Ski Weekend at Sunday River

This past weekend, Nick and I headed up to Sunday River for the weekend and were lucky enough to stay right on the mountain - ski on/ski off.  About three hours from Boston, it is a bit further than some of the New Hampshire mountains, but not having to deal with the traffic on route 4 goes a long way.

Skiing, Snow and Sun!

Somehow, even though it was a great February weekend the mountain was so quite, and there were points where we actually were the only ones on the trail.  For me, it was a bit of a homecoming as I used to ski at Sunday River most weekends for 8 years.  Nick, however, had not been skiing for about 10 years, so this was a bit of a "welcome back to skiing" weekend for him - and he did great! (thank goodness, as I love the sport.)

The conditions were great - plenty of snow, and almost the entire mountain was open.  Add to that the lack of crowds and we really had a great experience.  The mountain is so large that you never get sick of the trails - there is always something new to explore.  On the first day we stuck to the newer area of the mountain, including Jordan Bowel and Aurora Peak where there are some solid greens and nice blues.

Locke Mountain Peak

The following day we headed over to the original part of the mountain, including Barker and Locke Mountains and Spruce peak.  While the snow was fantastic on Spruce Peak, you have to deal with one of the only two remaining slow triple chair lifts.  This weekend, though, it was well worth the slow trip up because those trails had some of the BEST snow.  The chair at Barker was actually replaced recently, so that was even better!  Of course passing over the huge jumps and Agony, the mogul trail, is always entertaining.



The Right Stuff

The mountain has changed a bit and has a bunch of new restaurants.  Rather than dealing with the crowds at the base lodges, we headed to the Jordan Grand Hotel and ate at Sliders.  It is a great open restaurant with paneled ceilings and was perfect for an afternoon bite and drink.  I had been there before and they had a great list of warm hottie totties, but for some reason they didn't have it this time around!  I was so disappointed, but the hot cocoa and Bailey's was more than delicious. 

Saturday night we went to Shipyard Brew Haus at the White Cap lodge.  The thing we learned there was that all of Shipyard's beers are delicious.  Nick is a huge fan of the Pumpkin Head that comes out each fall, but we really had not tried anything else.  The Export, the Thumper, and the light were all great.  I can't wait to buy some here.

All in all it was a great weekend and reminded me why I love ski weekends so much.  I cannot wait for another.