Normally, Colorado reigns supreme when it comes to getting its lifts spinning first. However, Sunday River is looking to take the crown out of Colorful Colorado and bring it to Maine instead.
As of now (and weather permitting!), the ski area located in Newry, Maine will open its slopes on Monday, October 19th, making it the first resort to open its lifts for the 2015/2016 ski season. However, like always the announcement comes with the disclaimer, “weather permitting.”
However, it seems as though the snow making crew at Sunday River is confident they can create enough snow over the weekend to open on Monday!
Here is the official report from Sunday River
Huzzah!
The day you’ve been waiting for since May 2 is finally here: Opening Day of the 2015-16 winter season is planned for Monday, October 19.
Nobody makes snow like Sunday River, and every year we open as early as we can. With a few days of cold weather on the horizon our snowmaking team thinks they can pull it off by Monday. All plans will depend on weather and snow conditions so make sure to check in right here for updates over the next few days, but our planned schedule will be to open for the day on Monday then move to our regular early-season lift operations of weekends-only until mid-November.
Expected terrain for Monday will be the T2 trail on upper Locke Mountain, serviced by the Locke Mountain Triple with mid-station loading. The lift will spin from 9am to 4pm, with the last upload from the base at 3pm. Lift tickets will be $29 and available at Barker Lodge along with other skier services.
Sunday River Mountain Stats
Top Elevation- 3,140 ft
Base Elevation- 800 ft
Skiable Acres- 870
Snowmaking- 92%
Avg. Annual Snowfall- 155 inches
Lifts- 15 (1 Chondola, 4 high speed quads, 5 quads, 3 triples, 1 doubles, 1 surface lift)