High Tide - Chapter One

Charlie Sullinger shuffled his feet over the course gravel road leading to South Cradle Light. As he whistled to his dog, Sandy, who’d sauntered a few hundred feet ahead, he saw the faint beam of light cut through the early morning fog and a sense of accomplishment warmed over him as he knew he’d neared the hallway point of his daily morning walk. Though not a steep trek, the road from the southern edge of Cradle Cove – to the lighthouse – had a steady uphill grade that seemed to wear on his 77-year-old knees a little more each day. And yet the Korean War veteran was far-too stubborn to allow a little arthritis from keeping him from a daily routine he saw as nothing short of a blessing. 

Sandy, his nine-year-old Golden Retriever, was a loyal friend, but instead of dashing back to Charlie’s side when summoned, he’d waited at the crest of the hill, panting slightly. “What’s the matter, buddy? All tuckered out, are you?” Charlie smiled, petting Sandy’s head as he’d pulled even with him on the hill. Charlie reached into his pocket and took out a small milk bone. Sandy sat at attention and stared up at him adoringly.

Nearing the edge of the bluff and the base of the lighthouse, Charlie felt the chill of the early morning southerly that was blowing onshore and tugging slightly on the bill of his Red Sox baseball cap. As he surveyed the water between the mainland and the distant islands of Talisman Bay, Charlie was surprised at the heavy seas, crisp morning air, and the increasing force of the offshore wind that had swept away the morning fog like a car defroster cleared a windshield. “Feels like some weather moving up the coast, Sandy,” he said as peered over the edge of the bluff and watched the waves crash into the craggy granite ledges that lined the outer harbor of Cradle Cove like a serrated knife. 

South Cradle Lighthouse was a lonely structure. The white-painted stone tower rose 60 feet above the wind-swept grass and stood alone. The wooden keeper’s house had been destroyed some five decades earlier in – what was then considered – the storm of the century. And with the advent of the automated lamp, there was little need to replace the structure that had housed hearty and weather-worn families for over a hundred years.

Having walked a few hundred feet northward along the Bluff, Charlie reached Hatchet Point and the southern entrance to Cradle Cove. A rickety wooden fence lined the bluff as the edge of land curled inward. The fence was futile as a barrier, but served as reminder of the two hundred foot cliff that dropped off, just a few feet past. Charlie stood motionless with Sandy by his side. The view of the semi-circle shaped cove never got old for him. With Half Moon Island sandwiched between the north and south channels and adding an extra defense against the often violent seas of Talisman Bay, a nearly identical point of land bordered the north channel. Like Hatchet Point, Raven's Head had a lighthouse, but the privately owned and maintained property included neatly manicured lawns, sculpted hedges, and a stone-walled light keeper’s house that had endured the same storms as its’ former cousin to the south, yet looked no worse for wear. Charlie had only been on the property a handful of times in the last few decades, but he didn’t care for it much. He appreciated its’ role as a navigational beacon and warning about the ledges below, but to him, it was not at all emblematic of the Maine lighthouses the coast had become so famous for.

At low tide, the north and south channels leading in from Talisman Bay converged and narrowed to one 50-foot wide dredged thoroughfare that wound its’ way a quarter of mile through vast white sandbars to the inner harbor that opened up like a flower and was dotted with moorings for boats of nearly all sizes. At any time, the inner section of Cradle Cove may was likely the most protected and sheltered refuge on the Maine coast – an oasis, that at high tide, played tricks on those not savvy enough to mind the green and red navigation buoys.

At dead low tide, Cradle Cove resembled a cracked sand dollar and its' pale yellow sand was the inspiration for Sandy's name. And yet as clever as the name would appear, about half of the town's dozen or so commercial properties incorporated the sand dollar theme in one way or another.

Charlie turned back towards the lighthouse and was about to whistle when Sandy - who was inches from the edge of the cliff - began to bark towards something on the shore below. Fearing a rash action by his dog, who was never one to bark, Charlie began to tug on the retractable leash he had fastened only minutes before. While Sandy typically got free reign to run around without her leash, there were two instances when Charlie made a point to have it fastened - as they walked near the cliffs and in town. 

