Birthday Blog

In producing the new Sunday River anniversary book, Sunday River: Honoring the Past, Embracing the Future, I have had the pleasure of getting to know the author Dave Irons. While I knew of Dave through various media outlets, I never had the chance to really get to know him. Dave is by far one of the sweetest men I know and a wealth of both humor and stories. His knowledge of the ski industry, particularly Sunday River, is for lack of a better word - impressive. Plus, the man makes a mean Manhattan. If you find yourself with a copy of the Sunday River book in your hands, you will not be disappointed. Dave has done an amazing job covering the five decades of our history and the pictures that supplement his words are pieces of art themselves. Until then, you can learn a little bit more about Dave here:

An Interview with Dave Irons


1) How long have you been skiing at Sunday River?
50 years as of Dec. 19.

2) What was the hardest part about compiling the new Sunday River book, "Sunday River, Honoring the Past, Embracing the Future?"
The hardest part was tracking down some of the people who played key roles. Burt Mill is in Montana, Chip and Wendy Seamans at Kirkwood in Tahoe, and Bill Jensen in Vancouver to name just a few.  The good news is that everyone was 100 percent cooperative.  

3) I am sure a flood of memories came rushing back with each person you talked to. Who was your favorite interview and why?
There were several that were especially memorable.  Avery Angevine who told me how they built the base lodge, the parking lot and road in had wonderful memories of the building of the ski area.  It was also a lot of fun to sit with Johnny Rolfe's widow, Ruby and her son Red to learn how the trails were cut and the first T-bar installed along with the operation of the area in the early days. 

4) You were here for Sunday River's very first opening day which you write about in the book - do you remember what skis you were on at the time? What skis are you on today?
They were a pair of Paris White Mountains.  Laminated wood with a plastic base, screwed on steel edges and a light blue top.  They died a year or two later when I plowed into a mogul of heavy wet snow on the last pitch of Lower Cascades.  I was relieved to learn that the sharp crack I heard was one of the skis, not a leg.  It must have been an entertaining crash for the folks waiting in the T-bar line.  Today I ski on various models of Volkl race skis ranging in length from 165 to 178 cm, considerably shorter than the 205's I broke that day.

5) As you know, Sunday River has grown from one peak to eight - what is your favorite Sunday River mountain and why?
I still prefer the trails in Barker.  Lower Cascades can be skied a half a dozen times with its varied terrain allowing a different line every time.  On cold mornings I like to warm up in the sun on Dream Maker off North Peak.

6) You met your wife Pat here at Sunday River, tell us a little about that?
It was at the annual ski club roast beef dinner Easter weekend in 1979.  I spotted her and used my best line, "How come I don't know you?"  I was taken aback when she replied, "You do."   Technically she was right.  She had been in the first aid room when one her sons was brought in and we had been at some of the same parties but I had never gotten to know her and didn't recognize her that night.  The party continued at the home of one of the members and I followed her to her chalet in Viking Village and she allowed me to drive her to the next party.  It wasn't easy but I convinced her that she should let me take her to dinner a couple of weeks later and we have been together ever since.
 
7) In your opinion, what has been Sunday River's single best improvement over the past 50 years?
The skiing product.  Les Otten realized that only a superior skiing product would make all the other things possible and by making sure that the snowmaking and grooming went along with the lifts he created the skier loyalty that remains today.  I like going out on the mountain in the morning knowing that I'll find the best possible snow conditions.

8) What do you hope to see in the next 50 years?
I don't know how many of those 50 I'll get to observe but I plan on skiing for another 20 at least.  On the mountain I hope to see the commitment to a great skiing product continue.  That will bring the skiers to pay for continuing improvements in everything from lodging to food service and other amenities.  I would also like to see the expansion of summer business, especially another golf course which could greatly enhance the attraction for golfers.

