STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
Ski the Rails will sport a StoryWalk this year.
Kate Messner’s children’s book “Over and Under the Snow” about the secret world of animals under the snow will be posted to read while skiing along the Buttercup Road stretch when skiers take to the trail this Saturday.
The StoryWalk Project was created by Anne Ferguson, a chronic disease prevention specialist living in Montpelier, Vt., in 2007 and developed in collaboration with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library.
Sponsored locally by the Hailey Public Library, it features laminated pages from a children’s book attached to wooden stakes as a way to enjoy reading while getting exercise outdoors. StoryWalks have been installed in all 50 states, as well as 12 countries, including Germany, Bermuda, Russia, Malaysia, Pakistan and South Korea.
The free Ski the Rails ski tour will kick off at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 8, on the groomed bike path off Serenade Lane at Ketchum’s south end. Adults, children and even dogs are invited to take out their classic skis or skate skis and join in the fun, skiing to the end of the tour at Myrtle Street in Hailey or taking out any place along the way.
Skiers can get on the tour at any point along the way, as well.
Galena Lodge, Higher Ground, Mountain Humane, Hailey Public Library, Perry’s, Backwoods Mountain Sports and Blaine County Recreation District staff will host aid stations along the route with snacks and beverages to keep skiers energized between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Perry’s Restaurant will serve muffins and hot chocolate at the start. Additional aid stations will be at the Broadway Run trailhead, East Fork Road, the north end of Buttercup Road and Myrtle Street.
The BCRD is also handing out free BCRD lip balm along the route and at the Sun Valley Brewery.
Historical signs will be placed along the way, describing life in the early Wood River Valley, as well as the time when what is now the bike path boasted the railroad tracks for trains that ferried sheep and people between Shoshone and Ketchum.
The BCRD will cover tunnel floors with snow so skiers don’t have to take off their skis to access them.
Free shuttle buses traveling north to the start will depart from the Sun Valley Brewery in Hailey beginning at 9:30 a.m. The last bus north departs the Brewery at 2:45 p.m.
A bus will begin shuttling skiers from the finish line at Myrtle Street to the Brewery at 11 a.m. The Brewery will have no-host apres-ski food and beverages for those finishing the tour.
Dogs are allowed on the buses as long as they mind their manners and are on a leash.
The BCRD maintains the Wood River Trail on which Ski the Rails is held with tax dollars. Its use is free and open to walkers, snowshoers, skiers, fat bikes and dogs all winter.
BUS SCHEDULE:
Buses leave the Brewery at 9:30 a.m., 9:40 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11;40 a.m., 12:50 p.m., 2 p.m. and 2:45 p.m.
Buses leave Serenade Lane headed south at 10 a.m., 10:15 a.m., 11:05 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 1:25 p.m. and 2:35 p.m.
The shuttle going north from the Brewery travels to Myrtle Street, then north on Buttercup Road to Ketchum. It The bus may stop at East Fork on Highway 75 and at the north end of Buttercup Road for drop-off and pick-up.