAL ARCHITECTURE ENGINEERING TEAM AND AN INTERIOR DESIGNER.”
GREAT ROOM & BATH : JOSH WELLS | KITCHEN & BEDROOM : JON MANCUSO
—ARCHITECT BUFFALO RIXON
“It’s so much fun watching storms march up the Valley,” said Gwen. “Greg makes fun of me because of the number of photos I take, but the view is always changing. And the windows provide an abundance of natural light.” The home features metal accents throughout, reflecting Greg’s longtime fascination with racing cars and mechanical things, right down to a steam punk table made of valves and other parts of steam engines. The steel in the steel-tension rod trusses of the great room was purposely left exposed. Metal strips and rivets are inset in stairway posts, cabinet doors, even the fireplace mantle and screen. There are even metal accents in the tem perature-controlled wine cellar, where Lori Robinson of Elements Lighting backlit
custom-steel racks to help the wine stand out from the dark barnwood. A steel-andglass wine enclosure offers guests a peek into the room. “The exposed metal gives the look and feel of a mine shaft,” said Greg, who also designed a storage compartment next to the fireplace into which he can load firewood from the outside. Gwen loves to make salads, while Greg loves to cook meats. And that’s reflected in their kitchen’s double islands, which give each their own sink and cutting and preparation space, as well as dual dishwashers and garbage disposals. Gwen’s island doubles as a buffet serving area and bar space. While at work at her island, Gwen can easily access cabinets in the opposing island. “The islands offer a tremendous amount of storage so we don’t have to hang cabinets or pots and pans that would block the view,” Greg said. “And it’s nice for them to have their own work zones,” added interior designer Jennifer Hoey Smith. The Welds designed their home for long-term company. And they put a lot of thought into separating bedrooms to give everyone their privacy. The master bedroom sits in the northeast corner of the main floor, past Gwen’s office nook and a media room with book shelves and a flat-screen TV set into the walls. Gwen’s pride and joy is a large wardrobe room with 18-foot ceilings and washer and dryer. Bathroom cabinets include electrical outlets so she can keep her hair dryer
plugged in without having it clutter the counter. A private patio complete with hot tub sits outside. Two bedroom suites in other parts of the home have private patios. And the upstairs bedroom suite sits next to a kitchenette and bunkroom for grandchildren. Downstairs, Greg took care to make sure the guest bathroom off the great room affords guest privacy. It’s tucked away underneath a staircase featuring foot-plus oak stair steps to limit the number of steps. At the bottom of the house is a two-car garage designed to house Greg’s racing cars, including a 1965 Mustang Shelby GT350. The Welds designed the space so that it could easily be converted into an extra bedroom or game room. An expansive mud room off the main upper garage features a myriad of cabinets and drawers—each designed to store something specific, such as gloves, hats, wrapping paper, golf paraphernalia, bike gear and fishing equipment. The great room was designed so that a large group can circulate out onto the main patio, which runs the length of the house. An outdoor kitchen sits off in one nook with a window onto the kitchen allowing the Welds to pass dishes back and forth. A heater above warms a cool night. “We were working on details all through the construction, as the floor plan and other things changed,” said Rixon. “It worked because the owners put together a full team to design it, including an integral architecture engineering team and an interior designer.” 2
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ENTRY WAY: COURTESY THE JARVIS GROUP ARCHITECTS, AIA, PLLC | JANET JARVIS PORTR AIT: DEV KHALSA
JANET JARVIS A love of craftsmanship by Kate Hull
F
or architect Janet Jarvis, a love of craftsmanship is deeply rooted. She spent her childhood on a ranch in central Idaho watching her dad devote long afternoons to mending the barn, crafting outbuildings, and creating something new. “I loved putting things together and seeing something happen,” said Jarvis, the principal architect at Jarvis Group Architects in Ketchum. For over 25 years, Jarvis and her design team have been working to help clients’ visions for their mountain homes become tangible. Jarvis’ clients span from coast to coast, with as many East Coast as West Coast clients looking to plant roots in Idaho’s scenic mountains. When putting pen to paper for design, Jarvis leans toward the warmth of old materials: reclaimed wood and stone, elements that she says warm up the space and turn brick and mortar into a cozy enclave. Drawing from her Scandinavian roots, Jarvis is drawn to incorporating light colors and simplicity with clean lines, but when it comes to designing a home, the client is her guiding principle.
“The biggest guiding principle I have is to listen to the client,” she said. Jarvis works with clients from New York to Idaho, making a key component of each project to communicate vision. “Each vision is so unique and different. We create the house for the client rather than create a house that is our style,” she explained. “Everyone has a different vision of what they want their ideal mountain home to be.” And for each project, it begins with the land. “The most important thing for us is that the house fits the site,” Jarvis said. “Every site is so different. We spend a lot of time studying the land and working to fit the house to the particular site.” The Wood River Valley is a montage of landscapes that makes up the mountain community with steep peaks, rolling plains, lush forests, and high deserts with thick vegetation. For Jarvis, this makes for an exciting dance of crafting a home that effortlessly blends with and complements the land. This process could entail initiating studies to understand the view corridor: where the light hits and at what time of day; how to angle the home for the best views; and collaborating
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THE MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR US IS THAT THE HOUSE FITS THE SITE. EVERY SITE IS SO DIFFERENT. WE SPEND A LOT OF TIME STUDYING THE LAND AND WORKING TO FIT THE HOUSE TO THE PARTICULAR SITE.” —JANET JARVIS
above: Janet Jarvis at her latest project’s site. opposite: A steel and
glass entryway brings nature inside with expansive glass panes.
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above: This reclaimed meadow barn structure melds into the native landscaping. top right: An outside fire shelter that
provides shade and protection for summer outdoor dining and gathering. right: Swedish influenced stairway design that allows light to come into the interior hallways.
with landscape architects to create inside and outside spaces that flow effortlessly. “We spend time staking out the preliminary design, re-evaluating it, and walking through it with the client at certain times of the day, like when the sun sets. All spaces are so unique: hillside, flat, riverfront. The home should complement that,” she said. The Wood River Valley is celebrated for its pristine landscapes and fantastic recreational opportunities, but one thing clients may not always realize is the potential threat of earthquakes, a structural challenge Jarvis always keeps in mind. “When you put earthquakes and extreme snow loads together, you open yourself up to a lot of structural challenges that aren’t always understood by everyone,” Jarvis said. “If you want a wideopen floor plan, you will be using steel construction at some point to make the spans work. It’s important to be cognizant of this aspect of our Valley when you are designing the house.” But these elements make the job even more thought-provoking and exciting for Jarvis. “You have so many hours of thought and planning that go into the design of a home, and it is so gratifying to see a final, finished product that started with the seed of an idea,” she said. “I love the orchestration of the whole project. It is like being a movie director seeing something happen as a result of the process.”
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When she isn’t busy orchestrating home design, Jarvis soaks up the many perks of life in Sun Valley: hiking, skiing, and enjoying the outdoors. “I grew up skiing and still continue both cross-country and downhill skiing whenever I get a chance,” she said. But her favorite passion is to travel. “My husband and I love to travel,” she offered. “We recently returned from Patagonia. I have been able to travel a lot, both for work and for pleasure. One of my favorite trips was to Scandinavia, because I was able to explore my roots and heritage.” Taking the time to ski or travel is an important effort for someone as busy as Jarvis. With anywhere from six to eight projects going on at any given time, in places as nearby as Jackson Hole or as far away as Pennsylvania, her days are full. She can tackle it all, however, thanks to her dedicated team. “My success is due to my incredible staff. They are amazing,” she said. “Principal architect Mark Deagle has been with me for over 30 years. We all work well together as a team; that is so important to me.” 2
OUTDOOR SHELTER & STAIRCASE: COURTESY THE JARVIS GROUP ARCHITECTS, AIA, PLLC | BARN : NATIVE L ANDSCAPES (L ANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: K AREN SHERRERD)
HABITAT // ARCHITECT PROFILE
POSTER CONSTRUCTION
INTEGRITY AND EXCELLENCE SINCE 1997
Photo: Tori Taglio
IT’S A PASSION, NOT A PROJECT.
posterconstruction.com 208-720-1519
HABITAT // ARCHITECT PROFILE
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TABLE: COURTESY MICHAEL DOT Y ASSOCIATES, ARCHITECTS PC | PORTR AIT: DEV KHALSA
MICHAEL DOTY Bringing a vision to life by Kate Hull
T
he team behind Michael Doty Associates has been creating innovative and inspired design solutions since 1993, and for AIA and principal architect Michael Doty, the work is just as inspiring and intriguing today as it was over two decades ago. Doty grew up in a farming and ranching community in eastern Oregon. From an early age, he recalls a fascination with how things are put together and an intrigue with each piece that makes up the puzzle. “When you are young, you may not really know what something is, but you start to notice that each part is a piece that’s needed,” he explained in a recent interview. “When you build things, it takes many individual pieces of art to construct it. Architecture appealed to me because of the broad spectrum of things that come together to make a finished product.” Doty and his team, which comprises architects Nicole Ramey and Brenda Moczygemba, produce a wide spectrum of projects that covers the gamut of design, from commercial projects, like
the Zions Bank branch in Ketchum and the Swiftsure Ranch Therapeutic Equestrian Center, to mountain-modern homes and mixed-use apartment complexes. For each project, Doty welcomes the fresh task. The process begins by working with key individuals and collaborating to reach the desired outcome. “We work with people closely, trying to bring their vision to fruition, and we work with consultants. There is a lot of collaboration that I find to be rewarding and interesting,” he said. But when it comes to the nitty-gritty structural aspect, Doty’s novel spirit ignites. “The number of things that go into making a project is myriad,” he explained. “Pulling all of that together is a challenge that doesn’t get old for me. If you look at it all at one time, it can be overwhelming. But as an architect, you are trained to break it down into parts, so you can solve it in an orderly manner.” Doty’s firm thrives, he says, in the constant challenge of diving into a new project, while finding ways to incorporate different components from one project to another.