9) Is there anything that you wish you could have added to the book that you didn't?
Going through some of the pictures I realized that I could have done a better job on some of the special events such as the Santa weekend.  As a ski writer I often skip over some of these things choosing to write about other aspects of the sport, but some are a lot of fun and add more to the sport than we realize.  I'm sure when the book is in the hands of Sunday River skiers I'm going to hear a lot of "How about this?"  I look forward to it.

10) On your bio, it reads that you contributed stories to Playboy - what was your story about and did you get to meet Hef?
That was kind of a fluke.  I got word and the name of the editor who was handling it that they were looking for a story on what was new at ski resorts around the country and I called and got the assignment.  It was the year Big Sky installed the Lone Peak Tram and I got a neat quote from Dan Egan that it was great because they installed a lift just because they wanted to ski it.  He also told me about the A to Z chutes which would be within reach off the summit.  I had to submit all kinds of documentation and I sent about 1,000 words along with some pics.  What ran was one column, one third of a page with no pics.  But my byline was at the bottom and the check was for $750.  How's that for 300 words?!  By the following year that editor was gone and I never got a repeat, but my name has been in Playboy.  Phil Johnson was in charge of credentials for ESWA (Eastern Ski Writers Association) that year so I sent him a copy.  I'm reasonably certain that's the only time a ski writer got into one of the world's largest circulation magazines.  It was fun though I never left Maine for that one.  Never got to meet Hef, or worse, any of the playmates.

I stole the title to this blog post from my high school English teacher who is now the Director of the Maine Writing Project (www.mainewritingproject.blogspot.com). Bare with me as I tie in what one has to do with the other.

I went to Mountain Valley High School in Rumford, Maine and while I was there, Richard Kent was my English teacher. Each quarter, my mother would allow for me to have one “mental health day” which I could spend at home, out of school. The timing of these days worked out well in that I usually had to dedicate their entirety to producing the portfolio required for Mr. Kent’s class. What is a portfolio? Well, it is a serious writing project and requires hours and hours of thoughtful writing and reading, which I of course waited until the last minute to do. Thus, my mental health days felt more like writing exams than a leisurely afternoon at home (as intended).

Fast forward thirteen years and here I am writing for Sunday River’s History Blog. My mental health days have turned into mental health ski breaks and aren’t so much quarterly as they are frequent.  However, there are definitely days when I never leave my computer because the amount of writing required piles up quicker than I can type. These are the days when I think back to the portfolio. The irony in all of this? Mr. Kent used to have my job as the Director of Communications for Sunday River in the eighties. In fact, Mr. Kent was part of the team known for dumping a truckload of snow on the Boston Common to show the Massachusetts market that there was in fact snow in the mountains of Maine – a public relations move that almost landed then general manager Les Otten in jail, but got a ton of great media attention nonetheless!

Today, Mr. Kent continues to lead the charge in improving student achievement by improving the teaching of writing and learning in the state’s schools. We are Facebook friends, so I have the pleasure of keeping up with him though status updates and the occasional email and phone call. It’s been a long time, but the funny thing is that we’re both still writing.

A recap of that day on the Boston Common can be read in Sunday River’s new book “Sunday River: Honoring the Past, Embracing the Future.” And since I enjoy tweaking titles to fit my own writing, I guess a fitting close to this blog post would be that if my future is anything like Mr. Kent’s, I will have a lot to embrace. Thanks for paving the way and for being a part of Sunday River’s history!

On Friday, October 23, Les Otten, former general manager for Sunday River, will be inducted into the Maine Ski Hall of Fame. As reported by Dan Cassidy in the Maine Outdoor Journal, "It would be hard to find an individual with a greater impact on the business side of Maine skiing than Les Otten.  Although the New York native was sent to Sunday River by new owner Killington in 1972, he quickly became a believer in Maine and its skiing potential.  When he couldn't get the parent company to allow him to expand the Maine resort, he convinced them to sell the area to him.  That year, 1980 the area drew 32,000 skier visits.  A decade and half later the figure was close to 600,000 and Maine had one of the top five ski resorts in New England, primarily due to the vision of Les Otten."

