This year the Top of the Hill Gang again returned to Sunday River to celebrate Leap Day and enjoy five days at that beautiful mountain and the delightful Grand Summit Hotel. Thirty-nine fearless skiers and hikers, including nine first-timers to TOHG, enjoyed great camaraderie, good food, and better than advertised skiing conditions. Although the forecast called for a week of cloudy weather, somehow four of the five days wound up with hours of bluebird skiing. A brief mid-week warm-up and rain event benched all but the most intrepid skiers on Wednesday. Apparently several gang members didn’t see (or chose to ignore) the weather report and racked up thousands of feet of drenched downhill skiing over terrain reminiscent of the previous evenings mashed potatoes. One of our groups logged so many runs that day that they became known as “The Barker Six” in honor of their favorite new lift. By Thursday the temperatures plunged and the groomers worked their magic to restore the mountain. Not to be outdone by the “Barker Six”, the fearless five “Warriors of Winter” lasted through Friday when the sparkling, frozen hardback (and some ice) made some of the trails “faster than a speeding bullet”. Our hikers and snow shoe enthusiasts also found some engaging trails during the week.
The gang enjoyed an opening night road trip for gourmet pizzas and salad (thanks to Marge) at the Jordan Hotel. On Tuesday we were treated to an elegant group banquet right at our hotel.Several of our rock enthusiasts raved about their visit to he Maine Mineral & Gem Museum in nearby Bethel on Wednesday. We also found lots of time during the week for hot tubs, apres ski by the fireplace, a couple of game nights, and intimate dinners with friends new and old. Folks left looking forward to our annual “week after school vacation” pilgrimage to Sunday River next year.
Tom J
Sunday River Trip Leader
