Sunday River Help

Never skied east except for several Killington runs. Driving from Columbus Ohio to East. After posting and searching the internet for a few weeks, myself and my ski buddy decided on the over 50 week at Sunday River. Price at the Summit Hotel is $550 each with lift tickets. My ski buddy is a low low intermediate. I am a high speed cruiser around L7-8 on the groomed. I wanted to go to Okemo, Sugarbush or a few others and even though it adds about 4 hard hours from Okemo I cannot turn down 1.5 hour lesson every day at SR. We wanted total groomed green and blue. We will ski several resorts on the way such as Holiday Valley and a few more.

I have been told not to stay at the Grand Hotel but with my ripe age of 67 I need a pool and a sauna or steam. I do not see any other options at SR with a pool. The other option was at the Jordan Hotel which I am told would not be good for ski in-out for my novice friend.
Any recommendations?

Can anyone give me a list of beautiful blues and greens for cruising? How about restaurants in town? Anything special at SR we should check out?

I would be in heaven on this run, Rogue Angel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJImNJRWOFE

Thanks for the help,

Fred

Lower Monday Mourning is a nice groomer off of locke mountain. American Express and risky business off of chair 8 (Spruce peak) is good as well, but can get slick if you ski it in the afternoon.

If you want a specific area, I'd stay around North peak which has some nice groomed blues

Thank you, any hotel or activities help?

I actually stayed at the Jordan Hotel right when they opened, you could still smell the paint and we were even the first people to ever use the room. It's nice, and has everything you're asking for. It can be pricey though

The jordan bowl has 2 nice groomed blues as well. Only downside is that it's at the very edge of the resort, so if it's the end of the day you'll need to traverse all the way over there.

http://www.sundayriver.com/lodging/jordan-hotel-x86

Sunday River has several traversing runs that get from one chair lift to another and are nice cruisers. Starting from Barker Mountain over to Jordan Bowl finding greens and blues is very easy.

Don't know SR all that well. Just two days there, but not too long ago. Didn't stay at either Grand Summit or Jordan Hotel. Grand Summit looks nice and I remember envying those swimming in the outdoor pool/tub there. It is set on the far lookers left edge of the trail layout near some of the steeper trails (White Heat) at SR, although I'm sure they have ways to negotiate around black diamond terrain. Jordan Hotel is on the far opposite lookers right edge of the trail layout and is next to some very good green (Lollapalooza) and blue runs IIRC. To be honest, I don't remember what Jordan Hotel looked like, but if it has what you need it may be on the better side of the mtn for access to easier terrain. There are a lot of cat-tracks and traverses that allow novices to explore the considerable layout, just a little tedious at times. There is good easy terrain in the middle of the layout served by a gondola. I thought the nicest intermediate runs were Risky Biz and American Express off Spruce Peak Triple. Mid-week in late January should be good time for modest crowds and for high percent of trails open. Could be chilly then, but that's why God invented hot tubs
I had to refer to this Google map of SR trail layout before making this post: https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&...a=X&ei=sbTzU-LzD87KsQSF6IDQBw&ved=0CCEQtgMwAg

You're going to love SR based on your likes. As to lodging, White Cap Inn is a basic and cheap alternative. Very basic. Jordan is way out of the way albeit trail side.


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jordan and grand are easy ski in/out, both have heated pools and hot tubs. jordan can get shut down/wind/iced out and is isolated from the rest of the resort.

stay at the grand summit , u can get everywhere from there, and the pool and hot tub are nice. many 50 and overs stay there so u can find a good group to ski with which will include many returnies who can show u the mountain and the eating spots in bethel

I only did SR a few days this year, over MLK weekend. But it was man-made only so I did more cruisers and groomers than any other 3 day trip I can remember. Lazy River was nice. Same with the blues off of Spruce. The only problem is that most runs are short. Each "pod" of terrain is around 1,000 feet of vertical. I stayed at the Snow Cap Inn. Cheaper than anything on-mountain. 5 minute shuttle ride to the mountain. Breakfast included. Nice outdoor hot tub too.

