By Mike McKenna
It takes more than just hope to make a big dream come true. It takes persistence, passion and a little help along the way.
For 15 years, an impassioned group of locals shared the dream of bringing an indoor ice rink to Hailey. Thanks to their efforts and lots of support from across the community, in 2015 the Campion Ice House opened at Wertheimer Park. The rink has been nothing shy of a booming success ever since.
“It has been amazing and a great investment in our community,” said Sarah Benson, executive director for Hailey Ice, the nonprofit organization that spearheaded the dream and now manages the facility.
2026 marks the 11th season at Hailey’s “barn,” as ice rinks are sometimes called. Over a decade after opening, the rink has never been busier, with loads of both locals and visitors having fun and carving turns there all year long.
When Hailey Ice first welcomed skaters, the rink was only open for six months a year. Eventually, the seasons started lengthening and ice was open for a spell each summer. But last year, for the first time ever, there was enough interest and support to keep Hailey Ice open every month.
“It was fun to be an ice rink all year,” Sarah said. “That was new for us and super fun. The plant held up well, the ice was great and we had enough interest to keep it going.”
Well over 70,000 folks with cellphones spend time at Hailey Ice each year, according to data from places like Placer AI. The positive impacts the rink brings are as small as the smiles on the five- and six-year-old “Mini Mites” hockey players and as large as filling up local hotel and restaurant coffers (and Local Option Tax receipts) most weekends in the winter when hockey tournaments bring in hundreds of folks from far and wide to the Wood River Valley.
One of the big advantages Hailey Ice has is that it’s not weather dependent. Even if it’s not cold enough to create local outdoor rinks or the snow hasn’t shown up on the slopes, the ice in Hailey’s barn is always in great shape.
As much as Hailey Ice does a great job of supporting our tourist-based economy, it’s really a happy place for locals.
This season, roughly 300 local boys and girls will play for the Sun Valley Youth Hockey program. Well over 20 teams also play in the local B Leagues, while the big SUNS pack the rink when they host high-level senior hockey teams from across the country on nearly a dozen weekends each winter.
Curling has also caught on locally, with over 30 teams competing in two different curling seasons each winter. Figure skaters sessions and public skating are also popular, while Hailey Ice also hosts special skating sessions for students from the Wood River Valley down to Jerome and Gooding and the Magic Valley.
But all this success means they’ve run out of room. That’s why Hailey Ice is in the process of getting approval for a 6,500-square-foot addition. It will include adding things like a female athlete locker room, a couple more much-needed locker rooms and more space to store the Zambonis.
Find out more about at HaileyIce.org.