jimme
New member
Literally, at the last chance for the exit I scrapped Belleayre and decided to try Hunter. Only because I've never been to Hunter before and have been to Belleayre a few times. I figured this would be a good day to see what Hun'tah was all about.
As I got out of my car, the kids I was parked next to were showing off their car stereo. BAM, BAM "Mother *&%$", BAM, BOOM, BAM "*&$#(*", BOOM!
Well, this IS Hun'tah, whatd'ja expect, I thought as I booted up. Gee, what a wonderful song. Such nice use of the English language at 115 decibels. Kids...gotta love 'em. :roll: Parking lot is paved and that was a nice change.
I couldn't squeeze a discount out of ticket sales and $41. later was on my way to the lifts. The Snowlite Express is the main lift feeding most of the trails. Took the Belt Parkway to warm up.
Very nice cover as the mountain received at least 4" overnight and it was ungroomed. Sweet! Under the 4" of Catskill Concrete (had to say that, but in reality the snow was truly nice and got lighter as the day progressed.) was carvable hardpack. It snowed all day long and the snowfall actually increased by the day's end.
The crowds were extremely thin and I never had to wait for a chair all day. Had a couple of good convos on the ride up, but mostly the singles stayed to themselves. The day, and my skiing just got better and better.
Hunter West was in great shape, especially for those who could really ski it. I slowly made my way down the bumped up Claire's Way, then enjoyed a virtual cruise down Way Out.
After lunch I set my sights on Upper Highlands, a very short BD slope off whats called a Pony Lift. But, the 20th Century quad to access it was not running. Dang, shoulda brought my skins.
One of my favorie runs was the Heuga Express (Jimmy Heuga Express on trail signs.) There I found several excellent untracked* (correction- fresh tracks) trips, mostly my own! Had to ski Hellgate as I think it's one of their showcase runs. Did The Cliff, Bleeker Street and Eisenhower. All supurb! Upper K-27 was tough for me, but the untracked on Lower K-27 was fantastic. I'd say the lower section is really Blue. Same with JHE.
The mountain looks very rugged. Rocks and cliffs all over the place. Some of the danger was removed with fencing, but with the crowds I hear they get it actually makes sense. A great cliff jump would be just before tower 8 on the Snowlite Express if Hunter cleaned up the landing. Not me mind you, but for those who can...
For anyone who can make it on a weekday, I recommend the mountain. As for the weekends, I'll believe the stories I hear about the hoards of skiers. There are plenty of real BD, and DBD trails to keep any skier happy.
One thing very unusual to me was that a woman bussed my lunch tray for me. Never had that done at a ski area before.
And another first. . .I made fresh tracks to the tombstone of Archer Winsten. His grave is at the top of the mountain!
Jimme
As I got out of my car, the kids I was parked next to were showing off their car stereo. BAM, BAM "Mother *&%$", BAM, BOOM, BAM "*&$#(*", BOOM!
Well, this IS Hun'tah, whatd'ja expect, I thought as I booted up. Gee, what a wonderful song. Such nice use of the English language at 115 decibels. Kids...gotta love 'em. :roll: Parking lot is paved and that was a nice change.
I couldn't squeeze a discount out of ticket sales and $41. later was on my way to the lifts. The Snowlite Express is the main lift feeding most of the trails. Took the Belt Parkway to warm up.
Very nice cover as the mountain received at least 4" overnight and it was ungroomed. Sweet! Under the 4" of Catskill Concrete (had to say that, but in reality the snow was truly nice and got lighter as the day progressed.) was carvable hardpack. It snowed all day long and the snowfall actually increased by the day's end.
The crowds were extremely thin and I never had to wait for a chair all day. Had a couple of good convos on the ride up, but mostly the singles stayed to themselves. The day, and my skiing just got better and better.
Hunter West was in great shape, especially for those who could really ski it. I slowly made my way down the bumped up Claire's Way, then enjoyed a virtual cruise down Way Out.
After lunch I set my sights on Upper Highlands, a very short BD slope off whats called a Pony Lift. But, the 20th Century quad to access it was not running. Dang, shoulda brought my skins.
One of my favorie runs was the Heuga Express (Jimmy Heuga Express on trail signs.) There I found several excellent untracked* (correction- fresh tracks) trips, mostly my own! Had to ski Hellgate as I think it's one of their showcase runs. Did The Cliff, Bleeker Street and Eisenhower. All supurb! Upper K-27 was tough for me, but the untracked on Lower K-27 was fantastic. I'd say the lower section is really Blue. Same with JHE.
The mountain looks very rugged. Rocks and cliffs all over the place. Some of the danger was removed with fencing, but with the crowds I hear they get it actually makes sense. A great cliff jump would be just before tower 8 on the Snowlite Express if Hunter cleaned up the landing. Not me mind you, but for those who can...
For anyone who can make it on a weekday, I recommend the mountain. As for the weekends, I'll believe the stories I hear about the hoards of skiers. There are plenty of real BD, and DBD trails to keep any skier happy.
One thing very unusual to me was that a woman bussed my lunch tray for me. Never had that done at a ski area before.
And another first. . .I made fresh tracks to the tombstone of Archer Winsten. His grave is at the top of the mountain!
Jimme
