Hunter Conditions

Looks like Hunter is blowing like crazy...

I under estimated Vail..

JasonWx wrote

Looks like Hunter is blowing like crazy...

I under estimated Vail..

You don't think Peak would be doing the same without the buy out?  Peak spent a lot of money on improving snowmaking and adding terrain in the last few years.  Presumably bought the PA ski areas in hopes they would be drawn to Hunter for early and late season skiing.

I thought Hunter has been one of the first to open for a while.  I stopped by on the way to Lake Placid for Thanksgiving in 2013.  Was surprised to find that people were skiing at Hunter that Monday before.

Snowmaking underway in NC, WV.  And VA by tonight.

I assumed he meant the other way around, that he originally thought Vail wouldn't keep up with Peak.  Still of course TBD.

Harvey wrote

I assumed he meant the other way around, that he originally thought Vail wouldn't keep up with Peak.  Still of course TBD.

Oh, didn't think of that.

In general, VR wants to win the First To Open and Last To Close honors in as many regions as possible.  Killington obviously has that wrapped up for the northeast.  That can be a reason for people from NYC/NJ to buy Ikon.  So Hunter has value for early season turns as part of the Peak buy out.  So much the better than Peak has been spending big bucks so not much need for capital money for a big project in the near future.

  Hunter is opening on Friday (11/15)

VERY COOL:

https://huntermtn.roundshot.co/

This morning at Hunter started with about eight of us. There was a little fresh snow to be had.

 Skied Hunter Saturday and Sunday. If you skied early on Saturday you enjoyed some fresh manmade and sunshine … heard it was great. I couldn't get there until 2 and conditions were a little more humbling...I knew that would be the case. By 2 this time of year the front of the mountain is mostly in the shade and that beautiful smooth soft manmade was pushed around and scraped off. I didn't care I just wanted to get some laps in. Once again my summer conditioning program never happened and I have to ski myself into shape. Sunday I arrived around 10 with the same attitude. It was raining but I had to get some laps in. Took a couple runs in the rain and the snow was soft smooth ego snow. So the snows great and the mountains pretty empty but I was getting wet and thinking about calling it a day until  I saw a couple sleet pellets start to mix in. Instead of quitting I decided to take a break and dry out in the summit lodge. I love the Summit lodge at Hunter. People complain about how primitive it is. I like it because most of the time you have it to yourself . It's like your own private lodge , especially on weekdays. I wonder if Vail Resorts has any grand plans to change it. Anyway, before I was totally dry the sleet pellets turned to big wet flakes like I had hoped. I put my wet gloves on an hurried out into a raging blizzard . It reminded me of some of the storms we skied at Squaw last year! I think they picked up 2-3inchs in a little over an hour. As the temp dropped it continued to snow hard but the flakes became smaller and the snow lighter. This made for some great storm skiing with dryer snow on top and better visibility. By 3:30 the snow was letting up and my legs were shot so I called it a day. (day 5) I think they picked up 4-6inches in about 4 hours. I love storm skiing … if that's not your thing, Monday and Tuesday should be warmer and sunny and with this fresh natural snow Hunter should be great.

I went on Tuesday (11/26) and it was decent until about 10:30, by then the sun had softened everything to mush on the frontside. After that there was decent snow to be found on the shadier spots that were open. White Cloud (which has now been redirected onto Jimmie Huega instead of into the mess at the top of the Hunter North lift on Belt Parkway) stayed pretty firm until after noon. I finished the day with a few runs on Belt Parkway which held up the best and avoided the pile of soupy mashed potatoes on the mainline.  

Sunday: Snow before 4pm, then sleet. High near 24. Southeast wind 6 to 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow and sleet accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

Sunday Night: Snow. Low around 23. Northeast wind 13 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible.

Monday: Snow. High near 25. North wind 9 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 6 to 10 inches possible.

Monday Night: Snow, mainly before 4am. Low around 19. North wind 14 to 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Tuesday: A chance of snow, mainly before 7am. Partly sunny, with a high near 28. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Maybe 6 on the ground here ~20 miles from the Hunter base.

FKNA a mountain that updates at 6am. That's cool. Report says a foot.

Maybe we'll get more today.  The flyer is down.

Tons of snow here in Albany (maybe 15"?). Was thinking of going to Gore, but it looks like they got kinda skunked.

Maybe I'll just drive over to Petersburg Pass for a skin.

From a buddy that drove up last night

Lots of tracks to be made good snow all around. Mixer on my other camera if there in focus I got some good

Lots of tracks to be made good snow all around. Pics on my other camera if they're in focus I got some good.

So what was the call, MC?  I think Mt. Snow may have been the best closest to Albany...:

Jaws of Death this am:

As usual, Hunter posts a great detailed report.

CURRENT CONDITIONS

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2019 AT 6:31AM
Good morning skiers and riders. Today we are open from 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM with up to 28 trails serviced by 5 lifts. The forecast for today predicts mostly sunny skies with temperatures reaching the upper 20s. Primary surface conditions are expected to be powder and packed powder on a base of 12-36 inches.

Over the past two days Mother Nature delivered us 27 inches of fresh snow during the first big snowstorm of the season. With plenty of snow to go around we did not hesitate to expand our terrain adding several new trails including Eisenhower Drive, Jimmie Heuga,  Dropoff,  and Upper K27. Be here bright and early for day two of fresh tracks and plenty of powder.

Our snowmakers followed Mother Nature in stride and fired up the guns early this morning. We are currently putting down even more fresh snow on Overlook, Sleepy Hollow, Boston Road, Upper 42nd Street, and more.  

Please be aware the Kaatskill Flyer will remain closed today due to mechanical issues. Our lift maintenance crew is working diligently to fix the problem. Summit terrain is accessible via F Lift. D Lift and B Lift will be running as well.  

That is pretty good. Did Platt spin today?