Page 41 - NSAA 2017 Fall Journal

IT’S THE MOST MAGNIFICENT bowl for stargazers, and this time several ski areas owned the
LIGHT SHOW EVER... box seats that put people a mile or two closer to the action.

In Idaho, both Sun Valley Resort and Tamarack Resort
I’m 12,000-feet atop a Rocky Mountain peak, standing were in the path of 100 percent totality. Sun Valley sold more
in total darkness where minutes ago there were clear skies and than 1,100 lift tickets at $150 each (which included special
a bright midday sun. What’s happening now—the first total eclipse viewing glasses), with four possible lift routes up Bald
solar eclipse occurring only over the US from coast to coast— Mountain. A $250 VIP pass afforded guests with brunch,
hasn’t happened for more than two centuries, and it will be including a mimosa and Bloody Mary bar at the top of the
another 28 years before it happens again. mountain. Sun Valley also live-streamed the eclipse on a
I’m not alone. Rather, I’m convened with a few hundred JumboTron at its Pavilion.
others, and we’re all wearing dorky-looking viewing glasses Meanwhile Tamarack sold out its allotment of 400 lift
trained on the remarkable transformation unfolding above us. tickets ($65 adult, $55 children ages 3 to 12) in just 48 hours.
Some are clapping, others are whispering, and still others are “We created specific load times to manage limitations of our
completely silent, their mouths agape in awe and wonderment. chairlift capacity, making sure that the guests were informed
It’s a peculiar scene but not an unexpected one. We’ve and showed up at their appropriate loading time,” said Wolfe
known for decades that this celestial moment would arrive on Ashcraft, director of base operations at Tamarack. The day
August 21. Full moons and meteor showers come and go, but included eclipse viewing glasses, a souvenir Tamarack water-
we generally only have a few chances in a lifetime to witness bottle, and a luau barbecue after the viewing.
a total solar eclipse, and this one is special because its path It was about 11:35 a.m. (MDT) when the full eclipse
remains completely in the US for the first time since 1776, shadowed portions of Wyoming. Officials at Jackson Hole
before the nation’s founding. That rarity—along with the good Mountain Resort and Teton Village reported thousands of
fortune of being in the location for prime viewing—inspired inquiries leading up to the event, and demand for access to
several ski areas to leverage the occasion on a grand scale. locations on east-facing Rendezvous Mountain was strong. Jackson
sold 800 lift tickets each for its Aerial Tram ($100 to $150) and
ur ability to predict eclipses far surpasses our Sweetwater Gondola ($50). All tickets included viewing glasses.
Ounderstanding of them. The Babylonians and the The tram tickets were sold with specific time slots, with
Chinese are reported to have been the first people to calculate 60 people per tram, and departures for the summit every 12
eclipse events as early as 2500 BC. Back then some cultures minutes. Tickets for the Sweetwater Gondola were not time-
thought eclipses were omens that brought about death and specific and only valid for one roundtrip. There was also free
destruction, while other cultures viewed them as a more public viewing area on the northeast corner of Teton Village.
positive sign from the heavens. In ancient China, solar On its website, Jackson listed four-bedroom vacation rentals for
eclipses were thought to be associated with the health and the weekend starting at $4,000 a night.
success of the emperor, and failing to predict an eclipse meant Just down the road, it was 375-acre Snow King Mountain
death to the astrologer. During an eclipse in ancient Greece, Resort that arguably held the largest-scale eclipse event.
soldiers from opposing armies are said to have laid down their Ken Rider, director of marketing and sales, said lodging
arms because they thought it was a sign from the Gods telling properties were full well in advance of the weekend, and
them to chill out. More recently eclipses have led to the overall occupancy for August—already a busy summer travel
discovery of helium and helped prove the theory of relativity. period—was trending significantly higher than previous years.
The sweet spot for observing the 2-minute and
40-second 2017 eclipse is referred to as the “path of totality,”
a 70-mile wide swath cutting across portions of 14 states
from Oregon to South Carolina. Within this path, the
moon blocks 100 percent of the sun; outside the path, only
a partial eclipse is visible. The last time a total solar eclipse
was visible across the contiguous US was in 1918. It’s a super

SUN WORSHIPERS AT MT HOOD MEADOWS
TAKE IN THE AWE-INSPIRING VIEW OF THE
FLEETING SOLAR ECLIPSE.
SUN VALLEY, ONE OF THE RESORTS LUCKY
Courtesy Mt Hood Meadows
TO HAVE BEEN IN THE PATH OF TOTALITY,
PRODUCED ITS OWN LOGO-ADORNED
ECLIPSE VIEWING GLASSES.

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