Mount Sunapee 2/11/2017

NewEnglandSkier13

Mount Sunapee was very crowded today. All major lifts had a wait of 4 to 8 minutes for a good portion of the day and all lodges were packed. Conditions were packed powder with some ice underneath and some powder on the sides of trails. Most trails and glades were open, but there were a good amount of exposed rocks and logs in the glades. Temperatures were in the teens and low twenties throughout the day. Low clouds gave way to partly sunny skies and eventually some undercast.

Sunapee is one of the better areas within a two hour radius of Boston, but still doesn’t have much that stands out to me. There isn’t very much variety in the terrain and nothing there is very challenging for an advanced skier. Crowds are often an issues, but that can be expected for a ski area close to large cities. North Peak is the best place to avoid crowds mid-day and Sunbowl is often less crowded than the Sunapee Express. When it’s open I highly recommend the Williamson Trail in Sunbowl as a nice long and narrow cruiser. Because of the fact that they can only be accessed via a triple or uphill traverse I recommend the trails off North Peak to avoid the mobs often found on many of the trails.

Crowded Base AreaSpruce TripleHansen-ChaseNorth Peak TripleSunbowl Express QuadUpper WingdingWilliamson TrailCataract GladesBlast-Off and UndercastSunapee ExpressUndercastNearby Ridge

ciscokid

Pictures do the talking, nice Sam

What do they get for a ticket at Sunapee weekend?

I do need to join my brother and family some day again in NH

Do the Muellers still run/ own it?

podunk77

Great pics, as always, NES13!  Nice to get a glimpse of the Williamson trail as it’s rarely open, and that snow pack on Hansen-Chase is such a far cry from last year.

xlr8r

I was at Sunapee too yesterday.  Was a long slow drive from Waltham, as it took about 3hrs, instead of what should be 1.5hrs to get there.  Spent most of the day exploring the glades, and also found them to be a bit thin with lots of rocks and branches to avoid.  Best glades were Ridge Glades and Beck Brook Glades both of which I did multiple times, all the others were not worth repeating due to the exposed hazards.  Also did Williamson a couple times, which was a lot of fun, although the lower section was getting thin in the late afternoon.  It was crowded, but not offensively, singles line for both express quads averaged about 5 minutes, only a couple times did the singles line extend out of the corral.  Groomers did get skied off faster than I was expecting considering all the recent snow, but I was focusing on the glades today and not the groomers for once.  After Mondays storm everything but maybe Cataract Glades and Hawes Hideout should be in excellent shape, those two glades had the most exposed rock.

ski_it

3 hours ?? Ouch! The roads were that bad? It only snowed another 2-4″ Friday night. Ok we did see someone spin out in front of us coming up a ramp onto RT 3 in NH and that was almost noontime. Like Dr. Jeff said about Mt Snow, you have to expect it to be crowded on a weekend at this Mt. S as well. It goes with the territory. To answer Cisco’s price question - that’s difficult as they have a billion options..Walk up price weekends & holiday $84. Buy online by midnight the day before $67.20. You must print all online tickets at home and cannot use your phone. They have young adult, junior, senior, super senior and a family which is an adult plus a young or junior for $99 all have discounts online. They have half day & 2-4 PM tickets and more.They have midweek pricing $74 walkup & $37 (50%off) online if you buy 4 days prior, then it’s 30%, 20%, 10% off each day closer .  Whew, ya better check it out yourself online, as I’m sure I missed something & I don’t guarantee anything I wrote.

xlr8r

<blockquote class=“Quote” rel=“ski_it”>3 hours ?? Ouch! The roads were that bad? It only snowed another 2-4″ Friday night. Ok we did see someone spin out in front of us coming up a ramp onto RT 3 in NH and that was almost noontime. Like Dr. Jeff said about Mt Snow, you have to expect it to be crowded on a weekend at this Mt. S as well. It goes with the territory. To answer Cisco’s price question - that’s difficult as they have a billion options..Walk up price weekends & holiday $84. Buy online by midnight the day before $67.20. You must print all online tickets at home and cannot use your phone. They have young adult, junior, senior, super senior and a family which is an adult plus a young or junior for $99 all have discounts online. They have half day & 2-4 PM tickets and more.They have midweek pricing $74 walkup & $37 (50%off) online if you buy 4 days prior, then it’s 30%, 20%, 10% off each day closer .  Whew, ya better check it out yourself online, as I’m sure I missed something & I don’t guarantee anything I wrote.</blockquote>

There were about half a dozen crashes I past on the way up.  Mostly it was traffic the roads weren’t that bad.  If it wasn’t for traffic it probably would have taken 45min less than it did.  Used up a whole jug of washer fluid driving up and back though.

ski_it

Well then I’m glad we ended up staying kinda local yesterday and wussing out today with another storm starting right now.I’ve seen some real bad winter drivers (ok, all seasons). Speed, brake, speed up & brake. How about just slow & steady? And please tell me what having your flashers on when you are in the far left lane while driving in snow or rain does? Or why are you even in the left lane of a 3+ lane highway during a snowstorm in the first place.

Jonni

My Alma-mater :) Skied there last weekend and conditions were pretty good as well. Glad to see that it was still a good ski day for you despite the crowds and the challenge. Definitely a mountain for intermediate lovers, and good for beginners with the South Peak area.

ciscokid

$84 sounds much better than $89 at Boyne with a third of vertical at best

ski_it

$67.20 if you buy in advance sounds even better, which is one reason why IMHO the weekend crowds. The 2nd is the $99 family ticket.