More Opening Day Fun – Mount Sunapee & Pats Peak

PHOTO: It was a fablous opening day at Mount Sunapee in Newbury. Kris skis the Westside Trail with its big views over the open blue water of Lake Sunapee and beyond to the White Mountains. For information about upcoming events and lessons visit MountSunapee.com. 

by Amy Patenaude
Outdoor/Ski Writer

Meeting friends at their home mountain for opening day was fun. All winter long my friends Kris and Jay are most often found on weekdays waiting in the lift line to be among the first to ride the chairlift to the summit of Mount Sunapee. They are happy to get up early to make the first tracks on the slopes.
Mount Sunapee opened top to bottom on Wednesday, December 4th. I hustled to join my friends in the lift line for the Sunapee Express high-speed quad before it opened at 9 am. Another friend John was in the lift line so the four of us paired up to fill a chair.
Next to the lift a table with a DJ was blasting cool tunes. For a school day there were a good number of kids in the lift line with us. We wondered if the youngsters liked the Grateful Dead too. Another table was set up offering complimentary hot chocolate and coffee and an assortment of muffins for everyone to enjoy while they waited for the first chair of the season to load. What a treat.

Just before 9 am we noticed that Sunapee’s General Manager Susan Donnelly, along with other members of the Mount Sunapee staff were gathered near the lift–all wearing sharp looking blue Mount Sunapee/ Vail Resorts parkas. Promptly at 9 am they announced that the lift was open and led everyone in a loud cheer. All were excited to ski and ride.
It was a beautiful day. It was perfect weather for skiing. The sun was shining, it wasn’t too cold and the clear view over Lake Sunapee all the way to the snow capped White Mountains was grand.
The snow was great covering the trails edge to edge and groomed nicely.
John took off because he had less than an hour to ski and wanted to maximize his number of runs and we never caught up with him again. The three of us didn’t race right down. We stopped to admire the view and take a few photos.

We made six runs in a row and we had our boots off in the lodge before 11 am. It was Kris and Jay’s first day and that’s a good effort. As we left the ski area cars were driving into the parking lot. I am sure these late arrivals still found plenty of great snow.
Mount Sunapee’s Women’s Workshop is back this season. There are two 5-week sessions being offered for skiing and snowboarding. The first session begins January 9th and the second session on February 13th. The weekly 2.5 hour workshops are for Intermediate through advanced skiers and riders. The cost for the workshop and multi-week adult 5 day lift ticket is$424. Rental equipment can be added to the package. For more information and to register on-line at MountSunapee.com.
A couple days later on Friday I made it to my home mountain’s opening day at Pats Peak and their first day was just for passholders. I even made it in time to wait in the lift line and cheer when the lift opened for the first time this season. At the lift doughnuts and hot cider were served compliments of the Common Man–coming soon they will be operating a slopeside deli.
Also new this year at Pats Peak are that the lift tickets and season passes are RFID cards. The lift ticket/RFID opens the newly installed gate that allows access to the lift.
The new system seemed to work very well and the lift line moved quickly and smoothly. They had top to bottom skiing and had novice skiing open on several trails on the Valley slopes and the carpet lift trails. A few terrain park rails and features were set-up too.

The sun was in and out and the temperature was below freezing. On the trails yet open it was a snowmaking madhouse factory. Only one place did we have to ski under a snow gun but everywhere I could see swirling snow and hear the snow guns.
I skied five runs top to bottom and then headed over to Valley slopes to ski a couple more. At all the lifts RFID gates have been installed.
The snow was great and I hated to leave so soon but I needed to get back to work. I look forward to skipping out on weekday mornings to ski the Peak with my friends.
Pats Peak will be celebrating New Year’s Eve with skiing, snowboarding and tubing with lifts running until 8:45 pm and Fireworks at 9:20 pm.

Pats Peak’s Adult/Corporate Racing Series begins January 6th with racing Monday through Thursday nights. I race on Mondays. We had our Captain’s meeting last week and it was fun to see everyone in the Sled Pub and to go over the rules for this season. If you’d like to join the fun some teams are looking for a skier or snowboarder—contact race@patspeak.com and they’ll help you find a team.
Lots of more ski areas have had their opening days and it is looking good for a white Christmas.
Mount Sunapee and Pats Peak have made lots of snow and many more trails are now open. See ya next year. Have Fun.