For those visiting the Wood River Valley this winter season, consider a different winter activity: skating! Whether you’re a complete beginner or a pro on the ice, lacing up a pair of figure or hockey skates can be a great family friendly activity. There are three rinks to choose from, from a completely free outdoor rink in Ketchum to the historic Sun Valley Ice Rink in the heart of the Sun Valley Village and the Campion Ice House in Hailey.
When Ice Hockey came to Sun Valley in 1975, the sport brought new vitality and energy to the town. With the sport came the state-of-the-art indoor ice rink, which was built next to the existing outdoor rink.
The Birth of Campion Ice House
Prior to the building of the Campion Ice House in 2015, Hailey made do each winter with a free, outdoor natural ice sheet, first at Roberta McKercher Park and then the Hailey Rodeo grounds. But the community wanted an enclosed ice arena, and thus the Campion Ice House was born, providing an affordable skating facility in Hailey as well as a home for the local Sun Valley Suns amateur ice hockey team.
In 2010, Hailey Ice was part of a general obligation bond that allowed it to lease city property at Wertheimer Park to build a new skating facility. The Lynn Campion family invested $4 million more to fully enclose the arena. It’s been a big success story over its first decade.
Facilities and Programs
The facility runs numerous events and programming, including learn-to-skate clinics, a curling league and clinics, public skate, and hockey for youth, an adult rec league, and the Suns. Skate rentals are just $5, with punch cards available. A small café inside the rink serves up a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks as well as snacks like pretzels, nachos, and more.
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The goal of the Campion Rink is to provide an indoor arena to serve organized and recreational skating programs of children and adults throughout the Upper Valley. From mid-October to mid-March, the facility will operate as a first class regional ice rink available to youth and adult programs.
Located on 14 acres at Sachem Field in West Lebanon, the Campion Rink is slightly more than one mile from downtown Hanover and 2.5 miles from West Lebanon center. In addition to the lobby and mechanical-electrical equipment areas, there are four team dressing rooms with shower/lavatory facilities and public rest rooms.
The Sun Valley Suns: A Hockey Legacy
Founded in 1975, The Sun Valley Suns are a Senior Amateur ice hockey team competing out of Sun Valley, Idaho. The Suns are proud members of the Black Diamond Hockey League (BDHL). The Suns have played 1,097 games in 49 seasons at Sun Valley Indoor Ice Rink and, for the last nine years, also at Campion Ice House in Hailey. Nearly 350 players from the US and Canada have suited up in the Suns jersey. Suns teams have traveled internationally for games and competed in national senior tournaments.
General contractor Herman Maricich estimated that the indoor rink was built between the fall of 1974 and the summer of 1975 for $450,000. Wealthy hockey enthusiast George Gund III underwrote much of the cost. Former Suns general manager Charlie Mills, who worked 34 years for the Gund family, says, “George was the major investor, and he was always there for the Suns. He loved the Suns.
Young hockey players from the hockey-mad Duluth (Minn.) community followed the lead of original Suns captain Hermie Haavik and streamed into Ketchum. “Duluth played a big part,” says original Suns player Alex Orb. Talented young hockey players came to Sun Valley not for the pay-since there wasn’t any pay to play-but because they liked the mountains and the lifestyle. Word got around.
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Suns current general manager Sean O’Grady says, “There’s humility among hockey players, a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor and self-deprecation. Nobody thinks they are better than anyone else. You try to play a role in helping the team.
Certainly, the formation of the non-profit Suns Foundation in 2004, thanks to the efforts of PGA golf pro Davis Love III, and the arrival of the Suns Alumni Association two years ago, put the franchise on sounder footing.
Burke adds, “When I got here in 1975, it worked perfectly in my life. I just loved it-it was so much fun to be here, and the hockey was some of the best in the country.
The longevity of the Suns is otherworldly. No other Senior Elite men’s hockey team in the country has lasted as long. Only St. Nick’s Hockey Club of New York City, established in 1896, is comparable, but St.
Like many early Suns alumni like Bobby Noyes, Chris Benson and Glenn Hunter, Burke has unselfishly served as a player, coach, organizer, fund-raiser and booster. He said, “We’ve had our ups and downs over 50 years. But the community embraced us from the start. And now, in 2024, it’s hard to imagine the Valley without hockey. Suns hockey has become family entertainment, and the players have become family.
