Sunday River Confirms Barker Bubble Six-Pack Replacement, Additional Merrill Hill Triple Lift for 2023-24

Sunday River’s Barker chairlift, built in 1987, entered its 35th season this winter.

Background

Sunday River will receive a much-needed lift replacement for the 2023-24 season, according to a release put out by the resort. The resort’s Barker high-speed quad, which was installed in 1987 and is currently the resort’s oldest detachable chairlift, will be replaced with a brand new bubble six-pack for the upcoming winter. Much like the Jordan 8 lift that went in this season, the new Barker 6 chairlift will come with red bubbles, heated seats, and stitched, contoured seats. The new six-pack will also run faster than the current Barker chair, boasting a best-in-class 1,200 fpm line speed.

Barker 6 isn’t the only lift upgrade Sunday River has in the cards for next winter. The resort also plans to install a second fixed-grip chairlift within its new Merrill Hill area, setting the groundwork for addition trail and real estate expansion.

If these plans are executed as proposed, next season will be the second in a row where Sunday River debuts two new lifts (following the Jordan 8 and Merrill Hill Triple upgrades this winter).

The upgraded Barker 6 (in red) and new Merrill Hill lift (in orange) highlighted on Sunday River’s trail map.

Our Take

Barker 6 Replacement

Of all the lifts on Sunday River’s roster, the Barker chair is easily in the most dire need of replacement. This high-speed quad is now over 35 years old, and is essentially Sunday River’s primary lapping lift. The current Barker lift has run into serious problems over the past several years, and is now unable to run at the full speed it was designed for due to mechanical circumstances. The lack of high-speed lifts in other nearby mountain zones compounds the issue, with considerable lift lines during peak times putting additional pressure on the lift.

Within the past few years, a couple of rather surprising developments came out of Sunday River’s planning team. First off, it was announced that the resort’s Jordan high-speed quad would be prioritized for an upgrade before Barker, receiving a cutting-edge bubble eight-pack; the outgoing Jordan lift was eight years younger and in much better shape than the Barker lift, making its need for replacement much less of a ticking time bomb. Secondly, Sunday River initially planned to use the old Jordan lift to replace Barker, rather than building a brand-new lift in that location; this would have meant that the “new” Barker chair would be nearly three decades old at the time of replacement.

While the new Jordan 8 lift did end up going in at the beginning of the 2022-23 season, Sunday River reversed course on their decision to rebuild the old Jordan lift for use at the Barker pod, and is thankfully installing a brand-new, state-of-the-art lift in the location. In addition to the higher speed than the outgoing Barker chair, the bubbles and heated seats look to make for comfortable journeys on cold days—and should spread some of the crowds away from Sunday River’s popular chondola during these times. Most importantly, the new Barker 6 should hopefully make for a much more reliable ride than the current setup.

Second Merrill Hill Chairlift

The second chairlift on Merrill Hill highlights Sunday River’s continued focus on real estate. The new lift will likely come with a handful for beginner and intermediate trails—and the Merrill Hill area as it exists today does have some genuinely cool trails that are worth checking out—but it’s fairly clear that this lift is being built to facilitate slopeside condo developments. Real estate sales can be a significant source of revenue for ski resorts (in fact, Sunday River’s sister resort Sugarloaf is making similar strategic investments as well), and selling homes will likely help pay for—and determine the scope of—the rest of Sunday River’s upcoming upgrade projects.

Remaining Opportunities

What still seems to be absent from Sunday River’s near-term plans is an investment strategy for some historically neglected mountain areas. The White Cap and Aurora zones are home to critical terrain pods, but both areas are held down by painfully long slow, fixed-grip chairlifts, and neither has been pegged for an upgrade yet. Sunday River looks to be concentrating on refurbishing the lift service in existing “high-speed” areas before focusing on replacements for its fixed-grips, and it remains to be seen which, if any, lifts are pegged for an upgrade after Barker. Perhaps we’ll have a better idea of these upgrades once real estate sales on the Merrill Hill expansions trickle in!

Considering a ski trip to Sunday River this year? Check out our full East Coast rankings, as well as our comprehensive Sunday River review.