What does opening day mean when neither chairlift that reaches Baldy's summit is due until December? Sun Valley Resort has set the start of its 91st winter season for Thursday, November 26, 2026, at 9am from the River Run base. That date is also Thanksgiving. In the same September 16 announcement that laid out the season, the resort said the new Lookout Express and Christmas lifts are scheduled to open in December 2026.
So this winter will start in stages. Thanksgiving morning is the first one, December brings the summit back, and the rest of November happens on the valley floor, mostly in Sun Valley Village. Planning the month around that order makes the next five weeks easier to read.
The Two Lifts That Reach the Top
Both chairlifts being replaced are summit lifts. The Idaho Mountain Express describes the Lookout Express as running from the top of the Lower River Run ski trail to Baldy's Lookout summit, and the Christmas chair as carrying guests from the Roundhouse to the summit. Work on both began in April, after the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management approved the plans. Because Christmas was being replaced, the paper noted, hikers, bikers and sightseers had no lift access to the top of Baldy all summer.
The replacements are big upgrades. According to the resort, the new Doppelmayr Lookout Express is a high-speed six-pack with a vertical rise of 2,673 feet and a ride time of about 8.5 minutes, replacing the original 1993 lift. The new Christmas lift is a high-speed detachable quad with 1,354 feet of vertical and a ride of about 4.5 minutes, replacing a lift built in 1988. The Express also covered the helicopter crews flying towers onto the mountain and reported that terminal construction, cable installation and chair installation were still ahead. None of the coverage reported a delay. December is still the stated target.
The new terrain depends on the same timeline. The resort is glading another 50 acres between Christin's Silver, Leigh Lane and Upper Broadway. That adds to the 90 acres finished the summer before and more than 390 acres of new gladed terrain over six years through the Bald Mountain Stewardship Project. Those names are all upper-mountain terrain, so it makes sense to count the new glades as part of the December stage rather than the Thanksgiving one.
What Thanksgiving Morning at River Run Includes
The resort has published an opening-day lineup but no lift-by-lift operating plan. The opening-day page lists its terrain only as "Terrain Open," with no named lifts or trails. Here's what is on the schedule for November 26:
- Mini Konditorei at River Run Lodge for coffee and pastries before the lifts start
- Terrain opening at 9am sharp
- Live music on River Run Plaza
- Free hot cocoa in a commemorative 91st-season mug, first come, first served, while the mugs last
- Guest Services staff in yellow jackets around the base
The resort's Mountain Report lists the Roundhouse Express gondola, River Run, Frenchman's, Challenger and Flying Squirrel among Bald Mountain's lifts, but right now it shows all 12 lifts closed. The resort's opening-day page points skiers to the Sun Valley app for live trail updates and the new 2026–27 trail map.
Some things have no date yet. The Dollar Mountain page says Dollar will reopen for winter 2026–27 without giving a day. Sunny's Adventure Park, the beginner area on Dollar, returns for its second season in December. The resort's Nordic trails are still listed as closed for the season, with no posted opening date. In the meantime, the Nordic Center and Golf Pro Shop are open daily from 10am to 4pm. On the Warm Springs side, the Mountain Report says the Warm Springs Trail is closed for snowmaking upgrades and work on the World Cup finish area.
The weather matters too. The Express reported that a recent NOAA outlook gives the Sun Valley area a 41% chance of above-average temperatures for October through December and close to even odds on precipitation. Boise State Public Radio reported a strong El Niño outlook. It called southern Idaho's snowfall harder to predict and said lower elevations are more likely to get less snow and more rain. The resort's snowmaking upgrades this season cover all four Bald Mountain pumphouses. November 26 is the date on the calendar. How much terrain is open that morning depends on the weeks before it.
