My first day of the season, for the third season in a row, occurred in New England. The last two years it's been at Okemo... but with the Ikon pass, I knew a few folks that were going to be at Sunday River in Maine. And since I had to be in New England for work, I was able to get up there for a day.
It's been a good season start so far, and most of the mountain was open... though it was pretty much hardpack all day. We thought it may warm up and soften, but it never really did.
I was staying with a couple of friends, and we started out just after the lifts started at 8...
Me and a couple of Ski Divas... L to R : Kiki, and Meimei (formerly known as MarzNC on EpicSki) :
We worked our way over to the west end of the resort, the Jordan area. I fell three times in the first few runs!
First days are usually tough, but this was a bit ridiculous... new footbeds and canting are partly to blame (at least that's my story and I'm sticking too it). After a few runs I started to get my legs back under me.
Morning hard groom:
Obligatory ski and sticker shot :
We hit a bunch of runs, and moved around the mountain. Sunday River kind of sprawls along the ridge and has a lot of lifts. With what was open and groomed, a lot of the runs were similar, but fun. There was occasional softer (though not really soft) stuff along the edges, and the sun peeked in and out.
Later in the morning, I hooked up with a semi-local :
@Tony S and I spent much of the rest of the day cruising around. As expected my first day, I hit a bit of a wall in the early afternoon, but a couple of short breaks and I was good to go. Skied about 26K, which is a pretty big day for me, especially for a first day. Tony kept trying to find soft-ish bumps, but it wasn't meant to be. Everything remained frozen and shaded.
We did find some sun on the lower/eastern part of the mountain later in the day. Skiing in the sun can make people happy :
For a Saturday, lift lines weren't bad, maybe 5 minutes or so, and some of the lifts were almost ski-on...
And when the sun wasn't out, you could resort to riding the gondola part of the chondola to get out of the wind/cold (first time I've ever seen a chondola in person):
And there were of course some nice views! This is looking across the resort from the eastern part:
Thanks @Tony S for coming out and showing me around.... All-in-all, it was a great start to the season! looking forward to a lot more days...
It's been a good season start so far, and most of the mountain was open... though it was pretty much hardpack all day. We thought it may warm up and soften, but it never really did.
I was staying with a couple of friends, and we started out just after the lifts started at 8...
Me and a couple of Ski Divas... L to R : Kiki, and Meimei (formerly known as MarzNC on EpicSki) :
We worked our way over to the west end of the resort, the Jordan area. I fell three times in the first few runs!
First days are usually tough, but this was a bit ridiculous... new footbeds and canting are partly to blame (at least that's my story and I'm sticking too it). After a few runs I started to get my legs back under me.Morning hard groom:
Obligatory ski and sticker shot :
We hit a bunch of runs, and moved around the mountain. Sunday River kind of sprawls along the ridge and has a lot of lifts. With what was open and groomed, a lot of the runs were similar, but fun. There was occasional softer (though not really soft) stuff along the edges, and the sun peeked in and out.
Later in the morning, I hooked up with a semi-local :
@Tony S and I spent much of the rest of the day cruising around. As expected my first day, I hit a bit of a wall in the early afternoon, but a couple of short breaks and I was good to go. Skied about 26K, which is a pretty big day for me, especially for a first day. Tony kept trying to find soft-ish bumps, but it wasn't meant to be. Everything remained frozen and shaded.
We did find some sun on the lower/eastern part of the mountain later in the day. Skiing in the sun can make people happy :
For a Saturday, lift lines weren't bad, maybe 5 minutes or so, and some of the lifts were almost ski-on...
And when the sun wasn't out, you could resort to riding the gondola part of the chondola to get out of the wind/cold (first time I've ever seen a chondola in person):
And there were of course some nice views! This is looking across the resort from the eastern part:
Thanks @Tony S for coming out and showing me around.... All-in-all, it was a great start to the season! looking forward to a lot more days...
