Skiers hit the Harriman Trail near the Sun Valley Nordic Trail on Nov. 15 following a dump of nearly two feet of snow.
SUN VALLEY — One of the silver linings of the COVID pandemic is that it prompted a lot of people to discover and rediscover the outdoors, says Paddy McIlvoy, co-owner of Backwoods Mountain Sports.
Indeed, corona vacationers looking to escape city crowds flocked to Sun Valley and the Sawtooth Mountains this past summer, taking up hiking, camping, mountain biking and more in a year when so many of the normal pleasures were off-limits.
And outdoor retailers expect that to spill over this winter as many COVID refugees try snowshoeing, Nordic skiing, backcountry skiing and snowmobiling for the first time.
Blaine County Recreation District, which grooms Nordic trails between Galena Lodge and Bellevue has seen a 33% increase in season pass sales this winter and expects to sell as many as 3,000 adult season passes this year compared with 1,900 last year (youth passes are free).
But McIlvoy and others worry that many of the newcomers will not be as savvy about avalanche safety and self-rescue techniques as they need to be.
Joe St. Onge, a guide with Sun Valley guides, noted that lighter, redesigned gear makes it easier for people to go further than ever before. But, he says, it’s incumbent upon those heading into the backcountry — or even onto the snowshoeing trails on the Sun Valley golf course — to take precautions.
Credit: Source link
