PROFILE – November 2014
By Penelope Anne Schwartz l Photography by Sarah Beard Buckley

Sunday River’s Dana A. Bullen II loves the state he’s in 

Dana Bullen’s office at Sunday River’s South Ridge Lodge seems pretty unassuming for for the resort president and general manager of Maine’s most visited ski resort—a modest desk, a couple of chairs. But the wall across from the desk is all window, and outside is the iconic Sunday River view: a big red chondola that seems to float right out of the room and up, up, up the cable to North Peak. Bullen’s characteristic generosity sets the mood; he waves me into his chair at the desk and sits across from me, back to the mountain. Whoa! I see what he sees, and it pleases him as much as it pleases me.

It’s obvious Bullen loves what he does, and it’s obvious he really loves the state of Maine. A native of New Sharon, not far down the road, who was educated in the Mount Blue schools and the University of Maine at Farmington, Bullen moves with easy familiarity among Sunday River’s wide-ranging challenges and opportunities. He’s the person responsible for supporting the many programs perhaps not immediately apparent to the casual skier: school skiing outreach, Discovery School programs, and the Gordon Research science conferences, as well as promotion and development of the new world-class T72 terrain park.

I spoke with Bullen just before the sixth annual Dumont Cup, the biggest professional/amateur free ski competition in the East. This year’s event came on the heels of the Sochi Winter Olympics, which showcased freestyle skiing perhaps more widely than any previous world event. The involvement of Simon Dumont, a Sunday River–sponsored athlete from Bethel, who holds the world height record on a quarterpipe, elevated the event. Scheduled to follow the debut of halfpipe and slopestyle free skiing in Sochi, the Dumont Cup promised and delivered much. This year, there were 100 amateur skiers competing, as well as 13 of the world’s top professional free skiers, including three Olympic medalists in slopestyle skiing.

Bullen’s team was excited because the Dumont Cup took place in the new T72 15-acre terrain park located on North Peak between its Dream Maker and 3D trails. Talked about for years, the initial T72 design phase occurred in the spring of 2013, when Sunday River worked with industry professionals Snow Park Technologies (SPT), a group best known for its work on Winter X Games courses. T72 debuted this year with new snowmaking pipe and energy-efficient HKD SV10 Impulse guns—enough snowmaking horsepower to cover Sunday River’s largest jumps and rails, as well as an 18-foot superpipe. “First impressions are everything,” Bullen is quoted as saying on Sunday River’s website. “Working with groups like SPT and individuals like Simon ensure that T72 is as impressive as it sounds.”

The foundation for the success of ventures such as the T72 terrain park can be seen in the extensive involvement of local schools with Sunday River’s ski programs. The Bates College ski team has trained at Sunday River for over 25 years; nearby Gould Academy, 55. It’s worth noting that the success of these school skiing relationships is the result of an investment by both the resort teams and the respective schools. Gould Academy headmaster Matthew C. Ruby is effusive in his praise of Sunday River and Bullen for their vision to support access to the mountain. For Gould, the mountain is a learning laboratory; 200 of its 240 students participate in the On-Snow program, which offers Competition and Ski Patrol programs, as well as the Maine Adaptive Instructor Development (AID) program, where Gould students have the opportunity to teach adaptive sports activities to people with physical disabilities ages four and up. “Dana Bullen,” Ruby says, “is a dream partner who has a deep understanding of our mission combined with acute analysis of how Sunday River can articulate it. He’s a very unusual combination of great intellect and great warmth.” Bullen makes sure, Ruby says, that Gould sits at the table and is part of the conversation when decisions are made about how the trails are maintained, and even transfigured. “He’s infectious in his enthusiasm and unguarded in his generosity.”

In addition, Bullen fosters the facilitation of a wide range of activities in his capacity as general manager. In the summer, L.L.Bean runs Outdoor Discovery Schools in fly fishing, paddleboarding, kayaking, and hiking at Sunday River. Some may be surprised that the prestigious Gordon Research Conferences (GRC) in the biological, chemical, and physical sciences and their related technologies are held every summer at Sunday River (in addition to other locations in New England, the U.S., and abroad). GRCs have been recognized for over 75 years as premier scientific conferences where “leading investigators from around the globe discuss their latest work and future challenges in a uniquely informal, inactive format.” Two of the ten fully subscribed seminars for 2014 at Sunday River were “Salt and Water Stress in Plants: From Molecules to the Field” and “Plasmonics: Manipulating Light-Matter Interaction at the Nanoscale.”

Bullen points out that what is significant about L.L.Bean and GRC is that these are two new resort initiatives that broaden Sunday River’s reach. L.L.Bean is a trusted Maine brand with international recognition. Its Outdoor Discovery Schools at Sunday River offer activities not available anywhere else in the area. GRC participants may never have heard of Sunday River. But two diverse groups are introduced to the resort and come away with a new understanding of its being a four-season destination.

Sunday River announced in April 2013 that it would benefit from $5.7 million in capital investments for the 2013/14 season, a serious commitment from Boyne Resorts, its parent company. Some enhancements have been snowmaking upgrades and the T72 terrain park. Another significant addition was the upscale restaurant Camp, which opened in December 2013 at the Grand Summit Hotel. Bullen took me on an enthusiastic tour on a morning before the restaurant was open. “Camp,” Bullen explained, “is a state of mind, a particularly Maine state of mind. It’s that magical place you go to for peace, rest, harmony, an escape from daily life.” Stepping into the hushed Camp space is like walking into rusticity perfected. The carpeting is flannel plaid; the walls are rough-hewn honeyed pine. The chairs are crafted of bent birch branches. Great antlered chandeliers and handcrafted canoes hang overhead. Mounted game adorns corners or is displayed on the walls. Fairy lights wink in artfully arranged barrels of birch branches. The menu is described as celebrating “comfort food made from local ingredients,” and features lobster sliders, camp beans, and fried chicken, in addition to the loaded baked potato fries. But don’t be fooled: there is a highly professional staff behind these meals, and the fare at Camp reflects it. Jennifer Watchorn, a graduate of the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute, is executive chef for the Grand Summit Hotel and oversees all of the property’s food and beverages, including special events in addition to the restaurants.

It all combines into one intricate mix. “When you have a resort made of 1,200 team members and add to this the many local and state connections, you realize quickly that it’s all much bigger than just yourself,” Bullen says. “The only way to truly accomplish anything is to embrace this realization and help to coach and support the teams doing the actual legwork.” Headmaster Ruby would agree. “He’s a Maine guy,” he says of Bullen, “a serious outdoorsman. The state and Sunday River are his passion.”