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Getting Above it all at Sunday River

January 10, 2011 - CARRABASSETT VALLEY - Over the past few years, Sunday River has done more to partner with local businesses like dog-sled and snowmobile guides.

This winter, helicopter pilots from New Hampshire are bringing a different kind of guided trip to the Newry resort.

During Christmas vacation week, helicopter rides leaving from a pub below the mountain range flew over it, and will again at the end of the month.

"It's a great opportunity for guests coming to Sunday River to see the resort from a completely different perspective. Certainly it's a unique activity that not many other ski areas or local businesses near ski areas offer," said Darcy Morse, Sunday River spokeswoman.

Taking off from the Matterhorn Ski Bar near the resort's base, pilots with C-R Helicopters will fly past the ski area's eight peaks on a roughly four-minute trip.

The pass is short, but hovering 500 feet above the ski area creates a spectacle for the passengers -- and skiers on the ground.

"It definitely catches people's attention," Morse said. "During Christmas week they were flying over. You hear it before you see it, but it's such a recognizable sound, you instantly look up. Then you notice all the skiers and riders waving."

Long-time Sunday River ski patrol volunteer and C-R Helicopters pilot Peter Bogdonoff helped bring the New Hampshire helicopter operation to Newry.

Bogdonoff loves to fly, and loves his home mountain.

"Doing rides at Sunday River is something new for us, something we'd love to do more of," said Bogdonoff.

Bob Cloutier, co-owner of C-R Helicopters, said he's hoping to move the rides up to the mountain, instead of operating from the base, and discussions about that are ongoing with Sunday River's parent company, Boyne Resorts.

For now, Cloutier said the roughly once-a-month rides are a fun way to offer families a new view of a favorite place.

"We do 30-plus events around New England. But Pat's Peak is the only other ski area," Cloutier said.

"We've kept the price at $25. We spend less time in the air (than we used to), but we didn't want to raise the price. When you go up to $30, that pushes away a lot of families, and we want the families. We want the kids to enjoy this."

Cloutier flies at other Maine events, including the Sebago ice derby, where he's taken children over Sebago Lake for five years.

He enjoys the wonder of it as much as his young passengers do.

"They think it's an amusement ride. I take my two granddaughters. It's nothing to them. They sing songs," Cloutier said.


By Deirdre Fleming dfleming@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, January 9, 2011



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