Sunday River Ski Mania May 1 2004

[uphillklimber]

My wife and I got up early to get first tracks. (Note, Last night, they said 8 AM and 18 trails to be opened, more on the 18 trails later)

We arrived at Barker Lodge a little before 8 and got second row parking. The tail gates were down, chairs set up in the lot, folks were sunning themselves, our shorts were plenty enough. We leave more clothes in the trunk, it's gonna be hot! At the lodge, the are setting up the grills and the speakers outside.

Up to the lodge, and they are handing out free tickets. (Of course, you need the ticket as a release of liability.) We strap on the sticks, and head for the lifts. What a day!!! Nice view, blue skiies with some clouds. We take the easiest way down first. What a slush run. Watch the rocks and mud. Heavy skiing. We head right back up again and take another ride down, this time on a trail that says advanced terrain . We end up walking down about 40 feet of the trail, and after that is some pretty sweet skiing. On the way down, we see the first casualty. A young teen age boy went over a bump and came down on the ground, probably dislocated his shoulder. I take his Dad's skiis and set them in an X to warn those above. We figure we'll get one more run after that. We strip off more clothes and head back up to ski the one last run. We take it slow, like every last run. Some places have only about 10 feet wide of snow. Some clog the way down, some move out of the way.

We head to the lodge and get out of our sweaty boots. Let's see now, we have done three runs, which in Ski Mountain Parlence means nine trails. What happened to the 18 they promised? As we are hanging on the deck in the sun, we watch the days entertainment. More shirts are coming off, and a lot are wearing shorts. Some have worn ski pants, but not for long. We see some doing the halfpipe. Some were very impressive. (We're up to 10 trails now). There are some areas where you have to shoot it to make it all the way. Occasionally, there are some spectacular wipouts, often greeted with huge applause.

I head to the grills and ask how long for a burger. 1 Hour. I say, I'll be back.

Some teens are building a terrain park with the boards and a shovel (11 trails). The staff is letting everyone have fun.

I smell the burgers cooking and I head back. They tell me I can have my burger now. Good, because now I want 2!!!

After awhile, we see someone skiing down a closed trail. Yes there is some snow, and we watch this guy. He runs out of snow and hits the ground and wipes out. He is still halfway up. Then he picks himself up and continues skiing down, on the grass!!!!!! Occasionally, he gets some snow, but he rides a lot of grass. At the bottom, this very sweaty man takes a breather. He draws the biggest applause we were to hear. (This makes 14 trails)

Another has his dog with him. He walks to the top of the halfpipe. He heads down, dog running to try to keep up. He draws a nice applause. More bare backs are visible and swimsuits, too.

We see two ladies, wearing leg braces, who shouldn't be walking, but they are skiing. One poses for my camera. I'll post some pics.

After a while, we head home, not able to stay all day. But what a memory. It'll be 5-6 years before it falls on a Saturday again.

[uphillklimber]

Oops, I forgot about the pond skimming, mainly because I didn't see any.

Right now, I'm downloading the java stuff/thingy for uploading pictures.

[MtnMagic]

Reads like one heck of a super day.
_______________
Great trip report!

[Greg]

Great pics! Seeing all that snow melting makes me kinda sad this time of year...

Only seven more months...

[uphillklimber]

Yep, that melting snow was pretty sad, we actually skiied across streams of water on the melting trails.

It was a fun day, not too melancholly, as we knew going up that it was our last hurrah.

All the characters were out, dressed in Hawaiin shirts and what have you. People from other home mountains were there to shut down the mountain.

Surfers (Snowboarders) fared better than skiiers on this slush. But it was a great way to shut 'er down!!!

Imm hitting garmish germany Ausrian mountains next moth I let you know how it goes pics too

[uphillklimber]

We'd love to see some pics, having gone there last year.

Do you know if sugarbuwsh is going to have lights? i heard that theyer open untill 8. if you know please reply thnaks you

[TeleGrrrl]

Now I'm really jonesing....