Sunday River (ski resort)

For other uses, see Sunday River (disambiguation).

Sunday River is a ski resort located in Newry, Maine, in the United States. It is one of Maine's largest and most visited ski resorts. Its vertical drop of 2,340 feet (710 m) is the second largest in Maine (after Sugarloaf) and the sixth largest in New England. Sunday River has the most terrain among the East Coast skiing destinations, including eight different peaks. The resort features 135 trails across eight interconnected mountain peaks, and is serviced by a network of 18 lifts.

Sunday River Ski Resort
Sunday River Ski Resort Location within the United States Sunday River Ski Resort Sunday River Ski Resort (Maine)
Location	Newry, Maine, United States
Nearest major city	Portland, ME
Coordinates	44.4734°N 70.8569°W / 44.4734; -70.8569
Status	Operating
Owner	Boyne Resorts
Top elevation	3,140 ft (960 m)
Base elevation	800 ft (240 m)
Skiable area	870 acres (350 ha)
Trails	135 33% Beginner 36% Intermediate 19% Advanced 12% Expert
Longest run	Lollapalooza 3 mi (4.8 km)
Lift system	20 (16 Chairlifts):   • 1 High-Speed 8-Pack   • 1 High-Speed 6-Pack   • 1 Chondola   • 2 High-Speed Quads   • 5 Quads   • 5 Triples   • 1 Double   • 1 T-Bar   • 3 Surface Lifts
Snowfall	155 inches (390 cm) per year
Snowmaking	Yes, 95%
Night skiing	Yes
Website	www.sundayriver.com

Sunday River and its sister resort Sugarloaf have been operated by Boyne Resorts since being sold by American Skiing Company in 2007 for a combined $77 million. The resort's land has been owned by CNL Lifestyle, then Och-Ziff Capital Management, and leased back to Boyne.

In 2018, Boyne Resorts completed the purchase of all leased ski areas in New England from CNL Lifestyle, allowing Boyne to "accelerate and fine tune" investment in those areas (Loon, Sugarloaf, and Sunday River). In direct correlation with this event, Boyne announced a list of improvements for all three mountains, to be spread out over a span of 10 years.

Vertical descent

Vertical Descent of the mountain, as well as the vertical descent from the chairlifts.

• Total Vertical: 2,340 ft.
• White Cap: 1,630 ft.
• Locke Mountain: 1,460 ft.
• Barker Mountain: 1,400 ft.
• Spruce Peak: 1,500 ft.
• North Peak: 1,000 ft.
• South Ridge: 500 ft.
• Aurora Peak: 1,100 ft.
• Oz: 1,100 ft.
• Jordan Bowl: 1,490 ft.

Terrain

The following describes the different mountains of Sunday River (From left to right):

• White Cap: Made up of three distinct chairlifts, The White Cap area offers terrain for all ability levels. Located at the eastern end of the resort, it contains beginner, advanced and expert runs, with multiple steeps and glades. White Heat is a well-known expert run, one of the steepest at Sunday River. White Heat is a main attraction, with Shock Wave on skiers right. Obsession is a long advanced to intermediate trail full of rolls and variation in pitch.
• Locke Mountain: Locke Mountain is resort's original peak. Features predominantly advanced trails like Cascades, Monday Mourning and T2. The lower section of Locke is also home to Lift 5; a T-Bar going directly under the Locke triple for Gould Academy to train on lower Monday Mourning. Monday Mourning and the race arena parallel to it host a variety of alpine ski races.
• Barker Mountain: Serviced by a high speed six pack chairlift, Barker Mountain has a wide variety of terrain. Three Mile Trail is a beginner run that winds across the mountain. Ecstasy and Jungle Road are other important trails leading back over to T2 and Cascades. Also under the Barker lift is Sunday Punch and the Flow State boardercross course.
• Spruce Peak: Contains two intermediate trails, Risky Business and American Express. Downdraft is a short and steep run that often contains natural mogul skiing. The peak also offers quick access to the western side of the resort via Sirius. Spruce peak is located in the center of the mountain is the only fixed grip lift to have a loading conveyor.
• South Ridge: South Ridge services mainly beginner trails. Broadway, and Sundance are the most kid-friendly, with Mixing Bowl also being a easy natural trail for beginners. The South Ridge area also has 3 magic carpets, a high speed quad, and a Chondola lift (high speed six-pack + 8-person gondolas).
• North Peak: Has a mid-mountain lodge that offers food and beverages. Contains two high-speed chairlifts (Lift #6 and #7) that both terminate near the summit. North Peak is oriented toward "family" skiing, so jerries and gapers are always plentiful. There are mainly intermediate and beginner trails on North Peak. The Dream Maker trail is a long and wide beginner to intermediate trail that is a favorite for families. North Peak is also home to the terrain parks on 3D, and T72, some of Maine's biggest parks. During weekends and holidays, North peak offers night skiing on both Escapade and Dream Maker, which are both serviced by the Chondola.
• Aurora Peak: Aurora is mix of advanced and expert trails and glades, and is serviced by a quad chairlift. There is also a double chairlift (Lift 13) that connects the base of Aurora to the base of Jordan Bowl, and a triple chairlift (Lift #3) that connects Aurora basin to the summit of North Peak.
• OZ: A unique bowl with mainly advanced and expert terrain. Trails are a mix of glades and open trails that emphasize all-natural terrain features and steep pitches. The Oz quad (Lift #15) only operates on the weekends and holidays due to its difficulty and light snow cover.
• Jordan Bowl: Serviced by the Jordan 8 chairlift, Jordan Bowl contains a mix of terrain that covers all ability levels. Rogue Angel and Excalibur are two long intermediate trails, and Lollapalooza is the longest trail on the mountain. Kansas is a long connector trail that can bring you across all of the eight peaks from the summit of Jordan Bowl. The Jordan Hotel is also located off the beginner trail Lollapalooza. Other advanced / expert glades include iCaramba!, Wizards Gulch, and Blind Ambition.
• Merrill Hill: Services 3 beginner trails, and 1 intermediate trail. This complex was constructed primarily for a real estate development that started in 2020, and has the only south facing terrain on the mountain. There are two lifts that can bring riders to the top of Merrill Hill, which are lifts 19, and 20 respectively.

