Ski Conditions at Sunday River in mid march??

[deadmikeNY]

Hey everybody, Im planning a snowboarding bachelor party at Sunday River. From your experience, how are the conditions gonna be around March 23rd-ish?? We're coming up from NY and Id hate to drive 8 hours to have crappy conditions.

thanks

 

[Vortex]

Best time of the year. Good choice.

 

[Edd]

I don't think you can make a safer choice. See you there.

 

[deadmikeNY]

awesome, thanks guys!! I cant wait. What about things to do up there? Are there any good bars, music venues, places to eat or just hang out that you could suggest?

 

[Brn4353]

was just there last weekend! Very impressed w/ the entire experience! The place is huge w/ so many mountains to choose from, never a long wait on the lifts.
We were pretty happy w/ food/beer at Shipyard Brew pub in the white cap lodge. Really enjoyed the Sunday River Brewing company and the head of the access road. We also hit Suds Pub in Bethel...great beer selection there as well. Mountain explorer shuttle to take you essentially wherever you want to go. The owners of the B&B we stayed at highly recommended The Rooster Roadhouse, but we didn't have a chance to hit it.
Have an awesome trip!

 

[deadmikeNY]

Cool, Im really looking forward to it. Its my bachelor party. Down here in NY, EVERYONE goes to a stipclub and gets wasted, thats not really what Im into, so i figured we'd do something different and head to the mountains!!

we're staying in the really cool dome house right outside of Bethel, its only 10 minutes from sunday river. the place comes with musical instruments, which is cool (but weird) because most of us are musicians. Theres also an indoor jacuzzi, a bar and an indoor fish pond!? definately gonna be the weirdest place Ive stayed, but its perfect for me and my weird friends.

 

[Edd]

The Rooster Roadhouse is a good place; people don't mention that one enough. The Matterhorn is a great ski bar. Last year, they tuned your skis while you ate/drank. The price was $12. I don't know if they still do that.

 

[Birdman829]

Screw the River. You're already gonna have to drive about 7 hours to get there. Drive an extra hour and go to Sugarloaf. You won't be disappointed.

This isn't to say that conditions there won't be fine. That's prime season for them (despite the fact that most people seem to think skiing is over after February vacation). But it's also prime season for the Loaf and I'll take prime conditions at the Loaf over prime conditions at the River any day.

 

[Edd]

Sugarloaf is a great mountain. Sunday River is just more dependable, condition-wise. It's more spread out, with a far better lift system. Sugarloaf gets crippled when the crowds get too heavy. It's a bottleneck situation. Again, the Loaf is fun, but SR is a safer bet, with challenging terrain that is underrated.

 

[deadheadskier]

Sugarloaf is a great mountain. Sunday River is just more dependable, condition-wise. It's more spread out, with a far better lift system. Sugarloaf gets crippled when the crowds get too heavy. It's a bottleneck situation. Again, the Loaf is fun, but SR is a safer bet, with challenging terrain that is underrated.

That time of season is Sugarloaf's prime and I would venture a bet that in 9 out of 10 seasons, the ski experience at the Loaf will be better than at SR simply due to the Loaf's superior terrain, BUT Sunday River still is a very good choice and I will whole heartedly agree that Sunday River's expert terrain is COMPLETELY underated. Some of their double blacks are a joke, but trails like Shockwave, Ruby Palace, and Caramba are no joke. SR certainly can't touch Loaf's expert terrain, but what they have isn't bad at all.

 

[deadmikeNY]

Ive read great things about Sugarloaf, but since the house we rented is only minutes from sunday river, and since we're only going for 3 days, we'll probably just stay at sunday river. but who knows.

Eventually I'll get up to sugarloaf, hopefully Jay Peak too. My band took a trip up to New Hampshire last year. We loaded my recording studio into a trailer and brought it with us! We stayed at Attitash in a condo and set up shop. that was a load of fun, ride all day and record at night. being up in the mountains is really inspirational. NH was great, we hit Attitash, Cannon, Bretton Woods and Wildcat, and planned to hike to Tuckerman's Ravine, but the wind made for dangerous conditions that day. We passed Loon on our ride home, that place looked really cool, that another on my list of places to hit.

 

[Birdman829]

That time of season is Sugarloaf's prime and I would venture a bet that in 9 out of 10 seasons, the ski experience at the Loaf will be better than at SR simply due to the Loaf's superior terrain, BUT Sunday River still is a very good choice and I will whole heartedly agree that Sunday River's expert terrain is COMPLETELY underated. Some of their double blacks are a joke, but trails like Shockwave, Ruby Palace, and Caramba are no joke. SR certainly can't touch Loaf's expert terrain, but what they have isn't bad at all.

Late March the Loaf is empty. Even if it's a little crowded you just have to know how to beat them. The only time the crowds really screw you is when the winds shut down King Pine and Spillway.

That said, I didn't realize the OP had already set up the accommodations. You'll definitely have a great time at the River so enjoy your trip Mike.

 

[Brettski]

Love the river, never been to Loaf...but

There really is no nightlife at the river, and Bethel is a tiny "town"

http://www.bethelmaine.com/dining-nightlife

And all the stuff you are reading here about a pi$$ing contest..it's comparing some of the best skiing in the east to each other....Loaf has more vert...so what..the trail system is excellent...look at the trail map

http://www.sundayriver.com/trailmap.html

In any case, 7+hours is a long ride for 3 days..in any case just trade driving, and watch on 95 when you are heading back intop mass...the cops are like vultures

FYI on the way up ou pass through NH and there's a state discount liquor barn...worth the stop


Suprised you're not staying slopeside..one of the rivers best features

 

[deadmikeNY]

Love the river, never been to Loaf...but

There really is no nightlife at the river, and Bethel is a tiny "town"

http://www.bethelmaine.com/dining-nightlife

And all the stuff you are reading here about a pi$$ing contest..it's comparing some of the best skiing in the east to each other....Loaf has more vert...so what..the trail system is excellent...look at the trail map

http://www.sundayriver.com/trailmap.html

In any case, 7+hours is a long ride for 3 days..in any case just trade driving, and watch on 95 when you are heading back intop mass...the cops are like vultures

FYI on the way up ou pass through NH and there's a state discount liquor barn...worth the stop


Suprised you're not staying slopeside..one of the rivers best features

Yeah, I figured the nightlife wouldnt be crazy up there, based on my New Hampshire experience, but nightlife isnt really what Im after. I just want to have fun with my boys in the wilderness.

Im looking forward to the long ass drive. Ive been in bands for years, so being on the road has become part of me, we've driven from NY to Detroit to play 1 show, and to be honest the drive was more fun then the actual show (we took a 30' RV with 15 people, a dog and some smelly green plant). If you have the right mix of personalities in the car & some good tunes, the drive is fun in itself.

Yeah, I got a ticket in mass coming back from NH last year.... come to think of it, I dont think I ever paid it! I wasnt even going that fast, maybe 5-10mph over the limit.

and yes, we will be stopping in NH to load up on booze!!

 

[Brettski]

To bad you won't be there on the 30th when kick off the Parrothead festival at the river

http://www.sundayriver.com/eventscalendar.html

 

[Brettski]

Mike, You still going up?

Need to give us a report when you get back

 

[deadmikeNY]

Yes I am, and I cant wait!!! hopefully we'll have great conditions. I will give a full report once I return.