AZ Challenge 2009: Jessica Pezak, Hunter Mountain

[Greg]

Jessica Pezak, Communications Director for Hunter Mountain has agreed to participate in the 2009 AlpineZone Ski area Challenge! This is your opportunity to ask questions, offer suggestions, or say some praise to the men and women who are in charge of the Northeast's ski areas. Please post some suggested questions in this thread and we'll select ten to present for official response.

Also please don't be offended if we edit/change your question for grammar, tone, or some other minor thing. In order to get in all of the questions we MAY merge some questions but we'll do our best to keep the substance of your question. If we don't get your question in, feel free to post a follow up after we get the results...we are encouraging the representatives follow the feedback threads.

As always, please be respectful of Jessica and keep it civil. Also, please refrain from asking specifics about skier visit numbers, financials, demographic information, etc. Hunter needs to be discrete about certain information.

Ask away!

Hunter Mountain Profile

 

[Highway Star]

Hunter seems to have some awesome cliffs, but not quite enough snow to open them for skiing. Have you ever considered using the cliffs as part of a natural terrain park and blowing some snow on them....?

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Any plans to bring back late season skiing....back in the 90s you were often open until late April and even May 5th in 1992...with your firepower you could compete with areas farther north for spring skiing king of the east...

Any new developments in the town of hunter? When I was last through the town was really rundown..ls

Any plans for new lifts or new trails?

Will people be able to ski and zipline in the same day?

 

[catskillman]

What maintenance is being done to the lifts so the horendous stopages do not occur again this season?

Any plans to upgrade the existing lifts? TSome will be very stressed after running 365 days a year.

Why does it take so long to have the website updated with events etc..?

Thank you!!!!!!

 

[deadheadskier]

Ever consider offering a 'state resident' weekend? I think Sugarloaf did so for NY skiers last year where tickets were either minimal cost or perhaps even free. I know at least one member from here who is a whiteface skier, made the trek to SL for this special to see for himself if it was worth the trip.

Living in coastal New Hampshire, it would seem counter intuitive for me or Boston metro skiers to consider going to southern NY to ski. However, if the product is good, someone like myself who also loves NYC might look at an extended trip to spend a couple of days in the city followed by Hunter. Would be a fun little vacation. Perhaps you have lodging relationships in NY where you could create a city and slopes package.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Are you planning to offer the WinTer card with Windham again?

 

[kingslug]

Any plans to upgrade/expand the west side?

 

[millerm277]

Been waiting for this thread for a while:

1. Is there a timeline in place for replacement of the Snowlite Express? It's been showing it's age lately, especially last year.
2. Any progress/timeline on the West Side expansion? Specifically any new trails or lifts.
3. Have there been any snowmaking improvements this off-season, and can we expect anything in particular in this area in the future?
4. How come Lower Taylor's never seems to get any love from the snowmaking?

Looking forward to another great season at Hunter.

 

[deadheadskier]

How has the local community embraced large scale summertime music events like Mountain Jam? Do you view these as sustainable?

I ask as 'back in the day' I used to attend similar large events at Stratton, Sugarbush and Stowe. All of these areas have scaled back and no longer offer entertainment that draws a crowd like Mountain Jam. I think it's a great thing that Hunter puts on such an event and hope to see it continue as many of my friends look forward to it every year and I hope to make it someday myself.

 

[ta&idaho]

Thanks for participating!

Have you guys considered any creative solutions for dealing with the traffic jam near the top of the AA lift, where snowboarders stop and buckle their bindings? That area can be a mess (especially when the top of Upper K-27 is closed, so some of the F lift traffic can't go that way from the top). I don't have any great ideas, but prioritizing Upper K-27 snowmaking or creating some kind of lane/temporary fencing to separate through-traffic (from the F-lift and the West side) from the AA lift off-loading traffic might help.

 

[bvibert]

Are you planning on having a major storm at the end of October again so I can get some earned turns in?

 

[mattlucas]

First off, thanks again for for participating and for doing the Big Lift again. I hope it adds many powdery midweek days to my season!

My question isn't sexy, but snowmaking doesn't seem to be the priority it used to be at Hunter. The depth wasn't there at all like it was in the 90s, some trails at West are now barely open. So, what happened to the firepower? I heard rumors of leaks, and pumphouses breaking, did you do more than basic maintenance this year to keep the area a more covered and open? My skis really felt it on a few occasions last year, even if I personally had a great time anyway.

 

[RichT]

Hey Jess! What about RUSK mtn??

 

[180]

Tell us more about the 365 day operation of the Zip line?

 

[andrec10]

Hey Jessica, how about answering some questions!!!

 

[tcharron]

Hey Jessica, how about answering some questions!!!

The Challenge questions are sent to her separately by Greg. At that time, this thread will be locked.

 

[Greg]

The Challenge questions are sent to her separately by Greg. At that time, this thread will be locked.

Yep. A few more questions and we'll be ready to go!

 

[bvibert]

Are there any plans for a bump comp this year?

 

[dmc]

Can you speak about all the snowmaking pipes laying around on the top of the mountain?

Will the Five fingers sign be replaced on the new awesome snowgun tower at middle station?

How many of those new snowguns were put up?!?

 

[RichT]

Greg, when do you plan on giving these questions to Jessica?