My wife & I love to ski. We live and work in Portland Oregon, but love Sun Valley and the Wood River Valley. Good friends recommended the Sun Valley Ski School as one of the best in the nation and we took our first lessons on Baldy in the mid 70's. The 300 days of sunshine, the snowmaking, the grooming and the improvements made by Earl Holding, have made it our favorite winter resort. The groomed corduroy with an inch of 'cheater snow' make everyone a wonderful skier, you just can't make a mistake! But as the saying goes people come to Sun Valley for the Winters but stay because of the Summers. As good as Sun Valley is in the Winter, it is even better in the Summer.

Jim Pittman purchased this house in 1979

With a name like 'The Red Neck Retreat' you know there has to be a story and there is! After way too many drinks on a ski trip to Park City in the 70's we decided we could do our own version of a 'time share.' We took a vote and Sun Valley was everybody's favorite. When we sobered up the next day it still seemed like a good idea. So 5 guys formed a partnership in 1979 with a mandatory Buy/Sell in the event of death, disability or divorce and came up with the name 'The Red Neck Retreat,' after the Jerry Jeff Walker song 'Up Against the Wall Red Neck Mother.' There is a ski sign over the garage with double black diamond's that says 'Hardcore.'

Hardcore is what we call the boys 3 day ski trip in January that has being going on since the mid 60's. It still only has two rules: One, no matter what you do the night before you are on the lift at 9 am. Two, you ski the last run of the day from top to bottom and the last guy down buys the first round of beer.

My last remaining partner died on the chairlift in Feb. 2012. He skied the bowls all day in a foot of new snow, had lunch at Seattle Ridge and died of a heart attack on the Cold Springs lift heading home. Not a bad way to go, but way too young at age 69. As a result we have decided to expand the rental beyond the handful of friends who go every year.

We choose the house out North of town because it is out of the hustle and bustle of downtown Ketchum, yet only 15 minutes from the Warm Springs and 11 minutes to the River Run lifts in the Winter. It also catches the afternoon sun.

With an easement to the Big Wood River we enjoy some of the best fly fishing in the Wood River Valley. Only a few locals know of the access to the river from our neighborhood. In the Summer when the town is packed with tourists, you are not affected. You are just 2 miles to the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, the Harriman trails for Cross Country Skiing in the Winter and Mt. Biking and Hiking in the Summer. Galena Lodge is just 17 miles North and Red Fish Lake Stanley 33 miles from there.

During the Winter we drive 11 minuets to the River Run Lodge and ride the Gondola, to the Round House, to begin our day.