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WE WANT TO TAKE A PERSON’S MIND’S EYE AND THEIR VISION, AND BRING IT TO FRUITION IN A WAY THAT EXCEEDS THEIR EXPECTATIONS.” —MICHAEL DOTY
above: Michael Doty in his office. opposite: Aerial photo from second
floor glass catwalk of poured-inplace concrete and steel table at The Galleria
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above: The great room of 101 First Ave. Townhomes. top right: Broadford Road residence with metal panels;
Oakley, Idaho, stone; and custom metal sunshades. right: Vue Townhomes, a four-plex in West Ketchum, a 2016 AIA Idaho Citation Award Winner
“We like the cross pollination of the different building types,” he said. “You are able to drag ideas from one project to another that you wouldn’t do otherwise, allowing for fun ‘ah-ha’ moments where you see something really work. If you weren’t working in both realms, you wouldn’t have tried that or come up with something of that nature.” For instance, when Doty works on an office building, his goal is to make the people inside it feel better at the end of the day, which sometimes means incorporating components from an open floor plan inside a home or a particularly welcoming design. “We would do it in a way that you feel better in that building, and you truly want to go there,” Doty said. “At the end of the project, we want it to be an enjoyable place to be that is healthy and allows you to get more done. There is a benefit for the employees and the employers.” And while each project brings its own set of challenges, Doty says the biggest task his firm faces is keeping up with the everchanging technology. Some changes, like a new building code, are expected. But technology brings a flood of information that may not always hold true.
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“It is so important to be able to tell what is good and what is bad information,” Doty said. “You always have information overload, and you can get good info that looks just as good as bad information. How do you solve it? Many times, that falls on us. We have to figure out what is the right way to move forward.” This summer, Doty and his firm have just broken ground on the Argyros Performing Arts Center, a 25,0000-square-foot theater on Main Street that is slated to have 450 seats, a café, and a 2,000-square-foot plaza. “Since I’ve lived here, the arts have really blossomed,” Doty said. “The new center we are working on will change the performing arts opportunities in town,” For Doty, one of the biggest rewards is knowing a project like the theater or a new home will contribute to people’s lives and change many for the better. “We want to take a person’s mind’s eye and their vision, and bring it to fruition in a way that exceeds their expectations,” he said. “When it actually happens, at the end of a project, and people are thrilled with the outcome, that is super gratifying. You have actually changed someone’s life for the better.” 2
PHOTOS : COURTESY MICHAEL DOT Y ASSOCIATES, ARCHITECTS PC
HABITAT // ARCHITECT PROFILE
I 208-726-8816
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STOREY CONSTRUCTION
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PO Box 1877 • Ketchum, Idaho 83340 208.720.1524 • fax 208-726-2180 • gstorey@storeyconstruction.com
HABITAT // MASTER BATHS
HOT TRENDS FOR THE MASTER BATH Cool tips from the experts
Trending are the use of imaginative wall and floor tiles and freestanding tubs. (Bath by M Design and Interiors)
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by Cheryl Haas
H
ave you looked at your master bath lately? I mean, really looked? Are those the same tired tiles you’ve had for 20 years, with an ’80s-tinged oak trim on the vanity and lighting that was fine when you moved in but now it’s getting harder to put on your makeup without looking like a clown in search of Ringling Brothers? Clearly, it’s time to take matters in hand and … Update! Renovate! Luxuriate! The bathroom is often the Clydesdale of the home. The soul of your master bath may yearn to be a thoroughbred, but you depend on it to plod along—reliably—year after year, being perfectly functional. In fact, the bathroom is the most challenging room in the entire house, says designer Lee Ann Ferris of Sun Valley Kitchen & Bath. “Per square foot, the bathroom has the most number of mechanical features in the house,” Ferris explained. “Plumbing, electrical, tile—there’s a lot going on in a small space. And you have to constantly consider water—pressure, the height of your fixtures, tiles, grout—to ensure that the water you don’t see won’t leak! So many things must interact correctly.” So, what’s hot and what’s not? All of the designers we talked with agreed that sleek, clean and contemporary is the look that is trending today. “No matter what the style—whether it’s mountain, contemporary or traditional—the look is uncluttered with clean lines,” said Ferris. “Monochromatic white lends itself
to the clean line. We’re not employing a lot of color but you can use texture and different materials to achieve an elevated look.” Jennifer Hoey Smith, of Jennifer Hoey Interior Design, said imaginative use of wall and floor tiles and freestanding baths are trends she’s seeing. Erika Blank, Heidi Stearns and Anne Mulick, the design team from The Picket Fence, said that the top three trends they’re seeing are wood vanities and tiles, wall-mounted faucets, and variations in the use of tile. “The use of wood and natural materials is a good way to bring in warmth and texture to sleek, smooth surfaces,” said Blank. “ln wood, it’s all about the grain.” And there is now a porcelain flooring tile that looks so much like wood you don’t have to use the real thing. And speaking of tile: matchy-matchy is out. So, don’t even think about using the same tile in different sizes. “People are mixing it up now,” said Blank. “When you add more intricate patterns, you’ll run into more labor cost for the tile setter, but in the long run you’ll get a much more exciting result than if you’d opted for something ‘easier.’” Some of the new applications are hexagonal tiles on the floor and walls, and all-white textural tiles. “We’re seeing a skinny herringbone pattern of subway tile on the floor or backsplash, often in black or a dark charcoal,” said Mulick. “We’re also using bigger tiles. We do a lot of 12-by-24-inch rectangles. I love to use bigger tiles in smaller spaces to create a slab effect.” Stearns suggested bringing the tile up the wall for a wainscoting. “It’s an
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WHEN YOU ADD MORE INTRICATE PATTERNS, YOU’LL RUN INTO MORE LABOR COST FOR THE TILE SETTER, BUT IN THE LONG RUN YOU’LL GET A MUCH MORE EXCITING RESULT THAN IF YOU’D OPTED FOR SOMETHING ‘EASIER.’ ” —ERIKA BLANK, THE PICKET FENCE
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HABITAT // MASTER BATHS
To create color, designers use patterns and textures in different materials. (Bath by Jennifer Hoey Interior Design)
Matching is out
Using different styles and sizes of tiles is in. And mosaic patterns are popular in showers.
Lighting
Today’s baths feature layers of light
Soaking it up Adding wood
The use of wood cabinets brings warmth and texture to sleek surfaces. (Bath by Jennifer Hoey Interior Design)
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Stand-alone tubs are trending. (Bath design by The Picket Fence)
PHOTOS ON LEF T: COURTESY JENNIFER HOEY INTERIOR DESIGN / KEVIN SYMS PHOTOS ON RIGHT: R AY J. GADD
Monochromatic white
elegant touch that always looks classic and tasteful.” Megan Dawson, Laura Morawitz and Jill Wenglikowski of M Design and Interiors are hot on mosaic tiles because they create a no-slip surface, an added bonus. “We’re finding mosaic tiles irresistible right now,” enthused Wenglikowski. “And marble mosaics are good in steam showers, which are fantastic in a dry climate such as Sun Valley.” When contemplating a master bath design, think about using wall-mounted faucets, stand-alone tubs or suspended vanity cabinetry. Suspended cabinetry is mounted on the wall and is regular vanity height but floats above the floor, creating a cantilevered look. “The most important factors to consider when designing a master bath are storage, the elements desired in a shower, how the space will be used and the level of privacy required,” added Hoey Smith. The biggest difference in master baths these days is the technology that’s available. It’s amazing! Imagine brushing your teeth and watching the morning news … in your mirror! Or having a heated floor and heated seat in your shower, or hearing music through your fan because it’s connected to the Bluetooth in your iPhone! Ferris, of Sun Valley Kitchen & Bath, is a fan of the Schluter system, an electric floor warming system that allows you to warm the floor of your shower without running water pipes underneath— a luxurious touch for chilly fall mornings. “Bathrooms should have layers of light,” said Blank. “It’s all about LED right now,” added Ferris. “LED lights can last for 32 years and are now very close to incandescent bulbs in terms of color and natural light.” Hoey Smith said that, rather than sticking with typical vanity lights, clients are now choosing fixtures that are more decorative. The secret to a well-designed bath, say our experts, is to understand the value of details: hardware that makes a statement, use of texture and materials, custom mirrors that fit the space, clean lines, and technology that integrates all the functions of the room. The form of a thoroughbred meets the functions of a workhorse! 2
Beyond Wood — where seasoned, first class woodworking craftsmanship comes together with state-of-theart computer technology and fabrication technique.
