Bald Mountain — Baldy to anyone who has skied it — is the reason Sun Valley exists. The peak rises 3,400 feet straight out of the valley floor, and the runs descend in long unbroken pitches rather than the rolling traverses of so many western resorts. There are no flat sections to skate through, no awkward cat tracks; you point your skis downhill and stay there for a long time.
The mountain's character is its grooming and its sun. Baldy faces every direction and gets light into more aspects than most ski areas can manage, which keeps the conditions varied through the day. The Warm Springs side is steeper and skier-only on its best runs; the River Run side has the easier blues and the high-speed quad that most beginners and intermediates use. International and Easter Bowl on the Seattle Ridge side are the photographer's runs — long, wide, and usually empty after lunch.
Lifts start near Ketchum at the River Run base. Lift tickets are pricey but rarely as crowded as Aspen or Vail, which is half the point of coming here.