NEWRY, Maine — “We’re two days removed from an unsettled weather pattern, and the skiing is just fantastic," Luc Burns, Director of Marketing at Sunday River, said. "Kudos to our entire mountain operations team. Doesn’t matter how good the equipment is if you don’t have the right team running it.”
Snowmaking upgrades have been in full force over the summer, adding over 100 guns across the mountain that provide greater efficiency and coverage of man-made snow.
This improvement allows for even swifter recoveries after non-snow events, providing the most open terrain in New England, and even the first to open in the east this season.
“We beat Killington by three hours, but props to Killington, they did a great job with the World Cup. That takes a lot of resources, so hats off to them," Burns said. "It’s a friendly rivalry that we really enjoy, but it was good to get them this year.”
Events begin this weekend, including Santa Sunday which benefits the River Fund. Then it’s full steam ahead into the holidays.
“We have Winterfest Weekend the following weekend, the 17th, which kicks off our twilight skiing, fireworks, torchlight parade, and just all things getting us ready for the season ahead,” Burns said.
Of course, the long-awaited opening of the Jordan 8 Chairlift is in sight, which has a tentative grand opening day of December 17.
“Fastest in North America, first heated seats in Maine, first bubble in the world in our signature Sunday River red," Burns explained. "It’s just an incredible lift, an incredible building, and a project we’re really excited to open up to the public.”
In addition to Sunday River, Sugarloaf has been open since the week before Thanksgiving. Saddleback plans to open this Saturday.