Sunday River, ME: 11/10/07

riverc0il

riverc0il

New member
Day 3:

Three trails to ski including Upper Sunday Punch and T2 from Locke summit merging into Cascades to get back to the Locke Mountain Triple (mid-station load was an option to hammer the summit without hitting Cascades). Barker HSQ was also spinning but only delivering skiers to a connecting trail to Upper Sunday Punch (snowboarders everywhere, total carnage on this thin hard pack connector). Guns blowing on Upper Sunday Punch and some other trails that were not open.

Conditions were a mixed bag. Best snow was on Upper Sunday Punch with the fresh man made but skiing through snow making sucks. T2 was pretty scraped and generally raunchy. Hate to say it but it needs the groomer treatment. Mini park on Cascades which had some nice pushed around soft snow and occasional bumps on the edges. Got really scraped and crappy by the end of the day and when stuff went into the shade. Crowds not as bad as I expected (thank you Sugarloaf, Mount Snow, and Bretton for also being open) but certainly made for some tense moments of dodgems. Final pitch of Cascades was brutal.

Full Report and Photo Gallery
 
Day 3!!! I guess you caught up to my headstart for the season.

You need to post some links for those first two reports in seperate posts for future reference. :wink:

Okay, I will :-# now.
 
I posted them on AZ since opening and snow making were hot topics over there. I don't cross post reports new topics on multiple forums but I think I did post a link within another thread to day 2 on FTO. All my reports are always posted on my site if you want to bookmark or subscribe to the RSS.
 
jamesdeluxe":3f9gv43i said:
RivercOil skiing at Sunday River. Never thought I'd see the day...
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I have skied at Sunday River before. Actually, before I graduated college, I was part of the Boston Metro hordes that totally loved the place. My family used to go there about once a season for a big weekend trip and in while in College, I occasionally took a bus trip up there that was like $55 for transportation and ticket (not a bad price). I think I skied there three or four years ago on one of their super cheap days.

I rag on places like Sunday River a lot but the resort does have a lot to offer, even for the expert. Bump lift line trails such as Agony, Caramba, and Ruby Palace and all the tree stuff off Oz are honestly pretty darn fun trails. The glades are okay but need a good snow year. Is it worth dealing with the high prices, crowds, awful scraped down groomed slopes in between good runs, and the spread out nature of the trail system? Not for me but I can understand the broad based appeal.

What never made much sense to me is why people in Boston Metro (Sunday River's biggest draw and target audience) choose Sunday River over Vermont resorts that have the same drive time. Most Vermont ski areas are within three hours of Boston with some just slightly longer than three hours but not by much. Mostly highway too, unlike the River which is more than half back roads. Then again, I didn't really figure out how great northern Vermont was until I got serious about the activity. But people don't go to Sunday River for the best snow or terrain but rather a huge variety.
 
riverc0il":xnpb1itp said:
I posted them on AZ since opening and snow making were hot topics over there. I don't cross post reports new topics on multiple forums but I think I did post a link within another thread to day 2 on FTO.
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However some of us have a hard time keeping tracks with all the different ski forums, especially the high noise ratio of other forums. :wink:

You could just create a topic written Attitash or Sunday River and have a simple link inside. :wink:

riverc0il":xnpb1itp said:
All my reports are always posted on my site if you want to bookmark or subscribe to the RSS.
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I know that and you know that, but not everyone else does. 8)
 
I have never double posted reports since Southland became moribund. But I frequently post URL's of my FTO reports on Epic when relevant to the topic being discussed. admin should give me a Google-targeted ad kickback for directing Epic viewers here :wink: .

RivercOil skiing at Sunday River. Never thought I'd see the day...
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Pretty much the same as my skiing Big Bear when it's the only game in town. When I was his age, my criteria for making that trek were about what River's are now. But the timing still tended to be more like early December in SoCal.
 
The $20 ticket certainly assisted my decision. Since the food bank days were only Saturday and Sunday, I will be earning turns tomorrow rather than paying $35 for 2.5 routes which is below my threshold of value.
 
I was there Saturday morning, too. I was parked in the front row of the Barker Lodge with my three cans of food for the $20 day ticket. I bailed at 11:00 when the jillion low-skill teenagers showed up with twin tips and snowboards. The last 50 feet before the liftline was a real trip. The knuckle draggers were unknowingly risking sure death by sitting on the narrow, icy track that passes for a runout. I'm not sure it's possible but I think the Masshole factor at Sunday River in early November is worse than the NYC + Masshole factor ever was at Killington. I guess it's the overall lower skill at Sunday River combined with a very firm skiing surface. At Killington in early season, it bumps up by 10:30 and those people tend to self-select themselves off the hill.
 
