Great Weekend To Start The Season

There was a definite vibe in the air this past weekend at Sunday River. Having walked up the steps along side the Barker Lodge, the changes were evident. With a late spring micro burst reeking havoc on Barker Basin and much of the resort, Sunday Rivers' new owners had their hands full with the challenge of rebuilding trails, roads, foundations, etc.
Boyne rose to the challenge, but it wasn't the newly built base area or deck outside the lodge that got my attention, it was a the sound of snowmaking guns beginning to fire up on multiple trails instead of just enough to get the mountain open.
For my first run of the year, I opted to jump on Lift 1 for a quick shot up the mountain. I was pleased to see a nice coat of white being laid down on Sunday Punch with a newly installed row of tower guns positioned a third of the way into the trail to further extend the reach of the snow - further evidence of improvements. As my chair neared the top of Barker, I heard a distinct screeching sound coming from my right and as I looked down Right Stuff, I saw guns begin to spew the white stuff. Smiling, I knew that these folks meant business.
Spending most of my time lapping the Locke Triple mid-station and alternating between Upper Punch and T2, Cascades offered a fairly congested, but nonetheless, well-covered route to the base. As you can see from the picture of T2 in the photo in the post below, the coverage was great. Quite frankly, it didn't seem like November at all and the skiers and riders were giddy, especially this kid.
Jules and I rounded out the 3-day weekend with about ten runs on Monday, mostly on T2. With our edges sharpened, we each took turns carving the steep upper section and gliding past the park set up on the skiers' left towards the bottom. With a patroller dropping the rope on Sunday Punch, (As seen in above picture) Jules and I were two of the first to make turns on this trail I'd only admired from the quad the past two days. I later found out that Right Stuff came online shortly after we ended our skiing for the weekend. While I was one of the first to ski Right Stuff last year, I certainly couldn't fret as I marked my calender with the first three days of skiing. Looking down to Thanksgiving Day, I smiled - that was my first day last year.