While most people know that Les Otten came to Sunday River from Killington, few people know that he took over as general manager for Sunday River at the young age of 24. Otten's vision for Sunday River helped form the resort into what it is today - a true destination resort with one of the best snowmaking systems in the country. People from all over the world come to Sunday River to ski because of its dependable snow and its vast amount of terrain. Imagine for a minute the amount of work that went into turning Sunday River into eight mountain peaks from just one all while creating a modern lift and snowmaking system. Pretty incredible accomplishments and certainly worthy of an induction to the Maine Ski Hall of Fame. 

Congratulations to Les Otten from Sunday River!

When asked what the greatest perk to our job it, the easy answer is "the skiing and riding" but I think more than that, we'd all agree that we like to see people smile.  So what does this have to do with our history? Well, we've been trying to make people smile now, for 50 years, so there is something, but what really got me thinking about this was a recent post to our Facebook page regarding the new Mega Pass that we are putting out to celebrate our 50th Birthday. The gist of the comment was that "Boyne was pricing for the afar consumer and not the local Mainer." Certainly not the most glowing comment, but one worth considering a little further.

The beauty of Sunday River to me is many things. I have the luxury of being able to claim to be a Mainer (I grew up about 20 minutes away) and Sunday River is where I learned to ski. I went to school in the area and even then - some 15 years ago, Sunday River was working with the area school district to provide us with discounted season passes for students and teachers as well as community days for residents. If it had not been for Sunday River's consideration of their local market, I am not sure I would be a skier or snowboarder today. But they did, and they cared about seeing school kids, teachers and community member smile as they do to this very day.

In terms of Boyne, we couldn't be happier with efforts to make Sunday River the best ski area in the East. Since falling under Boyne ownership they have invested a whopping $22.5 million in the resort - a far cry from the 90s when most investment funding came to a sharp halt. And even with millions and millions of dollars invested into Sunday River, season pass prices continue to be less than what they were prior to...pretty amazing when you consider it.

Now the Mega Pass isn't going to be of value to everyone - we realize that - but to those who like this kind of service and access to such amenities, it really is of value to them. For those who just want to ski, consider the New England Pass or Maine Student Pass. What if you don't ski all the time? Consider e-tickets or something like the Frequent Skier Card. There are definitely lots of ways to save at Sunday River! For those of us who have been working here and or skiing here for years and years and years, I think we would all agree that the memories associated with being here are priceless - just check out some of the history photos for proof!

Another great way to save - check out the deals page on this site. We just released the first round of $50 lift tickets for our 50th celebration. I am so ready to party and you can bet I will be wearing my skis and a smile :)

This winter, Sunday River celebrates its 50th birthday - a milestone and good reason to throw an all-out party! In putting together the schedule, ideas, website and book dedicated to Sunday River's history, it became apparent quickly to those of us on the working end, that this year is no small task. Fifty years means many things to many people but I am sure that we can all agree that there is a lot that has happened in the time. So how does one resort celebrate the infinite number of memories that are associated with it? We are still working on the details, but we can tell you that we are publishing a new book authored by long-time Sunday River fan and former Director of Ski Patrol, Dave Irons. Justly named - "Sunday River: Honoring the Past, Embracing the Future" it's a great historic overview of how far Sunday River has come.

If you think about it, what started as one mountain has since grown into eight interconnected peaks. The original T-bars have all been replaced with 16 of New England's most modern lifts including last year's introduction of the Chondola. As we started to look back at the pictures that span the past five decades, the vast differences that have come about since Sunday River's first opening day on December 19, 1959 were pretty obvious. Which brings us back to the looming question of "when should we start the celebration?" Lucky for us, December 19, 2009 falls on a Saturday so you should save the date now for the biggest kick-off party of the year. 

We hope you enjoy this site - it will be filled with everything and anything related to our season-long celebration.

Happy 50th from us at Sunday River!