Temp6
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2020
Last weekend’s bombing coastal storm was a fun one. From the initial forecasting earlier in the week to just seeing it in full force and skiing the aftermath was a classic east coast mission. Unsure of any real mountain accumulations besides Maine, we decided to gamble on Sunday River.
It wasn’t a guarantee but with a storm of that size and power, I couldn’t imagine it leaving the White Mountains and western Maine dry as it rapidly intensified off the New England coast
Luckily we drove up Friday evening just ahead of the storm. We stopped in Sturbridge Mass for some dinner and B.T’s Smokehouse, just off the highway, was perfectly delicious carb loading fuel for the days ahead. It’s highly recommended if anyone’s ever driving that coastal route north.
Saturday began an ominous, gray morning and we were able explore the lay of the land in the minimal crowds. Sunday River is a massive place with about 7-8 peaks, each with their own summit lifts and beginner through expert skiing options. It’s a little overwhelming at first but in the end we realized you can’t go wrong no matter where you pick to ski. It’s not entirely difficult to from place to place either as there are plenty of connecting trails, goat paths, and run outs to other base areas. There’s even a traverse lift that takes you to the far boundary peaks.
There are 3 lifts in the picture above and none of them lead to the same place.
Even before the storm, the snow quality was superb up there. Really nice dry, grippable corduroy and packed powder and as the storm blew in over the afternoon it only got softer.
Winter Storm Kenan really kicked into gear late afternoon into the evening and it got downright violent. There was 0 visibility whiteout conditions driving to the hotel from apres, multiple cars in snow banks off the road, howling noises and the room windows literally shaking all night long. I personally haven’t seen conditions like that in many years if ever.
The next morning was pretty much bluebird with 12-16” strewn about. I was surprised how relaxed the vibe was pulling into the lot around 7:45. No anxiety for first tracks, plenty of parking and no lines to speak of anywhere.
We quickly realized the only upper mountain lift running early was in a different base area but luckily there’s a nice easy runout down towards ro it and made our way there for some of the first tracks of the day. We didn’t catch first chair but the ungroomed sides were chock full of deep fluffy goodness.
Wind hold was definitely an issue and there were plenty of uphillers taking advantage of the untouched snow that most of us couldn’t reach. If my buddy had a splitboard I would have convinced him to strap up with me but we stuck to lift powered riding for the day.
Eventually around 9:30-10 some other upper mountain lifts opened up and we pretty much lapped the least busy chair. No wait was longer than 5 minutes which is impressive for a place that only had 3-4 of its 7 summit lifts spinning. I’m not sure if they ever even opened the really good side called Aurora Peak and the Jordan Bowl but it may have been wind scoured anyway. What we found was plenty fun and there were stashes to be found all day.
Overall I was super impressed with Sunday River. Very approachable mountain and thins the crowds out nicely. The terrain has a real nice flow and pitch to it. The trees were definitely wind loaded in most spots and looked excellent but we stuck to the main trails as great snow was abundundunt on the sides throughout so I don’t have a report on the glades.
Without my buddy’s ikon family and friends discount I would have never experienced it as day prices approach 150$ on the weekends. Maybe at least one of these corporate passes isn’t so bad after all.
It wasn’t a guarantee but with a storm of that size and power, I couldn’t imagine it leaving the White Mountains and western Maine dry as it rapidly intensified off the New England coast
Luckily we drove up Friday evening just ahead of the storm. We stopped in Sturbridge Mass for some dinner and B.T’s Smokehouse, just off the highway, was perfectly delicious carb loading fuel for the days ahead. It’s highly recommended if anyone’s ever driving that coastal route north.
Saturday began an ominous, gray morning and we were able explore the lay of the land in the minimal crowds. Sunday River is a massive place with about 7-8 peaks, each with their own summit lifts and beginner through expert skiing options. It’s a little overwhelming at first but in the end we realized you can’t go wrong no matter where you pick to ski. It’s not entirely difficult to from place to place either as there are plenty of connecting trails, goat paths, and run outs to other base areas. There’s even a traverse lift that takes you to the far boundary peaks.
There are 3 lifts in the picture above and none of them lead to the same place.
Even before the storm, the snow quality was superb up there. Really nice dry, grippable corduroy and packed powder and as the storm blew in over the afternoon it only got softer.
Winter Storm Kenan really kicked into gear late afternoon into the evening and it got downright violent. There was 0 visibility whiteout conditions driving to the hotel from apres, multiple cars in snow banks off the road, howling noises and the room windows literally shaking all night long. I personally haven’t seen conditions like that in many years if ever.
The next morning was pretty much bluebird with 12-16” strewn about. I was surprised how relaxed the vibe was pulling into the lot around 7:45. No anxiety for first tracks, plenty of parking and no lines to speak of anywhere.
We quickly realized the only upper mountain lift running early was in a different base area but luckily there’s a nice easy runout down towards ro it and made our way there for some of the first tracks of the day. We didn’t catch first chair but the ungroomed sides were chock full of deep fluffy goodness.
Wind hold was definitely an issue and there were plenty of uphillers taking advantage of the untouched snow that most of us couldn’t reach. If my buddy had a splitboard I would have convinced him to strap up with me but we stuck to lift powered riding for the day.
Eventually around 9:30-10 some other upper mountain lifts opened up and we pretty much lapped the least busy chair. No wait was longer than 5 minutes which is impressive for a place that only had 3-4 of its 7 summit lifts spinning. I’m not sure if they ever even opened the really good side called Aurora Peak and the Jordan Bowl but it may have been wind scoured anyway. What we found was plenty fun and there were stashes to be found all day.
Overall I was super impressed with Sunday River. Very approachable mountain and thins the crowds out nicely. The terrain has a real nice flow and pitch to it. The trees were definitely wind loaded in most spots and looked excellent but we stuck to the main trails as great snow was abundundunt on the sides throughout so I don’t have a report on the glades.
Without my buddy’s ikon family and friends discount I would have never experienced it as day prices approach 150$ on the weekends. Maybe at least one of these corporate passes isn’t so bad after all.
