Kelly Smith | Made in Seattle

Well for the last 7 years or so a big group of us have gone to Whistler BC for the holidays. This year, we went to Sun Valley Idaho along with Tom Hughes, Jessica Jensen, Cerbert Noonan, Tyler Davidson and his wife Henriette Holst. Making up for the pitiful snowfall we saw here in the Northwest last year, I am pleased to report that we got DUMPED on and the skiing was amazing. As you can see, in spite of the storms we did manage to catch a sunny day too.
Trish and I met a lot of new friends and we do hope we’ll be able to keep in touch with many of you. It would be difficult to pin down the most memorable moment. Perhaps it was skiing through the trees back in the bowls. Perhaps it was the long lunch up at the roundhouse with 5 bottles of wine Perhaps it was the nude snow-angels on the back patio. Perhaps it was the New Year’s celebration itself at the Maffei residence. While I’d been to Sun Valley for mountain biking during the summer months this was my first time skiing there and I was really taken by the relatively modest liftlines, the charm of the old roundhouse and the history and legacy of the place. While I’d say Whistler still has areas that offer trickier terrain and steeper steeps Sun Valley has a real sense of community that it’s developed over the decades. It’s a new favorite for sure. The photos are posted here.