It was early in the season, and I got a late start on my drive.
Those two things aren’t typically a recipe for a great day on the mountain, and with limited terrain open at the beginning of December, and a two-hour drive ahead of me, there was a brief moment in which I debated even riding my snowboard at all. But logic prevailed, and so my friend Brett and I drove from Bangor to Newry, Maine to get our first few laps of the season at Sunday River Resort.
The Northeast has had a slow start to its winter so far. On December 1, just Sunday River, Sugarloaf, Killington, Cannon Mountain, and Waterville Valley Resort were open. Sunday River was the closest ski area to our final destination (Bangor isn’t home base, but iconic 90s and early aughts rock band Creed was just in town the night before), and so to Newry we went.
While expectations were low, the result left me quite happy. I did not wait in a single lift line during my entire session on Sunday. Sure, that might have been because many of the skiers and riders left for Portland or Boston before lunch, but either way, all I did was get on the chairlift, ride down, and get right back on the chairlift.
Photo: Brett Gervais
The Chondola was spinning when we parked, but after booting up in the parking lot, we found out that it was only offering scenic rides. There was no open terrain on the North Peak side of the mountain. So we headed back down to the parking lot, hopped on the shuttle bus, and got off at the bottom of the Locke Mountain Triple.
Right at the top of Upper Sunday Punch, there was a terrain park set up with a few features: a flat-down box, a kink rail, and a tube. The middle of the mountain had a whole lot of bumps, but they gave the opportunity to either pop off them, or ride through like a banked slalom. I tried treating them like side hits at first, but the first few days of the season are always a not-so-subtle reminder than I need to do more yoga, as I missed nearly every grab I attempted.
We didn’t venture over toward the Jordan Bowl side of things at all, but as of Thursday, there are six trails open for business over there: Boots On, Boots Off, Grad Avenue, Lollapalooza, Roundabout and Rogue Angel. Word of mouth said that the riding was a little bit better over there, but I cannot confirm or deny this myself.
And of course, short lift lines mean emptier parking lots. Emptier parking lots mean an easier tailgating experience after the lifts stop spinning.
Photo: Josh Sullivan
Mother Nature has been good to Sunday River since that day— the resort got 6” of fresh snowfall Wednesday into Thursday night, and snow is in the forecast nearly every day between Thursday and next Wednesday (December 11, 2024).
The Spruce Peak Triple and South Ridge Express will open for the season on Friday, which will allow for easier access out of South Ridge toward Jordan Bowl. Another 15 trails are expected to open up this weekend, including Kansas, Cyclone, State Fair, and Lazy River.