The high percentage of unskilled was alarming. But thankfully the number of truly out of control was within reason. My biggest concern were all the yahoos doing 180s and landing on scraped down hard pack. Many of these skiers and riders clearly were not skilled in control and how to speed check without fully slamming on the breaks. A few times I noticed folks flying off jumps and landing 180 style with me on their back side and them not in control of their speed. The high speed with lack of skill in speed checking ability was my biggest concern. Rotary turns should stop at the torso but I noticed a lot of the park kids steer with their shoulders both in the air and on the snow. Definitely the lowest skill level crowd I have skied near in a while. Thankfully, no collisions or injuries occurred in my area but I will echo Geoff's concerns. Then again, unlike at Killington early season, I did not really see any complete newbies nor did I notice any skiers snow plowing which is very much unlike my opening weekend experiences at Killington.
 
I got what I expected and quit at 10.30 on Sunday. Upper punch got a recoat overnight and was soft.

Bumps statred to develope before CFC (cluster F--- Corner)and made it hard for the lower intermediates, which made me just do laps on T-2.

looked like Extacy could open up at anytime. I'm sure it will open today if it did not open later on sunday.

Extacy,Middle Sunday Punch, Top gun Lazy River and risky business all had guns on them all day. Look for Middle and Lower Sunday punch to come on soon to give another way to the bottom. Big mounds started to develope by mid day on them. Asc was known for blowing snow at the River. Looks like Boyne has taken that strategy and bumped it up even further. South ridge is on the plans as well to get a beginner section(relieve the multi level congestion) and tie in some condo's for ski ski off.

Why do folks go to maine instead of Vermont. Some of the Reasons are non-skiing. The vibe to begin with. No stones thrown here, but its mellow in Maine compared to some vermont places. Obviously the smaller places or less commerical can't be taken into account in my views here.
Like northern Vermont its more work to get to these places, so you get people that are willinng to drive a bit further. Ie you don't get the Loon effect of just people showing up cause its easy.

The loaf is fantastic, just alot of work to get to. I love the River cause it does have variety and trails like Vortex, gives me all the challenge I can handle. For a person with a family its nice Great shuttle service to anywhere on the mountain and bethel. Free shuttle service. A decent amount of ski on ski off lodging availbile. If you are not a weekender or a local it is hard to make a day trip from major cities. Its a destinations resort with the attmept to be more so. Some want that some don't. I'll be on my way next friday and for the next six months of Fridays.

There were crowds on Sat and Sunday, but that was the marketing angle. Get people out and talk about it. There were more ticket buyers than pass holders I would say. Most of us pass holders got a few runs in and hung out together.
The expanded terrain that will start today and they probably will be able to add a few more for next weekend... the crowds will thin out, plus tickets won't be $20. i think if you paid $20 this weekend you got $20 worth.
 
Very belatedly, and I'm not going to make this a separate full-blown TR, but I skied Sunday River with my sons for the last couple hours of the day Sunday. Sorta intended to get there a little earlier than we did (especially after seeing rivercoil's TR the night before re sketchiness in the shade) but 'twas not meant to be -- and that was OK. It was a tradeoff: We missed most of the sun but also missed the worst of the crowds.

All the snowmaking had moved to yet-to-open trails so no skiing through blowing guns. Top of Uppper Sunday Punch was groomed pretty smooth but the lower section and Cascades had a lot of big soft bumps with hardpack often in between. Only real horror show was the last pitch at the bottom of Cascades. And with subfreezing temps all day and low humidity the machine-made wasn't terribly sticky.

All in all my expectations were pretty low and they were easily exceeded. Can't ask for much more out of a ski day on Nov. 11 -- my earliest start yet.
 
This sounds quite different from my day at Mt. Snow on 11/12.

I didn't ski at Corinthia at all so I can't comment on that, but Canyon on the front face and Chute on the North Face of the summit were really good. Great snow, excellent coverage side to side. Just one or 2 thin spots on Canyon and just a few patches of scrape.

Chute was buried in snow and ungroomed. No scrape at all, all soft. Ran laps over there all day.

And other than about 17 AZ people and 10 from the Hunter crew it was pretty much empty. Granted it was a Monday, but it was Veteran's Day and the kids were off.

Best opening day for me in the past 5 years or so.
 
riverc0il":1m2fnttc said:
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What never made much sense to me is why people in Boston Metro (Sunday River's biggest draw and target audience) choose Sunday River over Vermont resorts that have the same drive time. Most Vermont ski areas are within three hours of Boston with some just slightly longer than three hours but not by much. Mostly highway too, unlike the River which is more than half back roads. Then again, I didn't really figure out how great northern Vermont was until I got serious about the activity. But people don't go to Sunday River for the best snow or terrain but rather a huge variety.
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Because you can't get there for a weekend from New York or New Jersey. :wink: And it absorbs a holiday crowd better than most areas.
 
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