Sunday River Lift Ticket Deals

skiied ny weekend. snow was great. lots of terrain and no lines. stayed at brookside. outdoor pool was great. foggy goggle has amazing food and the nicest servers. the sr ticket agent was nice enough to refer.me.to the liftopia site for cheap tix. love this resort and cant wait to get back. and i drive all the way from phil!

I consider myself an "Early Intermediate". I skied 12/24-25/11, this past weekend and, considering the paucity of snow currently in New England, I give credit to Sunday River for having some natural snow but also for cranking-up the snow-making! I skied South Ridge, drilling to improve my form on the various green runs, then using the Chondola to ski on the larger blue runs, as well. The lifts speeds were fine, and the lines moved well. The staff are VERY friendly and helpful. I skied at "SR" last season -- with the NE's awesome snowfall -- and enjoyed the experience then, as well. I plan to ski SR again, this season, and recommend taking various lifts to access trails spread over the multiple slopes. Also, eating a later lunch will reduce the "zoo-i-ness" in the restaurants, to some extent. If you've never skied SR, then I recommend you go -- unless you've been spoiled by skiing huge lines on giant mountains with "blower, cold-smoke powder" you're whole life. The packed powder and modest powder are fun to ski on, at SR!

Saturday, March 26th was pretty good, if not windy. Trails groomed nicely with icy patches where you would expect them. Not exactly spring skiing conditions but that was not a negative! Sunday we saw half the mountain closed to wind holds but got some good runs on Aurora peak (before that closed) and then finished out the day early on Spruce. Cold and windy for our last weekend of the season but not a wash by any stretch.

The sure sign of Spring at Sunday River this past week was not the announcement of next year’s season ticket price, it was not the bright sun in a clear blue sky, it was not the sighting of nesting robins, no, it was the sight of four dudes from Lewiston High School Sports Club getting off the lift at the top of Sunday River’s Barker Mountain in shorts, boots, gloves, and nothing else. It’s a long ride up, but these bare-chested boys showed no sign of chill. Despite the fact that in your backyard snow is going through major meltdown and you can see the beginnings of your summer lawn, the snow was rich and deep on just about every trail on Sunday River’s eight peaks, and 133 trails. The changes in snow quality from early morning to late afternoon are extreme. The early risers find the snow hard and fast, by 10:30 (the time I usually show up) the snow provides your edges with plenty of grit making the steep double diamond screamers like “Black Hole,” “Vortex,” and the super steep “White Heat” a much more manageable affair to handle. My midday favorites are found on the OZ peak on the likes of “Eureka” and “Tin Woodsman,” and in the late afternoon when the snow gets really soft, I’ll find the courage to wind through the trees on “Wizard’s Gulch” “Flying Monkeys”, and the “Last Tango” glade trails. The “Last Tango” trail is a good way to test your ability to remain vertical in glades before tackling more challenging, steeper and narrow trees that are found on the Jordan peak. Sunday River is just a 90 minute drive from Portland, a straight shot up Route 26 North to Bethel and in a few minutes you’re at the mountain base. Once daylight savings time changes our clocks and the mountain is still sunny and welcoming at 4 PM (the traditional closing time), the weekend bonus is the 12 hour lift operation on the Chondola lift at the Main lodge. Parents can enjoy their apres ski refreshment on the Foggy Goggle balcony and watch their tireless kids continue to cruise down the hill. Sunday River celebrates Spring with themed weekend festivity. The Weekend of March 26-27 features the aerial gymnastics of the Dumont Cup, where competitors who know no fear summersault into the sky off 20 foot jumps bending gravitational law and common sense. Sunday features the “Eat the Heat Chili Cookoff and the Firefighters’ Race.” The local fire departments, in teams of five, race down the Mountain in full firefighting gear all connected together by a firehose. After three practice runs punctuated by a few group crashes, the timed heats begin. The all-volunteer Jay Fire Department has garnered a first place and two seconds in the past three years and is ready to challenge the full-timers from Auburn who brought home first place honors last year. This wacky event is a great spectator sport and raises serious money for Maine Handicapped Skiing and last year managed to raise $330,000 for the program. The first weekend of April brings the Parrot Head Festival raising funds for the Make a Wish Foundation. This celebration of the onset of beach weather includes zany costumes, a Pond skim, a Key Lime Pie Eating contest, a Margarita Mix-off, and Fireworks. Special Ski and Stay packages are $99 at the Snow Cap Inn or for more luxury and a bit more cash, hot tubs, outdoor heated pools and spas welcome you at the Grand Summit Hotel and the Jordan Grand. Single full-day lift ticket prices remain at $79 so the ski and stay packages are well worth investigating.

