Sort of a big deal

Brownski wrote

louie.mirags wrote

this may be the worst thing to happen to the Catskills since that blog did the write up about the Blue hole on Peekamoose rd...

That hurts, bro. Do you really think drawing attention to the abuse that place endures made it worse?

If you are to blame so am I.  I don't think that exposing the abuse and trash would make the problem worse, but I could be wrong.

Sno....thanks for some actual facts...excellent work...bare in mind people if your judging a mountain on these skier density figures knowing when to ski (time of day) and where to ski at a particular mountain can greatly lower this skier density issue.

I haven't skied Hunter too often, probably less than 10 times. Most of those were weekends. One weekday that I remember. I don't remember the people being any different from anywhere else.  I don't consider myself to be super observant (I kind of get inside my own head when skiing) but didn't see any drinking, didn't experience any close calls that I remember.

Hunter probably does 500,000 skier visits a year. If that is 100,000 different people, that's a big group to generalize about.

I've seen some serious rippers at Hunter. DMC rips for sure.

In 2013 I met Tom at Hunter:



He was different and I'll never forget him. He could ski for sure. But more than that he was a completely inspiring human.  Reading this post again, five years later, I am still choked up:

http://nyskiblog.com/hunter-mountain-flying/

My manager from my last job, who was younger than me, told me he used to go up to Hunter a lot of weekends to party, and, he didn't ski! Really. And he's not the only one. Male and female. It is like an extension of the shaw. It keeps those kids from going nuts without the shaw all wintah. I think that's pretty amazing. Does that happen at any other mountain? I knew a few people at Killington in an old share house that at least bought a pass and a bed in a house and had nice equipment and clothes, but, never skied because they were either very drunk or extremely hungover. But, no pretense at all. Hey, I don't ski. Let's pahtee!

Hunter is a unique place, admit it. There's nothing like it.

   Like you said "use to go to Hunter just to party"...Hunter really rocked in 70's,80's,&90's any one that thinks it's a party town now doesn't have a clue !

Professor, you are a fine ambassador for Hunter and I’m glad you enjoy skiing there.  I get that Hunter has evolved, that it’s not what it used to be in terms of the party scene.  Apparently MTV hasn’t realized that!

I still maintain that the complexion of the skiing populous there suffers from proximity to the NYC/Tri-State area, not that there is anything wrong or character-deficient with Tri-State residents!  Sure, it’s less party animals now, but Hunter still has a fair amount of less skilled and less knowledgeable skiers (nothing wrong with that, they have to ski somewhere) who can easily get on a bus and then pick up their rental equipment.  Of course those skiers are mixed in with a lot of other more knowledgeable or very good skiers.  So, even without the party goers of the 90s you still have the issue of average skier quality in a high skier density.

Harvey makes a good point, he has skied there and he hasn’t personally experienced clueless or rude skiers, or drinking in the lift line, or anything that turned him off.  I submit that we are all largely a product of our experiences.  

I, personally, have had several bad experiences at Hunter, including the clueless idiot on West who didn’t have any business being on that side, especially in the icy conditions present, who fell into my brother, broke his ski, could have crippled him, then got up and skied of without so much as a sorry.  That experience, combined with someone walking off with a pair of my skis once, and personally seeing the drinking in the 90s.....they were enough to turn me off and I’ve never been back.  Yeah, I probably should give it another chance, but why do that when I’ve discovered Platty for my Catskills ski days?

Hunter has its virtues, no doubt, and produces some great skiers.....but it’s still a zoo that I don’t want to experience on weekends, especially when better options are available.  I hope I’m not being unfair.

Harvey wrote

 

He was different and I'll never forget him. He could ski for sure. But more than that he was a completely inspiring human.  Reading this post again, five years later, I am still choked up:

http://nyskiblog.com/hunter-mountain-flying/

“Harvey, a wheelchair is a pain in the ass. Doorways, everywhere you go, there’s something in your way. On my ski, I can go where I want. On my ski, I’m free.”

WOW!! Inspiring for sure!

Harv you reminded me of one of my most favorite days of skiing. A few years back I had the pleasure of introducing and teaching one of my best friends to skiing, he was 40 at the time. He's a damn good athlete and understands the dynamics of skiing. We had pulled up on the side of the trail on this little headwall on Trojan at Greek Peak. I was hopeful that some good skiers would come over the headwall so my buddy could visually see someone staying forward vs on the tails of their skis. This headwall is such that an aggressive skier will take it in one turn, intermediates will make 4 or 5. Anyway, the first dude over this thing was a guy with one leg and he took that hing in one rippin turn. My buddy looks at me and says, "apparently this skiing shit is easier on one leg". We both laughed about that for the rest of the day. Skiing is about freedom.  

   Fair enough...one virtue of Hunter is it's open mid-week

Opening day last year. I didn't take pics but there were some kids pre-gaming in the parking lot at 9 or so in the morning and later I stopped to clean up a bunch of empty Corona 7 ouncers that somebody left on the trail.

It's just a snapshot in time of course. Maybe there's something about opening day there. I've had plenty of awesome days at Hunter, including this one. I skied there 3 or 4 additional days last year that were not as wild as that.

Sort of a big deal...When Gore starts blowing on The Rumor! According to the website the guns are fired up.

Brownski wrote

I'm glad I don't have daughters.....or kids for that matter.

Just for info, was at Hunter today, snow was perfect, 32degrees, and completely empty because of incorrect weather report of possible rain [not a drop], as good a day as any East or West.

JamesP wrote

Just for info, was at Hunter today, snow was perfect, 32degrees, and completely empty because of incorrect weather report of possible rain [not a drop], as good a day as any East or West.

Um, I'll just wager it was a little more fun at Big Sky.

Well Benny , I've had many fantastic incredible days out
West, but also had a few really bummers, try being in Park City in February when it rains halfway up the mountain , or a bad snow year in Colorado, or at Squaw Valley after 5 days of 50 degree weather and it drops to 10. I've been in all three situations and paid the airfare to get there
The one thing that can be said about the Killington's and Hunter's is they know how to bounce back, today was great because not only was the snow good, the temps moderate, the wind non existent [at least up till around noon] but the incorrect weather report scared everyone from coming up, the few people who came out had the slopes almost empty. I admit twas a rare day, even for a weekday at Hunta, but it was one for the books.