Sunday River

Heading to Sunday River the end of Feb for a week. Picked up ski in/out so the wife can take a break and I can ski the Mt. We have been there before for a week. Felt that there wasn't much to do apres ski so I'm looking for some suggestions. Last time we were there we rented a house (not ski in/out), went to the local bars/eating estblishments and spent a day at Wild cat and Mt Washington BC skiing. North Conway is a waste IMO unless you go just to ice climb. Going to try to head to Sugarloaf for a day, haven't been there in 30 years.

Can't help you on the Sunday River front, but can offer some suggestions for Sugarloaf--including some characteristic Sugarloaf trails--those that aren't usually found at other ski areas....

First off, K2Trav.com and http://community.sugarloaf.com/ are good resources.

Skiing: Follow the sun. Always good advice but I've found that to be especially critical at Sugarloaf. The sun basically starts over in King Pine Bowl (Haulback, Ripsaw, Misery Whip). Haulback is a nice wide groomed Super-G cruiser, and folks absolutely rip down this first thing in the AM. Usually bumped up on skiers left as well. Both Misery Whip and Ripsaw offer serious bump action with no out--once you're on those trails, you have to ride them all the way to the bottom. With Ripsaw, you can pick some lines. With Misery Whip (old T-bar line), it's one line and one line only. Drop in and hold on! If coverage is good, I'm also a huge fan of Cant Dog glade. Nice and long tree run that will challenge you. Just be sure to follow the main lines through here--the locals tend to veer skiers left and right into the cliff areas.

Off the Skyline lift: Bubblecuffer and Winters Way are signature bump trails, steep and double fall lines. Gondi Line is steep and straight, and groomed. Blade Glade is a fun tree run, a little on the short side, but a different mix of trees and about halfway down it opens up entirely into a little bowl area. You can hit Spillway trail as well here--a good high speed cruiser but not particularly unique...

Off the Superquad: Narrow Gauge is a great vertical-racking trail. Hayburner and Kings Landing (a tough blue) are also some favorites. Swedish Fiddle glade is probably my favorite on the whole mountain--it's super long and wide enough to have infinite lines through it. Plus with the 2 adjacent trails getting heavy snowmaking through the year the coverage is typically pretty good. Tote Road is the quintissential blue cruiser, though it can get crowded with families at certain points of the day. Double Bitter is another interesting trail--conditions are rarely "good"--scraped off, icy, with odd sized bumps is the norm. But those conditions with the way the trail was cut has led to skiers describing the experience as feeling like a bowling ball in the gutter.

After lunch is the time to Timberline chair and do some cruising.


For dining, The Rack is a fun spot and at one point (may still be) was owned by gold medalist snowboarder Seth Wescott. Typical bar food, but good atmosphere. If you're feeling more "adventurous", I'm a fan of the White Wolf Inn (thewhitewolfinn.com) about 10 miles up the road in Stratton. It is a local experience, but the food has generally been pretty good and after a hard day charging arguably the toughest mountain in the East (yeah, I said it)--it hits the spot. Prices very reasonable as well and portions huge. Some unique menu items too--fried fiddleheads, for example. Also recall getting a ridiculous hamburger there too--The Wolf Burger: 1/2 lb. hamburger, lettuce, tomato, onion, sautéed mushrooms, cheese, bacon, and a sausage patty. Heart attack on a plate but man was it good.

And always get a Geary's Ale when offered!

SIAWOL
Sugarloafer since 2002

I so want to ski the Loaf!