Date(s) Skied: March 4–5, 2006
Resort or Ski Area: Sunday River, ME
Conditions: Groomed trails had packed powder, easily carveable. Some spots scraped to scratchy ice by afternoon but corresponding nice, soft piles built up. Very windy but the snow held up well. Oz conditions were thin over ice and not pleasant.
Trip Report:
We went up Friday night to spend the weekend at Sunday River, staying in the White Cap Village (2 condo buildings and an outdoor, heated pool). We had dinner at the White Cap base lodge, which serves all variety of Shipyard on tap and had some darned good food. :beer:
Saturday was in the 20's with winds from 10-40mph and cloudy skies. The Village Loop to get us from the condo to the slopes was smooth, glassy ice under a thin cover, but fortunately still negotiable. On the slopes, the snow held up very well in the wind, and pp conditions were enjoyable. We took runs off Spruce and Barker as we made our way over to North Peak and down to Jordan Bowl (without using that @$%! traversal chairlift). Excalibur and Rogue Angel were in beautiful shape and were really a pleasure to run several times. Lollapalooza ran well, too, but was more crowded. The drawback is that the detachable quad was being run under speed, so there were significant lift lines.
We grabbed the $10 lunch buffet (soup or chili, sandwich, chips, brownie) upstairs in the loft at the Jordan Grand. It was deserted, so I think it's not very popular; however, for our group it was absolutely perfect. Then we took a last ride up and cut across Kansas to check out the top of Oz. A few trails were open; friends of mine would later try them and find them abysmal with ice. Once we got over to Lights Out, I managed to catch unintentional air as in the flat light with amber goggles I didn't even see a bump. Oops.
We went back to Barker and loved Risky Business, which was very nicely bumped up. American Express ran well also, but RB was worth several repeats before calling it a day. Of course, on the way to Roadrunner to get back to the condo, passing between the Spruce and Barker lifts at a mellow speed, I hit a rut straight on and double-ejected. That hurt my chest and knocked the wind out of me!
Dinner was Liam's down the access road. The food was excellent, reasonably priced, and they sat our group in a private area which made it the most pleasant meal we've ever had up there. I was torn, though, as we missed out on Entrain playing at the White Cap lodge. I'm sure that was a good show!
Sunday had lighter winds and was clear and sunny. PP conditions again, with only a scattering of scratchy, not smooth, icy spots. I chose to demo a pair of Rossignol B2 Bandits and found them excellent for returning to the Barker blues as well as some runs off Spruce. Upper Sunday Punch, scratchy in the middle and soft on the edges, was very reminiscent of Upper Cannon; I really liked it. Friends scoped out Right Stuff for me, and afterward I ran it, my first successful non-Wachusett black diamond trail. So I did it two more times.
We made a few more runs before heading to lunch. I stopped in at the ski shop afterward to ask about the Bandits and found a 40% off sale. In the course of about 20 minutes they had me fitted to a brand-new pair of 174cm B2's with Axial 2 (if I remember right) bindings ... about a thousand dollars worth of gear for under $500. Woo-hoo! After lunch I took these gems back out on Spruce and Barker, and they were like skiing on silk, even on Right Stuff, whose upper reach had been scraped down pretty nastily.
So I ended up running my first blacks, getting a sweet deal on new skis, and having a tremendous time up at SR. Woot! :lol:
Resort or Ski Area: Sunday River, ME
Conditions: Groomed trails had packed powder, easily carveable. Some spots scraped to scratchy ice by afternoon but corresponding nice, soft piles built up. Very windy but the snow held up well. Oz conditions were thin over ice and not pleasant.
Trip Report:
We went up Friday night to spend the weekend at Sunday River, staying in the White Cap Village (2 condo buildings and an outdoor, heated pool). We had dinner at the White Cap base lodge, which serves all variety of Shipyard on tap and had some darned good food. :beer:
Saturday was in the 20's with winds from 10-40mph and cloudy skies. The Village Loop to get us from the condo to the slopes was smooth, glassy ice under a thin cover, but fortunately still negotiable. On the slopes, the snow held up very well in the wind, and pp conditions were enjoyable. We took runs off Spruce and Barker as we made our way over to North Peak and down to Jordan Bowl (without using that @$%! traversal chairlift). Excalibur and Rogue Angel were in beautiful shape and were really a pleasure to run several times. Lollapalooza ran well, too, but was more crowded. The drawback is that the detachable quad was being run under speed, so there were significant lift lines.
We grabbed the $10 lunch buffet (soup or chili, sandwich, chips, brownie) upstairs in the loft at the Jordan Grand. It was deserted, so I think it's not very popular; however, for our group it was absolutely perfect. Then we took a last ride up and cut across Kansas to check out the top of Oz. A few trails were open; friends of mine would later try them and find them abysmal with ice. Once we got over to Lights Out, I managed to catch unintentional air as in the flat light with amber goggles I didn't even see a bump. Oops.
We went back to Barker and loved Risky Business, which was very nicely bumped up. American Express ran well also, but RB was worth several repeats before calling it a day. Of course, on the way to Roadrunner to get back to the condo, passing between the Spruce and Barker lifts at a mellow speed, I hit a rut straight on and double-ejected. That hurt my chest and knocked the wind out of me!
Dinner was Liam's down the access road. The food was excellent, reasonably priced, and they sat our group in a private area which made it the most pleasant meal we've ever had up there. I was torn, though, as we missed out on Entrain playing at the White Cap lodge. I'm sure that was a good show!
Sunday had lighter winds and was clear and sunny. PP conditions again, with only a scattering of scratchy, not smooth, icy spots. I chose to demo a pair of Rossignol B2 Bandits and found them excellent for returning to the Barker blues as well as some runs off Spruce. Upper Sunday Punch, scratchy in the middle and soft on the edges, was very reminiscent of Upper Cannon; I really liked it. Friends scoped out Right Stuff for me, and afterward I ran it, my first successful non-Wachusett black diamond trail. So I did it two more times.
We made a few more runs before heading to lunch. I stopped in at the ski shop afterward to ask about the Bandits and found a 40% off sale. In the course of about 20 minutes they had me fitted to a brand-new pair of 174cm B2's with Axial 2 (if I remember right) bindings ... about a thousand dollars worth of gear for under $500. Woo-hoo! After lunch I took these gems back out on Spruce and Barker, and they were like skiing on silk, even on Right Stuff, whose upper reach had been scraped down pretty nastily.
So I ended up running my first blacks, getting a sweet deal on new skis, and having a tremendous time up at SR. Woot! :lol:
