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Hunter Mtn Expansion Details

danimals

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My lord the winds today were something else. They were running a shuttle from the lodge to north side. All front lifts closed besides b lift and hunter East.

But checkout westway. Hasn’t been mowed in who knows how long. The brush and trees growing are at least five feet tall. Maybe it will be abandoned? West side needs more trails as it’s over served by a high speed lift and it seems only clairs and way out are ever open.


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Killingtime

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My lord the winds today were something else. They were running a shuttle from the lodge to north side. All front lifts closed besides b lift and hunter East.

But checkout westway. Hasn’t been mowed in who knows how long. The brush and trees growing are at least five feet tall. Maybe it will be abandoned? West side needs more trails as it’s over served by a high speed lift and it seems only clairs and way out are ever open.


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I never understood why that side of the mountain gets no love. IMO Westway is one of the best trails on the mountain. It doesn't look like they intend to open it anytime soon. Waiting for a dumping to cover it?
 

FBGM

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I never understood why that side of the mountain gets no love. IMO Westway is one of the best trails on the mountain. It doesn't look like they intend to open it anytime soon. Waiting for a dumping to cover it?

We’ll Peak didn’t know how to run a resort or just didn’t care to maintain since they were about to fire sale. I would assume Vail cleans little stuff like this up in the summer. Takes minimal time and money to mow and brush cut.
 

180

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They say they are letting it fill in and they will keep 2 main routes down the run. Fence line and liftline. We'll see.
 

kingslug

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The area right under the lift is pretty nasty even when its covered..lots of rocks and the tower supports. I've seen many people get into some trouble when they take a dive in there..All they have to do is create a run on the fence side..
 

zyk

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The area right under the lift is pretty nasty even when its covered..lots of rocks and the tower supports. I've seen many people get into some trouble when they take a dive in there..All they have to do is create a run on the fence side..
,

It is ugly and includes some strange pipe flanges sticking out of the ground. However when there's enough snow (rarely) the liftline side is great. I'd like to see two trails there.
 

kingslug

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Hopefully Vail starts catering to more advanced skiers and does this. It is pretty expensive to blow all the runs back there though. Many moons ago you could hit all three by this time of year...I haven't skied 44 in a long time and Annapurna several years ago. They are as challenging as most runs all the way up to Jay. The 8 foot storm turned that area into the biggest mogul filed I have ever seen. 4 and 5 feet tall. I remember skiing Clairs up to my waist...insane...
 

180

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Rumor is Vail wants nothing to do with those trails. Look at the crowds they get without them, record setting.
 

EPB

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Rumor is Vail wants nothing to do with those trails. Look at the crowds they get without them, record setting.
But they don't get record setting crowding because they ignore those trails. They get record setting crowds because they have a ton of NYC based people access to the mountain this year. If they indeed are seeing more visits, it would behoove Vail provide more options to spread people out.

I get these trails have a limited audience, but it would be best if they made better use of Hunter West somehow.

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icecoast1

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Rumor is Vail wants nothing to do with those trails. Look at the crowds they get without them, record setting.

that should only want to make them want to get more terrain open. Crowds are only going to get bigger with their proximity to the big cities and epic access
 

kingslug

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Exactly...when conditions are good you can spend the whole day back there..an exhausting one at that. With only Clairs open ...not so much. Look at Sugarbush..when the N Lynx triple and Castlerock were closed it got pretty crowded at the bottom..not so much now.
 

drewfidelic

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The West terrain is a differentiator as some of the best expert terrain in the Catskills and Southern VT, if it’s all in play. With only Claire’s open, West doesn’t draw people off of the front of the mountain much.

Narrowing 44 so that it can open with less snowmaking and some more wind protection would be a good first step.
 

Killingtime

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,

It is ugly and includes some strange pipe flanges sticking out of the ground. However when there's enough snow (rarely) the liftline side is great. I'd like to see two trails there.

Yeah saw that haha. wtf? I don't know but I think I'd put some resources into cleaning that trail up. Maybe not all in one season but a little at a time if it's too costly. Could be their White Heat/ Superstar. Its a shame what could be one of the coolest trails in the Cats going to waste.
 

Slidebrook87

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Highlands is also an area that hasn’t seen snowmaking in years. Hopefully they do something with that.


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