Adult First Experience Lessons

The Sunday River SnowSports School is located slopeside, adjacent to South Ridge Lodge, where you'll find signage for each program by age.

Gratuities are not included and are not expected. However, they are always appreciated if you feel that the service warrants it.

Lessons may be changed or canceled up until midnight on the night prior to your lesson by using our Easy Change Form. Should you need to cancel or change your reservation on the day of your lesson, please contact us at 1-800-543-2754.

We'll provide your coach, all of the necessary equipment, and your lift ticket. Here's what you should bring:

• Snow pants
• Insulated jacket
• Neck wrap or scarf if jacket does not have high collar
• Warm mittens or gloves
• Wool or synthetic socks
• Goggles or sunglasses can help but are optional
• Winter hat or helmets

Reserve early to guarantee a spot! Reservations are required to guarantee a spot and are made online.

A beginner lift ticket provides access to the South Ridge area via multiple lifts—the South Ridge Express and the Sundance Surface Lifts—and the Little White Cap Quad next to the Grand Summit Hotel.

All lessons require a lift ticket, which can be purchased online. Lift tickets are not included in the lesson except for Adult First Experience Lessons.

Our Essential Eligibility Criteria for skiers and riders taking lessons at Sunday River SnowSports School may help you determine whether the student's needs can be met best through a group lesson, a private lesson, or an adaptive lesson. All guests are welcome and important at the Sunday River SnowSports School. Our goal is to provide a professional level of care and service for the best possible experience for all.

The Essential Eligibility Criteria (EEC) below outlines the essential eligibility standards that are required for ALL guests to participate in ski and snowboard lessons, group or private, at the Sunday River Resort. Adaptive lessons at the Sunday River Ski Resort are conducted by Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation and may be subject to different EEC's. The purpose of the EEC is to give our Team Members, our students, and their families the information they need to make an accurate, objective assessment when deciding if an individual's abilities are appropriate for a lesson format. Specifically, the EEC assists in the determination of whether or not a student:

• has a willingness, desire and motivation to participate in the sport of skiing or snowboarding in a lesson environment.
• will or will not present a safety risk to themselves or others.
• will or will not distract from the experience of other lesson participants.

In order to participate in a ski or snowboard lesson, a student must meet a basic level of physical and cognitive abilities. For some individuals, the basic level of function can be achieved with additional assistance or other reasonable accommodation.

The EEC listed below specify the most basic functions necessary to allow for the safe participation in a ski or snowboard lesson. Although this list is intended to be comprehensive, there may be situations and variables that do not appear below and there are many different situations (such as weather, crowds, group dynamics, etc.) that make it impossible to list every form in which inclusion may take place. Therefore, this list is not inclusive, and Sunday River Resort reserves the right to determine additional criteria at any time.

Physical Abilities The student is able to do the following, independently:

• Visit restrooms by themselves, stop with the lesson on a trail, or maneuver in a lift line.
• Participate in the lesson without being under the influence of any controlled substance, intoxicant, drug, or hallucinatory agent.
• Perform all functions of the lesson within a reasonable time frame, without holding up the movement of the entire lesson.
• Continue with the lesson throughout the day without causing detours in terrain selection, additional breaks or other changes in the normal course of the lesson plan as designed for the entire lesson.
• Negotiate level-appropriate terrain without hindering the experience of other guests or causing risk to personal safety.
• Travel at an appropriate level of speed for their ability.
• Follow the National Ski Areas Association's "Your Responsibility Code," which requires that all skiers and riders:
  • Always stay in control.
  • People ahead of you have the right-of-way.
  • Stop in a safe place for you and others.
  • Whenever starting downhill or merging, look uphill and yield.
  • Use devices to help prevent runaway equipment.
  • Observe signs and warnings to keep off closed trails.
  • Know how to use the lifts safely. 

Behavior/ Reasoning Abilities The student is able to do the following, independently:

• Communicate personal needs to the instructor.
• Follow directions as communicated by the instructor.
• Maintain a reasonable level of willingness, desire and motivation to participate in the sport of skiing or snowboarding in a lesson environment.
• Refrain from discourteous behavior or profane language while engaged in the lesson.
• Socialize with a group of similar age and ability level students, without requiring extra attention from the instructor that distracts from the instructor's reasonable care of the entire group.
• Understand the cause and effect relationships in which an action or behavior may place the physical safety of himself or others at risk.
• Maintain the amount of attention and focus necessary to participate for the full duration of the lesson.
• Make arrangements for an authorized caretaker to dispense medications, as the instructor and other Sunday River Team Members are not permitted to do so.
• Disclose any allergies or medications that could affect their participation in the program to the program Team Member and/or their instructor prior to the lesson. Food allergies must be known ahead of time if the student is to be eating the provided lunch as part of their lesson program.
• Avoid leaving the class without permission.

The instructor has the authority to cease the student's participation in the lesson:

• The student exhibits any behavior that makes the lesson unsafe to the student, instructor, and/or others on the mountain.
• The student makes it apparent that they no longer want to continue the lesson.
• The prevailing conditions and circumstances warrant.

If you or your child do not meet one or more of the specific requirements above, please consider taking advantage of the ski programming from Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation, an independent non-profit organization located on property at Sunday River Resort.

Contact Information:

Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation
8 Sundance Lane Newry, Maine 04261
207-824-2440
info@maineadaptive.org