Hunter, NY - 12/8/02

[Greg]

Date(s) Skied: 12/8/02

Resort or Ski Area: Hunter, NY

Conditions: Packed Powder, Powder, some hardpack

Trip Report: First trip to Hunter. The approach to the town of Hunter is very interesting with a nice drive through a valley on Route 23A. We got on skis about 9:45 AM. As a very popular resort for NYC and NJ folks, I was expecting it to be very crowded, being a Sunday, and there still bing snow in Central Park, but it wasn't bad at all. Maybe a 7 minute wait at the Snowlite Express Quad. You could ski right on the triples and the Hunter West double.

Conditions were excellent for early December. Hunter had many of the blacks open as well as Claire's Way (double-black) down the West side. Hunter West is very steep and Claire's Way bumped up quite a bit from the recent man-made snow. A pretty heavy snow squall blew through after lunch and added a little bit of coverage.

Hunter claims to be "The Snowmaking Capitol of the World" which may be a little over the top, but hey they do make tons of snow and the mountain is in great shape. Soft bumps and powder along the sides of many of the black diamonds.

Hunter is definitely a challenging mountain. There was virtually only one blue run on the main mountain, and I didn't notice any greens. My contusion from the previous day\'s skiing held up fine, but boy am I sore this AM. Great day at Hunter. I'll be back there...