Hunter Off-Season Update (2011)

Working on an update of all things Hunter.

If you've got questions you'd like posed, post them here.

Will 44/Westway be open more often to handle the increase in skier traffic? Will there be any new trails cut on West?

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70s Gore Kid wrote

Harv:  Ask him what he thinks of a taxpayer owned mountain offering lower lift ticket prices, two-fer deals, etc.

Does he feel Belleayre (and Gore and Whiteface) are unfair competition to privately owned areas? This is a debate that has been going on for 40 years.

I think we know the answer to these questions. Hunter has already put the word out that they are against it.

Will they make more of an attempt to stay open for another weekend this year? I felt like the last two years they had the snow to do it if they wanted to farm just a little bit. I know it's effort on their part, but the people always show up at Hunter for a nice spring day, and that extra weekend is so important in August, if not April.

What is the deal with Westway and why has it been so neglected?

Were they happy with the performance of the six pack and did it need a lot of tweaking over the year?

What exactly was the process to rehabilitate the old quad?

I've heard there are plans to develop a new water source over by Hunter West, is that happening soon? Will that be a big improvement in capacity, and result in more snow over there? Was that the hold-up at HW?

Why is the meatball sub so irresistible in the cafeteria?

Thanks for everything you guys do, I think Hunter really does a great job with dealing with mother nature and has a bad rap from people who only went once, on some icy 12/31 in the 70s.

What will be the next improvement made after the new westside chair is put in?  (hoping it's more west side improvement)

Whats up with the snowmaking pipes getting dug up at the top of Anna Purna?  (broken pipe? heard rumors last year)

Are you going to start to name the glades and put them on the map?  (god I hope not)

Any major snowboarding events taking place this year?

Will Mountain Biking EVER be allowed again?

Welcome dmc.  Great questions all.  

Hope to have something to report in the next 7-10 days.  GT has been out of town.

Man this makes me want a beer:


Legendary Hunter Sub - photo courtesy ml242

Makes me hungry!  :)
 

How is the Zipline Tours operation doing? Have they gotten the kind of numbers they were expecting?

Yea that's a good question James. Those ziplines are opening up everywhere it seems and I've been wondering if the point of saturation will be reached soon.

Howe caverns has one now along with a skypark.

Snowballs wrote

Those ziplines are opening up everywhere it seems and I've been wondering if the point of saturation will be reached soon.

Two points in Hunter's favor -- their upper zipline course is supposed to be very high and long (I've only done the lower course), so smaller zip places can't compete.  Also (maybe Harv can verify this through Gerry or DMC can tell us), I'd assume that the zip operation pays Hunter a flat fee to operate there, so Hunter gets its nut from them no matter how many people show up.

Zipline seems to be doing well..
It's pretty sick!  At least the top part is..

It's employed a bunch of people and sent people here to check it out - so - so far so good!

The upper Zips look real cool.
Problem is the price, My friend was in the area with his kids , he just couldn't justify spending 400+ dollars for 2hrs of entertainment..

Harv, can you ask him why they took out the trough in the Men's room?
That ranks up there with removing the big clock and the pine tree that was at the base..

other than those questions, I think Hunter does a bang up job with maintaining conditions and the crowds.

JasonWx wrote

 he just couldn't justify spending 400+ dollars for 2hrs of entertainment.

At that price, I'll wait for it to come out on video......

JasonWx wrote

The upper Zips look real cool.
Problem is the price, My friend was in the area with his kids , he just couldn't justify spending 400+ dollars for 2hrs of entertainment..

Couldn't figure out the pricing online - $100 a person?

JasonWx wrote

Harv, can you ask him why they took out the trough in the Men's room?

Are you for real on this?

harv, i really am serious..that was a iconic piece of porcelain ..also it's  a fun question

This ultimately turned into an interview with Jessica Pezak, the high energy Marketing Communications Manager at Hunter.  She's knows a huge amount about what is going on at the mountain, and if she didn't know the answers, she knew where to find them.

Just posted it:

Interview with Jess Pezak at Hunter

Sorry Jason, didn't get to the "iconic porcelain."