JOINER S | STAIR S | CNC S ERV ICE (208) 578- 0218
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HABITAT // AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Five-year-old Gus lives in The Fields Condominums in Ketchum (opposite page)
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THE HOUSING AFFORDABILITY PICKLE
Valley cities face a complex puzzle of jobs, housing, and long-term viability
PHOTOS : CHRIS SYMS
by Matt Furber
J
ulie McGregor has outfoxed the Blaine County housing conundrum for more than a decade. Through the 2008 financial crisis, the exit of her longtime employer, Smith Optics, and the ongoing scourge of short-term rentals sucking up long-term housing, McGregor has weathered it all. With vacancy rates “catastrophically low” for nearly two years, according to ARCH Community Housing Trust Executive Director Michelle Griffith, McGregor’s trajectory on the time-space housing continuum is still as smooth as the brightest satellite coursing a stargazer’s limelight. McGregor’s property at The Fields Condominiums, a mix of market-rate and workforce housing located “only steps away from the bike path and ski shuttle,” according to the Visit Sun Valley website, has been ideal for her. She secured her deed-restricted
home as a Blaine County Housing Authority (BCHA) applicant. “I sought it out because, at the time, I was a single person,” McGregor said during a cellphone conversation this summer as she and her 5-year-old son Gus were road-tripping to Lake Tahoe. “I was already working at Smith. I could afford it, and I didn’t have to have a roommate, but I was 85 on the waiting list. I thought it would be a couple of years before a place would free up for me to buy.” BCHA helps allocate community housing that isn’t soley managed by private companies, fire departments, Sun Valley Company, Mountain Rides and other entities that trade in the increasingly precious commodity and not just at the public level. Rental offers barely make the classifieds lately. ARCH Community Housing Trust, on the other hand, is in the business of creating
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Julie McGregor and her son on the patio of their home in The Fields in Ketchum
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affordable housing and finding funding to support its projects, which increasingly include construction of both renter and owneroccupied units. The lion’s share is federal funds, Griffith said. Much to McGregor’s surprise, almost as fast as she qualified, her Fields workforce unit freed up. McGregor said somehow she had bumped to the top of the BCHA list. Her unit’s first owner, Christine Davis-Jeffers, the current executive director of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts, had decided to sell and became a market-rate homeowner in Hailey. McGregor said at the time many of her working friends questioned the wisdom of getting involved with deed-restricted property where appreciation is capped. “People were flipping houses and making gobs of money,” McGregor said. “I guess it’s a little like the tortoise and the hare. Things were chugging along, and then they fell apart. I’ve been ok all along.” Her home is a two-bedroom, two-bath condominium with an open living concept. McGregor said that during her years in product development at Smith, she searched out market-rate opportunities, but nothing stacked up. “I’m always, always looking, just because it’s a small condo,” McGregor said. “When I was at Smith, for sure, I was keeping my eye out. Becoming a little more house poor was an option, but for me it’s an amazing location. Gus’s school is nearby. We’re close to family friends, and the building’s only 13 years old. I can afford it, and it’s my own. You’re buffered on so many fronts.” Of the 41 units at The Fields, 17 are deeded for community housing. McGregor said she and her market-rate neighbors appreciate the blend of affordable and full-market units that are mostly held by second-home owners. “They like coming and seeing that there is a vibrant, year-round community,” McGregor said, adding that it’s also understandable that so many people are tapping into the short-term rental habit— it’s part of the financial juggling act that has been less restive for her since she’s in an affordable situation and isn’t always brainstorming some new way to make her mortgage payment. It could be luck, but McGregor is also a savvy businesswoman. Nailing it, in her case, means she has been able to meet her financial obligations and live as she sees fit, even with the vagaries of global economics swirling around her. She says she has BCHA to thank for her success because workforce housing at The Fields, promoted and approved in conjunction with the City of Ketchum, has helped her maintain a low-stress housing situation, the key ingredient of a comfortable lifestyle. Such a glowing experience is far from the norm, however. McGregor acknowledges that she’s unlikely to replicate what she has on the open market. It is fair to say the housing struggle has always been a part of resort-town living. Even Warren Miller camped in a parking lot here getting started as a filmmaker. “I often say people take a $100,000 pay cut to live a $100,000 better life,” said Ketchum Mayor Nina Jonas, but what has
PHOTO: CHRIS SYMS
HABITAT // AFFORDABLE HOUSING
“
IN THE LONG RUN, WE HAVE TO HAVE A VARIETY OF PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY WHO LIVE AND WORK HERE. IT’S FRUSTRATING. THE ANSWER ISN’T TO MOVE EVERYBODY SOUTH.” PHOTOS : COURTESY ARCH
—KETCHUM MAYOR NINA JONAS
been slightly tongue in cheek is quickly becoming legend, as teachers who can’t find housing, and even ski-bums who can’t find a long-term couch, bail on Blaine County. “In the long run, we have to have a variety of people in our community who live and work here. It’s frustrating. The answer isn’t to move everybody south.” Taxable property in Blaine County is valued at $9.3 billion today. Deed-restricted workforce housing is an infinitesimally small portion of that valuation. Support for community housing in Blaine County also pales in comparison to its Colorado contemporary, Pitkin County, home to Aspen, a resort community with a smaller population, but arguably more expensive real estate. BCHA has stewardship of 105 units, including 20
rental units. The Aspen/Pitkin County Housing Authority stewards more than 2,800 units with 1,500 as ownership properties. The Aspen experience has been undergirded by state statute, which supports a real estate transfer tax to feed community housing needs. Such a tax is not in play in Idaho, where the governor recently signed a bill, effective in January 2018, that “adds to existing law to limit regulation of short-term rentals and vacation rentals …,” meaning Idaho communities will be further hampered in most efforts to control the Airbnb effect that is dissolving so much long-term rental supply in Blaine County and making it harder for employers to fill jobs, according to a report sponsored by the City of Ketchum that was presented in August. If jobs-versus
ARCH housing helped these two hard-working Valley families. One family is fourth-generation Idahoan, and the other relocated from Portland, Ore. They are teachers, a physical therapist and a journalist—professionals who could not afford housing without ARCH.
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-rentals in the classifieds are a kind of balance sheet to economic health, the situation is totally out of whack considering the discrepancy in column inches for each side of the equation. The conundrum deepens as employers are forced to pay higher wages, which ultimately adds to the cost for developers who already must wrestle with higher land values, unless they’ve availed themselves of short-sale opportunities. Lately, higher wages haven’t resulted in solid hires because employees aren’t finding places to live. Several builders report losing employees to other cities because of the housing crunch, yet planners say they are seeing little in the way of creative solutions coming forward from developers. Section 8 housing vouchers (from the Housing Act of 1937) provide federal rental housing assistance for low-income applicants. Currently, there are approximately 1,100 people on the voucher waiting list at the Idaho Housing and Finance (IHFA) office in Twin Falls. For those who qualify, the wait time can be up to two years. Federal low-income housing credits, created by President Reagan and Congress in the Tax Reform Act of 1986, account for some additional local public housing support. The U.S. Treasury Department is tasked with disbursing to the states $2.35 per person ($1.7 million for Idaho) in housing tax credits that qualified developers can use to negotiate with lenders for actual construction dollars. Idaho’s agent for distribution of federal support is IHFA. Developers, in turn, commit to provide affordable rental space. There are 32 Ketchum units in the workforce housing category developed as a single, high-density, multi-family apartment project, Northwood Place, adjacent to the YMCA. Approval of the development was negotiated through Ketchum’s Planned Unit Development and Development Agreement process, but federal housing tax credits pushed the project through. “It leaves the equity in the project,” said Cory Phelps, IHFA vice president of project finance. “Units have to be rented to folks earning 60 percent of AMI (area median income) or below. The entire program is really meant to create affordable housing.” Phelps said nationwide there is a great need for affordable housing that is barely being met. A bipartisan effort to double the housing credit, Senate Bill 548, is still with the Senate Finance Committee. Ketchum’s incentive that allows development of greater squarefootage when developers contribute community housing was challenged last winter by Boise City Councilman Scot Ludwig, a developer and attorney. Ludwig’s plans to develop a 16,500-square-
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foot property across from Perry’s Restaurant at the corner of First Avenue and Fourth Street in Ketchum, as the company Asset Enhancement, ran aground when Ludwig balked at the city’s rules for gaining a larger building envelope. Ludwig sued the city, seeking to have community housing in-lieu fees thrown out, but the case has since been withdrawn. Around the country, inclusionary zoning, where communities mandate community housing with certain development, is common. When Sun Valley put such a rule on the books in 2005, requiring community housing or in-lieu fees for new development, the issue went to the state Supreme Court and the city lost. Ketchum, which was pursuing a similar program, then repealed its law, and refunded money that had been collected for that city’s own attempt at inclusionary zoning. Tying up community housing funds as legal matters are sorted out has delayed progress with community housing development, but Jonas hopes the new housing crisis will help convince community leaders to pick up where her predecessors started. In 1969, a city resolution observed, “Employment in the Ketchum area has drastically increased, to the end that a severe housing shortage exists for low-income families.” That sounds familiar to all parties wrestling with the current crisis. Ketchum planners of today recommend that the city immediately spend accumulated in-lieu fees ($1.7 million if the Auberge Resort and Residences, Sun Valley project goes forward as planned) on property to develop affordable housing. Blaine county towns still collect in-lieu fees and negotiate additions of some community housing, although the success of the matter often depends on the politics of the day. Before Jonas became mayor, fees were waived with construction of the Limelight Hotel. Sometimes it seems that there is little more than hope that developers will play along. Another indication, despite much planning effort, that voter support of pro-housing policies is weak in Idaho, is the lack of public comment in favor of community housing, Griffith said. “I think a carrot is better than a stick. Developers want to develop, and that’s ok. That’s what a free market allows,” Griffith said. “We need to provide strong enough incentives for developers to build affordable housing. Then, people need to advocate in favor of it. It would help decision makers if there was balance in the comments they hear.” ARCH has secured some $10 million in grant funding, mostly federal, for several projects. Some have recently been completed
PHOTOS : CHRIS SYMS
BLAINE COUNTY HOUSING AUTHORITY HAS STEWARDSHIP OF 105 UNITS, INCLUDING 20 RENTAL UNITS. THE ASPEN/ PITKIN COUNTY HOUSING AUTHORITY STEWARDS MORE THAN 2,800 UNITS WITH 1,500 AS OWNERSHIP PROPERTIES.
