Bald Mountain in Sun Valley Idaho

While Bald Mountain was one of the reasons for the selection of the site, it was not initially part of the resort. The plan was to develop it as a ski mountain, but sometime in the future. Alpine skiing was still in its infancy in America, and it was believed by management that there were not enough accomplished skiers to justify its development in 1936. But it was quickly realized by the resort's restless Austrian ski instructors that this fantastic mountain needed to be opened to the skiing public (and promoted) as soon as possible. The instructors had been hiking up and skiing down Baldy on their off days during the resort's first few seasons. These men were among the best skiers in the world, and had fled Austria just before it had come under control of the Nazis in 1938 (Anschluss).

Historic Ski School Sign
For Sun Valley's fourth season, three chairlifts (in series) were installed on Bald Mountain during the summer of 1939, in the River Run area, the northeast face of the mountain overlooking Ketchum and Sun Valley. Ski runs had been cut out of the forest during the summers of 1938 & 1939. Friedl Pfeiffer, the new head of the ski school from St. Anton, Austria, wanted the lifts to go to the very top of the mountain, something that had yet to be done anywhere, even in Europe.
The loading point of the lowest chairlift (River) was on the Ketchum side of the Big Wood River, at an elevation of 5,750 feet (1,752 m). The single chairs loaded near the parking lot, then horizontally crossed the river (about eight feet above the water) before ascending the mountain, gaining 600 vertical feet (183 m). The middle lift (Canyon) gained over 1,300 vertical feet and unloaded at the Roundhouse (a day lodge at 7,700' (2347 m), built in 1939). The upper lift (Ridge) also climbed over 1,300 vertical feet (396 m), unloading at just above 9,000 feet (2,743 m) AMSL. Its lift capacity was a mere 426 skiers per hour (7 per minute). The three chairlifts that are in approximately the same lines today (2006) are: River Run (quad), Exhibition (triple), and Christmas (quad). The original lower single chairlift was replaced in the 1960s and the loading base was moved across the river; a footbridge provides walking access from the parking lot to the River Run base area.