Bethel Citizen 1/14/16

For further information contact:  Terri Messer at tmesser@aol.com or 207-671-0715

The Prime Time Ski Club’s winter season is well underway with more than 30 members meeting daily at North Peak Lodge these first few weeks of the new year. One of our more senior members (80+ years old) drove from Massachusetts to be one of the first to ski Sunday River when the resort opened in October. A few other members started skiing around Thanksgiving and reported very enjoyable springlike conditions during early December thanks to Sunday River’s top-notch snowmaking crew and groomers. Even if current conditions are not the best, a good number of club members continue to ski every day, managing to find the trails that have the best skiing.

The Prime Time social season for the winter is also underway, starting with a December pot luck dinner that had a great attendance despite the fact that most members were not skiing yet. This month there is another pot luck dinner planned as well as a game night, a gathering to meet and mingle with new members and many activities as part of the mountain’s Go50 Week. Social activities for the off-season also continue to expand beyond  the popular four-day trip to Bar Harbor. This summer, members enjoyed a number of kayaking, biking and hiking outings around the Bethel area as well as southern Maine. The club ended last year with around 145 members, some of which do not ski but enjoy the social activities or have a spouse/significant other who skis. For more information about our ski club and a list of scheduled activities and other perks, check out our web site at www.primetimeskiclub.com.

Some of our members took a break from skiing last week to watch the Red Bull Frozen Rush 2016 trials on Thursday and the championship race on Friday when they witnessed the world’s best off-road truck drivers compete on Sunday River’s South Ridge ski area on a custom course of jumps, berms and other snow features. A few members also got to try free samples of Red Bull energy drink from the sponsor of the event. However, there is no report yet on how much energy the drink provided our “mature” members. Frozen Rush 2016 will be broadcast on NBC-TV Jan. 30, providing great national exposure for Sunday River. You can also watch the race on your computer anytime at www.redbulltv.com.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for someone to ski with, remember that The Prime Time Ski Club motto is “No one needs to ski alone.” Club members meet every weekday at Peak Lodge between 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.on the upper level, right side, just beyond the bar. After a brief time for announcements and sharing information on where the best skiing is for the day, members (who must be 50 years or older) usually break into small groups of from four to eight skiers, based primarily on skiing ability and terrain preference. Start the new year right by showing up at Peak Lodge and skiing a few runs with us. Find out where the best skiing is and make some new friends along the way.