Sunday River: March 11, 2007 (With Pics)

[thetrailboss]

Date(s) Skied: March 11, 2007

Resort or Ski Area: Sunday River

Conditions: SC/Ice

Weather: Clouds and some wind. Temps in the 40's.

2006-2007 Report # : 40

Trip Report: Day One of our Maine Road Trip. Ms. TB is a big fan of Sunday River and was to be back for a visit. As we drove up from Vermont, we hit lots of fog. Much more than forecast. It only broke when we got to the Access Road at about 11am. We pulled into White Cap Lodge just as the sun was breaking through:



After lunch, we hit the slopes. We did a warm up down Tempest, which was soft on top and icy underneath. That quad is slow and stopped several times. So we decided to head over to Little White Cap for some turns. We had good memories of this little, out of the way place. We were not let down. Some great soft snow on Moonstruck and no crowds:





We did a couple runs with hero turns before we decided to take a spin up to White Cap. The game plan was to do a run down White Heat while it was soft. But as we rode up the quad, it looked a bit too shiny and the one or two skiers who were braving it were having a hard time. So we decided to try Obsession. It was glare ice at the top and only softened about half-way down.

The great thing about Sunday River--if the skiing is bad on one side you can go somewhere else. So we decided to try Jordan Bowl, assuming that it probably did not thaw out or that if it had, it had not re-froze. We found soft snow on South Ridge and were able to ski down a firm Sensation to the base of Aurora. It was a good choice not to take Quantum Leap...it was ice. We rode the Jordan Mountain Double over to Jordan--another slow ride, but fun because it is a two-way lift.

We did three runs in Jordan Bowl--Ms. TB's favorite area. The only runs open were Kansas (to get out) and Lollapalooza. Oz was open--somehow. The runs were glass with bumps. I could not believe that people were skiing them.

Lollapalooza had some great soft snow on the lower 2/3 and while we were there, the freeze line moved down the mountain.



Seeing that the freeze line was the upper portions of the mountains, we decided to head back and spend some time in the North Peak area. It was a good choice. Grand Rapids, 3D, Dream Maker, Absolutely, Downdraft, and Escapade offered sugar snow that was a joy to ski in. Lines were minimal. Decent terrain to play in. Absolutely had some great bumps in it that Ms. TB was able to handle, much to her surprise.

Well, we figured that the snow was probably thawing up above so we did a run over to Spruce Peak. Risky Business was aptly named--ice on top and some soft snow below, but it was treacherous.

So we did a couple more on North Peak and then skied Tourist Trap to Roadrunner to end the day.

Some ice, but some great snow. We were disappointed that we could not ski White Heat or the upper mountain stuff, but we would get to that on Tuesday....

We checked in to the Snow Cap Inn, went to The Matterhorn for supper, and enjoyed the hot tub. After, we prepared for our trip to Sugarloaf....