Sunday River Ussa u14 easterns

I had not been to Sunday River since 1997 when I got my Level 3 Cert from Psia.  Since then they added Oz and Jordan.  This place is simply Huge.  It stretches out for more than 5 miles.  They got 20 inches from Stella and with 900 acres it held up super well even with decent crowds.  There are tons of really great glades that rival Jay in their quality.  They have done a fantastic job of keeping them cleaned out and super skiable.  I sent a lot of time out in the Aurora and Jordan pods early on after the storm.  Later in the event when the SL and GS two run events were on I spent more time on Barker and Snowcap pods as it takes a long time to get out to the Jordan section and back.

SR really is well run though they have not invested as much post Otten with the exception of the Chondola.  The chairs all date from the Otten era and fur some reason don't have any foot rests.  They lost the Spruce chair last fall when the foundation collapsed.  That chair is really missed as it makes it much harder to get to Aurora and farther out since it's gone.

There was a windy day after the storm which caused some wind crust on some aspects but otherwise the trees still were skiing great on Sunday.  This really had a more out west feel than I recalled.  I enjoyed the trip a lot.  I have some really tired legs.

This is on the Max pass so it's worth heading up there maybe on a combined trip to Sugarloaf if you get a max pass.  Hit up the BBQ trailer in Bethel for take out brisket and ribs.  










That's Jordan about 5 miles away from the top of Locke

My son had a pretty good SL finishing top 30 but skied to round and safe in the SG and GS and these kids do were sending it at a high level so his season is done.  He should be proud of his accomplishments for the season

That does look western. The trees are nicely spaced and the runs look wide and sweeping following the natural contours of the mountain. Maybe Les wasn't such a bad trails/ski area layout designer? Are the trails homogeneous and boring? I like how the mountain doesn't have areas that are overly stuffed with trails piled up on top of each other or lots of traverses bisecting the fall line ski runs the way a place like Killington has.

I wonder how well they get all of that terrain covered with snow making on a warm and dry season?

raisingarizona wrote

That does look western. The trees are nicely spaced and the runs look wide and sweeping following the natural contours of the mountain. Maybe Les wasn't such a bad trails/ski area layout designer? Are the trails homogeneous and boring? I like how the mountain doesn't have areas that are overly stuffed with trails piled up on top of each other or lots of traverses bisecting the fall line ski runs the way a place like Killington has.

I wonder how well they get all of that terrain covered with snow making on a warm and dry season?

The trails fit the varied terrain and they all are pretty different except in the blue green south peak area.  Very little is straight and the he fall line is varying.  Really interesting skiing even on the blues.  I was impressed.

Nice pics and report, coach. I've been curious about that place for years but never made it up there

Thanks Coach. Congrats to little Z on his season. I skied SR probably 10 years ago and at the time it felt like a little breck with each peak holding its own nice pod of skiing. They have expanded quite a bit since then. I was thinking about trying to do easter weekend there but the schedule they have on their website takes them down to one or two pods of terrain by that point. I can't justify driving 5 hours for that when I could do stratton/okemo/killington in less than 2. Maybe next year.

Where are you going to do your spring trip? You gonna try and hit MSA?

I've heard Sunday River is top notch. I think they have very good snowmaking similar to Killington as well. Terrain looks better than Killington. Sorry if this sounds dumb, but Sunday River has several peaks right? I don't think I'm seeing the whole mountain in these pictures. How did the foundation "cave in" on the chairlift you speak of? Never heard of a chairlift foundation caving in.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/07/13/chairlift-fails-sunday-river-resort/cZjkTUeLOGn9PVf8pAmnIJ/amp.html

Thanks Brownski. Holy crap! In the picture it looks like there was a fracture in the concrete, and sections of Re-bar literally pulled out of the concrete. I would think that the lift could be put back into service fairly easily by re-pouring the top terminal foundation. The bull wheel itself looks pretty good. I wonder why this wasn't done?