Hi everyone! I know it’s getting a little late in the month to say Happy New Year, but the last few weeks have gotten away from me. So, Happy New year!!
I hope 2026 is off to a great start for you all, and I’m looking forward to sharing a new year of adventures with you!
My family went on a 7-day Disney Cruise over the holiday break and although it was technically a vacation, after four ports, three island excursions (including a zip line adventure!) and two days at Disney World, I think I returned more exhausted than when we left LOL
But I couldn’t stay away from the blog much longer because I am excited to share our last ski experience with you. And with all this snow we’ve been having lately, you might be looking for a ski adventure this season 🙂
If you follow this blog, then you know my family has been making the rounds of New England mountains over the past few years. We love Stowe up in Vermont for its village charm, alpine vibe and beginner-friendly Spruce Peak ski area. We also enjoyed the super family-friendly Ski Butternut in the Berkshires, just a quick trip up the road in Great Barrington, MA.
But last winter we ventured even farther afield, this time all the way north to Newry, Maine for a visit to Sunday River!
At nearly five hours away by car from the Hartford area, Sunday River is not the most convenient ski slopes to get to for those of us in Connecticut. However, it is one of the largest ski mountains in New England, with 8 peaks and 139 trails spanning 884 skiable acres.
For our first family visit to Sunday River, we chose to stay slopeside at the Grand Summit Hotel and take advantage of the ski in/ski out situation.
There are many different size rooms available– from standard (two queen beds) rooms to one room studios with kitchen amenities to 2- and even 3-bedroom suites. The rooms are admittedly a little dated and will definitely not make any best of lists for the chicest place to stay, but ours was clean and comfortable and the staff was friendly and accommodating. And let’s be honest, the ease and convenience of staying on the mountain is way more important to ski vacation success than modern room decor.
On the other hand, the main common areas of the hotel have definitely been updated. The lobby and restaurants are giving major alpine lodge vibes.
There are a few dining options inside the Grand Summit Hotel. We mostly frequented the family-friendly Camp on our stay. It was so easy and convenient (especially with young kids) to just head downstairs each night for dinner. In fact, the weekend we were there a big snow storm blew through, which made for great skiing but hampered our ability to get around on the roads. It was so nice to be staying at this ski in/ski out resort complete with restaurants– we literally didn’t have to get in our car the whole stay! On our next visit we are hoping to be able to explore the environs a little more, but for this stay dining at the hotel was an excellent (and tasty!) option.
Another nice feature of a Grand Summit Hotel stay is that the hotel has its own chairlift and ski area with beginner and intermediate terrain. Well, it’s not technically proprietary, but the lift and several trails can be accessed from the hotel without ever having to go down to the base lodge. That was particularly nice on a very windy day when most of the other chair lifts were closed, but those of us staying at the hotel were still able to ski that lift– definitely saved that ski day for us! Also, since you can just duck back into the hotel at any time, it’s an especially great option for families with small kids who may need to take more frequent breaks (not to mention emergency potty runs!).
Of course, you can also easily access other lifts that will take you all across the mountain as well. (The Grand Summit Hotel is located in the lower left corner of the map below.)
A favorite way to start the day was with coffee and treats at Coffee Hound at the South Ridge Lodge. I recommend the Maple Leaf or the Jordan Turtle. Yummm.
There are plenty of dining options on the mountain, from quick bites to full meals.
One thing to remember is that most (if not all) lodge restaurants and slope-side shacks at Sunday River are cashless, which means you’ll need to pay by card for food, etc. I learned that the hard way when I sent my kids to the food court with a $20 bill to help themselves and they came back after standing in line for 10 minutes to ungraciously tell me that it was card payment only (duh, mom), which of course meant that now I had to shlep myself over there–and right after I had managed to finally finagle my feet out of those torturous ski boots! (Insert head slap emoji here). Anyway, live and learn (and maybe decide it’s worth trusting your 11-year-old with a debit card if it means not having to put those dang boots back on LOL).
Now, we know a five hour drive with kiddos is no joke, and that there are a lot of closer ski areas when you live in CT. But no other New England mountain I have skied (and I’ve been skiing since I was a child) absorbs the holiday crowds quite like Sunday River does. This place is enormous. We were there over Presidents’ Weekend, which is also school winter break for many schools in CT, and we hardly saw a lift line longer than a few minutes wait. And yet, despite the size, Sunday River has such a cozy, family-friendly, totally unpretentious, we’re all here skiing for the love of skiing feel to it. It really is the best of all ski worlds up here.
We had a wonderful three days exploring the peaks at Sunday River. And one of the best parts is that, with so many trails to ski, there will be something new to discover on our next trip there…and even the next one 😉
The following content includes affiliate links. This means that we may earn a small commission on purchases with no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting Out and About Mom!
p.s. If you need to purchase some ski gear, but you’re not totally ready to blow out your budget until you know your family is going to commit to the sport, I’ve linked some of my favorite Amazon finds below. I have purchased all of these items and have been skiing with them in all kinds of weather for the past 4 years and I can tell you that they have all met or exceeded my expectations for performance. We even skied in a blizzard last winter and I was toasty warm!
Last year, I purchased my own helmet (you can usually rent them with your skiis and boots if you don’t want to buy one). I also snagged this boot bag backpack during a sale. I don’t really use it for boots, although you totally could. I like the larger-than-your-regular-backpack size for toting all our gear when we have to drive to the ski area. Also makes a great storage container for our ski gear for when we’re not using it–and then I always know it’s ready to go 🙂
Recently, I invested in my own pair of ski boots from Apline Haus in Wethersfield– I highly recommend their boot fitting process. These guys are pros! I’ve never been able to use the words comfortable and ski boots in the same sentence before LOL The whole boot fitting process can take up to 2 hours though, so be prepared to invest some time too.
For my kids, I’ve always had good luck with Lands End snow gear (parkas, snow boots and snow pants). You can usually get it with some sort of discount code and it has held up well enough to pass down at least once– often twice! I’ve accessorized them with the products below that I’ve found on Amazon over the years. All get my Out and About Mom seal of approval 🙂
You might also enjoy:
Want to connect with Connecticut families? Out and About Mom can help grow your business, organization or destination!
Welcome more visitors with Out and About Mom! We can help you get the word out about your latest offerings and happenings in real time. Our dedicated readers count on Out and About Mom to give them information on things to do with kids in (and around) Connecticut. Put your destination front and center with our budget-friendly sponsorship program, giveaways, and more!
Want to keep up with things to do with kids in Connecticut?
Check back every week as we dish up more Momsense for getting out and about with your kiddos. Don’t have time to check back in? Let us send outing ideas straight to your email inbox by signing up here. Also, you can like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram to keep up with the latest posts and get some extra tidbits we share only through those sites.