About Us
Environmental Awareness
Unique in the ski industry, Sun Valley Resort was built in 1936 from the ground up as a complete village with all the luxurious amenities any skier could ever wish for. Nearly three-quarters of a century later this infrastructure is paying off in a way the founders probably would not have considered. Not just a ski corporation responsible for lift operations, Sun Valley Resort owns and operates it all. From the village restaurants, the Convention Center, the ice rinks and pools, to mountain restaurants, maintenance of two ski mountains and two golf courses - one management team mandates the environmental decisions that broadly effect green scores Sun Valley Resort achieves resort wide.
A few examples:
Sun Valley Village is for walking only. This "car-free" environment is nothing new here and has been enjoyed by Sun Valley guests for about 70 years.
Complimentary valet shuttle meets every resort guest arriving at Friedman Memorial Airport. Since their destination is the car-free village complete with accommodations, restaurants, shops, pools, spa and free ski bus shuttle - there is no need to drive here.
Resort employees have been provided housing on-site since the early years and more recently have received virtually free bus transportation for the 160-mile roundtrip journey seven days a week to and from Twin Falls, Idaho.
While many other resorts aggressively promote real estate sales, Sun Valley Resort receives very high marks for staying well behind current trends. At certain times throughout its history small parcels of land have been sold and although development is under way at the current time, utilization of land is well below allowable zoned densities.
Since 1936 Sun Valley has strived to provide its guests a world class experience. To that end disposable food service items are strictly taboo and only china and non-disposable flatware and glassware are used in mountain and village restaurants. Furthermore, it would have to be a picnic for food to be served on "disposable-ware" anywhere! This practice and many others like it results in 146 tons of recycled material being kept out of the landfill in the last seven months alone. Also, more than a quarter of all Sun Valley refuse has been recycled in the same amount of time.
Water conservation is monitored carefully resort wide with water sensory faucets installed in all of the public restrooms in the hotels, Convention Center, Trail Creek Cabin, Sun Valley Club, Seattle Ridge Lodge and River Run Lodge. All new buildings are equipped with low-flow restroom appliances.
Although far-reaching master plans for Bald Mountain call for further development, Sun Valley Resort has requested some of these proposals be eliminated.
In addition on Bald Mountain all of its 522 snowmaking guns have been replaced with new York Tower guns which are up to 35 percent more efficient.
As stewards for one of the most naturally beautiful resort settings in the world, management here looks forward to another 75 years of "roughing it in style" - responsibly.