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Nikolaisons played with his Latvian friend Ivars Muzis for the Tacoma Sabercats of the West Coast Hockey League, which visited Sun Valley for an exhibition game in October 1998. Nikolaisons played 13 years for the Suns, ran his own business and raised a family here. He and Muzis, who followed him to Sun Valley, are still ranked No. 1 and No.
The selfless nature of hockey players has been vital over the years. Hockey players want to play hockey, just as skiers prioritize skiing. Burke says, “There’s a passion for hockey from a young age. It’s a game with all kinds of unwritten rules and behavior toward others. You are playing because you love the game. You watch out for each other. You take care of the new guys. Nobody judges.
How strong? The Suns have played 1,097 games in 49 seasons at Sun Valley Indoor Ice Rink and, for the last nine years, also at Campion Ice House in Hailey.
But when Ice Hockey came to Sun Valley in 1975, the sport brought new vitality and energy to the town.
Our success relies on the continued support and generosity of local businesses, foundations, and individuals. There are a number of ways to participate, whether it be through volunteering and donating valuable time, money or other resources.
Imagining Ketchum and Sun Valley without skiing is impossible, especially with the 2024-25 World Cup Finals coming for the first time to Baldy in March and Sun Valley’s 90th anniversary in 2026. Skiing is the gold standard here.
It is made up of a phenomenal group of individuals who have brought ice skating to the South Valley.
Suns Attendance Over the Years
The Suns’ attendance at Campion games has steadily risen. In 2017, they drew 5,582 fans on 14 home dates. In 2018, they drew 8,183 fans on 19 home engagements, including the Black Diamond Hockey League tournament. By 2023, the Suns’ attendance was 9,181 fans in 18 home games. Last year, it was 12,137 in 19 Suns home games.
How Was Ice Hockey Invented?
Sun Valley Youth Hockey
Sun Valley Youth Hockey has significantly contributed to Campion Arena’s community economic engine. For 2024-25, nine weekend tournaments are planned from October through March-from 8-and-under (8U) through high school. The young skaters exclusively used Sun Valley Skating Center for games and practices before 2015.
Suns pioneer Alex Orb also founded Sun Valley Youth Hockey with John Weekes and Bob Cadiente in February 1977. Suns players stepped up as coaches. “We were players. None of us had coached,” Orb says. “But we wanted to learn. “I think we had 30 kids that first year,” Orb adds. “People thought we were nuts to start it because of the enthusiasm for skiing.
SVYH reached a milestone in 2023 when its boys’ high school hockey team went 42-6-4 and won eight tournaments, including the Minnesota Chipotle 1A Youth Tier 2 national championship. “Are we creating a feeder program for the Suns?
Other Ice Skating Options in Sun Valley
The Sun Valley Ice Rink
The Sun Valley Ice Rink is an iconic landmark in Sun Valley, nestled in the heart of the Sun Valley Village, behind the Sun Valley Lodge. The rink is actually two ice rinks, an outdoor and an indoor, both available for public free skate, private lessons, hockey, and home to the Sun Valley Figure Skating School. A variety of professional and Olympic skaters can often be found practicing here, preparing for Sun Valley on Ice shows, where the public are invited to view spectacular entertainment on ice put on by some of the best skaters in the world.
The outdoor rink, open year-round, is visible from the Sun Valley Lodge, which makes for the perfect opportunity to sip hot cocoa and toddies from the patio while watching figure skaters practice. Skate rentals are available at the fully equipped pro shop.
Christina Potters Outdoor Ice Rink
This ice rink is formed each winter over what is a soccer field in the summer, so make sure to give this seasonal rink-one of the largest non-refrigerated rinks in the Northwest-a visit while you can! Located at Atkinson Park, next to Hemingway Elementary in Ketchum, the Christina Potters ice rink operates roughly from Christmas to President’s Day, though this is entirely dependent on the weather, as night temperatures must be low enough for the rink to freeze. Once in operation, though, this spot is great for families and those looking for a budget-friendly activity: Ice skates, hockey skates, helmets, pucks, and sticks are all available at no charge.