and more are on the way, but participation in the effort has been fraught with peril for some. Green Acres homeowner Jeanne Brydges, who closed on her Hailey condominium in August 2008, has struggled with maintenance of an older building she bought through ARCH for $145,000, including a $35,000 IHFA grant. Her mortgage was based on the $110,000 balance after the grant, but she has been stuck with a 6.49 percent interest rate since she bought the property. Since property values dipped precipitously, Brydges has not been able to refinance since her assessment is based on the full purchase price, including the grant. Today, as the value of her property has rebounded, she has found a lender willing to refinance at 3.875 percent, slightly more than half the previous rate. “I found my condo during an open house. I didn’t know anything about affordable housing. I liked the place, but I didn’t have any help. The first time I saw the paperwork was at the closing,” Brydges said, adding that she too has continuously searched for a market rate home that she could afford. During the downturn, although at times she was working three jobs, she was unable to make a move because she was locked into her ARCH home with values down. Presently, Brydges owes $93,600 and the loan takes a subordinate position to the IHFA grant, which expires in 2023. “My appraisal needed to be $130,000 to refinance.”
There have also been property management conflicts since two of the units in the building, set along the bicycle path, are market rate, and two are deed restricted. The respective owners face very different financial realities. “It’s literally north versus south,” Brydges said. “Sometimes I wonder if it would have been better to just walk away.” Brydges has voluntarily paid additional HOA dues to help cover painting, which still hasn’t been organized, but she has made improvements to her own space in the building that she said she still loves and is grateful to own. “I sold my (Toyota) Matrix and bought beautiful new windows,” Brydges said. 2
Jeanne Brydges lives in Green Acres, a Hailey condominum. She was able to get into her home by buying through ARCH.
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HABITAT // OFF THE GRID
CLEAN POWER IN PERPETUITY? Living off the grid in Idaho by Matt Furber
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H
eld at gunpoint by a SWAT team, Ellen Nasvik and Jason Dykhouse were ordered to the floor of a Minneapolis Kinkos. SWAT was looking for a gunman. The newlyweds were making thank-you notes. They had just returned from their Idaho honeymoon. That was nearly 25 years ago. The alleged gunman was never found, and for Nasvik and Dykhouse, it was a traumatic last straw. They ditched the city for a slapdash structure with no electricity, by Timmerman Hill, one built from salvaged materials left behind after the Richfield canal construction. “What were we thinking? We were dreamers from Minnesota,” said Nasvik. She has an uncle who helped make Blaine County feel like home. “Neither of us had thought any of this through. When the wind really blew, it blew straight through the house.” Nasvik and Dykhouse have good jobs (Spanish immersion teacher and bicycle shop manager). They found a place where, day to day, people are simply friendlier, and they went to work making their off-grid home homier. “Our well is 300 feet deep and the water table is good and consistent. We didn’t know it at the time. We really got lucky there.” Their property has a good septic system, too, another stroke of luck, but, on a tight budget, DIY is forever. As the crow flies, the house they bought for $50,000, owner financed, is about a mile and a half from a powerline. To get to the highway, it’s 3.5 miles on a dirt driveway and marginal county road. The estimate from Idaho Power to run an extension line to the house was about $90,000, so
“
YOU WANT TO SEE SOLAR? GO TO GERMANY. GERMANY HAS 15 PERCENT OF THE WORLD’S SUNLIGHT, BUT 85 PERCENT OF THE WORLD’S SOLAR. —ED VAN EVERY, MASTER ELECTRICIAN
Nasvik and Dykhouse found a used solar array and four batteries to power lights and the pump. They began with propane for cooking and refrigeration, and wood heat. A company in Montana helped them figure out the solar. “We spent the day with them and basically got the information we would need to wire our house,” Nasvik said. They still use the original Xantrex current inverter, but they’re about to buy their next round of batteries for about $2,800. There is no clear data on the number of off-grid users in Idaho, but Scott Gates, the lead engineer for Idaho Power’s net metering program, said the utility built about 50 off-grid systems in the 1990s. Today, the utility has 1,200 net metering customers, an arrangement for those who produce their own power, but also feed excess into the grid for credit, which is redeemable when they need utility power. Interest in the program is increasing, and for a myriad of reasons, Gates said. Some customers are trying to do the right thing by seeking clean energy. Others are hedging against future electricity costs. Today, a bigger detraction for many who think about the impact of utility power production is that even though it’s located out of state, nearly a quarter of Idaho Power’s electricity is generated from coal. Another 10 to 20 percent comes from natural gas and other fossil fuels. Some people are even wrestling with the efficacy of receiving the lion’s share of the state’s power, about 39 percent, from dammed rivers. Sun Valley Institute thinkers advocate for a community that takes a holistic view of
the human impact on the environment and pushes for a Blaine County future where 100 percent of energy demand is covered by green sources. Renewable energy credits, electric cars and zero emissions energy are subjects at cocktail parties where conversation often spins to how best to solarize Sun Valley, said Billy Mann, a software engineer who’s long been in the local solar business. Aimée Christensen, executive director of the institute, advocates for local resilience with local food and local energy—even a micro grid with battery storage—essentially isolated from the rest of the world. Gates said if all aspects of net metering were online at the same time, meaning all interconnected solar panels were in the sun and all windmills were spinning, interconnected customers would be contributing about 10 megawatts to the grid. At peak production, Idaho Power can kick out 3,594 megawatts, so net metering is a tiny portion of production today. To put things in perspective another way, near the city of Salmon, Idaho Power operates two diesel generators using locomotive technology installed in 1967 that put out five megawatts, so it is unlikely, without a major boom in adoption of renewable power generation technology, that net metering or off-grid living will cause the utility to scrub out-of-state coal power production anytime soon. Off-grid equipment vendors are also seeing business pick up with increased demand for renewable energy, but grid-dependent customers dominate the market. The convenience of electric power is still very new, however, and change is the only constant when it comes to energy transfer. It has
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only been 130 years since Hailey employed a plant for electric lights, the first municipal use of electricity in the Idaho Territory. The modern grid didn’t exist for decades more. For properties missed by rural electrification programs that helped to expand the grid, the cost of linking in today is sometimes prohibitive, as Nasvik and Dykhouse discovered. Those going off grid can be found across the financial spectrum, from boot strap to deep pockets. Ed Van Every, a master electrician who got his start in the 1960s as an apprentice with Sun Valley Company, has worked on many off-grid systems and was, until his recent semi-retirement from Roberts Electric, certified for such work in five states. He spends winters with his wife in Munich, Germany. “I went to work at Sun Valley when they converted from steam heat to electric heat. I apprenticed and then kept doing it,” Van Every said while fixing an electrical issue during the sale of a multi-million-dollar Ketchum house that was about to close. “You want to see solar? Go to Germany. Germany has 15 percent of the world’s sunlight, but 85 percent of the world’s solar.” When not in Germany, Van Every spends his Sun Valley months serving Idaho clients, many with discretionary income, who are producing off-grid power, some because they know about battery power used on their yachts. For many years, Van Every was the resort’s lead electrician where he learned from “an extraordinary journeyman” who got his start in the Navy where power systems, like solar, begin with conversion of direct current to power radios, so he was primed for off-the-grid work. He recalls the ship-like bank of lead-acid batteries that ran the resort’s telephone system when the power was out. Some off-grid systems are simply that, backup when utility service goes down. Van Every said a challenge to the upkeep and upgrades of off-grid systems is finding apprentices who want to follow in his shoes. Mann councils people to go the net metering route if they can. “Just batterybased systems—the cost now is too prohibitive. Honestly, you gotta wait. I don’t want people buying now. We’ve seen panel pricing drop. The same is coming with batteries.” The Tesla Powerwall (a lithium-ion battery system for home energy storage) is in a 100
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Ellen Nasvik and Jason Dykhouse bought this home near Timmerman Hill and installed their own solar electric system. Idaho Power’s estimate to bring an extension power line to them was $90,000.