Out of these "peaks," only one actually has a topographic prominence great enough to be an actual peak. White Cap, Locke Mountain, and Barker Mountain are, technically, all part of a mountain called Barker Mountain. Barker Mountain's peak (el. 2,594 ft or 791 m), inaccurately, is the peak that the ski area calls "Locke Mountain." North Peak, Spruce Peak, Aurora Peak, OZ, and Jordan Bowl are technically all part of Black Mountain (el. 3,162 ft or 964 m). The highest point of the ski area is what the resort calls OZ, which is technically on Black Mountain (el. 3,140 ft or 960 m). Although OZ is the highest point of the Sunday River ski area, it is not Black Mountain's summit.

Lift System

Sunday River has 16 chairlifts, and 4 surface lifts.

Main Lifts

Number	Name	Type	Builder	Built	Vertical (feet)	Length (feet)	Notes
1	Barker 6	High Speed Six	Doppelmayr USA	2023	1319	4848	D-Line chairlift with red bubbles, heated seats, auto-locking safety bars, and automated loading ramp. First lift at the resort to have contour loading.
2	South Ridge Express	High Speed Quad	Poma	1992	505	3074	Services the South Ridge area.
3	Quantum Leap	Triple	Hall	1992		1453	Travels up the backside of North Peak to Lift #6 summit, and has some Poma sheaves.
4	Locke Mountain Triple	Triple	Borvig	1984	1394	4768	Has a mid-station for early season use. Upper station replaced by Doppelmayr in 2017 following structural failure on the original Spruce Peak lift. Additional towers added in 2019 to accommodate the Alera Group Competition T-Bar.
5	Alera Group Competition Lift	T-Bar	Doppelmayr USA	2019	864	2885	This lift was funded by the Alera Group, and used by Gould Academy for ski racing and training. Not open to the public.
6	North Peak Express	High Speed Quad		1996	980	4153	1 of 2 lifts that serve North Peak, the other being Lift #7.
7	Chondola	Chondola		2009	1138	6427	High-Speed six pack chair / eight passenger gondola, with one gondola cabin per every four chairs. Runs to the top of North Peak.
8	Spruce Peak	Triple		2017	1207	4366	Has a loading carpet. Replaced a Borvig triple chairlift that suffered a structural failure in 2016.
9	White Cap	Fixed Grip Quad	Yan	1987	898	3725	First of 3 White Cap lifts, also known as the “Tempest” quad.
10	White Heat			1988	1294	3665	Main lift to White Cap summit.
11	Little White Cap			1988	602	3135	Runs adjacent to the Grand Summit Hotel, and brings riders over to Lift #10.
12	Aurora Peak			1991	1095	3483	Main lift out of Aurora basin.
13	Jordan Mountain Double	Double	Hall / Garaventa CTEC	1994	342	1735	A transfer lift between the base areas of Jordan Bowl and Aurora.
14	Jordan 8	High Speed 8	Doppelmayr USA	2022	1325	4760	D-Line chairlift with red bubbles, heated seats, and an automated loading ramp.
15	Oz	Fixed Grip Quad	Doppelmayr USA	1995	1051	2954	Highest lift on the mountain, and operates from 10am to 2pm.
16	Lower Sundance	Magic Carpet	Sunkid	2019			Located on the Sundance beginner trail, near the South Ridge base area.
17	Middle Sundance
18	Upper Sundance
19	Merrill Hill	Triple	Doppelmayr USA	2021	494	2037	Services 4 trails and provides access to Merrill Hill real estate properties.
20	Merrill Hill II	Triple	Doppelmayr USA	2023	750	3992	Runs on the backside of Merrill Hill, starts near the Monkey Brook Road.

