Bald Mountain (9150 feet, 2789 m) is a mountain in the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in south central

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

, adjacent to the city of

Ketchum Ketchum may refer to: Towns, cities, and, geographic features * Ketchum, Idaho, United States * Ketchum, Oklahoma, United States * Lake Ketchum, Washington, United States * Ketchum Glacier, a glacier in Antarctica * Ketchum Ridge, a large ridge i ...

in Blaine County. The mountain has one of the higher summits of the

Smoky Mountains The Great Smoky Mountains (, ''Equa Dutsusdu Dodalv'') are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ridge ...

of Idaho, located in the

Sawtooth National Forest Sawtooth National Forest is a United States National Forest, National Forest that covers 2,110,408 acres (854,052 ha) in the U.S. states of Idaho (~96 percent) and Utah (~4 percent). Managed by the U.S. Forest Service in the United States Depart ...

. The forested Smoky Mountains were named for their propensity for summer

forest fire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

Sun Valley skiing

It is the primary

ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partial ...

mountain of the Sun Valley

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

, and renowned for its lengthy runs at a uniform gradient, at varying levels of difficulty, and with little wind. In the Sun Valley's fourth year of operation (1939–40), Bald Mountain was opened for lift-served

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

, with a series of three (single-seat)

chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. They ...

s, unloading at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

of . With a base elevation of along the

Big Wood River The Big Wood River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. , accessed May 4, 2011 river in central Idaho, United States, that is a tributary of the Malad River (which in turn is tributary to the ...

at River Run, Baldy's vertical drop is along its northeast face. It is served by fourteen ski lifts (an eight-person

gondola The gondola (, ; vec, góndoła ) is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull ...

, seven high-speed quads, three triples, two doubles, and a surface); Baldy has more uphill capacity per skier than any other ski area. It has 75 runs with of on-

piste A ''piste'' () is a marked ski run or path down a mountain for snow skiing, snowboarding, or other mountain sports. This European term is French

skiing, of which have

snowmaking Snowmaking is the production of snow by forcing water and pressurized air through a "snow gun", also known as a "snow cannon". Snowmaking is mainly used at ski resorts to supplement natural snow. This allows ski resorts to improve the reliabilit ...

. The slope ratings are 36% easiest, 42% more difficult, and 22% most difficult. These ratings are relative, not absolute; much of the "easiest" terrain on Bald Mountain would be rated as "intermediate" at most ski areas, as the beginner areas are on the gentler and smaller

Dollar Mountain Dollar Mountain (6638 ft., 2023 m) is a ski hill in the western United States in south central Idaho, part of the Sun Valley ski resort. The treeless Dollar caters primarily to beginner and lower intermediate skiers; the primary mountain fo ...

. Sun Valley's Bald Mountain is independent of the

Bald Mountain Ski Area Bald Mountain Ski Area is a small ski area in north central Idaho, located northwest of Pierce in Clearwater County. The area first opened in January 1960, with a cotton rope tow powered by a gasoline engine. Originally for employees of the ...

, a modest ski hill near

Pierce Pierce may refer to: Places Canada * Pierce Range, a mountain range on Vancouver Island, British Columbia United States * Pierce, Colorado * Pierce, Idaho * Pierce, Illinois * Pierce, Kentucky * Pierce, Nebraska * Pierce, Texas * Pierce, We ...

in Clearwater County in north central Idaho.

Ski runs

Easiest (Green Circle Runs) *Lower River Run *Lower College *Olympic Ridge *Olympic Lane *42nd Street *Upper College *Broadway *Broadway Face *Lilly Marlane *Maiden Lane *Mid Warm Springs *Lower Warm Springs *Lower Greyhawk *Sunset Strip *Roundhouse Slope *Roundhouse Lane More Difficult (Blue Square Runs) *Mid River Run *Flying Squirrel *Upper Canyon *Blue Grouse *Cutoff *Christmas Lane *Wolverton *Christmas Ridge *Upper Janss Pass *Upper French Dip *Upper Can-Can *Graduate *Lower Cozy *Lower Limelight *Warm Springs Face *Upper Warm Springs *Race Arena *Mid Hemingway *Mid Greyhawk *Mid Cozy *Lower Picabo's Street *Lower Hemingway *I-80 *Brick's Island *Upper Canyon *Mid River Run *Lower Canyon *Lower Blue Grouse Most Difficult (Black Diamond Runs) *Sleeping Bear *Exhibition *Inhibition *Olympic (Not to be confused with Olympic Lane or Olympic Ridge) *Fire Trail *Mayday Bowl *Lookout Bowl *Easter Bowl *Little Easter Bowl *Rock Garden *Upper Limelight *Upper Hemingway *Upper Picabo's Street *Upper Greyhawk *Upper Cozy *Mid Picabo's Street *Mid Limelight *International *Arnold's Run *Upper River Run *Upper Holiday *Mid Holiday *Lower Holiday

In media

In the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

miniseries, '' 10.5: Apocalypse'', this mountain is an extinct

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

that erupts with devastating force. An avalanche of hot gases and ash cascaded down the mountain and buried everything, including the mountain's ski areas, and the towns of Sun Valley,

, and Hailey. Multiple rescue teams arrived at the scene and dug through the debris caused by Bald Mountain's eruption, looking for any survivors.

References

External links

Sun Valley.com
- Bald Mountain - ski report

- photo of Bald Mountain from Proctor Mountain

– photos of Sun Valley's lifts
Ski Map.org
– vintage maps – Sun Valley (Bald Mtn) {{Idaho Ski areas navbox Mountains of Idaho Mountains of Blaine County, Idaho Sawtooth National Forest Ski areas and resorts in Idaho Tourist attractions in Blaine County, Idaho Sun Valley, Idaho