nice package and mass production will drive down the installation cost, Van Every said, but it’s not designed for the backcountry application. The lead-acid battery is still the best solution off grid. Mann said lithium-ion batteries are still being designed to be connected to the grid, adding that the Tesla benefit is that it’s easier to use, safer than other lithium-ion batteries and will come with a 15-year warranty. “It will have more output and capacity and the cost is going to come down like crazy over the next couple of years.” Nasvik said she wishes her family’s batteries could hold out a little longer or that off-grid technology was further along, but the time for replacement has come. Through a trade, the family has a windmill, but it pumps out more power than anyone expected. Unlike solar arrays that are unaffected once batteries are fully charged, a windmill must be hooked up to something like the grid to absorb the energy it produces or it will eventually break apart in a windy place unless it has a brake on it. It’s a problem Nasvik and Dykhouse are still brainstorming. “A lot of the problems could be solved with money. You can hire a primo setup to come in and build a system,” said Nasvik, who still considers herself an amateur of off-grid living. “We’re really miserly with electricity. We have a small TV, and we’re thankful to the Chinese for overproducing, but we never call the guy.” Lighting the backcountry and connecting Idaho electricity users to the grid has always
been a challenge. Power outages are a simple reason some people seek backup power with solar-charged battery banks or traditional fuel generators. But wildfires are one of the toughest interruptions to correct when powerlines burn down. Idaho Power estimates that it spends about 8 percent of the cost of infrastructure maintaining it. “So far, we’ve been lucky this year,” said utility spokesman Brad Bowlin. “Sometimes with wildfires the costs skyrocket.” Nasvik said her family’s home has survived three wildfires. Once, a fire came so quickly she didn’t have time to hitch up the trailer for the horses. She held their bridles through the window of the car as she evacuated with her sons. The younger one was still an infant. A tanker plane dumped retardant around the house. The horses were caked in pink. “I don’t know how they kept it together,” Nasvik said, explaining that she never felt as alone as she did sitting in the car with her small children, holding the reins of the horses, and wondering if the house had burned down. “There was a donut around the house where the fire stopped.” The land was scorched. The road was a mess. Idaho’s harsh conditions regularly make the commute difficult with deep snow or slippery mud. “In my mind, the road has been a much bigger issue than the electricity,” Nasvik said. “Last year was really crazy with all the snow.” 2
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HABITAT // ANIMAL SHELTER
from left: Rendering of the animal welfare campus; and Brooke Bonner, associate director of the shelter
BUILDING A COMPASSIONATE COMMUNITY
The Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley builds a new animal welfare campus by Patti Murphy
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F
or more than 35 years, the staff and volunteers at the Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley have lovingly cared for lost, unwanted, and neglected animals in its humble Hailey, Idaho facility. Howe the years, the original facility, which has suffered near-fire, mudslide and floodwater damage, has become inadequate for the increasing number of rescued animals that come through its doors. As Brooke Bonner, associate director of the shelter, described, “It is literally held together by duct tape and zip ties.� And so, with the support of thousands of donors and hundreds of volunteers in the Wood River Valley and throughout the country, the Animal Shelter has taken on a monumental yet highly successful capital campaign to create what is being called an expanded animal welfare campus. Once completed, it will nearly double the current capacity for dogs and cats and allow for triple the number of annual adoptions, which last year reached a record 629. The shelter broke ground on the new 30,000-square-foot facility this past June to the enthusiastic attendance of more than 100 campaign donors and volunteers. The facility, which will be sited on a 20-acre parcel across the street from its old location in Croy
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RENDERING AND GROUNDBREAKING: COURTESY ANIMAL SHELTER | BROOKE: KIRSTEN SHULTZ
Board members Greg Cappel and Priscilla Pittiglio with Executive Director Jo-Anne Dixon, DVM, at the June groundbreaking
Canyon west of Hailey, has a fundraising goal of $16 million. So far, donations have come from people in nearly every state, many from people who adopted animals from the shelter in the past.
MORE THAN A SHELTER When the facility opens its doors in late 2018, it won’t be just a place for homeless dogs and cats to wait out their time to be adopted. No, it will be a stateof-the-art training, living, and healthcare environment for the resident animals, and will have planned spaces for the public to interact with the animals and attend community events. “We’re trying to create an animal welfare campus that is much more than just a shelter,” said Jo-Ann Dixon, DVM, executive director and medical director of the shelter. “It will also be a community gathering place for people who want to share that human-animal bond, learn about compassion and about caring for something other than themselves.” Built around a central courtyard, the facility will have a spay/neuter center,
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ray davis | 380 walnut ave. ketchum
| 208.726.7261
Welcome to the Sun Valley Animal Center’s Pet Ranch, an exclusive boarding experience for your best friend.
HABITAT // ANIMAL SHELTER
“
SAVING ONE DOG WILL NOT CHANGE THE WORLD, BUT SURELY FOR THAT ONE DOG, THE WORLD WILL CHANGE FOREVER.” —KAREN DAVISON, AUTHOR AND PROFESSIONAL DOG TRAINER
adoption center, and an indoor training and acquaintance center where training classes and other animal-related activities can occur year-round. It will feature an outdoor events patio; an “Education Barn” for classes, workshops, and other public events; a “Cat Café” where visitors can socialize with resident felines; and outdoor “catios” where cats can sun themselves. The “Central Bark” courtyard and the outdoor play yards will be a landscaped area for on-leash dog walks, and a fenced yard for off-leash play and exercise.
Please call 622-7387 (PETS) or visit svanimal.com to learn more about our boarding service. Space is limited, so plan your dog’s next vacation now! RESERVATIONS CALL 208-622-7387 (PETS)
A HISTORY OF MEETING ITS CHALLENGES
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Over the past three-plus decades, the small shelter has seen its share of challenges. In 2013, the Beaver Creek Fire came roaring toward the shelter and got so close that flames were nearly licking at the outside walls. Bonner said that the animals had all been evacuated earlier, and with a lastditch effort by firefighters, the shelter was saved from the fire. But, afterwards, with all the vegetation in the area burned away, the ensuing rains brought mudslides and flooding, destroying some empty kennels but thankfully not harming any animals. “Our current facility was never designed to do what we’re doing today,” Bonner said. “Back in the old days when it was built, animals would get reclaimed in three days, adopted out, or euthanized. That’s no longer the case, thankfully.” In 1999, the shelter became the first no-kill shelter in the state of Idaho and has today become a lifesaving destination for dogs and cats from other overcrowded, high-kill shelters around the country. Often, 104
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animals are flown in from other states by volunteer organizations such as Dog Is My Co-Pilot, and Wings of Rescue, which are operated by private pilots who transport the animals at no charge. “As a vet, the last thing I want to do is kill animals; I want to save them,” said Dixon. “Our goal is, how do we do this so that no one in our community has to ever have a job of killing animals, because that is not a humane community where that happens. That’s why we started our no-cost spay and neuter program for any animal in Blaine County in 2006. We’ve now stabilized our animal population and are able to reach out to other shelters who are in crisis and whose numbers are overwhelming. About 40 percent of our animals come from highkill shelters.” In spite of the duct tape and zip ties holding the small, outdated shelter together, the people who manage it and care for the animals have continued to build its programs and offerings, making it the number-one-rated animal welfare organization in the region. The shelter offers a robust youth education program through local schools to teach children about animals, and partners with many other local groups and nonprofits such as The Hunger Coalition, The Advocates, and The Senior Connection.
A DESTINATION SHELTER This focus on compassion and community engagement has made the shelter a destination trip for people throughout the country looking to adopt an animal. Currently, “shelter alumni” animals live in 37 states and Canada, and Bonner and Dixon
HU•MANE 1. Marked by compassion and sympathy for humans and animals. Synonyms: merciful, kind, tender, gentle, charitable. See: human.
(ADJ.)
What makes a humane community? At the Animal Shelter we strive to bring kindness, understanding, and compassion to each human and animal who comes through our doors, while transforming how people think of “shelter”. Visit www.wagthefuture.org to learn more about the Shelter’s new home and how you can help!
LEA AND BET T Y: COURTESY ANIMAL SHELTER
Volunteer Lea Johnson completes training with shelter dog Betty, who has since been adopted
explained that it is not unusual for people in other states to travel to Hailey to specifically adopt an animal from the shelter. “Last week, a woman traveled down from Montana to adopt Bob, an adorable older black Lab with a grey muzzle,” said Bonner. “The woman works for Meals on Wheels, and Bob, the senior dog, is going to get to ride around delivering meals to senior citizens. It’s just beautiful. This happens literally every week.” Dixon said the Animal Shelter serves a key role in helping Blaine County be a humane community for all. “In addition to saving homeless animals’ lives, we also help keep families together by providing services so they can keep their pets during times of struggle, and provide love and companionship to seniors and others through our outreach programs. “When we say that it’s time for a new shelter, it’s not just a want; this is not something of a luxury,” said Bonner. “We are doing amazing things at this facility, and it’s time for a shelter that reflects the quality of our programs, the quality of the organization and the quality of our community.” Added Dixon, “Building a humane community is what we’re all about, and that involves people as much as animals. Animals make our lives better; they give as much to us as we give to them. This really is about investing in and making this a better community for all of us.” 2
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Animal Shelter of Wood River Valley 100 Croy Creek Road, Hailey ID 208-788-4351 | animalshelterwrv.org New facility projected completion Fall 2018!
