Page 194 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL MAGAZINE FALL 2023 DISCOVERING TURKEY

The Shoshone, Bannock and Lemhi Native
American tribes originally inhabited the area
but retreated in the mid to late 1800s, when
sheep ranching, and lead and silver mining
brought in European settlers. In the early 20th
century, Ketchum captured the title of the sec-
ond-largest sheep exporter in the world, just
behind Sydney, Australia.
But by the 1930s, Ketchum had become a
sleepy little town. All that changed in 1936
when Averell Harriman, Chairman of the
Board of the Union Pacific Railroad, pur-
chased a 4,000-acre ranch and built the Sun
Valley Resort, the first destination ski resort
in North America. He filled trains with East
Coast and Hollywood celebrities and imported
Austrian ski instructors to teach them to ski,
which some skeptics viewed as ‘hurtling them-
selves down steep mountains on wooden
planks’. Union Pacific’s engineering depart-
ment even solved the problem of getting
skiers up the hill (beyond a rope-tow). They
created the first one-person chairlift, inspired
by equipment used to transport bananas onto
ships.
Marilyn Monroe, Ingrid Bergman, Gary
Cooper, and Lucille Ball were among the fa-
mous who came to experience the excitement
and lure of the new Idaho resort. Ernest Hem-
ingway arrived in 1939, drawn by the beauty,
and 64 years later a visitor can still feel the
pull of the wide-open spaces he fell in love
with. (In 1939, the population of Idaho came
in at half a million. Now it is just under two
million, the seventh lowest density state in the
US.) Hemingway took his life there in 1961,
just days before his 62nd birthday.
Ketchum feels vibrant and bustling now, full
First, there is no need to rent a car. The
of shops, art galleries and excellent restau-
free buses and hotel shuttles have bike and
rants. The old railroad right of way serves as a
ski racks, and most hotels will drive you
cross-country ski trail in the winter and bike
around. Plan to look up at the night sky and
path the rest of the year. I came to write about
watch for shooting stars. Sun Valley became
winter sports, but discovered that this area of
an “Idaho Dark Sky Reserve” in 2017, which
tiny towns, huge mountains, dark night skies
means it is one of the most amazing places
and bright blue expanses during the day offers
to see the wonders of the night sky in the
year-round outdoor fun and adventure, relax-
world.
ation, and culture.
Visit museums, art galleries, and, of
Here’s what’s magnificent all year round:
194 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE FALL 2023