BY SOPHIA STURGEON
Each winter season, Wood River Valley residents can be seen up on Baldy, zipping down runs in the early morning and well into the late afternoon. At Galena, they’re gliding across fresh corduroy atop cross-country skis, furry pals in tow, or skinning, snowshoeing, or hiking up one of the many surrounding slopes in the crisp, morning air. Come summer, the outdoor activities only amplify those choices: mountain biking out Fox Creek, hiking up Proctor amidst the wildflowers, waterskiing at Alturas Lake, playing intermural soccer at Atkinson Park—the possibilities for physical recreation in the Wood River Valley are endless.
It’s no secret that Sun Valley is an especially active town. Most children start skiing as soon as they can walk, and begin joining ski, snowboard, and hockey teams not long afterwards. Perhaps this is the reason why, for years, so many local athletes have gone on to represent their country (and our little town) at the Olympics. This year was no exception. The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, in northern Italy, included seven Sun Valley athletes: Hilary Knight, Chase Josey, Jake Adicoff, with his guide, Peter Wolter; John Steel Hagenbuch; Ryder Sarchett; and Sammy Smith.
Starting strong, Sun Valley legend Knight led Team USA to victory on ice in Cortina. The women’s team won 2–1 in overtime versus Canada, securing them yet another gold medal. This year marked several achievements for Knight; not only was it her fifth Olympic Games, but she is also now the all-time leader in games played for the U.S. Olympic women’s team and tied the U.S. record for the most points in Olympic competition. Knight is not only a phenomenal athlete but an incredibly inspiring woman to young girls everywhere. In his third consecutive Olympics, Josey finished 11th in the snowboard halfpipes.
Adicoff, a seasoned Paralympic pro, dominated in his visually-impaired cross-country skiing events; he won gold in all four: the men’s 10km classic, 1km sprint classic, 20km freestyle, and the 4×2.5km mixed relay. For two of these events, he was guided by Peter Wolter, another Valley resident. Before guiding Adicoff, Wolter had a successful cross-country career of his own. He was an NCAA All-American at Middlebury College in Vermont. Adicoff’s 2026 Paralympic performance brought his career medals to eight overall.
Along with the Olympic veterans, there was new blood on the Olympic circuit, all of whom skied for Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation in their high school years: John Steel Hagenbuch, Ryder Sarchett, and Sammy Smith. Hagenbuch competed in the cross-country 10k interval start and the 4×7.5k relay, finishing 14th and 6th, respectively. Alpine racer Sarchett took 25th in the giant slalom. Finally, Smith took 19th in the cross-country sprint. Not only is Smith an acclaimed Nordic racer, but she also plays soccer for Stanford University’s D1 program. It’s safe to say Cortina is just the beginning for these young athletes.
Today, young girls are skating on the same rinks where Hilary Knight practiced. Current SVSEF snowboard and alpine racers are training on the same runs that Josey and Sarchett once did, along with legends of the past, including Gretchen Fraser, Christin Cooper, Muffy Davis, Picabo Street, Kaitlyn Farrington, Graham Watanabe, and many others. Cross-country newbies are learning to glide across the same Nordic trails that Adicoff, Wolter, Hagenbuch, and Smith have skied 100 times. Our small town has produced some big names, and whether it was their Olympic debut or a return, they’re showing the up-and-coming generation of athletes in the Wood River Valley that anything is possible.