Charlie felt a slight strain as he stooped over to crawl through the rickety old garden wood fence. Holding the leash with one hand and holding on to the log above his head for support, he grimaced in pain. "Damn it, Sandy," he said. "What in God's name has caught your attention?"

Having traveled about three hundred yards downhill and along the rim of the crater-like harbor's rock walls, the cliff walls had tapered from over a hundred feet to barely more than Charlie was tall, but a fall would still have dire consequences to his frail body, and so he carefully inched his way to the edge, slowly dropped to his knees, and peered intently at the ribbon of jagged rocks that separated the cliffs from the massive sand bars. And despite the vastness of the shoreline below, it was mere seconds before Charlie felt a pit in his stomach like he hadn’t felt since he walked among the lost souls on the Korean peninsula.

He’d hoped his eyes were playing tricks on him. Half a century had passed since Charlie Sullinger had seen a dead body and he found himself caught somewhere between disbelief and shock.

Spring skiing in Maine

The third weekend of April has passed and throughout most of New England most ski areas have already either closed previously or at least after today. In Maine we happen to be a little fortunate with the colder nights and thick base.

On Friday I took a day trip to Sugarloaf and enjoyed some of the best conditions of the season with wall-to-wall snow cover and good friends to share it with. Not to mention the vast rays of sunshine that just so happen to have burned my face a little. Thankfully, both Sugarloaf and Sunday River will remain open for the next couple of weeks!

NASTAR Open Fails To Gain Regional Support!

For years eastern recreational racers have complained that the NASTAR National Championships have been held out west and thus making it very difficult to participate. By most accounts, the 4-day trip to Steamboat Springs costs about $1500 and that’s if you’re on a budget. This simply out of reach for most and just impractical for others.

NASTAR officials heard the feedback loud and clear and finally came out with the NASTAR Eastern Open, which was held at Sunday River, Maine a few weeks back. While the entry fees and other costs were less than the national event, NASTAR didn’t make the announcement of the event until the new year and publicity could have been a lot better. The end result was a poor number for registration and admittedly, I was one of the ones who didn’t race. Why? I simply hadn’t budgeted for a high entry fee and didn’t think it would have been fair to spring such a cost on my wife when we are newly married, have just bought a house, and have trips already booked. Nonetheless, I think that I should have made the effort and wish I had because a lot of time and energy went into making this happen. I don’t expect the event to return to Sunday River, but wherever it is next season, I will make it a point to participate.

Summit Terminal Work Continues at Sunday River

For those of you following the ongoing saga that is the installation of the Sunday River Chondola, or as I like to call it, The Viking Express, the resort has taken some major steps in preparing for the Doppelmayr parts to arrive next month. Check out the Chondola Page at Sunday River for tons of info and the latest pics, which show a lot of blasting needed for the top terminal. Perhaps I'm even steal a picture from the site and post it on here as long as AK and co dont' sue me!

Saddleback goes ahead with summit quad

It seems that while I was trying to write some accurate information about this summers new lift installations, I forgot one that is hugely important to New England and Maine skiing. While the lift installation falls into the same category as Killington in that the new lift is replacing an old, it's a little more of an upgrade for the good folks at Saddleback, Maine. For the first time ever, the summit will be accessible by a chairlift as the Kennebego T-bar is being replaced with a fixed grip quad. While the t-bar was great in allowing access to the mountain's expert terrain on many cold and windy days, the steep liftline also served as a natural deterrent to folks who should avoid the upper mountain terrain. The lift is part of the resort's 10-year master plan.

Dig a hole and a lift will be built!

While there is still and air of mystery about the whole “chondola” project and others happening at Sunday River, Maine this summer; one thing is for sure, the hole that’s being dug in front of the South Ridge base lodge is not a new pit for pond-skimming. Given that I have very little knowledge of the hard plans for the lift, I can only assume that they are digging to pour concrete for anchors for the base terminal, but then again, depending on what Sunday River has for plans, they could be building an actual base station, which would be beneficial for those folks that will be using the gondola part of the lift and need to be shielded from the cold more than skiers and riders. Yes, I could come up with a bunch of different ideas, but quite frankly, no one cares to read about those despite the fact my imagination constantly produces them.

Mount Abrams Changes Hands

Two Maine businessmen have purchased Mount Abrams in Greenwood, Maine. The resort got a bit of an overhaul after being bought at foreclosure auction several years ago and went back on the sale block this season when the current owner decided it was someone else's turn to operate the family-friendly resort in Western Maine, near Sunday River. The new owners pledge a commitment to keeping the resort a small family environment with the only immediate changes being an increase in the size of the ski school.

Boyne weighs their lift options for Sugarloaf

While Boyne Resorts is installing the northeast's first hybrid lift at Sunday River this summer, Sugarloaf, Maine has been told that no new lift is in the plan for the next year. Whether this is true or not remains to be seen as the rumors continue to fly and some activity has others talking. Big Sky Mountain Resort in Montana recently shipped 35 gondola cabins to Sugarloaf and the chatter perked up. Resort official indicated that their is a chance that a gondola may be installed somewhere on the mountain, but no plans are imminent and none are in the works for next season. All this comes as Sugarloaf has speculated that along with Sunday River, they too, would like a lift to access their mid-mountain restaurant and their has often been talk about a new lift or used gondola being used to access this area on West Mountain. For now it's all speculation, but sometimes it's just more fun that way...

Sunday River rated #1 in east by readers of SnowEast

Snoweast Magazine offered someone new to its' readers this past year. No, polls and surveys aren't new at all to the ski and snowboard world, but it's the first time that any publication has done an exclusive reader survey of eastern ski resorts. While the vote for favorite mountain was broken into resorts over and resorts under 1000 vertical feet, there were also categories from scenery, grooming, and terrain parks. It's no surprise that Sunday River, Maine did well across the board, but it was a pleasant surprise to learn that readers ranked the resort their favorite in the east. Congrats to Sunday River.

Sunday River nabs World Cup snowboarding event!

In 2001, Jeremy Bloom and Johnny Moseley dueled on the bumps of White Heat in an F.I.S. World Cup Freestyle Mogul stop at Sunday River, Maine. While the event was a huge success and brought the spotlight to Sunday River, it's been 7 long years since a World Cup event of any sort has beckoned. Meanwhile, Sugarloaf, Maine has hosted two U.S. Alpine Championships. Sunday River has been fortunate to remain on the radar of the USSA by hosting a few snowboard Grand Prixs, but the World Cup is a whole different level and with the event straddling February and March of 2009, the names competing will be many of the same that will don their nations colors the following year in whistler for the Olympics.

From days gone by...

With a brisk wind sweeping over the western ridge, I walked under the old Chair 7 Saturday morning, catching a last glimpse of the Borvig triple chair that some 25 years ago was considered high-tech. And while two others will still be in use next year at Sunday River, the new Doppelmayr hybrid will replace the triple and serve up a unique lift experience. I was admittedly a little sad looking up at the old painted brown chairs, but also look ahead to the excitement that will come next year. My hope is that the old triple will be sold and rebuilt on another mountain. Such practice is commonplace in the ski industry, especially with the price of new lifts and the few companies that still make them. And it was that same Saturday night that I cam across this old painting of Sunday River from 1972 – a special piece even before Borvig made its’ mark..

I prefer the Hybrid Lift, but you can decide for yourself

So you’ve been reading up on ski lifts and have heard that Sunday River is installing a $7.3 million “Chondola” and haven’t a clue what it is, well you’re not alone. In fact Chondola is really just a nickname for this type of lift which is actually called a hybrid lift and has only been installed three previous times in North America. While it is a fairly complex left, given the need for daily configuration set up, which can be altered depending on needs resulting from temps and wind, the hybrid is one part chairlift and one part gondola. The carriers are interspersed along the haul rope at whatever desired interval the operators chose. The chairs seat 6 and the gondola cabins seat 8. Sunday River’s new Hybrid – I just don’t like the word Chondola – is being designed and installed by Dopplmayr/CTEC with the possible exception of the gondola cabins which in the case of a Dopplmayr installation, are usually purchased from CWA of Switzerland. While the name for the new lift hasn’t been announced, I’ve suggested to the resort that it be called “The Viking Express.” We shall see!

It's not over yet so don't put those skis away just yet.