If I was in your shoes, I would do a tour of Southern VT. Stratton, Okemo, Mount Snow, and maybe Killington. Each mountain has a bunch of groomed blues and greens. Then if you're up to it, you've got harder stuff to play around with at Killington. Save yourself the driving time and the gas money. You'll have a lot more terrain and a lot more options for lodging. IMO, a whole week at Sunday River just for the greens and blues is too much.

Bretton Woods sounds like a good fit for you guys, too.


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This belongs in the gaper thread.

Man, the guy just wants opinions. Don't see nothin' wrong wit that.

steamboat1 said:

This belongs in the gaper thread.

Click to expand...

A guy asking for advice?

^Steamboat was just trying to be funny. It worked!


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Funny at the OP's expense. Which is probably why new members are a rarity.

Savemeasammy said:

^Steamboat was just trying to be funny. It worked!

Click to expand...

Sometimes he's funny. Other times he's a textbook troll.

EDIT: ...but this time he's right.

Been playing with this guy for a few days already.

http://www.epicski.com/t/128629/cheap-one-week-trip-into-vermont-from-ohio

Tried to help. I gave up....gaper.

Either the Grand or Jordan would be fine honestly. The lessons are going to be based out of the South Ridge base. You can get there from either the Grand or Jordan with 1 lift ride up and a traverse over via Over Easy from the Grand or Kansas / Lights Out from Jordan. The traverse over to South Ridge is significantly longer from Jordan vs. the Grand.

Sunday River has a ton of great blue cruisers. Rogue Angel and Excalibur over in Jordan are fantastic. Lollapoolaza though a green, is still a fun, long, scenic cruise. Aurora peak has Northern Lights and Airglow. Airglow is a black, but it's really not that difficult. The top is kind of steep and often windblown/icy, but you can avoid it by skiing the upper portion of Northern Lights. There's another steep section of the trail near the bottom, but overall it skis more like a Blue. Escapade and Dream Weaver are great cruisers on North Peak. Risky Business and American Express on Spruce are good.

There are lots of great cruising runs off Barker and Locke.

The key to skiing Sunday River is timing. Hit the Locke/Barker and Jordan areas early and then once the crowds fill in, move on to Aurora and Whitecap. Obsession on White Cap is listed as a Black, but it's basically a Blue and a great cruiser.

I grew up skiing Okemo and as others have said, it would be a more convenient option. That said, I prefer Sunday River these days and I think it's worth the extra drive. SR manages the crowds much better. Ludlow and Bethel are both pretty comparable quaint New England towns. Sunday River just has a lot more laid back vibe IMO and if they're offering 1.5 hours of free lessons everyday, it sounds like a real win for your buddy.

I think the choice of the Grand Summit is perfect. If there is wind issue Jordan can have you stranded. Its great to ski to and enjoy. If the weather is perfect than that is great, but all the activties will be based out our south ridge or the Grand summit I think. Easy to get at. Groomers.... Sunday punch off Barker would be fun. Monday Morning is nice, but is used allot for racing. You can take Sunday punch to cascases as well, another open wide crusing trail. Almost anything off the Chondola on the North Peak sounds like where you may want to spend some time. Escapade would be an nice run there. I ski there about 70 times a year/pretty much very weekend.. Send me a pm when it gets close to that week. That usually is in January I believe. Mid week the place is awesome. Very quiet. It is quieter than most places on weekends due to it being spread out. Skip Barker and Jordan between 10.30 and 12 on weekends. Most days you can ski on ski off several lifts on the weekend, and never a lines mid week. Have fun. You will be welcomed and treated well. There is a a Sunday River vibe that is easy to see the second you arrive.


Advice you cell phone battery will drain pretty fast in the Grand summit. Camp is great for Dinner recently redone. Many weekday specials around the hill and town.