About Smiley Creek Lodge
October 1, 2021
A Letter from the Crist Family, Owners & Operators, Smiley Creek Lodge
Zach, Roger, and Reggie Crist
The Smiley Creek Lodge has a long beautiful history dating back to the 1950’s when it was originally built as a sawmill, serving the former mining town of Sawtooth City. The mill was later transformed into a roadhouse restaurant with an adjoining mobile home park. Nearly 70 years later, the Lodge maintains much of it’s original charm and it continues to serve local residents and travelers along Highway 75. Today the Lodge provides rooms, yurts, teepees, cabins, RV sites, a restaurant, mercantile, gas, snowmobile rentals and a guide service. The same spirit of discovery that once inspired Levi Smiley to establish successful mining claims in the 1870’s continues to fuel adventurers who use the Lodge today as a basecamp for daily excursions into the local backcountry.
When the Crist’s moved to Sun Valley in 1979, we immediately began to familiarize ourselves with the surrounding mountains through family outings, school trips and good friends who were equally keen to explore this incredible backyard. Skis, bikes, boats and some good hiking shoes became our preferred modes of backcountry travel. Paddling the Salmon River and it’s tributaries, backpacking in the Sawtooth’s and ski touring on Galena Pass shaped our childhood and now our children’s in Southern Idaho. Looking back, it’s clear that these formative adventures taught us a great deal of respect for these mountains and the wonderful community of people who enjoy them.
Many of those who pass through the Sawtooth Valley may only stop at the Lodge for gas, a tasty meal or a signature milkshake. Others may choose to stay overnight with a desire to explore the wild landscape around the Lodge. Our goal is to serve our guests with unique access to this extraordinary landscape, while impressing upon them the importance of preserving this experience for future visitors. For those who step out into the National Forest and Wilderness Areas, we aim to inform their decision-making process in an effort to keep them safe and to respect the land, the wildlife who depends upon it and the locals who cherish it.
On any given day, there’s a phenomenal experience to be had in the Sawtooth National Forest. Smiley Creek Lodge intends to support those adventurous souls with delicious food, thoughtful provisions, a cozy pillow and some local knowledge with a smile. Our guide staff consists of highly educated professionals with extraordinary mountain savvy. Get to know them, and if they like you, they might take you out for an adventure you will always remember.
From the Crist family and our team at the Smiley Creek Lodge, we look forward to helping you and your friends get out and about for an experience that will fill your hearts and blow your mind!
DAVID TEDESCO
DAVID TEDESCO
Founding his first software business at age 15, David Tedesco began chasing his entrepreneurial vision earlier than most. He’s never had or applied for a job, having built, invested in, or acquired every business he has been involved with over the last 25 years. Today, he is the Chief Executive Officer of Outlier, which he founded in 2005 and has grown to be one of the biggest private companies in the US. He is a polymath who blends deep interests in strategic theory, product design, engineering and finance into a creative, ever-evolving approach to business and investing.
David is an active member of the board of directors of many private and public companies and is a regular strategic advisor to numerous private equity firms. He is also a lifelong philanthropist and made giving back a core part of his professional career. Through the David Tedesco Foundation, he supports and partners with organizations focused on making positive change including the Autism Speaks, Arizona Science Center, The Nature Conservatory, Mollen Foundation for Childhood Obesity, Sun Valley Center for the Arts, the YMCA, The Safe Project, Before 16, American Red Cross and United Way.
David codifies everything into theories and is happy to discuss them with you long after you’ve lost interest. He frequently changes them yet is pretty sure they are entirely correct up until he does. He’d rather be correct and lose than wrong and win. Fortunately for him, raising four young daughters allows him to achieve this objective frequently.
David is an alumnus of Harvard Business School. He is an active pilot, pianist, photographer, cyclist, mountaineer and world traveler. He lives in Paradise Valley, Arizona and Sun Valley, Idaho with his wife and daughters.