Blue highlight indicates lifts that are open for night skiing.

Red highlight indicates secondary lifts that only run on weekends and holidays, with adjusted opening and closing schedules.

Former Lifts

Number	Name	Type	Builder	Years Active	Notes
1	Barker Mountain Double	Double	Pullman-Berry	1971 - 1987	First chairlift built at Sunday River, therefore labeled as Lift #1. Replaced by the Barker Mountain Express.
1	Barker Mountain Express	High Speed Quad	Yan Lift / Poma	1987 - 2023	First detachable at Sunday River. Terminals retrofitted by Poma in 1998, and chairs replaced in 2004. Replaced by a D-Line high speed six pack.
2	Cascades T-Bar	T-Bar	Hall	1959 - 1990	First lift built on the mountain at Sunday River. Ran up length of Monday Mourning trail, and removed for ski racing.
3	South Ridge	Double		1981 - 1992	Ran in-between Lift #7 and #5, replaced by the South Ridge Express in 1992. Relocated to Aurora Basin and retained #3 number, and was expanded from a double to a triple.
5	Fall Line	Double	Borvig	1985 - 2008	Lift ran the length of the Double Dipper trail. Replaced by the Chondola along with the South Ridge triple in 2008.
6	North Peak	Triple		1985 - 1996	Replaced by the North Peak Express.
7	South Ridge Triple			1986 - 2008	Replaced by the Chondola.
8	Spruce Peak			1986 - 2016	Return station collapsed in the summer of 2016. Replaced by Doppelmayr triple with identical uphill capacity in 2017.
14	Jordan Bowl Express	High Speed Quad	Doppelmayr USA	1994 - 2022	Replaced with a D-Line eight-pack in 2022. Relocated to Pleasant Mountain in 2024.

Summer

The Chondola during the fall. Notice the chairlift converted to carry a mountain bike.

In the summer months, Sunday River is a summer resort with activities including golf, disk golf, geocache tours, hiking, and scenic lift rides. There is also a series of annual music festivals from late July to August, located at the south ridge lodge. Weddings are also a frequent occurrence at Sunday River, mostly at the summit of North Peak, but also the Grand Summit and the Jordan Hotels.

In 2019, the Bike Park at Sunday River was discontinued, after 13 years of operation. According to resort officials, "Topography and other factors contributed to the decision to close. Riding areas and lessons for beginner riders are a large part of a successful bike park and Sunday River was unable to provide this to their resort users without a substantial monetary investment."

Golf

The Sunday River Golf Club is a Robert Trent Jones, Jr. design and has been ranked as the '#1 course in Maine' by Golfweek magazine and one of the 'Top Ten Best New Courses in the World' by Travel + Leisure Golf.

The 7,130-yard (6,520 m) course offers dramatic elevation changes. The club also features a large log and stone clubhouse with a pro shop and grill, as well as a mountainside practice facility. While the course is open to the public, memberships are also available from Harris Golf, who operates the golf club in partnership with Sunday River.

Gallery

• 
  Looking up toward the Jordan Bowl summit.
• 
  Sunrise over lift #2, early January 2021.
• 
  Sunday River from the Jordan Bowl, with Old Speck Mountain on center horizon.
• 
  Looking down the trail "Kansas."

Competition

Sunday River is home to the Gould Academy Competition Program for skiing. The program is for junior skiers in Alpine skiing (slalom, giant slalom, super G and downhill), Freestyle skiing (moguls and freeride), and Snowboarding (halfpipe, slopestyle, Slalom, Giant Slalom and boardercross), and runs from mid November through March.

Sunday River is home to the Dumont Cup created by Simon Dumont.

• Dumont Cup

In 2009, Simon Dumont wanted to create an opportunity for young and rising skiers to gain exposure and decided to host it at his home mountain, Sunday River in Newry, Maine. Six Dumont Cups later, the success stories of amateur skiers like Nick Geopper and Gus Kenworthy winning the Dumont Cup and stepping into the pro scene has help achieve Simon's vision. The event was eventually officially discontinued in 2016, and the last competition held in March 2015 on the T72 terrain park.

• Frozen Rush

Main article: Frozen Rush

In early 2014, the first Frozen Rush race was held on the slopes. It was the first off-road race of its type on snow. The event featured a match race of the United States' top short course off-road racing drivers racing their trophy trucks. Ricky Johnson beat Johnny Greaves to win the inaugural event.

• Bust 'N' Burn!

The Bust 'N' Burn was an annual mogul skiing competition held in mid-April. The event was open to all skiers willing to participate, and was held in various locations year-to-year around the mountain. It was held annually from 1987 to 2009, and was brought back after a decade-long hiatus in 2024. The re-branded event in 2024 was held on the White Heat trail, and was well received by many skiers and riders. The event also saw multiple Olympic athletes attend the event, including Troy Murphy, competing under the persona of "Donnie Pelletier", Troy's stereotype of the Maine way of life.

See also

Sunday River Ski Train

External links

• Sunday River - official website