Sunday River 22-23

[kbroderick]

the lodging options in sugarloaf and sunday river sux. where do you all stay up there?
my kid is on spring break next week and wanted to check out the northern slopes for the 1st time with my fam.

Riverview worked well for our last race trip to Sunday River. Sugarloaf is tough; I've stayed at both the hostel in Kingfield and Hostel of Maine near the bottom of the access road, and I'd recommend the latter. It may be tough to find last-minute rooms, though, as a lot of the bed base at and near Sugarloaf is used by property owners.

Also, Sugarloaf is not in the middle of nowhere; it's a bit east of it (if you don't believe me, drive from Rangeley to Errol).

 

[KustyTheKlown]

Riverview worked well for our last race trip to Sunday River. Sugarloaf is tough; I've stayed at both the hostel in Kingfield and Hostel of Maine near the bottom of the access road, and I'd recommend the latter. It may be tough to find last-minute rooms, though, as a lot of the bed base at and near Sugarloaf is used by property owners.

Also, Sugarloaf is not in the middle of nowhere; it's a bit east of it (if you don't believe me, drive from Rangeley to Errol).

True words. Drove rangelely to rumford over height of land. Beautiful stressful drive

 

[kbroderick]

Beautiful day to wrap up consecutive lift operations (with a reopening scheduled for Saturday and Sunday). The ungroomed stuff wasn't particularly appealing first thing this morning but mostly softened nicely during the day, and the crowd was pretty limited, probably peaking around 10:30 or 11 before dropping off pretty quickly. Kansas got pretty interesting by last chair, but just about evening else

Mama bear and a couple of cubs were spotted on Ay Caramba, which was also pretty cool.

 

[2Planker]

True words. Drove rangelely to rumford over height of land. Beautiful stressful drive

Love that drive
My buddy hit a moose near the “Height of Land".
He returned to Bethel to borrow a truck and set out again, only to hit another moose right in the same area..
He was OK, BUT both vehicles were totaled

 

[bigbob]

there are a handful of places up the road to sunday river that are decent and not crazy, but usually if I ski in sunday river I stay 30 minutes away in gorham nh where there are tons of inexpensive hotels and restaurants. there are two competing chinese buffets. its a true new hampshire north country metropolis. try the rostay for lodging in bethel.

sugarloaf is the middle of goddamn nowhere. i've stayed in farmington which is not close. I've stayed in the mountain view motel which is close and not bad. i find rangely to be a much more happening place to spend the night if I am in the loaf/saddleback area.

If you want to drive in the middle of no ware, take Rt 500 across Labrador. Sugarloaf is in the middle of the megalopolis compared to that road.

 

[urungus]

He was OK, BUT both vehicles were totaled

Glad your buddy is OK. How did the mooses fare ? Could it have been the same moose ?

 

[Hawk]

The only time I have been at Height of land was on a PMC traning ride on my bike. That is some seriously hilly country that way but really beautiful and not that many cars.
I can't understand how someone hits 2 Moose. They are so rare. That is just bad luck.

 

[gladerider]

ended up staying at oxford hampton inn. was a little too far from sugarloaf but fine for sunday river.

hit sugarloaf last wednesday. weather didn't cooperate so really didn't get to check out much other than the bunny slope. not sure if i would go back unless there is a good group trip or something.
hit sunday river on thursday. weather was much warmer so i was able to check out a little bit. i would definitely go back next season. i like the mountain. they had a lot of snow left. next time i go, i probably rent one of the mountain condos near the access road.

 

[sull1102]

My wife and I have always had good luck with Airbnbs up near Sunday River. Usually after mid March there's a ton of inventory to choose from and not crazy pricing.

 

[Newpylong]

They say they're all done this weekend.

 

[chuckstah]

There's no way that Jordan was going to last another week judging by the snow pack this past weekend. If they wanted a proper May closing day on the 3rd, the only possibility looked to be Top Gun and down through the park to the Barker lift. That is deep. I don't know why they insist on Jordan now, but it's not ideal.

