Sun Valley Stampede Day 1 Report: Sun, Snow, and Fast Skiing

Riding up the Challenger Lift at 9:01 a.m., POWDER's Ian Greenwood and I shared a look of concern.

A thick fog had settled in over Sun Valley's Warm Springs base, and a light, but persistent drizzle was accumulating on our goggle lenses.

"I'm a bit worried," Ian said as we disembarked at the Challenger mid-station. The meticulously groomed snow crunched and made a jarringly loud noise with each turn. "It definitely froze up overnight," I said unnecessarily.

As we joined the crowd of competitors at the top of the Sun Valley Stampede course, I noticed something odd. Ian and I were worried that firm conditions could derail the race, but nobody else seemed to care.

To my left, a small pocket of ski pals chit-chatted about their strategy for the never-before-seen course. To my right, a group of lady rippers was graciously applying glitter, Jessie-Diggins style, under their eyes.

In front of me, preparing to make history as the first ski racers to ever compete in the Sun Valley Stampede, were two teenage girls practically foaming at the mouth.

The first skier, who was tall but couldn't have been more than 15 years old, was donning denim overalls over a fluorescent pink hoodie. She was beaming from ear to ear and couldn't stand still. The second skier was shorter, wearing a full race suit, and was pounding her chest in what appeared to be a pre-race ritual.

Without much warning, the two skiers shook hands, placed their poles in front of the start gate, and then BOOM. Within a millisecond of the starter yelling "GO!", both teenagers began to arc beautiful GS turns.

The Sun Valley Stampede was officially underway.

Keep reading for a brief recap of Day 1 of the Sun Valley Stampede. Day 2 is taking place today, Sunday, March 15, 2026. Stay tuned for more from the Sun Valley Stampede.

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Weather/Course Conditions

It's no secret that this season has been challenging in terms of snowfall and cold temps across North America, but the inaugural Sun Valley Stampede course held up well.

The snow surface started firm in the morning, but constant fluctuations between rain, snow, and sunshine softened it up nicely. Many competitors told me that they felt "comfortable" and could trust their skis to hold an edge throughout all sections of the course.

The most interesting section of the course, by far, was the ungroomed/mogul section on Sun Valley's 'Race Arena' trail. The snowpack is low, so low in fact that many shrubs, brushes, and rocks are poking through, but according to Madison Rose Ostergren and Jim Ryan, it was "so much fun." Watching these two rip through Race Arena was a real treat.

The course softened up, but never got too soft, thanks to cloud cover and temperatures hovering in the low-40s at the base. Today, however, is expected to be much colder. That could make for challengingly firm conditions. Stay tuned!

Skis

If somebody said, "Hey (insert name here), you need to pick a pair of skis to win a race on a course that includes GS gates, a massive jump, moguls, skier-cross, and park features," what would you choose?

I still don't know how to answer that question, but it seemed like most Sun Valley Stampede racers opted for a very specific kind of ski. There were varying models and brands, of course, but most skiers seemed to be on mid-wide to narrow all-mountain skis.

Jim Ryan and Madison Rose Ostergren, both Volk athletes, opted for the Volkl Mantra 84 and 82, respectively. Connery Lundin was rocking a pair of Blizzard Rustler 9s, and Kole Harle, who made the trek down from Rossland, B.C., ripped through the course on a pair of Salomon QST 94s.

I did see plenty of floppy park and big freeride skis, and even one guy rocking a tele setup, but most skiers seemed to be sporting skis in the 80-95ish cm underfoot range.

Standings

The top two skiers in each category were awarded prizes after Day 1. Some of these skiers have qualified to compete in Day 2 against a list of invited pros, but the full list hasn't been released yet.

With that said, Sun Valley did post the active rankings heading into today's Finals. See below. Click the arrow to progress through the slides.

Day 1 Reflection

Day 1 of the Sun Valley Stampede was spectacular.

Despite adverse snowpack and weather, more than 150 skiers competed on a course that had never been skied and were judged by a scoring formula that had never been tested.

It was weird, it was a bit hectic at times, but most importantly, everybody had fun.

I'll probably have more profound thoughts after Day 2, but if it's anything like Day 1, we're all in for a treat. Yee-haw!