Sun Valley / Intermediate

From Lookout Restaurant intermediate skiers can choose Cutoff or Blue Grouse to Mid River Run to get back to the River Run Lift. From there it is a nine-minute lift ride back to the top. Easier trails are Olympic Ridge and Olympic Lane, and from Seattle Ridge Lodge you can try all the well-groomed trails designated as slow skiing (the exception being the difficult Fire Trail). Catch the Seattle Ridge chairlift, a five-minute ride from the bottom of the ridge back to the top. Here you’ll also find Gretchen’s Gold—named after local girl Gretchen Fraser who captured America’s first Olympic alpine ski medals (a gold for slalom and a silver for the combined in the 1948 St. Moritz Winter Olympic Games).

Perhaps the most ideal spot is Warm Springs, named for the warm bubbling water at the base of the lift. This area is cool for intermediates who are happy being intermediates. The slopes also get great afternoon sunshine. The top of the area is home to Warm Springs Face, and most difficult trails International and Limelight. Halfway down, you can decide which of the more difficult trails you want but Hemingway is a good route. The Bowls along the top of Bald Mountain tend to be difficult, but intermediate skiers can begin at the left of the mountain and move to the right as they feel more comfortable—try Broadway Face to start with. The Bowls are easily served by the Mayday chairlift, a seven-minute ride back to the top.