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Sunday River
Sunday River
Saturday, March 16, 2019
Submitted on March 16, 2019 by rocket21 (1380 Rating1380)
Session SessionMorning
Lift Ticket Ticket TypeIkon Pass
Lift Lines Lift Lines11 to 15 minutes
Snow Trail Conditions75% open; Variable Conditions, Variable Conditions
Glades GladesLooked/sounded bulletproof this morning.
Moguls MogulsLooked/sounded bulletproof this morning.
Terrain Park Terrain Park(s)
Run of the Day Run of the DayNorthern Lights
Food and Beverage Food and BeverageDid not partake.
Comments CommentsFirstly, the "133 of 135" trails open and all but 3 acres open on the snow report is not accurate. Nor was the narrative of 'all lifts will be running,' as Aurora/Oz/Jordan were on wind hold.

Started at Whitecap and almost ended my day before making it to the lodge, nearly wiping out in the icy parking lot. Line for tickets was 10 minutes long, and only one person in front of me actually paid any money. Definitely warming up to direct-to-lift RFID. Whitecap lodge is tired, with deck boards popping up was you step on them and the clocks still not changed for daylight savings time. The lift status boards across the ski area were all non-functional.

Whitecap and Little Whitecap were initially closed for grooming, opening around 9 AM. Barker was a mixed bag, as some stuff was decent granular and other groomed stuff was boilerplate and ice. Seldom saw anyone on ungroomed terrain, as the upper elevations had a shiny crust. Did see one person lose control and ski into a (thankfully small) tree.

Monday Mourning, Jim's Whim, and T2 were closed for racing when I went by. Bim's Whim was also closed from the top. I think Crossbow/Tightwire were closed, as the latter had some cut trees on it (clearing for next year's racing T-Bar?)

When Whitecap opened, I skied Obsession and Salvation, both of which were soft and decent, having been freshly groomed. Considered White Heat, but it looked like dust on crust on top, and when I saw someone getting up from skiing into a snowgun tower, I decided to skip it.

Didn't ski either of the Spruce Peak intermediate trails, as the lower halves looked like bumper cars. Lines out past the queues for the lift. I did, however, drop into Aurora from Spruce twice (Aurora Quad was closed) and found those to be the best runs of the day - no one over there, and nice buttery conditions on the lower halves of Northern Lights and Air Glow. A lot of work to get back up (e.g. Quantum Leap Triple, through main mountain traffic, then back up Spruce).

Lower Downdraft, Grand Rapids, and Escapade were skiing decently, but very busy (chondola was initially on hold, but eventually opened, and North Peak Quad was running full).

Dropping back into the Barker base area, the Barker Quad had huge lines and even the Locke Mountain Triple had a line almost to Barker.

I think dropped down to the Whitecap base (good spring conditions on Wildfire), only to find the Little Whitecap and Tempest Quad lines nearly all the way to the lodge ski racks. That was enough for me, so I called it a day around 11. Lines here thinned out a bit as I was leaving, but gosh was it crowded.

On the plus side, my gamble on the forecast paid off in that the sun came out a few times. Curse of the Ikon Pass was I wanted to burn a paid day, whereas I probably would have enjoyed Abram or Black more.
Link URLhttps://www.instagram.com/p/BvEvMVTFG1P/
Rating Report Rating4 Rating4

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