Even though there are still a couple weeks left of skiing and riding at Sunday River, while at the seasons passholders BBQ today I sensed that people were almost saying goodbye to the season. True, many were, but while people were smiling, eating, and drinking, I just got a sense of sadness. Perhaps much of it was from me. This has been nothing short of an epic season for me and I'm not ready for it to be over, but I must say that this time of year can truly be depressing as the pending closure looms closer with the end of each day. Thankfully, I know that even when the season ends, I'll still see my skiing friends and summer will be okay, but wouldn't it be nice if "Infinite Snow" was an actual reality?

Sometime the unexpected turns out great!

As I awoke this morning, the rain was pouring and the sky dark. Around 9:00, I finally amde my way to the slopes. The rain had stopped but most of the mountain was covered in thick clouds with poor visibility. After about 10 or so runs, I headed west to Jordan Bowl and jumped on the quad. The treat that greeted me at the top was worth the wait and totally unexpected. The Jordan summit was above the cloud cover, sunny, and war, It was a real treat and the snow was perfect!

Bethel's Simon Dumont Breaks Quarterpipe World Record!

It took 4 days and countless runs, but this morning Simon Dumont broke the previous world record of 32.5 feet above the lip of the quarterpipe, held by Norwegian snowboarder Terje Haakonsen by launching a jump of 35 feet and throwing down a 900 spin while in the air. After 3 days of bluebird skies with warm temps, many feared that the record was destined not to fall as each attempt Dumont took was well-short of the mark. The quarterpipe, designed by Snow Park Technologies and funded by Red Bull, is the largest ever to be built and its' placement with a long in-run seemed the perfect spot on Sunday River's Aurora Peak. Yet the slow and wet snow, along with a minor injury kept hampering Dumont, a native of Bethel, Maine who grew up skiing Sunday River. Then Dumont decided to climb further up the mountain than he had on his previous attempts. The result was a huge world record jump that measured 35 feet with some on hand saying that it looked more like 36. Regardless, a collective sigh of relief fell upon the crew and crowd as the X-Games Gold Medalist added another accolade to his already impressive resume.

Parrot Head Weekend

I'm I the only one that thinks it's just a little strange to mix Jimmy Buffett and skiing? I mean his music and auro are representative of the islands and warm weather, yet we're currently in the midst of Parrot Head weekend here at Sunday River. Not only that, but these people come out in strong numbers. Despite overcast skies today, the area where the festivities were being held was packed with people, food, music, and lots of booze. I'm pretty sure some of those folks had no business being on the slopes after that. So anyway, I digress, I like Jimmy Buffett's musics and I can see why it would lend itself well to warm spring skiing, but with this being the 21st annual festival, where is the guy? What, he can't show up to one of these things? :)

Your Mountain's Expanding... April Fools!

Okay, so I’m one of those gullible folks that falls for just about every April Fools prank in the book. Yesterday was a day where ski enthusiasts had a field day with April Fools jokes on seemingly every alpine forum. Sadly, I fell for a good number of them. Perhaps the one that made me want to slap myself the most was a “press release” on the Sunday River Community Forum that was perfect from the format to even some of the details of the announcement. As if last month’s public announcement of the new Chondola wasn’t enough, one of the moderators, who is an employee of Freeskier Magazine, posted a fake press release regarding expansion to the western flank of Jordan Mountain. Such an expansion plan was drawn up over a decade ago under the direction of Les Otten and is still a viable option for the resort. Why this worked? Sunday River announced spending upwards of $20 million through this summer of which only $14 million has been accounted for, so trail expansion along with the history of the plans made it believable, especially with the huge increase of skier visits this year. Why this shouldn’t have worked? The author noted that the 200 acre development would be serviced by a new 6-pack. That would be unrealistic with the feeder lifts all being quads. Anyway, many of us took the bait. Other fictional press releases from online forums around the area included the finalization of the Killington-Pico Interconnect with a two way high-speed quad, despite POWDR Corp indicating this was not in their immediate plans, Sugarloaf’s expansion to Burnt Mountain, which was perhaps the most believable as the mountain has indicated plans are being drawn for the expansion, and the most ludicrous being an expansion at Crotched Mountain that would not only reopen the closed side of the resort, but also link the two to now defunct Temple Mountain via a tram taken from Cannon. I’m not sure anyone bought this one, but the funniest part about it was that the article said Cannon was replacing the iconic Tram with a Chondola. Now I don’t know about you, but I’m not so sure I’d like that chairlift ride!

