Ketchum, a small, quiet mountain town, rapidly changed. Entrepreneurs set out to capture some of the wealth the resort’s clients brought to the area, where gambling was “tolerated,” although it was not strictly legal. A number of clubs and gambling establishments opened all over town that attracted Sun Valley’s wealthy guests, employees and locals. Clubs on Main Street included the Alpine, owned by Lou Hill, and the Sawtooth, owned by Owen Simpson. The Tram, the St. George Hotel and the Casino were all located south of Sun Valley Road; the Stockman’s Club, the Idaho Club, where the Pioneer Restaurant is now; and the Wooden Spur, where Sturtevants is now. Club Rio was on Leadville Ave., off Sun Valley Road. [...]

Trout, though lacking entirely in language skills, are fluent in the nature of the mayflies, caddisflies, stoneflies and midges referred to above. In fact, their intimate knowledge of these insects is critical in supporting their fishy lifecycles. The language of fish food might not be familiar to you, but it most certainly is to trout as it has been long before the days of the imperialist policies of the British and their ubiquitous distribution of Salmo trutta (read: brown trout) to the most remote corners of the globe. [...]

Today, the same sort of ingenuity that launched the library nearly 70 years ago is being continued by another forward-thinking woman, Community Library of Ketchum Executive Director Jenny Emery Davidson. Along with staff, volunteers, board members and the community, she has led an effort to “re-imagine” the library’s space, offerings, and role in the community, transforming it into a hub of activity with more than 100,000 visitors annually. [...]

Sides is a born and raised Blaine County artist; dance and movement are in her DNA. While her lure to the arts is genetic, her range of talent manifested in Sun Valley. After spending her childhood playing “fairies” in the Sawtooth forests and writing songs with sticks into rocky mountain dirt, Sides owes much of her creative approach to art to her relationship with Sun Valley’s landscape. [...]

Joe had it all. He was talented musically; he was charming and handsome and had a great sense of humor. His show was such a hit that The Ram asked him back for two more weeks in March and then for the whole Summer and, ultimately, the entire Winter. Bar sales multiplied exponentially (even with 25-cent beer nights!), and by 1979, the Twin Falls Times-News dubbed him "The King of Sun Valley." [...]

The most wary wild horses have hidden out in these hills for generations, breeding and forming their own bands, and these are the horses I have been tracking on the trails and in the hills surrounding our ranch. I have watched the Challis herds for many years. I move slowly, I must be patient. I’ve learned to read the movement of the horses, keeping my scent downwind. In the wild and during roundups, I have witnessed births and deaths, changing of the guard, fierce competition, blinding fear and loyal fury. What I have learned—and likewise supported through others’ research—is that wild horses emote. They love, they fear, they have a sense of humor and they mourn. They are loyal, follow rules and take time out to play.  [...]

As long as there have been humans strapping skis to their feet, there have been other humans ensuring that those skis are well-maintained and tuned to the task at hand. Whether trekking across miles of snow and ice to hunt a walrus or grabbing your lunch lap to engender envy among your work-bound peers, it is more effective (and fun) when your skis work.   [...]

Bill Janss, a son of the firm’s founder, had been educated at Stanford and was a skilled skier. He had skied Sun Valley for years and was on the 1940 U.S. Olympic Team (those games were canceled because of war). Janss possessed a winning personality, a broad range of cultural interests and a keen sense of product. [...]

Rick Kapala helped put Sun Valley on the map as a cross-country mecca. Kapala began coaching cross-country in 1982 and, by 1987, joined the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) as cross-country program director. He trained hundreds of athletes, many of whom achieved national and international acclaim as Olympians, champions, and even coaches. [...]

Picabo Street’s unwavering commitment has always been tethered to the pursuit of speed. Overcoming years of formidable terrain, unceasing travel, and incapacitating injuries, Sun Valley’s Olympic alpine skiing gold medalist blazed a trail for a fresh generation of American winter athletes.   [...]