November Happens in the Village
With the summit not due until December, most of the month's dated events are in and around the Village. In order:
- Saturday, November 7: Pray for Snow Party, 4 to 8pm, River Run Lodge and Plaza. Vintage ski gear is encouraged. DJs Luke Ross and SID3S play, and there's a bar and a special food menu. Raffle tickets cost five cans of food or $5 apiece, with proceeds going to The Hunger Coalition, and lightly used jackets are collected for the Shoshone Project. Mammut is providing discount codes and raffle prizes, and the resort says more prizes will be announced.
- Tuesday, November 10: Sun Valley Star Party, 6 to 8pm, Pavilion Lawn. The free event celebrates the resort's Dark Sky certification and falls during the Taurid meteor shower. The resort provides telescopes, astronomers and hot cocoa, and guests bring a blanket. The resort says it is the first U.S. resort certified by DarkSky International.
- Most days: indoor skating. The indoor rink lists Monday through Saturday sessions from 11am to 12:45pm, 2 to 3:45pm and 5 to 7pm, plus Sunday sessions from noon to 2pm and 3:30 to 5:30pm. The resort recommends calling 208-622-2194 to confirm sessions and cancellations.
- Thursday, November 26: opening day at River Run in the morning, Thanksgiving dinner in the Village that evening.
The Star Party and the summit lifts are both ways of showing off the resort, but only the Star Party's date is fixed. For a household that wants a November outing with a firm date, the Pavilion Lawn on the 10th is a sure thing in a way that December lift openings aren't.
Thanksgiving Dinner After First Chair
Because opening day lands on the holiday, the resort's Thanksgiving dining runs the same day. It offers three options in the Village:
- Thanksgiving Buffet, Limelight room at the Sun Valley Inn. $105 per adult and $55 per child, plus taxes and gratuity, paid in full when you book. Reservations go through 208-622-2270. The resort's Thanksgiving page lists service from 2 to 6pm, with seatings at 2 to 2:30pm, 4 to 4:30pm and 6 to 7pm. The opening-day page advertises the buffet from 3 to 9pm. Since the two pages disagree, confirm your seating time when you call.
- Thanksgiving at Gretchen's, in the Sun Valley Lodge. A special holiday dinner, booked online through the resort's page.
- Thanksgiving at The Ram. A three-course prix fixe dinner.
The Inn's earliest seating is mid-afternoon, so a morning on the mountain and a Village dinner fit into one day without much rushing. If the opening-day terrain turns out to be limited, a shorter morning leaves even more room.
December Is When the Full Mountain Opens
The rest of the season arrives in the weeks after Thanksgiving. The Lookout Express and Christmas lifts, and with them summit access and the upper-mountain terrain, are scheduled for December. Sunny's Adventure Park on Dollar is also due in December. The resort's December Ski Free offer, two free lift tickets per night for guests at the Sun Valley Lodge or Cottages, runs November 29 through December 20, 2026. Expect more visitors in the Village and at the base areas during those weeks.
The Village's holiday events follow on the same schedule. The Tree Lighting Ceremony is December 12. Ice carving near The Ram starts at 4pm, the festivities at 5:30pm and the lighting at 6pm. The Sun Valley Holiday Market runs December 12 and 13, from 11am to 7pm on Saturday and 11am to 4pm on Sunday. The vendor list is still marked "Coming Soon."
Further out, the Stifel Sun Valley Finals of the FIS Ski World Cup return to Bald Mountain March 19 through 25, 2027. It's the second time the resort has hosted the season-ending races, after the 2025 Finals. The finish-area work behind the current Warm Springs Trail closure is part of getting ready for those races, so some of this season's construction is aimed at March, well past Thanksgiving.
For anyone planning a Nordic winter, the resort's 2026–27 passes are already on sale: an adult Nordic pass from $374, a Sun Valley and BCRD combo pass for $670, and a snowshoe-only pass for $243. Like the summit lifts, the trails don't have an opening date yet.
If a winter of first chairs on Baldy and a December walk to the tree lighting has you thinking about a place closer to the lifts or the Village, Stevenson Real Estate Group can show you which Sun Valley homes put the Village, Dollar and River Run within an easy morning's reach. Explore Sun Valley Homes.