Winter or Spring... Part 2. Spring!

So I've already told you all about the interesting yet wonderful conditions from Saturday, but what about Sunday... Let me preface by saying that late Saturday evening I left the condo on the mountain to head into town to grab some provisions and the wind was howling at about 60 knots. And whereas that may be an overstatement, it may not be, it was ripping through that valley and the access road was almost a white-out due to blowing snow. Pretty cool, actually!
So Sunday we awake a little late, but meet up with some friends over on the west side of the resort and not only is there no wind, but the sun is shining brighter than any day this season - in Maine that is. It was one of those days when you don't really care about taking the high-speed lifts because the slow ones allow for the goggle-tans. The conditions went from firm and powdery on the western fringes to soft corn-snow as you got closer to the hub of the resort. That's one of the great things about Sunday River; the fact that the current layout is three miles wide truly makes for different weather patterns. The west is typically colder, windier, and gets more snow as it's situated on the edge of a notch. It also is prime for sun given its' higher elevation. The fact of the matter is that Jewels and I had a perfect day with 20 runs and no desire to stop... I can't wait until this weekend!

Closing time for many of the smaller ski operations

I had a sad revelation as I was reading the sports section of the local paper yesterday. Ironically I had just gotten back form Sunday River where the mountains and surrounding lands are still buried in multiple feet of snow from this years’ near record snowfall. And still with all the snow covering the mountains, I read the snow reports for the state’s smaller ski areas and many of them had yesterday listed as the last day of operation. While these areas will mostly all close at 100% of their terrain open, it is a time of year when running the lifts isn’t viable for them. They have no other cash cows like expensive eateries, lodging, or boutiques. Thankfully, the early reports out of the Ski Maine Association indicate that almost all the states’ ski areas, if not all, had very good financial years. Combine that with the fact that a few of the larger resorts will be open for several more weeks to come and the sadness is lessoned, but it’s just one of those sign posts I hate seeing every year.

Winter or Spring... Part 1. Winter!

This past weekend was definitely one of the best since Jules and I returned from Lake Tahoe, but it had some surprises in store for all of us. After arriving at Sunday River fairly late Friday night, we awake early to some gently falling snow - just a little coating really, but enough to make everything look magical. I was a little surprised to see 18 degrees on the thermometer on the deck and then when the wind kicked in I though we had been transported back to mid-January. Nevertheless, we're from Maine and we're skiers and a little cold and windy weather doesn't hold us back... Until the wind puts lifts on hold, that is. This only happened to one lift on Saturday, but we had just ridden the Jordan Quad and had a super-sweet run down Rogue Angel with a nice firm center and wind-blown powder drifts on the sides of the trail. So we migrated over to Oz, and got first tracks on the upper part of Tin Woodsman and Lost Princess. It was amazing how the reported snowfall of 4 inches over the two days before had settled (with the wind's help) to provide us with some 8-10 inch-deep turns all the way down to Kansas. Then as Jules, our friend Mark, and myself found a patroller dropping the rope to the main sections of Tin Woodsman and Lost Princess - from Kansas down - which hadn't been open for weeks. The view from the cat tracks was intense - powder everywhere. The first few turns were deep, light, and dry - again, the 4 inches had blown right where we wanted it, then it got "special" as I hit some breakable crust-covered moguls and then a knee to waist-deep powder pocket and then another bulletproof bump. About halfway down I asked Jules how much she hated me, but she didn't. She knew it would be interesting, but neither Mark nor I thought it would be this weird. The lower third of the trail was nice and light, but it would only be one run on there for us. The rest of Saturday was great. The other side of Oz was fabulous as was Aurora and White Cap. The conditions on most of the mountain were very consistent, still firm, but not icy. The lack of crowds made it a treat. As we skied back to the Condo, I looked back towards Jordan Mountain and knew that the wind was just getting it ready for even better conditions.