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NH/ME 2018-19

marzNC

Angel Diva
I realize it's a bit early to be in pre-season mode for 2018-19, but with the Sunday River flash sale (ending 8/1) for day tickets, figured I might as well start up a general thread for NH/ME because I'm hoping to check out the area in Dec and early March.

The question I have for Sunday River is: during early season does it make a difference between Sat or Sun in terms of crowds? Or put another way, would Sun be less crowded in general on weekends?

Normally I would avoid a resort like SR on weekends, but I'm thinking that it would be easier to meet up with other Divas on a Sat or a Sun. Hoping that by mid-Dec some terrain would be open that I haven't had a chance to check out yet. My other ski days at SR were in early Dec right after Thanksgiving.

@MissySki ? @lisamamot ?
 

MsWax

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I've never been to SR, but Sundays are always less crowded than Saturdays at every mountain I've ever skied at!
 

tinymoose

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I'm of no help with regards to SR, but are you going to Sugarloaf too? I loved that mountain. Which it was closer.
 

alison wong

Angel Diva
I realized SouthWest has flights from D.C. to Portland, Maine, now I am tempted.:becky:
How much terrain will likely be opened in mid Dec at SR, based on past years stats? What will the trail condition be like? icy / hard packed / slushy ?

I can fly out on Friday night after work, ski Sat.and Sun (Dec 15 and 16), back home on Monday morning.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
I'm of no help with regards to SR, but are you going to Sugarloaf too? I loved that mountain. Which it was closer.
Would like to check out Sugarloaf, but the extra driving makes it a little harder to make a commitment much in advance. Ironically, I don't really want to be driving during a snowstorm when the skiing would be better. My southern minivan would never make it and I'm not sure it's worth renting an SUV for northeast skiing. More likely to try to get to Sugarloaf in March than December.

For skiing in NH or ME, I just want to ski for a day or two to get a feel for places I've been reading about for a while. I call it "tourist skiing" where the name of the game is wander all over the lodge(s) and ride all open lifts, including the beginner lifts. Sometimes there are good views of the rest of the mountain from a beginner lift.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
I realized SouthWest has flights from D.C. to Portland, Maine, now I am tempted.:becky:
How much terrain will likely be opened in mid Dec at SR, based on past years stats? What will the trail condition be like? icy / hard packed / slushy ?

I can fly out on Friday night after work, ski Sat.and Sun (Dec 15 and 16), back home on Monday morning.
Weather history in past years is much that helpful for early season conditions. All it takes is one snowstorm the day before you arrive or a sudden warm up to change the situation drastically. With New England weather forecasts, don't really know until 2-3 days before because the situation can change very quickly that close to a coastline.

Sunday River has very good snowmaking coverage. If it's cold enough by Thanksgiving, there can be plenty of open terrain for a couple days mid-December. But at the same time, skiing in the rain is also not too surprising. That's what happened on Dec. 6, 2014 when there was a Diva meetup at SR. I'd had good fun the day before when skiing solo checking out SR for the first time. I think three peaks were open. On Sat, it was good in the morning then started snowing but soon turned to rain. We called it a day at lunch time. I'm think that by going a week later, might have better luck.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Now that Boyne Resorts owns Sunday River, they are moving ahead with major snowmaking infrastructure upgrades. Phase I is in progress and should be noticeable during the early season. The upgrade plan will take a few years to fully implement.

https://sundayriver.blog/2018/07/20/taking-the-first-step-toward-doubling-snowmaking/

"This summer, Sunday River is taking the first step toward doubling the resort’s snowmaking capability. You read that right — doubling our snowmaking.

We’re replacing the pipeline that feeds water from the Sunday River up to our snowmaking pump house at the base of Barker Mountain with nearly two miles of newly-engineered ductile iron high-pressure pipe. This new pipe will give us the ability to push significantly more water into our snowmaking system.

With the new pipeline in place as the first phase of our snowmaking expansion, we’re also adding a new 600-horsepower pump at the river. The new pump will give us a 15% boost in snowmaking capacity for the 2018-19 season. We expect the project to be completed by the end of the summer — in plenty of time for our annual snowmaking test and getting prepped for early season skiing and riding.
. . ."
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Another flash sale Sept. 4-6 for Sunday River for the new The Threedom Pass (TM) for $209. Then $219 until Oct. 8. Will be available after the season starts for $279. Slightly less for teens and seniors 65+.

Boyne Resorts is certainly experimenting this season. Sunday River, Sugarloaf, and Loon were separated on the Ikon last week so 7/5 days for each instead of 7/5 combined. SR and Loon were already pretty busy on weekends.

