Sun Valley is entering the 2026-27 ski season with two new high-speed chairlifts, but one of the more interesting changes on Bald Mountain does not involve a lift at all.
The Idaho resort has added another 50 acres of gladed terrain between Christin’s Silver, Leigh Lane and Upper Broadway, continuing a multiyear effort that has steadily opened more of Bald Mountain’s forests to skiing and riding. Sun Valley announced the new terrain this week as part of its preview of the upcoming season.
The new glades follow 90 acres of terrain that debuted last winter and continue the Bald Mountain Stewardship Project, a forest-health initiative that has also become a significant terrain-development program for the resort.
Sun Valley says more than 390 acres of new gladed terrain have been introduced through the project over the past six years.
That is a notable change for a mountain historically known more for long, sustained groomers than tree skiing.
Forest Work Is Creating Ski Terrain
The new skiing is essentially a byproduct of a much larger forest-management project.
The Bald Mountain Stewardship Project brings together Sun Valley Resort, the National Forest Foundation, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and other partners. The work is intended to improve forest health, remove dead and dying trees, reduce wildfire fuels and make the forest more resilient.
Those efforts also make portions of Bald Mountain that were previously too dense or obstructed by deadfall more practical for skiing.
Sun Valley says timber removed during the work is reused for habitat-restoration projects, while firewood from the project has also been provided through the National Forest Foundation’s Wood For Life program to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and other local partners.
The forest project is much larger than the terrain that ultimately becomes skiable. Sun Valley said stewardship work during summer 2026 would cover roughly 150 acres across areas including Seattle Ridge, Scorpion, River Run and Cold Springs Canyon, with some work extending beyond the ski-area boundary.
Sun Valley Added 90 Acres Last Winter
This is the second straight winter with a meaningful addition of gladed skiing on Bald Mountain.
For the 2025-26 season, Sun Valley opened 90 acres between Canyon, Exhibition and Olympic. That project produced four named glade areas: Tim’s, Pioneer Bowl, Bear Den and Sheep Camp.
Most of that terrain was aimed at advanced skiers, although Sheep Camp was classified as intermediate.
The latest 50 acres move the work to the area between Christin’s Silver, Leigh Lane and Upper Broadway.
Sun Valley has not characterized the project as a conventional terrain expansion. The distinction matters because the resort is not necessarily pushing its ski boundary farther into untouched terrain. Instead, crews are thinning and restoring existing forest on Bald Mountain, with some treated areas becoming new skiable glades.
The National Forest Foundation described a similar result from earlier work on Bald Mountain. In 2022, contractors treated 80 acres of forest, and some of that work allowed a new glade run to open for skiers.
Bald Mountain Is Changing Quickly
The new tree skiing is only one part of a substantial period of investment at Sun Valley.
Bald Mountain has 3,400 vertical feet of skiing from its 9,150-foot summit and currently lists 2,553 skiable acres.
This summer, the resort is also replacing two major chairlifts.
The Lookout Express is being replaced by a high-speed six-person chair while Christmas is receiving a new high-speed detachable quad. The projects are intended to improve capacity, reliability and access to the upper mountain.
But the glading program is arguably changing the character of the skiing just as much.
Last season’s 90-acre addition and this winter’s additional 50 acres amount to a substantial increase in the amount of terrain where skiers can leave Sun Valley’s famous groomers and head into the trees.
And unlike a conventional terrain expansion, the skiing is arriving alongside work designed to make the forest healthier and reduce wildfire risk.
Sun Valley is scheduled to begin its 91st winter season on Nov. 26.
