This brief history of the Sun Valley, Idaho Resort was obtained from
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Union Pacific
Railroad (1936-64)
The first destination winter resort in the United States was developed by W. Averell
Harriman, the chairman of the Union Pacific Railroad, primarily to
increase ridership on passenger trains. The success of the 1932 Winter
Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, spurred an
increase in participation in winter sports (and alpine skiing in particular). A lifelong skier,
Harriman determined that America would embrace a destination mountain resort,
similar to those in the European Alps, such
as St. Moritz. During the
winter of 1935-36, Harriman enlisted the services of an Austrian count, Felix Schaffgotsch, to travel across
the western U.S. to locate an ideal site for a winter resort. The Count toured
Mount Rainier, Mount Hood, Yosemite, the San
Bernardino Mountains, Zion National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, the
Wasatch Mountains,
Pocatello, Jackson Hole, and Grand Targhee
areas. Late in his trip and on the verge of abandoning his search, he was
steered to the Ketchum
area in central Idaho. A U.P.
employee had mentioned that the rail line to Ketchum had cost the company more
money for snow removal than any other branch line.
Schaffgotsch was impressed by the combination of Bald
Mountain and its surrounding mountains, adequate snowfall, abundant
sunshine, moderate elevation, and absence of wind, and selected it as the site.
Harriman visited several weeks later and agreed. The 3,888-acre
(15.73 km) Brass Ranch was purchased for about $4 per acre and
construction commenced that spring; it was built in seven months for $1.5
million.
Pioneering publicist Steve Hannigan, who had successfully promoted Miami Beach,
was hired and named the resort "Sun Valley." (Count Schaffgotsch returned to Austria and was killed on the Eastern Front during World War II.)
The centerpiece of the new resort was the Sun
Valley Lodge, which opened in December 1936. The 220-room, X-shaped lodge's
exterior was constructed of concrete, poured inside rough-sawn forms. The wood
grain was impressed on the concrete finish, which was acid-stained brown to
imitate wood.
The Swiss-style Challenger Inn (now Sun Valley Inn) and village were also
part of the initial resort, opening in 1937. Hannigan wanted swimming pools at
the resort, "so people won't think skiing is too cold." Both the Lodge and the
Inn had heated outdoor swimming pools, circular in shape. Hannigan had the pools
designed this way, unique at the time, in the hope they would be widely
photographed, providing free publicity. It worked.
After World War II,
Harriman focused on his career in government service and the Union Pacific
gradually lost interest in the resort. Rail service was discontinued to Ketchum
in 1964 and that November the resort was sold to the Janss
Investment Company, a major Southern California real estate
developer headed by a former Olympic ski team member, Bill Janss,
founder of Snowmass. (Janss was selected to the 1940 team,
but the games were cancelled due to the war). Janss gained full control of Sun Valley in
1968.
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