kcyanks1
New member
Weather: Overcast and foggy am, misty; showers/drizzle after 2pm; poor to fair visibility
Conditions: Soft but wet, heavy snow; spring-like; secondary surface of frozen granular; thin cover in places but surprisingly good coverage overall.
Crowds: Overall light. There was often a mess of people at the top of the mountain, in part because people would be waiting around and fixing bindings, and in part because all the open trails started from the same place. I.e., if you took the Z chair you had to return to the top of the quad, because Claire's (most of the way down), Westway, and Annapurna were all closed. Since K-27 was closed, you also had to go back to the quad area from the F-chair. The trails themselves weren't bad, especially as I did a good number of runs on Wayout on Hunter West, and a few runs on the F-chair. Those trails were pretty empty. Belt Parkway and perhaps Hellgate had more traffic; Belt Parkway more than desired, but not terrible. Of course, that would be the trail that one would expect to have a crowd if any trail is to have one.
Depressingly only my first day this season, perhaps the latest first day since I first began skiing (though I had that trip to Chile in August, so I really can't complain). I decided yesterday afternoon to go for it today, despite the rain yesterday and rain in the forecast for today. I thought I was an idiot, but I ended up happy.
I probably skied about everything open on the main mountain and Hunter West (only one run there); I didn't go over to Hunter One. It was only my second trip to Hunter, so I don't have too much to compare it to as far as what Hunter is normally like.
Favorite trails of the day was Wayout (to lower Claire's Run) which was the only open trail on Hunter West. Over the course of the day it had a mogul field forming in a couple places -- first, the second hill on it after the first flat part, and then again as it merges with Claire's. The way top had the way beginnings of moguls by my last run on it, probably around 2:30 or 2:45.
Eisenhower Drive had moguls from the beginning. Bigger/deeper and less organized than the ones forming on Wayout. I ended up on it for my second run which didn't go especially well, but I did it a few more times after I had a chance to warm up some and it was a lot more fun
To complete the mogul report, Hellgate had some bumps on the first real pitch when you make the left after crossing under the chair. It was a short stretch though and the first couple weren't as soft as those on Wayout and Eisenhower. There might've been small bump stretches in other places, but I can't remember well enough where. One of the trails going down to the F-chair had some if I remember correctly.
As for the thin cover, Belt Parkway had a few thin places. Nothing that would bother any experienced skier (or perhaps most intermediates), but it's probably not a good thing for the only intermediate route and most crowded route from the top to not be in the best of conditions. Huega-Express, I think, had a couple thin stretches including one stretching most of the trial (assuming I'm thinking of the right trial), but again, nothing that would bother most skiers.
All in all, it was a fun day. Conditions weren't fantastic, but there was plenty of (fake) snow, and it was soft, even though it was very wet. Hopefully the rain stopped or turns to snow.
Conditions: Soft but wet, heavy snow; spring-like; secondary surface of frozen granular; thin cover in places but surprisingly good coverage overall.
Crowds: Overall light. There was often a mess of people at the top of the mountain, in part because people would be waiting around and fixing bindings, and in part because all the open trails started from the same place. I.e., if you took the Z chair you had to return to the top of the quad, because Claire's (most of the way down), Westway, and Annapurna were all closed. Since K-27 was closed, you also had to go back to the quad area from the F-chair. The trails themselves weren't bad, especially as I did a good number of runs on Wayout on Hunter West, and a few runs on the F-chair. Those trails were pretty empty. Belt Parkway and perhaps Hellgate had more traffic; Belt Parkway more than desired, but not terrible. Of course, that would be the trail that one would expect to have a crowd if any trail is to have one.
Depressingly only my first day this season, perhaps the latest first day since I first began skiing (though I had that trip to Chile in August, so I really can't complain). I decided yesterday afternoon to go for it today, despite the rain yesterday and rain in the forecast for today. I thought I was an idiot, but I ended up happy.
I probably skied about everything open on the main mountain and Hunter West (only one run there); I didn't go over to Hunter One. It was only my second trip to Hunter, so I don't have too much to compare it to as far as what Hunter is normally like.
Favorite trails of the day was Wayout (to lower Claire's Run) which was the only open trail on Hunter West. Over the course of the day it had a mogul field forming in a couple places -- first, the second hill on it after the first flat part, and then again as it merges with Claire's. The way top had the way beginnings of moguls by my last run on it, probably around 2:30 or 2:45.
Eisenhower Drive had moguls from the beginning. Bigger/deeper and less organized than the ones forming on Wayout. I ended up on it for my second run which didn't go especially well, but I did it a few more times after I had a chance to warm up some and it was a lot more fun
To complete the mogul report, Hellgate had some bumps on the first real pitch when you make the left after crossing under the chair. It was a short stretch though and the first couple weren't as soft as those on Wayout and Eisenhower. There might've been small bump stretches in other places, but I can't remember well enough where. One of the trails going down to the F-chair had some if I remember correctly.
As for the thin cover, Belt Parkway had a few thin places. Nothing that would bother any experienced skier (or perhaps most intermediates), but it's probably not a good thing for the only intermediate route and most crowded route from the top to not be in the best of conditions. Huega-Express, I think, had a couple thin stretches including one stretching most of the trial (assuming I'm thinking of the right trial), but again, nothing that would bother most skiers.
All in all, it was a fun day. Conditions weren't fantastic, but there was plenty of (fake) snow, and it was soft, even though it was very wet. Hopefully the rain stopped or turns to snow.
