Sunday River 03-01-08 out of bounds skiing

[loafer89]

Area skied: Sunday River, Maine.

Date skied: March 1st, 2008 from 8:15am - 4:00pm

Surface conditions: Powder (8-10"), cut up powder, limited hardpack.

Weather: snow at 8:15am and 16F, flurries/light snow and 28F at 4:00pm

Warren and I started our day in our usual spot at Jordan Bowl with a moderate snow fallng and about 5" on the ground since late last night. Our first run was down a powder filled Lalopalloza into Blind Ambition. Next was a traverse to Flying monkey which had the best snow out of any of the glades that we would ski today.

We skied Tin Woodsman which was a first time run for my son and the powder was deep, but the hardpacked and ice underneath made the moguls a bit tricky and it was easy to slide out of control on the front side of a mogul even with deep powder.

We made our way over to Aurora Peak and I was suprised to see Sunday River making snow on Upper Airglow even during a snowstorm. Warren and I skied Celestial which had nice powder but with the same pesky hardpackedsnow underneath as Tin Woodsman and this was the case in almost every glade or natural snow trail.

We skied Northern Exposure on North Peak for the first time and the trail had the most cover that I have ever seen on it with hardly any rocks or bare spots showing. Enchanted Forest Glade had very little hardpack and was fun to ski and we continued into a "unmarked Glade" on the other side of Absolutely. Snow cover is so deep (3-4') that you can basically ski anywhere out of bounds so long as you know where you are going.

Northern Exposure:




We skied Last Tango all the way to the bottom including the ravine and skied Upercut for the first time to Locke Line which had alot of powder as well as hardpack thrown in here and there.

Making our way back torwards Jordan Bowl we skied 3-D which had almost no ice and lots of powder as did Dreammaker. We skied Celestial again and it was more srcraped off and not as fun as our first run in the morning. We skied back to the Grand Jordan Express and skied back to flying monkey which was still in great shape.

While skiing torwards Flying Monkey I noticed some tracks disappearing into the woods off of Kansas and after some diliberation Warren and I decided to take a run down this unmarked area of OZ. The enterance is very narrow and I had to side step down certain portions of the run, but it opened up to some delicious and deep powder for a while before we came back to civilization on I Carabamba.

Unmarked:



Unmarked 2:





It was fun but a little dangerous to be skiing on an unmarked run especially if we got hurt, but the ice free snow was worth the risk for my son and I and he wants to ski it again tomorrow.

[snowmonster]

Great trip report and pics. I was there yesterday and spent most of the day in the woods. If you were in a red jacket, I think I saw you and your son ducking into some woods. Anyway, the fun part about all the pow yesterday is that it opened all these lines which I thought were not skiable -- rocks were buried, slots between trees were filled and snowmaking equipment disappeared. I had my face smacked by so many twigs, I thought I would have some scratches to show off at work (none). I did a lot of variations by going to the sides of Last Tango, Flying Monkey, Celestial, Blind Ambition and Wizard's Gulch. There was so much untracked pow in there at the end of the day that I was considering skiing until the lights went out (not a good idea).

You're right about that unmarked glade near Enchanted Forest. It was pretty deep in spots -- boot to knee deep. I hope to meet you and Warren soon. If you're at Sunday River soon, come by the second floor lounge at Barker. BobR, thaller and a few AZers meet up at 1130. They call it beer-thirty but it's actually a pretty tame affair.

Think more snow!

[Bob R]

I saw Loafer89 on Sat in Jordan with Warren. I saw snowmonster apres ski. I had 9 days of fantastic turns. two solids big powder days.

[MichaelJ]

I was there all weekend as well, and my Saturday sounded like yours: Flying Monkey, Wizards Gulch, and all of Oz. Well, okay, not Ruby Palace. The constant snowfall all day did so much to keep things fresh in there, even with the hard under-pack, it was just a joy. It was hard to quit at the end of the day!

I don't think I saw you, but I think I know where you were - those woods did look beautiful, I'm glad you got to track them!

I didn't try to meet up with anyone since I was up there with my sweetie and even though we would spend a bunch of time apart, I didn't know when that was going to be...

[Bob R]

Sorry I did not see you Michael.

[MichaelJ]

Me, too. I wanted to accomodate her, though, since that week I spent away in Utah during Valentine's Day. However, we'll be back up there since she put a deposit on her first pair of skis and now gosh, we have to go pick them up! Next weekend or after, and I'll post that one.

[Bob R]

I'll be there. Love to see ya. There are quite a few cross posters fom the SR crew on this board.

[MonkeyBrook]

Snowmonster, nice seeing you at Apres. Still laughing about some of the comments made by your guests...funny stuff. See you next time you are up.

Also, great shot of the OB at SR.

[loafer89]

Originally Posted by snowmonster

Great trip report and pics. I was there yesterday and spent most of the day in the woods. If you were in a red jacket, I think I saw you and your son ducking into some woods. Anyway, the fun part about all the pow yesterday is that it opened all these lines which I thought were not skiable -- rocks were buried, slots between trees were filled and snowmaking equipment disappeared. I had my face smacked by so many twigs, I thought I would have some scratches to show off at work (none). I did a lot of variations by going to the sides of Last Tango, Flying Monkey, Celestial, Blind Ambition and Wizard's Gulch. There was so much untracked pow in there at the end of the day that I was considering skiing until the lights went out (not a good idea).

You're right about that unmarked glade near Enchanted Forest. It was pretty deep in spots -- boot to knee deep. I hope to meet you and Warren soon. If you're at Sunday River soon, come by the second floor lounge at Barker. BobR, thaller and a few AZers meet up at 1130. They call it beer-thirty but it's actually a pretty tame affair.

Think more snow!

Yes, I was wearing a red jacket and if you saw me chasing after a child headed for the woods, that was my son and I. Thanks for the invitation, I probably will not get back up to Sunday River before Easter, but I look forward to the chance to meet you.