Hot off campaign trail, Kerry hits slopes in Idaho

"Let me take a run or two and remember what this is about," Kerry told a dozen reporters who followed him on this, his first real rest after the grueling march toward the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination.

There were none of the usual off-the-cuff quips about Republicans, no colorful asides comparing luxurious Sun Valley to the sprawling ranch in Crawford, Texas, where President Bush relaxes. But Kerry -- in a blue parka, black ski pants, and a pair of Smith silver sunglasses -- was never far from politics yesterday, as he received hearty handshakes from Oklahomans, New Yorkers, and Europeans delighted with his campaign, as well as pro-Bush catcalls from a few skiers.

Kerry -- a skilled snowboarder and skier who has tried to project an athletic image throughout the campaign, even throwing footballs in the aisle of his campaign plane -- stayed away from most of the challenging black-diamond slopes yesterday, but the cut of his angles in the snow were sharp and agile. A Globe reporter and an ABC television producer followed him during two of his three runs, as he took the Challenger and Greyhawk ski lifts to elevations reaching 9,010 feet and stuck mostly to blue, or intermediate, trails on the way down.

Only once, on the Upper College trail, a green (or easy) course, did Kerry fall, when a member of his Secret Service detail collided with him.

Sun Valley, located beside Ketchum, Idaho, has been home for years to Kerry's wife, Teresa, who imported a 15th-century barn from England many years ago with her late husband, Senator John Heinz III, and made it their winter residence. Kerry and his wife come here together a few times a year, he said; his wife, in a red parka and black ski pants, said she was particularly fond of spring skiing and noted that her private plane, known as the Flying Squirrel, is named after her favorite trail here, which she skied yesterday.

Kerry has said for weeks that he was eager to exercise more outdoors and take a break from the cut-and-thrust of campaigning, and he appeared to revel in the snow yesterday. (He did not nurse his aching shoulder, which has a slight tear that he is scheduling surgery on, an aide said yesterday.) A few times while sitting on the slopes -- waiting for aides to arrange news camera crews at the bottom of the mountain -- Kerry leaned back into the snow and marveled at the mountain vistas. Each of the two runs included hugs and handshakes with fellow skiers. Near the top of Bald Mountain he unexpectedly met Kim Taylor, wife of singer James Taylor, and stopped buckling his boots so he could give her a warm embrace and chat. She said afterward, "He's a great skier, but he's going to be an even greater president."

Several strangers, meanwhile, piped up with their political two cents, such as one man who said, "Put Bush out."

"We're working on it," Kerry replied.

There were some hecklers, too, such as a few children who murmured, "George Bush, George Bush" when Kerry walked by. And as the senator sat down to his lunch -- a bowl of chili and a POWERade energy drink, totaling $9.10 -- a man in line for the Challenger ski lift yelled, "Hey, John, what world leader talked to you?" -- echoing Republican attacks over Kerry's refusal to identify leaders from overseas whom he said support his candidacy.

Patrick Healy can be reached at phealy@globe.com.