Sunday River - 3/2/12

Little bit of a powder day at Sunday River today, and not too crowded either. It was my first time there, so I just bounced around from peak to peak exploring. Had a good time, and my legs are so tired I can barely walk. Seems like a nice place, but I think I prefer the vibe at Sugarloaf better. I'm heading there tomorrow.

Some pics:

Well, I was going to make a Sugarloaf trip report for today, but that didn't go so well. After my best day of the season at Sunday River, I pulled into Sugarloaf this morning to find everything on wind hold. So I went into the lodge and had a nice breakfast and then sat around for three hours waiting to see if things would settle down. Finally they started to spin double runner, and a horde of people headed over there. At that point I decided to bail on it and headed home. Hopefully people got in some turns there today. Other than the wind the mountain looked to be in fine shape.

Did they really open up Flying Monkey? I thought it was much tighter than that? It has been a while so maybe I am not remembering correctly?

Flying Monkey was open. In the photo you can see a guy in a red jacket heading down. I was just traversing on Kansas and stopped to take a picture. It seemed like a pretty open glade to me, and it kind of looked like a lot of the trees at the start are dead.. Pretty much all the trails I saw were open, but not all the lifts were running since it was a Friday. The lift for Oz wasn't running, so there was all this untouched powder at the top above Kansas.

Open up, not open. I was asking if more trees have been cut sometime during the past six or seven years or so....

speden said:

Well, I was going to make a Sugarloaf trip report for today, but that didn't go so well. After my best day of the season at Sunday River, I pulled into Sugarloaf this morning to find everything on wind hold. So I went into the lodge and had a nice breakfast and then sat around for three hours waiting to see if things would settle down. Finally they started to spin double runner, and a horde of people headed over there. At that point I decided to bail on it and headed home. Hopefully people got in some turns there today. Other than the wind the mountain looked to be in fine shape.

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I feel your pain, I did the same at Whiteface Sunday. I should have taken a nap in my car, or at least slept in at my hotel. I ended up not skiing at all, on the day to ski this year. To rub salt in my wounds, I drove by MRG at three in the afternoon. The stoke was palpable from my car as I drove by. A fantastic week at both Sugarbush and MRG eased my pain, but I felt ill on Sunday.

I've only been to Sunday River once, last April. Only Barker was open, I did many laps on White Heat. It was fun with corn bumps. Shock Wave, and Agony were also good. I too prefer Sugarloaf, and though I've never been, I think I might like Saddleback even more. I did drive by it on my way home from the Loaf. The less corporate a place is eg. MRG, Plattekill, Pico, Bolton Valley, the old Jay Peak, the more comfortable I feel there.

Smuggler's Notch is an anomaly as it incorporates both in one resort with it's two separate mountains. They each have a distinct vibe. Stowe, Sugarbush, Sugarloaf, and now Jay Peak seem to cater to the more well to do of the skiing community, but all offer some of the best terrain in the NE. Maybe it's because skiing is a passion to me, not a perk of being well to do. It's my safest addiction to date....so far. Probably not the cheapest though.


It was tough leaving this, look at the frigin sky too. I believe the Slides, with avi gear, were open all week after Sunday too. I probably should have stayed and used my Sugarbush vouchers in the Spring, no regrets here however.

Sorry for your misfortune, it's all part of the game, sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. Did Sugarloaf give you a rain check, or did you not buy a lift ticket? I got one good through next season from WF.

riverc0il said:

Open up, not open. I was asking if more trees have been cut sometime during the past six or seven years or so....

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Sorry I misread your question. I guess I'm a little tired from the long drive back.

Cornhead said:

Sorry for your misfortune, it's all part of the game, sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. Did Sugarloaf give you a rain check, or did you not buy a lift ticket? I got one good through next season from WF.

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In a serious lapse of judgement, I bought Boyne season pass this year. That's probably why this winter has been so bad, to teach me a lesson. I figured I'd have a few days in at Sugarloaf by now instead of zero. Hopefully I'll get back up there before all the snow melts.

Sunday River glades are pretty much the same spacing as when they were cut...

I skied the River for the first time on Wednesday when they had the leap day special. I had fun but I prefer the Loaf. The runs are longer and it is a lot easier to get lift to lift compared to Sunday River. Saddleback is fun but the lifts are SLOW, especially the Rangely double. Can't beat the prices at Saddleback either. I would ski Sunday River more frequently but they don't offer too many deals. Saddleback always has a deal available and I don't work Wednesdays so can ski Maine Wed at the Loaf.

speden said:

.........I figured I'd have a few days in at Sugarloaf by now instead of zero. Hopefully I'll get back up there before all the snow melts.