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IN ITS 28TH YEAR, THE SUN VALLEY JAZZ FEST CONTINUES TO LIGHT UP THE VALLEY by Karen Bossick
W
hen the Sun Valley Swing ‘n’ Dixie Jazz Jamboree started 28 years ago, it was pinned to the third weekend of October because that was the slowest weekend of the year in Sun Valley. The year before, Sun Valley Inn was closed during that week, a skeleton crew ran the lodge and most Sun Valley employees were laid off temporarily because business was so slow. That’s not the case anymore. The festival, which has evolved into the Sun Valley Jazz & Music Festival, brings in more than 3,500 music lovers. And the low room rates early festivalgoers enjoyed have risen to reflect supply and demand. It was Tom Hazzard, a jazz fanatic from Boise, who persuaded thenSun Valley General Manager Wally Huffman to turn Sun Valley into the New Orleans of the North. They created a French Quarter for up to 250 RVs in the River Run parking lot, giving campers access to showers in the River Run Lodge. They turned The Boiler Room into Satchmo’s Lounge. And they began serving up banjo music with people’s morning corn flakes in the Sun Valley Inn’s Limelight Room.
Meloney Collins will perform with the Side Street Strutters in this year’s Sun Valley Jazz and Music Festival. The festival features 40 bands and runs Oct. 18-22.
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PHOTOS COURTESY SUN VALLEY JA ZZ & MUSIC FESTIVAL / JIM GILMORE, NIC ROGGEMAN AND LUCY FULLER
‘All That Jazz’ and So Much More
Gwynn Murrill
Cast Bronze
Deer
C E L E B R AT I N G O V E R 4 0 Y E A R S UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS Victoria Adams • Squeak Carnwath • Linda Christensen • James Cook • Pamela DeTuncq • Daniel Diaz-Tai • Raphaëlle Goethals April Gornik • Morris Graves • Michael Gregory • Suzanne Hazlett • Jonathon Hexner • Margaret Keelan • Judith Kindler • Gary Komarin Hung Liu • Lynda Lowe • Laura McPhee • Alyssa Monks • Kenna Moser • Gwynn Murrill • Ed Musante • Marcia Myers • Carolyn Olbum Deborah Oropallo • Luis González Palma • Robb Putnam • Christopher Reilly • Will Robinson • Rana Rochat • Jane Rosen • Alexander Rohrig David Secrest • Kiki Smith • Julie Speidel • Jack Spencer • Mark Stasz • Therman Statom • Allison Stewart • Theodore Waddell • Laura Wilson
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
inthearts // jazz and music festival from left: Jeff Barnhart with Ivory & Gold, and Gator Nation with
“My children have been to every festival—I remember holding my 4-monthold son at the first festival. And now my four grandchildren have been to every festival,” said Hazzard’s daughter, Carol Loehr, who now runs the festival with her husband Jeff Loehr. “Just being in Sun Valley and the whole adventure of it is wonderful.” Pins on the map that the Loehrs hang every year show that people come from every state and even around the world to attend. The musicians call it the Cadillac of jazz festivals because of the beautiful surroundings, clear fresh air, the enthusiastic audience and the way organizers feed and house them. Early festivals catered to the Greatest Generation with a diet of traditional and Dixieland jazz. But, after the 2008 recession cut attendance, the Loehrs went back to the drawing board to attract younger fans. They began bringing in acts like Tom Rigney and Flambeau, which mesmerizes audiences with Cajun-flavored waltzes and plaintive ballads like “Danny Boy” and “House of the Rising Sun.” And, when Flambeau proved so popular, they brought in the Gator Nation zydeco band, as well as some blues bands. The Loehrs shop jazz festivals around the country, as well as the streets of New Orleans and even places like Portland, Ore., to find new talent. Among them: Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns and Jacob Miller and the Bridge City Crooners, who represent a growing number of 20-somethings who
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incorporate jazz into their repertoire. “Really, what we have is the American songbook—jazz, blues, zydeco, folk and early rock and roll,” said Loehr. “And this year we’re bringing in Carolyn Martin, who is in the Western Swing Hall of Fame and recorded the Western Swing Album of the Year. At the same time, we’re trying to find a way to bring back the popular Swing Design. But bringing 28 musicians from the Netherlands is a pretty big deal.” The Loehrs have added dance competitions to a schedule that already features hourly lessons in Charleston, Balboa, Swing, Lindy, Shag Peabody, Foxtrot and Line Dance. The high-flying dance competitions have proven a crowd pleaser, as well as a lure for more than a 100 young dancers—mostly from Portland and Seattle— who take advantage of package deals that include lodging in Sun Valley’s dormitories. “It’s the best week of dancing there is. It’s a great opportunity to get out and dance for hours on end—we’re on the dance floor eight hours a day,” said Ketchum dance instructor Peggy Bates, who teaches swing and line dancing with her husband Dale. “The High Street Band set is always packed, bringing in a lot of young people to dance to popular music from the 1950s to
modern times,” Bates added. “And we have hands-down the best dance venues of any festival. The festival is set up for dancing, as we’ve got great dance floors that are close to the musicians.” In addition to going after the younger generation, the Loehrs have wooed Wood River Valley residents with discounted evening passes. “Our free lunchtime concerts at Ketchum Town Square have really helped, as we’re getting more locals than ever before,” said Loehr. “Before, I think the attitude in the community was that everybody at the festival played banjo and wore straw hats.” Sun Valley residents Lynn and Sharon Bockemohle have captained the volunteers in the Limelight Room for 12 years. “At $152 for an early-bird pass for the entire five-day festival, the Sun Valley Jazz & Music Festival is one of the best bargains in town,” said Lynn Bockemohle. “The emphasis is on fun, laughter and good humor, as well as some of the best toe-tapping music and musicians this world has to offer.” “It’s fun to see the young people, along with people who are covered with badges dating back to some of the first festivals,” added Sharon Bockemohle. “It’s a happy place.” 2
PHOTOS COURTESY SUN VALLEY JA ZZ & MUSIC FESTIVAL / JIM GILMORE, NIC ROGGEMAN AND LUCY FULLER
Tom Rigney, featuring the music of Southern Louisiana
Marcia Myers
Fresco on linen 85” x 72”
C E L E B R AT I N G O V E R 4 1 Y E A R S EXHIBITIONS Victoria Adams • Squeak Carnwath • Linda Christensen • James Cook • Pamela DeTuncq • Daniel Diaz-Tai • Raphaëlle Goethals April Gornik • Morris Graves • Michael Gregory • Suzanne Hazlett • Jonathon Hexner • Margaret Keelan • Judith Kindler • Gary Komarin Hung Liu • Lynda Lowe • Laura McPhee • Alyssa Monks • Kenna Moser • Gwynn Murrill • Ed Musante • Marcia Myers • Carolyn Olbum Deborah Oropallo • Luis González Palma • Robb Putnam • Christopher Reilly • Will Robinson • Rana Rochat • Jane Rosen • Alexander Rohrig David Secrest • Kiki Smith • Julie Speidel • Jack Spencer • Mark Stasz • Therman Statom • Allison Stewart • Theodore Waddell • Laura Wilson
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
inthearts // lawrence fodor
above: “Perseus
Releasing Andromeda Progression,” the result of the series shown at left
Parochial School Renegade LAWRENCE FODOR’S EFFORTS TO REWRITE OUTDATED MYTHOLOGIES THROUGH ART by Jennifer Liebrum
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n a future incarnation, and, perhaps, in response to an impending celestial influence, artist Lawrence Fodor will give a TED talk that goes something like this: “(I) would address the desperate need for the human race to reconfigure our outdated mythologies and the need to rewrite these narratives so they focus on respectful integrity, honoring life, celebrating human
endeavors and achievements, accepting human beings in their infinite variety, to be encompassing and tolerant of all cultures— and not a tool for evangelism, colonialism, nor waging wars.” But until Fodor becomes as comfortable with improvisational live dialogue as he is at translating the dialogue to canvas, the curious can engage in that theoretical
inthearts // lawrence fodor
above: Work in
progress at Fodor’s L.A. studio
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construct through his current work, “ECLIPSE: obscured memories.” The revelation of the exhibit at Friesen Gallery in Ketchum gallery coincided with the Aug. 21, 2017, total eclipse that could be seen most uninhibitedly from the Valley floor. “The covering, or eclipsing, of one celestial body by another, seemed to perfectly correlate to my conceptual concerns of appropriating significant historic works of art depicting what I felt were outdated mythologies and then covering them—‘eclipsing’ them—obliterating and recontextualizing them, in order to redefine their no-longer-relevant narratives (in terms of the health of the human race and our planet),” Fodor said. The elaboration of that imagery began in the fall of 2014 and intensified in focus in 2015 during a 3:30 a.m. viewing of a live feed of the total solar eclipse on the Vernal Equinox. Each painting in this series is an amalgam of historical art pieces and the modern flourish of a current celestial event. “I felt like it had been a great day in the studio as a result of this celestial event,”
sunvalleymag.com | FALL 2017
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Bottom line: I’m not painting eclipses— I’m searching for truth and beauty under the influence of celestial phenomena.” —LAWRENCE FODOR
Fodor reasoned then, and with a few pieces and conceptual intent (not to mention 30 years of fame and familiarity for his artistic endeavors), he was promptly booked in at Friesen Gallery. “The basic premise of ‘eclipsing’ an outdated mythology via obscuring the memory of the narrative holds fast,” Fodor explained. “In a way, I am creating my own palimpsests—within the painting medium. I am basically presenting options for new and relevant narratives to emerge and configure—via a continuing dialogue with the paintings and the viewer. “There is an irony here, though: celestial eclipses are only momentary: their impact is profound on the human psyche and have
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inthearts // lawrence fodor
JEFFRO UITTO New Work
Collaborative portrait of the artist in his Santa Fe studio, Daniel Milnor and Lawrence Fodor, 2017
271 First Avenue N, Ketchum, ID 83340 www.kneelandgallery.com art@kneelandgallery.com
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208.726.5512
influenced the course of political and social histories for eons—while my ‘eclipsing’ of these historic paintings is more of a permanent nature in the hope that they will have a lasting impact on the psyche of the viewer. But not for political gain, nor psychological or social control. Our outdated mythologies need redefining, rethinking and revising. “Bottom line: I’m not painting eclipses— I’m searching for truth and beauty under the influence of celestial phenomena.” Fodor’s work is held in numerous private collections and most recently the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in Texas. His launch toward such enlightenment included an artless private parochial school, a dominant left hand, and a treehouse that served as an imagination incubator in a turbulent childhood. 118
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“The nuns made their best attempts, unsuccessfully, to turn me into a righthander. I diligently practiced my cursive, on the lined sheets, always with my left hand. Eventually, I learned that if I turned my paper sideways and nearly upside down, I wouldn’t drag my hand through and smear what I had just written,” he recalled, a style he still enlists. The priests, “because of their commanding abusive machismo,” made him use his right hand on the sports field and today he is an ambidextrous ball-tosser. “I began to draw and paint because it was, and still is, my best, and yes, my most natural means of communicating. And, equally as important, drawing and painting was an escape from difficult childhood experiences—Catholic school being just one. I’m not convinced it was totally due to being left handed ... but then again, left-handers are
Severn Art ServiceS since 1974
a tad bit prejudiced about their innate rightbrain access.” As the thrall of performing for his teachers’ exacting pursuits wore thin (he once thought becoming a Jesuit priest would align his understanding with his efforts), between the fourth and sixth grades, there was a 180-degree shift. Fodor built himself a treehouse and cocooned away from the “pain, confusion, interference and hypocrisy of my environment,” with painting and drawing and mind travel to infinitely imagined worlds. At sixth grade, he turned away from the school and didn’t return.