The rink may not be as smooth as Zamboni’d ones, but the accessibility of this rink makes for a fun environment, full of people of all ages and abilities. Grab a cup of cocoa inside the adjacent rec center to warm up and do some great people watching!
The Campion Rink Project: A Community Effort
It didn’t just happen. The Campion Rink is their story. Their reward has been apparent during the weeks since the rink opened in December. How did it happen? Because people cared and got involved. The Campion Rink is their story. What follows tells the story of participation and contribution. Big and small. Kids and adults. Dartmouth College. Hanover and Lebanon. Generosity.
It really began when Ted Leland, Dartmouth’s athletic director, put together a meeting to address the problem created by the loss of Davis Rink. Meetings followed meetings. The need for a community rink to replace Davis was obvious but a catalyst was missing. Plans to honor the late Jim Campion with a recreation facility began shortly after his death in 1982 but didn’t materialize. Jim’s wife, Dorothy Campion-Corcoran, his brother, Ron, and their families agreed: A rink serving skating programs from all area communities would be an ideal tribute.
Support grew from Dartmouth. The Hanover Improvement Society became another key with its administrative (and subsequent financial) support of the project. And so it began. And grew. …The City of Lebanon provided rebates on an assortment of fees. Problems were identified, addressed, solved. It took the better part of two years. The campaign to raise the funds continued throughout and still hasn’t stopped. The names of the several hundred people whose financial generosity made the Campion Rink a reality are listed in this dedication program.
The rink lobby provides a nostalgic link with the past. It includes a wall constructed with brick and granite that was formerly part of Davis Rink. Built during the 1920s, Davis Rink was Dartmouth’s primary ice facility until Thompson Arena opened in 1975.
The various committees that have worked during the past three years to make The Campion Rink become a reality are recorded in this program. Through it all, though, there are a special few who deserve particular thanks. And, especially, Steve Whitman, who was late for that initial meeting in 1984. He arrived to learn he had been elected to lead the project. From the first day, Steve became the driving force in the fulfillment of a dream that has become reality - The James W.
Key Contributors and Their Efforts
- George Crowe: Gathered information on refrigeration systems, discovering the system from Davis Rink was better than most.
- Vermont Log Buildings, Trumbull-Nelson, and Whitman Press: Provided space to store equipment from Davis Rink.
- Mooney Corporation of Laconia: Construction manager, with Dennis Welcome and Ross Currier noted for their interest in the towns and kids.
- Ware & Scotco Construction (Lee Ware): Did the masonry work, including placement of bricks and granite from Davis Rink in the lobby.
- Chet Wilmot: Oversaw the refrigeration system, lending his advice, and gifting the American flag in Campion Rink.
- Jessica Davis, Karen Washburn, Sue Scull, Linda Oidtmann, Karen Roberts: Organized the Follies, variety shows that raised nearly $40,000.
- Mary Ann Holbrook, Linda Twombly, and the Crookers (Midge and Bill): Organized the Hanover skate-a-thons.
- Jack and Mary Turco: Organized the Hanover Streetfest raffles.
- Vermont Castings (Duncan Syme): Donated stoves as prizes for raffles and will provide benches for the lobby.
"Jim was so involved with the many facets of the community, not only Hanover but, even more, the larger community. This rink is a thrilling way to provide a continuity between Jim’s life and this generation and coming generations.
Jim was born on March 7, 1930 in Hanover. He received his early education in Hanover schools and graduated from Governor Dummer Academy in 1948. As a youngster he played hockey and was a speed skater. His record of public service spanned more than 20 years and included much work on behalf of young people.
Operating income is generated from user fees. John G. Roger C. David H. Brooks MacMillen, Asst.
| Rink | Location | Features | Activities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campion Ice House | Hailey | Enclosed arena | Learn-to-skate clinics, curling, public skate, youth and adult hockey |
| Sun Valley Ice Rink | Sun Valley Village | Outdoor and indoor rinks | Public skate, private lessons, hockey, figure skating |
| Christina Potters Outdoor Ice Rink | Ketchum | Seasonal outdoor rink | Free skating, hockey |