SKIING & SNOWBOARDING
SUNRISE PARK RESORT NEWS: 50 Trails Open, 4 Lifts Open, 64" Base
FINAL WEEKEND: MARCH 29-31, 2024
2023-24 SEASON
Over $2M Invested in Preparation
for 2023/24 Ski Season
Sunrise Express Upgrade, Improvements to Snowmaking, RFID Technology Upgrade, Building Improvements, and More.
Greer, Arizona – October 24, 2023 – Sunrise Park Resort announces over $2M spent on improvements in Summer of 2023 for the upcoming 2023/24 ski season. Sunrise focused on guest experience with improvements this summer, including an overhaul of Sunrise Express, a high-tech RFID pass system for faster lift lines and ticket pickup, snowmaking upgrades with highly increased output, and renovations to buildings and facilities across the resort.
“Our focus is on the entire Sunrise experience, Summer and Winter. We have identified some of the most significant guest-centric improvements and really pushed the throttle to complete these projects - with one person in mind, the guest, and their experience. We take great pride in making Sunrise Arizona’s ultimate mountain adventure.” - Todd Clarke, General Manager
• Sunrise Express Overhaul: Sunrise Express (lift 1) is undergoing a complete overhaul of the lift’s control systems, electronics, and safety sensors. The lift, installed in the mid 1990s, is a true workhorse and the spirit of Sunrise. The electronics and related elements were showing their age, leading to routine faults and potential operating delays. This state-of-the-art retrofit will bring the lift to modern operating standards and will improve reliability for years to come.
• Other Recent Lift Improvements: Spirit Ridge (lift 8) had the motor rebuilt and all base area lifts had lift terminals and towers cleaned and painted over the summer. Fort Apache (lift 4), Geronimo (lift 5), and Pony Double (lift 2) all received complete overhauls of the lifts’ operating systems last season.
2022-23 SKI SEASON
Sliding Through
Half-A-Century
SUNRISE PARK RESORT'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY
BY ANNE GROEBNER
When my son, Danny, was almost four, my husband and I booked him a ski lesson at Sunrise Park Resort. It was 1998, the same year that the XVIII Olympics were held in Nagano, Japan. After watching hours of competitive skiing, we decided to hit the slopes ourselves. We dropped Danny off at his lesson and headed to the chairlift and skied until we had to pick him up. We still had a few minutes left before closing so we took him up the bunny hill a few more times — he was in his element and he loved it! At closing time, they stopped the chairlift and a look of confusion fell over his face. I told him it was time to go home. He dropped to the ground, lying flat on his back and, with tears streaming from anguish, he lamented, “But the Olympic people aren’t here yet!” For more than 23 years, he has skied or snowboarded every year at Sunrise Park Resort.
The Mountain
of Youth
Brian Zongker, NSP
Winter is Getting Started!
As we watch a child play, whether it is with friends in the back yard tree fort, riding a bike or just using his/her imagination, we think--we wish--we could be that care free and that such simple things could make us happy. We long to go back to when life was easy, where we weren’t concerned about working, cooking, cleaning, rushing or worrying about daily stresses. All of those things seem to make at least some, maybe most, of us feel old and tired. Well, let me tell you about the Mountain of Youth.
The Snow
is Good
By Brian Zongker, NSP
If you want to know how the snow is, here is a good indicator. I was in church the other day and the girl playing the keyboards was wearing a t-shirt underneath a hoodie that zipped up. The zipper was partly un-done and I could read what her shirt said. It read, “Jesus is King.” What I thought it said was “Jesus is Skiing.” For about five
I’m Ok