Master Framing & Installation
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The nuns made their best attempts, unsuccessfully, to turn me into a righthander.” —LAWRENCE FODOR
“The focus shifted, and that was a good thing. My innate ability to delve inside myself was enhanced by the parochial school environment in which I was ‘trained’ or some might say, ‘indoctrinated.’ Thankfully, I was able to channel it elsewhere.” Fodor traveled and saw, and he transcribed. He did achieve formal schooling, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree through the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, where he returned to live part time recently after global and domestic outposts elsewhere. “I think with my eyes,” he said. “As a result, I am always looking. Do I project into my head? Not really; the external world does that for me.” And though the script for the “killer TED talk” Fodor dreams of is on canvas for now, the message is being delivered for those who care to look. “There is an expansive world at large, and all we need to do is take the time to notice and to see it—be it in nature, the city, a museum, the subway ... wherever. Translating that world is another matter. “It happens intuitively once I begin to paint—but only after many, many years of training and building that visual vocabulary ... And that training actually never stops.” 2 FALL 2017 | sunvalleymag.com
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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
Severn Art ServiceS 400 First Avenue North • PO Box 1679 • Ketchum, ID 83340 208.726.5088 • artservices@gailseverngallery.com
inthearts // gallery buzz
above: “Silver Creek, August,” by James Cook, at Gail Severn Gallery. Oil on canvas, 40” x 60”
The Fall Art Season Awaits THIS FALL’S LINEUP OF EXHIBITS AND ARTIST RECEPTIONS
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The art galleries of the Wood River Valley bring the works of national and international art stars to a remarkably intimate setting. And on seven evenings throughout the year, the Sun Valley Gallery Association hosts Gallery Walk, a free, city-wide art event featuring this world-class art, artist talks, and wide-ranging conversation. There are always eclectic styles and genres in the offering. Gallery Buzz offers a peek at the fall season; surely, it won’t disappoint.
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GAIL SEVERN GALLERY Artist Chat: September 2, 10 a.m. James Cook Inspired by nature and the world around him, James Cook creates canvases that are powerful evocations of nature’s majesty. Cook’s work has been described as monumental, but the essence of his paintings (whether it is a cityscape or landscape) is contained in the singular brushstroke, line, and mark he orchestrates. Each stroke, each line, each mark is a distinctive note contributing to a chorus that echoes and resounds in a grand symphony. Judith Kindler “Of What Importance” Themes of ecological logic and what is important in life, i.e. peace, nature, happiness, balance, and protection become symbolically referenced in Judith Kindler’s
newest body of work titled “Of What Importance.” Through life-size assemblage figures of beautiful women manikins with objects, construction, and painting, she explores the many impressions of nature and her immersion in it, creating a large, impactful installation beckoning the viewer to see beyond our own selves and self-interest to look at the grander picture of life and to what is truly important to the future. Alexander Rohrig Referencing other art, direct observation and visual storytelling, Alexander Rohrig’s work rides between drawing, painting, sculpture and installation. He finds it very difficult to talk about it and ends up having to “make it” to say what he means. Even then, the meanings change. Working with a New York artist and coming out of California culture of skateboarding and surfing, Rohrig finds himself between two worlds, navigating both of his interests through the art itself.
AUGUST 31 - SEPTEMBER 29
GILMAN CONTEMPORARY Ashley Collins Ashley Collins is a contemporary American female painter recognized for her large-scale oil paintings. Collins’ deeply layered works integrate portions of figurative horseheads and silhouettes, among subtle imagery from vintage photographs, literature and postcards. The exhibition includes new encaustic works that are homage to the Velveteen Rabbit’s question “What is Real?” Also included will be the release of her first prints in 15 years created with the influence of a fourth-generation Japanese printmaker named Izumi Kato. THROUGHOUT SEPTEMBER
BROSCHOFSKY GALLERIES
Ewoud de Groot de Groot’s free style of painting reveals abstract technique in
combination with a figurative subject, most often birds and mammals in nature.
KNEELAND GALLERY
“Under the Summer Sun” Artists: Neal Philpott, Linda St. Clair, and Jennifer Lowe. Opening Reception: September 1. Artists will be in attendance for Gallery Walk.
1) “Shepherd II,” by Alexander Rohrig, at Gail Severn Gallery. Painted limestone, 11” x 7” x 9” 2) “Sanctuary,” by Judith Kindler, at Gail Severn Gallery. Mixed media painting, assemblage, approximate size figure: 76” x 17” x 10”, painting: 72” x 82” 3) “Foxy Lady,” by Linda St. Clair, at Kneeland Gallery. Oil on canvas, 12” x 12” 4) Detail of “Resting Oystercatchers,” by Ewoud de Groot, at Broschofsky Galleries. Oil on linen, 39” x 39” 5) “Valley Hills,” by Neal Philpott, at Kneeland Gallery. Oil on Canvas, 25” x 54”
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inthearts // gallery buzz 1
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THROUGHOUT SEPTEMBER
SEPTEMBER 1 – NOVEMBER 14
SEPTEMBER 1 - OCTOBER 6
THROUGHOUT DECEMBER
HARVEY ART PROJECTS
SUN VALLEY CENTER FOR THE ARTS
FRIESEN GALLERY
LIPTON FINE ARTS
Lino Tagliapietra On view now at Friesen Gallery: the newest work by Italian glass artist, Il Maestro Lino Tagliapietra. An influential Italian glass artist who is recognized for his skills and talents world-wide, Tagliapietra — who earned the rank of ‘Maestro’ in his early 20s after over two decades of glass-making education in glass furnaces and factories — expresses his own forms of creativity through the design and execution of sculptures with high technical and aesthetic quality.
Showing Miro, Calder, and Rookwood pottery.
Contemporary Indigenous Art From Australia This fall Harvey Art Projects presents selected works from the Western Desert Region of Australia on view in our pop-up space located at 340 Walnut Avenue in Ketchum. Harvey Art Projects USA is the only contemporary art space in the USA that works directly with Australia’s indigenous artists and their communities. The organization is dedicated to developing cultural awareness, understanding and appreciation of the finest Aboriginal Art in America through regular exhibitions in Sun Valley and satellite events held in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. For more information please contact Director Julie Harvey 208.309.8676 or www.harveryartprojects.com.
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“The Unreliable Narrator” An exhibition that considers the power of the narrator—a storyteller who shapes our experience of a story by determining the pace at which it unfolds, the order in which we learn about events, what details we’re given and what gets omitted. Participating artists include Holly Andres, Mark Dion, Simon Evans™, Jenny Kendler, Gina Phillips, and Deb Sokolow. Associated events: Free evening exhibition tours September 28 and October 19, 5:30 p.m.; film: “Under the Sun,” Thursday, September 28, 7 p.m.; lecture: James B. Stewart, Thursday, October 12, 6:30 p.m.; and film: “Nuts!” Thursday, October 19, 7 p.m.
