Hunter Conditions

Impressed but not surprised that Hunter managed to open with such marginal snow making weather! Happy for all my local/season pass friends. I know they've been anxious to get out there. I'm with Snoloco on this one ....skiing on one trail is better than no skiing .At Hunter you have one 1600vert trail with some challenge... get there early and you could get 10 runs by 11am and beat most of the "crowd". If I wasn't out west skiing that's where I'd be !!! But I have a seasonpass and a ski house close by...if I had to drive a couple hrs. and buy a ticket I might wait too. I look at these early season days as a chance to ski myself into shape so I'm ready when the " real " skiing starts ! I've been a Hunter pass holder for 35 yrs. skied there 50-60 plus days a year ...new to this blog but seems like a lot of people comment on Hunter that don't have a clue !! Gore better than Hunter?

I skied there today.  My feet were cramping one hour in so it was six or seven runs and done.   I would call it cream cheese or mashed potatoes.   It was like spring skiing   Maybe twenty skiers riders.  It was nice and probably lasted another hour.  I think tmrw would not be something I would recommend.   I hit up kaayerskill falls and have my appt at 3 for boots.  Sorry for typos - on old iPhone.   Took pics but not sure how to post.  

snoloco wrote

 I really have little need to pay

QFT!

Thank you for the report! I really wanted to go tomorrow as I've been aching to get on the slopes but I'm just not sure it will be worth it. The web cam images look like there's barely anything there

Big Boulder is a place to be for me tomorrow. At least to get some spring park fun.

Hunter's VP of marketing was just on the news. He said they can cover 50% of their terrain with a foot of snow in 24 hours.

Snowballs wrote

Hunter's VP of marketing was just on the news. He said they can cover 50% of their terrain with a foot of snow in 24 hours.

In Bull Shit?

They haven't got the weather to cover nothing.

Hunter's own numbers from their website were 60 acre/feet per day.  They have 240 acres, so under optimum conditions they can cover 25% of their terrain with a foot of snow in 24 hours.  I know they upgraded their compressors this summer, but I don't believe it changed their total capacity, it just lowered the electric bill.

See what happens when you let the marketing guys quote numbers?  And as PeeTex points out, that capacity ain't worth shit this week.

Their website says they have as much as 48" of a base which is complete bs.  On the flip side, I bet the VP of marketing was talking about what they could do when the weather permits, not what they can do now.  

did you ski at Hunter today

They just announced on their website that they're opening on 12/26.  That was Mountain Creek's opening day for the 11-12 season, just to put into perspective just how bad this winter really is.  No I don't count last weekend as being open since they weren't able to open at least on weekends.  

wow, surprised they are waiting..If they do open on the 26th it will be minimal..this is a shame

Hunter Mountain today at lunch. It looks like they are blowing on Hellgate.

The cam this morning looks like they are pumping it out . . . wanted to pass on the ray of hope.  

Judging from the cam and when I skied there on 12/11, the coverage looks better right now than the 12/11.  And while 12/11 was narrow, the snow was surprisingly good.  Of course, that day there were maybe 20 skiers lapping it.

I see! They are really going to town. There is some hope. Seems odd they are waiting to open 12/26 after what will be some pretty warm days and not earlier. Maybe that's just an economics decision rather than a weather one.

I might go this Sunday.  They currently have Hellgate, 7th, Kennedy, Jimmie Heuga, and Mossy Brook open.  They plan to open Cliff, Eisenhower, Minya, Lower Crossover, East Side Drive, and a beginner run in Hunter One tomorrow.  They're also reportedly working on Belt Parkway, which I'd think could open by Sunday.  In a bad year like this one, places with lots of snowmaking, like Hunter, will really shine.  They may open the whole mountain by the end of this week.  Large mountains with limited snowmaking like Gore and Whiteface will continue to suck for a while and have hardly anything open.

My buddy took this on Sunday morning on the way to meet me.  My approach from the west was much more brown..you could only see white on the strips of Jimmy and Belt while all of the Westside was brown.  I heard they will get at least one trail open over there for this weekend.



The mountain skied great. Lots of fresh man-made and a lot of the frontside was open and more on the way. The only liftline was at 10 am. After that, the crowds dispersed both on trail and at the lifts.

Hunter was very good today..About 70% opened and it skied great..

As of now, the only things left to open on the front side are Lower K27, Upper Crossover, 42nd Street, Gun Hill Road, White Cloud, Gateway, and KMC Drive.  Clair's Way on the West Side should be next in line as well.  In the past, Clair's Way opened up pretty quick after Wayout.  This does not seem to be the case this year.  Annapurna and Westway are never a given, so it'll be left to be seen whether Peak Resorts tries to get them open or not.  The upper section of Hunter One, served by the E-Lift hasn't been touched yet, so is also on the expansion list.

IMO, the highest priority trails on the expansion list are Gun Hill Road, Clair's Way, Lower Highlands, and some other upper Hunter One route.  This would allow the E-Lift to be brought on-line for the holiday weekend, and give people more reason to ski the West Side.  They have snowmaking temps all this week, so they should be able to do at least that.  There is probably a good chance of Lower K27, Upper Crossover, 42nd Street, White Cloud, Gateway, and KMC Drive.  That opens the entire front side.  Once they get past tonight, I'd say that they're out of resurface mode and into expansion mode.  That leaves 72 hours of nonstop snowmaking, plus Friday night.  That could easily open the entire front side, plus E-Lift and Clair's Way.

Past this weekend, it looks to be cold weather again, so more snowmaking.  The only things that should be left then are Westway, Annapurna, and Lower Taylor's Run (which the previous administration never ever opened) on the west side, and a couple short trails in Hunter One.  The latter should be very easy to open, and the first ones are still in question.  Will Peak Resorts try to open Annapurna and Westway, or not bother.  They seem to be aggressively targeting the North Face at Mount Snow and will be opening the remaining two trails with snowmaking very soon.  Hopefully they do the same with Hunter's West Side.

Hunter rocked today...
Everything was soft like butta..except for Clairs..