Hunter Mtn - Saturday, Dec 3rd, 2005

[RIDEr]

Date Boarded: Saturday, December 3rd, 2005

Resort or Ski Area: Hunter Mountain Bowl

Condition: PP/HP, Snowmaking in progress all throughout the mountain

Trip Report: While my buddy and I didn’t have that many expectations of their being great conditions due to the recent rainfall, we were looking forward to our first turns of the season by heading down the Hellgate until our legs fell off.

Prior to heading to the mountain, my friend heard enough about my compliments (from other friends’ views) about Keith and “THE PRO” shop so he made an appointment.

From there, it was off the mountain. My view of the mountain from “THE PRO” looked promising and the arrival at the mountain didn’t disappoint.

While preparing for our first turns, we reviewed the trails open. The traditional Hellgate and Belt Parkway were open, but without the terrain park opening we knew the punk boarders only knowing how to jump ramps and ride the trails were on the Belt Parkway. Personally, I am a boarder myself and seeing boarders try and emulate people like Shaun White and Ross Powers is unfortunate since they first need to learn how to ride.

The other trails open were: Racers Edge, Minya Konka, Upper Crossing, Lower Crossover, Broadway, Eisenhower Drive, and Mossy Brook.

Snowmaking was continuous on Racers Edge, Lower Crossover and Mossy Brook. We continually saw the snowmaking experts still continue to make it happen throughout the day and my comment to my buddy was, “Shouldn’t they be sleeping now?” I guess they had enough sleep in the summer…

Our first four runs down Hellgate were great. Only one little ice patch was screwing people up, but nothing too concerning. After our fourth run, we decided to hit Minya Konka and I wasn’t disappointed. Most of the mountain goers either didn’t know about the trail being open or was focused on continuing to bomb Hellgate or Belt Parkway. The only downside to going down Minya Konka was getting back over to Kennedy (which wasn’t opened, I don’t think). The other option of heading down Mossy Brook wasn’t an option due to the endless snowmaking and wanting to eliminate any scratches on my goggles this early in the season. Racers Edge had great conditions and was continually an option after heading down Hellgate.

Overall, we finished up around 2pm and had 10 runs under our belt. Our legs were soar and our minds were already discussing our next trip up.

[BeanoNYC]

Thanks for the report. Was racers groomed or bumped up?

[RIDEr]

Originally Posted by BeanoNYC

Thanks for the report. Was racers groomed or bumped up?

Groomed with a few bumps... however, the continuous snowmaking on the trail allowed for a great layer.

[JimG.]

Originally Posted by RIDEr

Groomed with a few bumps... however, the continuous snowmaking on the trail allowed for a great layer.

Racer's wasn't open, you're thinking of Eisenhower...which was indeed nice.

And Minya was ridiculous; I still have no idea why so few people ventured over there, by far the best snow on the mountain on Saturday.

[Bob R]

I almost went here on Sunday on my way across Rt 90. Looks like it might have been worth a stop. Thankx for the report.