One of the east’s largest ski resorts, Sunday River in Bethel Maine offers over 600 acres of skiable terrain and a 2340 foot vertical drop in addition to extensive slope-side amenities that make Sunday River a true destination resort.

The Lowdown on Sunday River

Mountain Information
Sunday River is located in Bethel, Maine near the Maine-New Hampshire border just off of Route 2. It is to the north of the Portland area and about 1 ½ hours from Portland. From Boston, Sunday River is about 3 hours and from New York City, the trip will take you about 7 hours. Air service is available in Portland with rental cars available for the drive up to Sunday River.

Up in the wilds on Maine, Sunday River receives on average, about 155 inches of snow. This is supplemented by an extensive snowmaking system that has over a 1500 snow guns and provides 92% snowmaking coverage on the mountain.

Owned by the same company that owns Killington, Sugarloaf and many of New England’s other large ski areas, Sunday River enjoys the benefits that come with being part of a larger organization. That includes the quality snowmaking system, extensive slope-side development and a “slickness” that is not apparent in many of New England’s smaller ski destinations.

The mountain is open from 9 to 4 during the week and from 8 to 4 in the afternoon on weekends. The mountain’s season general runs from early November until late May, depending upon conditions.

Ticket and Rental Prices
Skiing at a mountain this big doesn’t come cheap. An all-day adult lift ticket during the week will cost you $52 and a weekend/holiday ticket is $56. E-tickets are available for purchase on Sunday River’s website (www.sundayriver.com), but you must purchase at least a 2-day ticket. Prices online are roughly $92 for a 2-day midweek ticket and $98 on weekends and holidays. There are also ski and stay packages available in conjunction with on-site lodging.

There are other ways to save if you look. Sunday River offers a frequent skier program that allows you to build up points each time you ski that earn you free lift tickets. Early fall and late spring tickets are also discounted.

Trails and Lifts
With 2340 feet of vertical drop, Sunday River offers 8 interconnected mountain peaks that offer a total of 128 trails and 663 acres of skiable terrain. Terrain at Sunday River provides a good variety for skiers of any ability. 25% of the trails are for beginners, 35% are intermediate, 23% are expert and 17% are rated as most difficult.

With 60% of the terrain for novices or intermediates, skiers of any ability should be able to find trails that are enjoyable and challenging. Those looking to get their heart beating faster should check out the double-diamonds, as they are very challenging – maybe not as bad as some western areas, but tough nonetheless.

There are 4 different terrain parks available to skiers and boarders at Sunday River along with a superpipe for those who are interested (don’t ask, I never tried it – I’m sure I would have been in a cast afterwards).

There are a total of 18 lifts servicing the different peaks at Sunday River that can bring a total of 32,000 skiers per hour to the summits. There are 9 quad chairlifts, 4 of which are high-speed. Four triple chairs, two double chairs and three tows.

Skier Services
Sunday River offers full-service skier services and lodging in the base area. This includes roughly 6,000 rooms for lodging in the base area, base areas servicing different regions of the resort that include full service ski and snowboard rental shops, equipment shops, restaurants, snack-bars, ski school, day-care services, and more. Basically it’s like having a small city at the base of the mountain.

Additional lodging and dining options are available in Bethel and the surrounding communities.

Extensive learn-to-ski/snowboard programs are available for both children and adults and several lift ticket/rental/lesson packages are available to making learning to ski or snowboard slightly less expensive.

Summertime
Sunday River doesn’t close up for the summertime. The mountain offers mountain biking (the ski trails turn into bike trails in the summer), golfing and conference facilities for companies or groups.

Experiences

I skied a few times at Sunday River when I was living in Maine (back then it was literally down the street depending on exactly where I lived). The mountain was enjoyable to ski (especially mid-week) and generally was so large that you didn’t quickly grow tired of the mountain. You could spend a good couple of days running a different trail each time and rarely come across something you had already traveled. The multitude of lifts makes getting to the top easy and the interconnectibility of the different peaks makes getting from one side of the resort to the other not terribly difficult.

The trail difficulty varies wildly over the mountain, but the marking is generally fair and any skier of any ability should find terrain that suits them well. I generally stuck to the intermediate to the advanced trails when I was there and while the trails were sometimes challenging, they were also fun and exciting. Grooming and trail maintenance are good – I never found much ice on any trail and the trails are groomed each day.

The views from the mountain are pleasant – to the north, east and west you look towards more mountains and to the south you look out across the more level lowlands of Maine. It’s not striking like some ski areas, but I always enjoyed the fact that there was little development no matter what direction you look in – it’s nice to not have to see development encroaching on the wilds.

Crowds are generally not too bad except for holiday periods and some weekends. Even then, the mountain is large enough to swallow up an enormous amount of people without seeming too busy. Crowds tend to congregate around the base lodges and more often than not, they are more crowded than the trails. The high-speed quads get you up the mountain quickly, and there are enough out of the way areas on the mountain that you can find a quiet trail or two to enjoy. You probably won’t be able to track fresh powder but you should be able to get a relaxing run or two in depending upon where on the mountain you want to ski.

I really enjoyed the trips I made to Sunday River – there are so many different trails and each peak offers something different. I haven’t been back lately since moving to Massachusetts (more the driving time than anything else), but I’m sure that I will be back and it will be sooner rather than later (especially since my friends in Maine keep asking me to come and visit and ski with them).

Final Thoughts

One of New England’s largest ski resorts, Sunday River offers skiers and boarders a total destination package. With an extensive trail network on 8 different peaks and full-service on-site services, Sunday River makes it easy to spend a day or a week skiing.

Other Ski Resort Reviews

Bellayre Mountain (NY) / Hunter Mountain (NY) / Ski Windham (NY) / Burke Mountain (VT) / Catamount (MA) / Jiminy Peak (MA) / Whiteface Mountain/Lake Placid (NY) / Gore Mountain (NY) / Cannon Mountain (NH) / Wachussett Mountain (MA) / Wildcat Mountain (NH)

Recommended: Yes

Level of Experience Needed: All
Best Time to Visit: March
Best Suited For: Friends