This year I couldn't make the trip home to Wisconsin to enjoy Christmas with my family. I still had a great day thanks to a friend. She is an avid snowboarder. She found the Alpine Ski Club which is an organization that has been hosting ski trips since 1969. There was a trip up to Sunrise Ski Resort scheduled for Christmas day. It was pretty cheap and included bus ride and lift ticket. I've been meaning to try snowboarding and this was a perfect way to distract from missing my family.
The trip started off with meeting the bus in the parking lot of the Arizona Christian Academy for a 4:30 AM departure. We made one more stop in Fountain Hills to pick up a few more people and then headed up the 87 towards Payson. It was an early morning but it was nice to not have to be the driver. Most of the group took naps and relaxed on the 200 mile 3 1/2 hour drive.
Seeing as this was my first time snowboarding I had to learn. Sunrise had a nice package that covered lessons, equipment and lift ticket.
I spent most of my time with Kyle, my instructor and a few other beginners learning the basics and collecting bruises. Most of my time was spent on the small teaching hill so we only did a few runs on Sunrise Peak. We went down the middle green run twice and the top green once. I was very happy with the runs that I did see and I'll be back soon to learn and explore more.
It was a good day and I was exhausted on the ride back to Phoenix. I loved the fact that for how reasonable the trip price was I got to kick back, relax, watch a movie and nap instead of driving.
Info about Sunrise Park Resort
Sunrise Park Resort is located 12 miles West of Greer, AZ in the White Mountains. It is owned and run by the White Mountain Apache Tribe. The park has three mountains. The base starts off at an elevation of 9,200 feet and rises to the highest point of 11,100 feet on Apache Peak. Sunrise Peak and Cyclone Peak both reach an elevation of 10,700 feet.
There are 65 total runs in the 800 acre skiing area. 40% are beginner, 40% are intermediate, and 20% are advanced. The longest run that is listed is the Sidwinder at 1.2 miles long.
There are 10 lifts in the park. 3 quad chair, 4 triple chair, 1 double chair, 2 surface lifts.
Links to the Club and Resort:
Alpine Ski Club & Adventure Tours
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