November 19, 2008 E-MAIL PRINT

Sunday River: Runs through it

by Dave Irons/

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When Mike Thurston, one of Sunday River’s original founders, was asked if he and his partners had envisioned today’s ski resort, he responded, “Not in our wildest dreams.”

What Thurston and a small group had envisioned was a modest ski area that would provide a place for locals to ski and bring a little more business to the Bethel area in western Maine. And that’s what they operated for the first decade, a good ski hill with a nice variety of intermediate and novice runs, with a few steep pitches. Three T-bars provided uphill transportation. In 1971 the area got its first chairlift, but it continued to struggle. In 1972 the area was sold to the Sherburne Corp., parent of giant Killington.

Killington assigned Les Otten as assistant manager in a move that would result in his buying the resort in 1980. From then on the growth was explosive, as Sunday River went from 32,000 skier visits in the 1979-80 season to nearly 600,000 by the mid-1990s. Today, the resort sprawls over eight mountain peaks, anchored by hotels on each end with three base lodges, a mountaintop lodge, a ski dorm and thousands of beds in slopeside condos.

Although the total vertical drop from the highest point to the lowest is 2,000 feet, most of the lifts and runs are in the 1,200 to 1,500 vertical range. The runs offer something for every ability level, from steep shots such as White Heat to the gentle boulevard of Dream Maker off North Peak and everything in between.

How a skier hits the mountain depends on where the skier is staying. Day skiers can choose from three base lodges: White Cap, Barker and South Ridge, the main base complex. Overnight guests can enter the trail network directly from their lodging or by shuttle to one of the base lodges. Most of the on-mountain lodging is ski-in, ski-out, either from the Grand Summit Hotel at the east end of the resort or the Jordan Grand Summit on the west end. Trailside condominiums have direct access in a number of locations, most accessing trails down to South Ridge or White Cap.

The runs off North Peak are popular in the early morning as they catch the sun, and Dream Maker is the perfect warmup for novices and intermediates along with better skiers and snowboarders who like an easy start to the day. In the past it required at least two lifts to reach, but this year, a new chondola (six passenger chairs and eight passenger gondolas riding the same cable) will carry skiers directly to North Peak, where they have several choices. One is a stop at the North Peak Lodge for hot chocolate. From this point skiers can head for Spruce Peak, ski the runs off North Peak or drop over the back to Aurora, with the option of continuing west to Oz and Jordan Bowl.

With eight peaks to consider, Sunday River snowboarders and skiers can choose to focus on the runs off a single peak or explore the entire range. Those with a preference for steeps can challenge themselves on the double blacks off White Cap, Top Gun and Right Stuff off Barker Mountain, or concentrate on the glades and steep pitches on Oz. In between, there are plenty of other glades and steeps, but every lift also accesses an intermediate run. Sunday River’s snowmaking and grooming are legendary, and conditions are forgiving.

Sunday River also has embraced the park and pipe scene. There are several terrain parks throughout the resort, with ever-changing elements. The parks are broken down by ability, so novices can ease into features while advanced snow warriors can be challenged. A superpipe allows the freestyle set to go high above those steep walls.

A popular way to spend a day of skiing in the Alps is the Ski Safari, where skiers are delivered by bus or van in the morning to the far end of a range and ski their way back via a series of runs and lifts, with a stop for lunch in a mountainside hut. Sunday River’s version might be starting at White Cap base. A short, easy run of Lift 11 gets the muscles warmed up. Choose Lift 10 for the challenge of White Heat or Obsession or take Lift 9 up to a point on Lower Cascades to access either the Locke Mountain triple or the Barker quad.

After a run or two off these lifts, follow Lazy River to the base of Spruce Peak. A run on Risky Business can be followed by a run part way down American Express to cut over to North Peak where skiers can drop off the back side to Aurora. Grab a run or two there, then slip over to Oz for a black diamond challenge before heading for some wide-open cruising on Excalibur. Swing wide to the western limits of the resort for an easy run down Lollapalooza to the Grand Jordan Hotel and lunch at Sliders to complete the safari.

Those who haven’t worn out their ski legs can ski their way back after lunch or hop on a shuttle back to South Ridge and shuttles or lifts and trails back to the original starting point. Skiers staying at the Jordan Grand can reverse the trip with lunch at the Foggy Goggle at South Ridge or the Shipyard Brew Haus at White Cap base. With all those trails and lifts off all those peaks, these explorations can be repeated daily for a week, skiing a different series of runs each day. And no matter how remote from the base some of the peaks are, they all have snowmaking, and the groomers assure conditions that any level of skier can enjoy. The entire trip can be made on green runs, blue squares or black diamonds, keeping everyone’s interest.

At day’s end, après skiers can be found at lounges in both hotels, the Shipyard, Foggy Goggle and upstairs over Barker Base Lodge. Others find their way to the Well at the Phoenix, just below the South Ridge parking lot. More move off the mountain to the Matterhorn or Liam’s on Sunday River Road and on into Bethel.  

The modest ski area started by a handful of local businessmen to bring a little winter activity to the town is now a giant, and Bethel and the surrounding area bustles from mid-December to mid-April. Now under the management of Michigan-based Boyne resorts, Sunday River will continue to grow.

Dave Irons, a member of the Maine Ski Hall of Fame, is working on a book about Sunday River for the resort’s 50th anniversary next season.

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