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Facing northward gives more than a few trails longer lifespans....let's hope this quirky season brings a little more snow....everywhere.

Sunday River is a good mountain, but it skies kind of small. The 2300' advertised vert isn't really attainable in one run. It does have great variety to keep you interested.

Sorry you chose SL for Saturday. Sunday River was awesome...weird weather, but conditions were incredible, 3" on car when I woke up. Piles of bumps all over, untracked stashes everywhere from week's storms. Eureka trees were trail of day for me, just opened up yesterday. TopGun was second, piles and piles...oh my. Didn't hit flying Monkey, but Celestial was great. Blind Ambition still filled with untracked in AM, the new part was open but I didn't dare, SR left tons of crap in there when they cleared it. Getting out with kiddos in a bit...rare late start, looking like a dreamy day.

Yeah, I played Saturday wrong for sure. I guessed that SR would be soggy and rainy on Saturday and the Loaf would be mostly snow. When I looked at the forecast it didn't look like wind would be an issue at Sugarloaf, but then it was gusty at the motel when walked out in the morning, and then felt like a full on hurricane when I got to the base area. Walking through that tunnel of the Sugarloaf hotel to get to the base lodge was like a wind tunnel and almost knocked me off my feet.

On the comment of Flying Monkey looking thin, I think snow making has been taking its toll on the Oz area. Tin Woodsman/Lost Princess lost another tree this year, its almost at the point that the whole right side is tree-less. I remember a few years ago there seemed to be more.

Was up there this weekend, had a great time. Everything of value was ski-able, woods were pretty good. I was afraid of a freeze last night but today turned out pretty well. Weather on Saturday was pretty funky out at Jordan. Below Wizards Gulch it was all fog, but above it was a bluebird day.

Great photos.

I used to ski Sunday River quite a bit, but it's been 8 years since I have been there. It does look more open in those glade shots, but my memory isn't so good. Flying Monkey was always one of my favorites, but was tough to catch it on a good day.

Well that was my first trip to Sunday River, and right after skiing it I was kind of thinking this place is sort of a pain. Lots of slow fixed grip lifts, lots of boring, wide, straight trails, lots of traversing to get from one side to the other, etc.

Now that it's had a couple days to sink in, I'm thinking it was kind of neat in some ways and I'm looking forward to getting back there to check out some more trails. I skied right by "Emerald City" that morning when it was still covered in nice powder, almost headed down, and now I wish I had. I bet it's not like that very often, but I was in a hurry to get out of the west side area and try some of the other peaks. Then I didn't get back over there.

speden said:

Well that was my first trip to Sunday River, and right after skiing it I was kind of thinking this place is sort of a pain. Lots of slow fixed grip lifts, lots of boring, wide, straight trails, lots of traversing to get from one side to the other, etc.

Now that it's had a couple days to sink in, I'm thinking it was kind of neat in some ways and I'm looking forward to getting back there to check out some more trails. I skied right by "Emerald City" that morning when it was still covered in nice powder, almost headed down, and now I wish I had. I bet it's not like that very often, but I was in a hurry to get out of the west side area and try some of the other peaks. Then I didn't get back over there.

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Can be. Every morning I have to think...where to go, I hate wasting time traversing so try to stay in one general area for a 2-3 hours before changing, unlesss conditions suck. So Saturday I started in Jordan and was there til ready for a break, then spent rest of my time on Barker. Emerald City - that's the name of the trees i was referring to, forget it's a named 'glade'. Yesterday my kiddos and I hit new and old Blind Ambition, then Flying Monkey then Chutzpah. All skied awesome, Chutzpah was worth a redo w/o kiddos, I wanted to go a diff't way than them lol.

You must have taken those pictures early! The trails did not look like that by the time I got on the mtn at 10. If you can make it to the Loaf regularly, that's fantastic. Sunday River is the farthest I can drive in one day. For me, it's worth the 3+-hour drive!

Yeah, I didn't day trip to Sunday River since I wanted to be there for the opening. I don't like to day trip to places that are more than about two and a half hours away. SR is about three and a half hours drive for me, but it took almost five hours driving up on Thursday evening due to the snowy roads. I don't know the best places to stay for cheap up there, but I stayed in a little motel called The Rostay for around $80 with breakfast included. It's just about ten minutes away from the hill. They said business has been really down this season.