Screen Shot 2018-09-04 at 11.45.33 PM.png
 

diymom

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
That would have been tempting if they hadn't just separated out the NE destinations for more days on the Ikon
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
That would have been tempting if they hadn't just separated out the NE destinations for more days on the Ikon
Presumably the Threedom Pass is designed to encourage folks to check out SR even though the drive is a little longer than for other ski areas people drive to from Boston/RI with relatively inexpensive season passes. While the Ikon is great for people planning a trip out west or can count on skiing >25 days in the northeast, still a pretty big commitment. Especially for a family, or young adults getting started in their careers with limited vacation time. Allows for chasing a snowstorm in a way that Liftopia doesn't. SR gets the benefit of money before the snowmaking and snowstorms start up. Seems like a win-win idea.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Bretton Woods is offering an early season deal for $22. Have to ski before Dec. 15.

Anyone know how early Bretton Woods usually opens?

Screen Shot 2018-09-07 at 8.30.44 AM.png
 

MsWax

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
The gondola is more about summer weddings than it is about moving winter skiers, but as BW has a lot of "fair weather skiers" it may help to decrease some of the lines on those really busy days.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
With fall colors in progress, guess the first snowfall in NH and ME can't be far behind. Any one have a local season pass for skiing in NH or ME? Or the Ikon pass with the intention of using it at the Boyne resorts?
 

MsWax

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
We have the White Mountain Superpass (Bretton Woods, Cannon, Waterville, and Cranmore). Last year we spent about 60% of the time at Cannon, 30-35% at Bretton Woods, and then a few days at Waterville. We never made it to Cranmore...

It's a pricey pass, buy my youngest is still only $50 for the season, so that helps. It will hurt more next year when he's 6.
 

liquidfeet

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Bretton Woods is offering an early season deal for $22. Have to ski before Dec. 15. Anyone know how early Bretton Woods usually opens? ... View attachment 9323 ... I get the impression that the new gondola at Bretton Woods is supposed to be finished for the 2018-19 season....Even if it's not quite done by Dec. 14, I'll get to see where it's located.

I was just up at Bretton Woods, where I'll be teaching this upcoming season. The gondola will be done when they open the mountain for skiing; it's almost done now. It will definitely be used during ski season to deliver skiers to the summit. In the past it took two lift rides to get to the higher summit; the gondola will make that a shorter ride.

With the gondola in the game, there will be three lifts within walking distance from the lodge that get skiers to blue terrain, plus a beginner lift to beginner terrain. I'm guessing that weekend lines should be shorter. On weekdays there are no lines.

BWoods usually opens before Thanksgiving. They blow a ton of snow on grassy (not rocky) slopes, so it doesn't take them many cold nights to get terrain open. They offer those early December cheap tickets every year, for a limited time, just to get people there before Christmas vacation. I'm not sure you can still buy those tickets, but if they are still available, it's well worth it. But of course it's a gamble on how much terrain will be open before Dec 15.

If you are interested in views, Bretton Woods, when it's fully open, has them. You can look down on the Mt. Washington Hotel from its summit; that's a rush. Wildcat has great views from its summit; you can maybe just barely see skiers hiking up Tuckerman Ravine on a clear day. Cannon, from its summit, gives heart-stopping views of Mt. Lafayette across Franconia Notch -- whenever it's not socked in with fog.

As a rule, Sundays are less populated at all New England mountains.
 
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MissySki

Angel Diva
"Patiently" waiting for my Ikon pass to come in. Will definitely be using it at the Boyne Resorts as well as others this season! :smile: Sunday River tries to open by Halloween each year if at all possible, we'll see!
 

elemmac

Angel Diva
The question I have for Sunday River is: during early season does it make a difference between Sat or Sun in terms of crowds? Or put another way, would Sun be less crowded in general on weekends?

In the past, Sundays have been less crowded. However, they did introduce a new pass this year, the "Bronze Plus"...the Bronze is weekdays only, and the Bronze Plus adds Sundays to the mix. It'll be interesting to see if the addition of that pass adds to the skier crowds on Sundays. I hope not ::fingers crossed::
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
"Patiently" waiting for my Ikon pass to come in. Will definitely be using it at the Boyne Resorts as well as others this season! :smile: Sunday River tries to open by Halloween each year if at all possible, we'll see!
I went for the Ikon Base when I knew I was going to get in two ski safaris in the northeast this winter. Will breakeven using Ikon out west so that makes any day with Ikon in VT/NH/ME more or less free. I can't do 5 days at each Boyne Resort in the NE but that was certainly nice when Loon, Sunday River, and Sugarloaf were split out. Hoping to get to Sugarloaf to take a look around.

Remember that Divas are meeting up at Sunday River in mid-December. Details in the Meet On The Hill thread.
 

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