 

[machski]

There's no way that Jordan was going to last another week judging by the snow pack this past weekend. If they wanted a proper May closing day on the 3rd, the only possibility looked to be Top Gun and down through the park to the Barker lift. That is deep. I don't know why they insist on Jordan now, but it's not ideal.

I'll put $100 on the fact that starting (mostly, obviously not this year) and ending in Jordan is desired for their top hotel to be ski in/out as long as possible. They are dropping a lot of $$$ into that property. At least this year they are BBQ'i g on Sliders deck for food. Last year's late season food/bev offerings were weak to say the least.

 

[thebigo]

exactly, they dont have to staff a lodge and can sell slopeside rooms closing weekend. we cashed in our boyne points and stayed in jordan saturday night of closing weekend last year, they had a decent crowd with less than perfect weather if i recollect. may do it again this year, the ability to ski out the door while the wife floats in the pool makes for a good weekend.

 

[kbroderick]

There's also a nontrivial elevation advantage to Jordan. My recollection is that late spring at Barker often meant them rebuilding the approach to the lift on a nightly basis, and by 2:00 you were hoping your skis could float because the snow they'd moved the night before had turned to slushy puddles. I haven't seen the same level of issue around the Jordan lift (although I know it does get swampy when it melts out).

 

[machski]

There's also a nontrivial elevation advantage to Jordan. My recollection is that late spring at Barker often meant them rebuilding the approach to the lift on a nightly basis, and by 2:00 you were hoping your skis could float because the snow they'd moved the night before had turned to slushy puddles. I haven't seen the same level of issue around the Jordan lift (although I know it does get swampy when it melts out).

This is true, though Lolla below the hotel has terrible solar angle and gets very wet and sticky by mid morning. Still wish they would bury Eureka again, that run was always awesome in the warm sun when they did with its width.
Barker's one advantage was that they had a huge snow farm up on Rocking Chair to pull down into the basin from. I suppose they could attempt to use the igloo in Jordan if the basin needed it.

 

[bigbob]

Any intel on summer capital improvements? Will the snowmaking upgrades that were paused last summer be completed this summer?

 

[Hawk]

With the snowmaking capacity that SR has there is really no reason that they can't have the end of the season anywhere they want. Elevation has nothing to do with it. They can just pick a route or a couple of routes and blow a huge base. Sugarbush does spring fling, snow ball, Steins and Coffee run down to the valley house. They blow those trails for like a week strait a couple of times and we last until May first every year. Some years people hike Steins until June because there is so much snow. It Really not that much of a reach for SR with the capacity they have. I would do sunday punch and Right stuff for the end of the season or Monday Morning. It used to be the Heat.

 

[Newpylong]

The only reason they did Jordan first to open / last to close is because Dana wanted/wants to fluff the lift and the hotel. From an operational perspective, it does not make sense. Guests need to drive further, less parking, more snowmaking needed, no real base facilities, need to pump the water much further, etc.

From a terrain perspective Spruce would make the most sense to me but running two lifts would kinda stink, so that brings it back to Locke or Barker. The snowmaking on Barker is due for a hug but Right Stuff wouldn't be a bad choice. Slow lift aside, T2/Punch probably remains the best all-around choice though all things considered.

I will figure out what the plan is with snowmaking capital improvements if there will be any this off-season.

 

[deadheadskier]

I wonder where Locke replacement is on their road map and if the intention is a HS lift. I agree that T2 to Punch probably makes the most sense. Though Monday Morning would be a great option too. It faces the sun more and would lose snow faster than Punch, but it also can be seen by Barker Lodge deck. It's not up close like Superstar / UBar, but it's better than Punch which can't be seen at all.

One thing that makes for a great spring venue is proximity of a lodge / bar to the slope being used. That's part of what makes SS the best venue for spring skiing in the East. It's the overall atmosphere of the setup.

Jordan really makes little sense for early / late season outside of the hotel

 

[Newpylong]

Downhill capacity aside the lift profile certainly warrants a HSQ but if they wish to retain the mid-station that would prevent that. If that was the case I would say a carpet loading fixed grip quad would probably be the next best thing. It's closed mid-week anyway.

I still think White Cap/Tempest to HSQ needs to be their next replacement.