Hunter 01/02/12

[Cornhead]

Date(s) Skied: 01/02/11

Resort or Ski Area: Huntah

Conditions: Man made loose granular atop ice, hardpack

Trip Report:

I found out I could ski Hunter today for $29, at nine this morning. They treated this as a non-holiday weekday. I figured, no problem, should be on the hill by eleven, things should loosen up by then. Hats off to the crew at Hunter. Conditions were pretty damn good for the early season weather we've had. Sharp edges were a definite plus today. Plenty of ice and hardpack beneath the granular. Skied well, had a great day. Crowds were manageable, the new six pack moves the masses quickly. The other chairs were ski on all day. The blues were a little scary, crowded, beat the hell out of the three trails open back home.

The west pod looks like it'll be a lot of fun later in the year. The new/old quad is a big improvement.

 

[ScottySkis]

Good hearing Hunter report i bet by next weekend it be snowy hill with most of the hill open,

 

[oakapple]

I was there yesterday too. Seeing all the closed trails makes you realize what the ski industry must've been like without man-made snow. Racer's Edge, K27, Upper Hunter One, and all the west-side trails except Wayout were completely bare, without so much as a puff of white. That's what the whole resort would look like, were it not for snowmaking. An instructor who has been at Hunter for 20 years said that he never remembered Racer's Edge not being open in January. A couple of others (Gun Hill Road and Milky Way) looked like they'd had some snowmaking, but not enough to open. Hunter can make snow on 100 percent of its terrain, but I assume that compressor capacity limits how many guns can blow at the same time. Racer's Edge has snow guns, but they clearly haven't been fired this season.

Having said that, Hunter has done a terrific job under the circumstances, and you can have a pretty good day with the terrain that is open. It was above freezing over most of the weekend, but temps have fallen again, so they'll be blowing snow again today. At this point, they're probably focused on resurfacing, not on opening new terrain. Most of the open trails have thin or bare patches and tend to get skied off by the end of the day, an unavoidable consequence of high temperatures and the total absence of natural snow.

The new HSQ on the west side is a joy. There will probably never be a line to get out of there. It's slightly uphill of the lowest point of Claire's Way, so don't make the mistake (as I did) of losing your speed too soon. They also left the old Z double in place, probably as an insurance policy, but I doubt it will ever run, unless the HSQ breaks down.

 

[Cornhead]

I was there yesterday too. Seeing all the closed trails makes you realize what the ski industry must've been like without man-made snow. Racer's Edge, K27, Upper Hunter One, and all the west-side trails except Wayout were completely bare, without so much as a puff of white. That's what the whole resort would look like, were it not for snowmaking. An instructor who has been at Hunter for 20 years said that he never remembered Racer's Edge not being open in January. A couple of others (Gun Hill Road and Milky Way) looked like they'd had some snowmaking, but not enough to open. Hunter can make snow on 100 percent of its terrain, but I assume that compressor capacity limits how many guns can blow at the same time. Racer's Edge has snow guns, but they clearly haven't been fired this season.

Having said that, Hunter has done a terrific job under the circumstances, and you can have a pretty good day with the terrain that is open. It was above freezing over most of the weekend, but temps have fallen again, so they'll be blowing snow again today. At this point, they're probably focused on resurfacing, not on opening new terrain. Most of the open trails have thin or bare patches and tend to get skied off by the end of the day, an unavoidable consequence of high temperatures and the total absence of natural snow.

The new HSQ on the west side is a joy. There will probably never be a line to get out of there. It's slightly uphill of the lowest point of Claire's Way, so don't make the mistake (as I did) of losing your speed too soon. They also left the old Z double in place, probably as an insurance policy, but I doubt it will ever run, unless the HSQ breaks down.

I met my buddy halfway down Wayout, he warned me to keep my speed up to reach the chair. And yes, thank God for snowmaking. My buddy is a snowmobiler, he's depressed.

 

[kingslug]

And worse is the whole country is experiencing this..so there's no escape..yet..

 

[millerm277]

I expect the West Side quad will get a bit easier to get to once they have some more snow (and in the future, some more mulch), they'll probably fill in that low point.

As for how many trails they can make snow on at once.....well, today's Snow Report has them making snow on 22 out of a total of 55 trails at 16F and saying more will go on later.

 

[kingslug]

They have HUGE pumps!!!