I'm actually a skier and snowboarder, and the mountain is great for both sports. Lots of terrain to all skill levels. There were practically no lines and the tickets aren't that expensive compared to some other resorts. Loved the boarder/skier cross course and the glades.

Great time and perfect conditions. My favorite ME mountain thusfar.

I love SR. Not only they have a very friendly stuff and great conditions, they also have a snow guarantee. Skiing on Saturday was superb, but we got a two day pass and it rained heavily on Sunday. So the SR crew gave us a voucher to be used till the end of this season. I am def coming back.

I hadn't skied for 16 years and made Sunday River my comeback attempt. The weather was perfect on Friday and the mountain was not crowded at all. We started at White Cap, but found ourselves spending much of the day at Spruce and Barker. Some really nice blue/blacks on Spruce (Risky Business and American Express). Saturday was spent on the other peaks. I didn't feel ready for Oz, so can't speak to it, but from the lift it looked wide open. I guess if you're advanced, you'll have those trails to yourself. We hit Jordan Bowl 4 or 5 times and hit the glades off Lollapalooza each time. Blind Ambition is a moderate glade trail that isn't steep and was a really fun getaway from the crowd that is staying at the Jordan Hotel and primarily using that peak. It was crowded after lunch, but nothing too terrible. Overall a great weekend and a great mountain.

Sunday River was great! thanks for the discounted tix!

Don't fall in front of Awesome Neal... This mountain was a blast... Went with about 12 Skier's and Boarder's ranging from noobs to advanced, and everyone had a blast... Can't wait to go back.

Awesome mountain. Lift facilities are unmatched anywhere. With a little planning you can avoid lines on even the busiest day. Sugarloaf has great terrain but if you spend your time waiting to enjoy it while in line, what's the point?

Probably my favorite resort. Their groomers and steeps are unsurpassed in the East. (Yes, I like them better than sugarloaf). Their steeps are extremely challenging. Great long groomers here. Just stay away from North Peak during the day and life lines won't be a problem. Jordan Bowl is my fave peak, great long runs, no lines and steeps. Excalibur is quite a trail; it's a blue but better steeps than many the blacks- and even some doubles- I've done elsewhere. I wish they would go the way of Sugarloaf (same owners) and open up some sidecountry glades.

Overall it worked fine and I saved about $30.

We started our day off on the Oz and Jordan Peaks and worked our way over to White Cap. I believe we did this backwards, becuase by the time we got over to White Cap the steeps were icy and carved over. Glades on Oz and Jordan were amazing. Hucking rocks on Celestial was epic. One tip is to take two day's to concor the mountain. It is large, and tough to ski the entire mountain in one day.

If you start your day at South Ridge, and you're advanced enough for White Heat, do yourself a favor and get over that way early before the less experienced snowboarders slide down and take all the snow with them. It takes a couple of runs to work your way over there so you can be warmed up and ready to go. Work your way back across and have lunch at the Jordan Grand Resort Hotel - almost no lines, no waiting unlike South Ridge which is a zoo at noon. After lunch you can work your way back for some nice cruising to end the day. One day just doesn't do this place justice so if you can manage two days do it, you won't be disappointed.