SEPTEMBER 1, NOVEMBER 24, DECEMBER 29
GALLERY WALK Hosted by the Sun Valley Gallery Association (SVGA), Gallery Walks take place from 5-8 p.m.
1) “Foemina,” by Il Maestro Lino Tagliapietra, at Friesen Gallery. Blown glass, carved engravings, 19.5” x 11” x 7.5” 2) “Keyhole,” by Holly Andres, 2017, at SVCA. Digital photograph, courtesy the artist and Charles A. Hartman Fine Art, Portland 3) “Lorelei Underwing (Catocala lorelei) from Ada, or Ardor,” by Jenny Kendler, at SVCA. Watercolor and gouache on arches, 20-1/4” x 26” 4) “Untitled,” by Tiger Yaltangki, at Harvey Art Projects. Natural pigments on canvas, 2015, 39” x 39” 5) “Worthy,” by Ashley Collins, at Gilman Contemporary. Triptych, mixed media, 48” x 72” 6) “The Call of the Alluvial Empire,” by Gina Phillips, at SVCA. Fabric, thread, acrylic paint, courtesy the artist and Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, New Orleans
Map to the Galleries 1) Aurobora 415.546.7880
5) Frederic Boloix Fine Arts 208.726.8810
10) Kneeland Gallery 208.726.5512
2) Boulder Mountain Clay and Art Gallery 208.726.0773
6) Friesen Gallery 208.726.4174
11) Lipton Fine Arts LLC 208.720.6331
7) Gail Severn Gallery 208.726.5079
12) OCHI Gallery 208.726.8746
8) Gilman Contemporary 208.726.7585
13) Sun Valley Center for the Arts 208.726.9491
3) Broschofsky Galleries 208.726.4950 4) Davies-Reid 208.726.3453
9) Harvey Art Projects USA 208.309.8676
14) Wood River Fine Arts 208.928.7728
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food&drink The Secret Life of Melons by Gwen Ashley Walters
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Wake up and Live M
elons are a fickle fruit. The flesh is completely concealed beneath a thick layer of tough skin, a poker face hiding what’s inside. You must cut it open and taste it to know if it’s a winning hand. That hard skin, though, is a defense mechanism. Melons, both cucumis melo (muskmelons, cantaloupe, honeydew) and citrullus lanatus (watermelon), have been cultivated for thousands of years. In 2010, DNA testing by botanical researchers determined muskmelons originated in the Indian subcontinent, and quickly spread to Persia (modern day Iran). Prior to this discovery, it was thought sweet melons originated in Sub-Saharan Africa, as watermelons did. Melons made their way to the Americas courtesy of Christopher Columbus, when he brought seeds to the Caribbean. From there, they spread to the mainland of North, Central and South America. Melons grow best in hot, dry places with loamy soil—in essence, the desert. The thick, tough skin protects the tender flesh from the harsh elements, creating a haven for a “sugar production factory” that matures somewhere between 65 and 100 days. When melons are vine-ripened, the flesh is sweet, juicy and refreshing. When they’re picked too early, the result is a watery, flavorless mess—money down the drain. HOW TO PICK A MELON Picking a good melon is somewhat of a gamble, but there are some telltale signs. Nate Jones, a third-generation farmer and owner of King’s Crown Organic Farm near Glenns Ferry, Idaho, grows organic melons for the Tuesday Ketchum farmers’ market and occasionally, when the quantity warrants, the Boise Saturday farmers’ market. “I’ve heard them all,” he said, referring to the conventionally accepted tips for picking a ripe melon. “Thump it, press it, smell it,” he said. Occasionally that yields success, but the only way to truly know you’re getting a ripe melon is to buy it from a grower that picked the melon when it was ripe on the vine. “We call it ‘pick to slip’,” Jones said. “Give the melon a tug and if it slips easily from the stem, 99 percent of the time, it’s ripe.”
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Home of the Bowl of Soul TWO CONVENIENT VALLEY LOCATIONS
JAVA - HAILEY 111 1ST AVE. N. 208.788.2399
JAVA ON FOURTH - KETCHUM 191 4TH STREET WEST
208.726.2882
OF SUN VALLEY
[ The Valley’s premier dining & menu guide ]
Pick up a copy on stands throughout the Wood River Valley, or read the digital edition at sunvalleymag.com/dining.
21st annual
food&drink // melons
OCTOBER 4-8, 2017
Flaviu Grumazescu Photography
SUN VALLEY KETCHUM HAILEY
“Ten Best Fall Festivals in America” USA Today 208.720.0585 trailingofthesheep.org
California is the largest commercial producer of melons and watermelons, followed by Texas and Arizona. Idaho has a comparatively small melon production, most of which is grown near the Snake River in central-southern and southwestern Idaho. Melon season in Idaho begins in the middle of July and runs through the end of September, but Mother Nature can wreak havoc with the specific dates. In 2016, melon season stretched into the first week of October. MELONS GALORE Jones plants melon plants around the 10th of May. He sources out the seeding and sometimes doesn’t know which varieties he has until they bloom. By the third week of July, he begins the “pick to slip” process. As the summer progresses, he picks 10 cases a week in the beginning and up to 100 cases a week during full peak, in mid to late August. His melons continue to produce into September. According to Amy Goldman, author of “Melons: For the Passionate Grower” (Artisan Books, 2002), “Green melons picked before their time can become juicier, but they never catch up on flavor.” Once the melon is picked, sugar production stops, so while it may ripen further, the sugar content does not increase. Dalton James, assistant produce manager at Atkinsons’ Market in Ketchum, said in early summer, he buys melons from California, but when Idaho melon season begins, usually early July, he switches to melons from Jim Brizendine’s Hagerman Valley Produce near Bliss, Idaho, about 19 miles east of Glenns Ferry, as the crow flies. The Hagerman area is known for producing sweet, juicy melons. “Jim grows watermelon and cantaloupes for all the
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Atkinsons’ Markets. Sometimes we get some honeydew along with some other specialty melons, like crenshaw, from him,” James said. “And when they come in, we’ll mark them as local melons.” Brizendine added, “You’ve got to have good soil to get a good melon. It can’t be hard dirt, and it can’t be all sand. If you’ve got sandy loam, like we do, you can get a good melon.” He said good melons are going to be local, or at least regional, melons. “They have to pick the melons half green to account for warehousing and shipping,” he said of mass producers in other states. “You can’t get a good-tasting melon that was picked before it was ripe.” Other melon varieties you might find in the markets include canary, Galia and Charentais, a French melon referred to as a “true cantaloupe.” Charentais are smaller than the North American variety of cantaloupe. Roughly softball size, they are silvery green, segmented with green stripes and smoothskinned. The tan, netted-skinned variety we call cantaloupe is a muskmelon—not a true cantaloupe—though no one knows why the term cantaloupe stuck and muskmelon didn’t. The canary melon has bright yellow, smooth skin and pale green or even white flesh. Galia has netted skin like the North American cantaloupe, but is yellowish-gold in color, not tan, and the flesh is pale green. MELONS IN THE KITCHEN Refrigerate ripe melons, but let them return to room temperature before serving, unless you’re making a chilled soup (see recipe). Doug Jensen, executive chef of Sawtooth Brewery Public House, serves spicy watermelon gazpacho with pickled watermelon rind. Scott Mason (Ketchum Grill, Enoteca, Town Square Tavern) also serves a watermelon gazpacho with crumbled feta, inspired by a food tour of Israel. One classic pairing is prosciutto-wrapped cantaloupe, while honeydew melon loves a ginger, lime and poppy seed dressing. But don’t underestimate the simple joy of eating melon straight up—nothing but melon—especially if that melon was left to ripen on the vine. “There are times when melons can be so disappointing. Just sweet and nothing else. Or still not quite ripe, hard and not yet at its potential,” Mason said. “When they are perfect, though, one smell, one bite, always leads to another.” 2
®
MELON RECIPE
WE DELIVER OUR
CHILLED CANTALOUPE SOUP
ENTIRE MENU!
Adapted from “The Cool Mountain Cookbook” by Gwen Ashley Walters
Warm up with a bowl of our Fresh Homemade Soup
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Let this refreshing soup sit in the fridge until well chilled, at least an hour, after making it. If it separates, don’t worry, that’s natural; just stir before ladling in bowls to serve. 6 cups peeled and chopped cantaloupe (about 1-4-pound melon) 1-1/2 cups orange juice 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 1/4 cup fresh lime juice 1 tablespoon honey 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon Garnish: 1/2 cup plain yogurt Splash of milk (whole or 2%) 1 sprig of fresh mint Place all ingredients in a large bowl and stir. Working in two batches, place half the mixture in a blender and puree until smooth. Finish pureeing the other half and combine
both pureed batches. Taste and add more cinnamon if desired. Whisk yogurt with a small amount of milk together in a small bowl. Test consistency and add more milk to thin if necessary. You want the yogurt to “float” on top of the soup. After ladling into chilled soup bowls, drizzle with a spoon full of thinned yogurt. Strip mint leaves from stem. Roll leaves lengthwise and cut crosswise into very thin strips (called chiffonade). Sprinkle a few strands on top of the soup and serve.
(208) 622-5625
Makes 6 (6-ounce) servings
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