Wavewheeler
New member
I know it's a bit belated but I went to Hunter Mountain this past Wed-Thursday, March 5-6 and thought I'd give a heads up about conditions.
Wednesday, March 5.
Cloudy, snow snowers from 3pm on. Mid 20s, no wind.
Packed Powder/groomed
Conditions were great if you like groomed, packed powder. I was there and on the slopes by 10 am. Did my usual warm up on Kenndy and then headed up on the 6 man. All the trails were groomed with the exception of upper crossover. Lower K-27 was closed. So was Westway. Everything else was open.
I like groomers and found the skiing to be excellent. For the first time this year, I hit Racer's Edge and Clair's, which had had nice powder and were groomed. Of the two, I liked Racer's better and pretty much stayed on that one all day after running The Cliff and Hellgate. Also went down Colonel's Alt and Wayout, which were excellent. Same with Upper K-27, Minya and Milky Way. There was nothing not to like. Jimmy Heuga was a bit icy so I just ran it once. The light wasn't good there anyway so I tend to stay off those trails on cloudy days or late in the day.
Midweek is about as good as it gets with regards to crowds. Good thing because on Wed they were having a lot of trouble with the Kaatskill Flyer. It was stopping almost constantly by mid day and at one point (right when I was breaking for lunch, thank goodness) they shut it down for 45 minutes. It was 2pm and I'd gotten a lot of skiing in but there was no way to get to the top of the mountain from the lodge area. Only the B chair was open. The F was closed and the prospect of being stuck on blues, greens and the terrain park was a bit of a downer.
Fortunately they got the 6 man up and running about 2:45 pm. So I got some great runs in because by then the mountain was pretty much empty. By then with the snow coming down and the light fading and washing everything out plus the dropping temps, thing were getting a bit skied off and I made my last trip down Hellgate to Eisenhower and called it an awesome day.
Thursday, March 6.
Bluebird. Sunny, slight breeze at times. AM single digits/teens rising up to 20s in the pm.
Packed powder/groomed. Slightly icy in spots 2:30 on.
Thursday was even better. About an inch of snow fell overnight and the mountain was completely groomed and full of corduroy. No crowds and the Flyer worked fine all day. It was a bluebird day. Blue skies, not a cloud in the sky. The temperature was a whopping -2 degrees when I woke up. When I got on the chair at 9:20 it was 12 degrees at base, 4 up top. It later went up to 30 degrees at base, 24 up top. Yes, it was cold but didn't feel all that bad due to the sun and just a little breeze from time to time heading up on the chair.
The conditions were incredible if you are like me and love groomers. Packed powder. Like the day before, I hit The Cliff and then Racer's Edge, ran a few down Eisenhower but Racer's was so incredible I just loved running it. Headed to West and unfortunately it was rather icy in spots so I decided to skip Clair's. Once again Westway was closed.
Upper K-27 was packed powder/groomed as was Minya and Lower Crossover. Lower K-27 was closed again but this time people were ignoring that and just heading down these huge moguls despite the sign that said "ICE" at the top.
I have to say that Thursday was probably the best time I've had skiing at Hunter this year. I loved the conditions and just had a blast. By late afternoon things were starting to get skied off so I switched from The Cliff to Hellgate and Eisenhower and pretty much had a blast skiing those until the lifts closed at 4pm.
I have plans to go back in 2 weeks with my daughter on March19-20. With more snow forecast and hopefully colder temps sticking around, plus the added bonus of the clocks being sprung forward I think the skiing should be incredible the next few weeks. With the snow cover, grooming and base conditions I'll bet Hunter will easily be open into April. Here's hoping that's the case.
Wednesday, March 5.
Cloudy, snow snowers from 3pm on. Mid 20s, no wind.
Packed Powder/groomed
Conditions were great if you like groomed, packed powder. I was there and on the slopes by 10 am. Did my usual warm up on Kenndy and then headed up on the 6 man. All the trails were groomed with the exception of upper crossover. Lower K-27 was closed. So was Westway. Everything else was open.
I like groomers and found the skiing to be excellent. For the first time this year, I hit Racer's Edge and Clair's, which had had nice powder and were groomed. Of the two, I liked Racer's better and pretty much stayed on that one all day after running The Cliff and Hellgate. Also went down Colonel's Alt and Wayout, which were excellent. Same with Upper K-27, Minya and Milky Way. There was nothing not to like. Jimmy Heuga was a bit icy so I just ran it once. The light wasn't good there anyway so I tend to stay off those trails on cloudy days or late in the day.
Midweek is about as good as it gets with regards to crowds. Good thing because on Wed they were having a lot of trouble with the Kaatskill Flyer. It was stopping almost constantly by mid day and at one point (right when I was breaking for lunch, thank goodness) they shut it down for 45 minutes. It was 2pm and I'd gotten a lot of skiing in but there was no way to get to the top of the mountain from the lodge area. Only the B chair was open. The F was closed and the prospect of being stuck on blues, greens and the terrain park was a bit of a downer.
Fortunately they got the 6 man up and running about 2:45 pm. So I got some great runs in because by then the mountain was pretty much empty. By then with the snow coming down and the light fading and washing everything out plus the dropping temps, thing were getting a bit skied off and I made my last trip down Hellgate to Eisenhower and called it an awesome day.
Thursday, March 6.
Bluebird. Sunny, slight breeze at times. AM single digits/teens rising up to 20s in the pm.
Packed powder/groomed. Slightly icy in spots 2:30 on.
Thursday was even better. About an inch of snow fell overnight and the mountain was completely groomed and full of corduroy. No crowds and the Flyer worked fine all day. It was a bluebird day. Blue skies, not a cloud in the sky. The temperature was a whopping -2 degrees when I woke up. When I got on the chair at 9:20 it was 12 degrees at base, 4 up top. It later went up to 30 degrees at base, 24 up top. Yes, it was cold but didn't feel all that bad due to the sun and just a little breeze from time to time heading up on the chair.
The conditions were incredible if you are like me and love groomers. Packed powder. Like the day before, I hit The Cliff and then Racer's Edge, ran a few down Eisenhower but Racer's was so incredible I just loved running it. Headed to West and unfortunately it was rather icy in spots so I decided to skip Clair's. Once again Westway was closed.
Upper K-27 was packed powder/groomed as was Minya and Lower Crossover. Lower K-27 was closed again but this time people were ignoring that and just heading down these huge moguls despite the sign that said "ICE" at the top.
I have to say that Thursday was probably the best time I've had skiing at Hunter this year. I loved the conditions and just had a blast. By late afternoon things were starting to get skied off so I switched from The Cliff to Hellgate and Eisenhower and pretty much had a blast skiing those until the lifts closed at 4pm.
I have plans to go back in 2 weeks with my daughter on March19-20. With more snow forecast and hopefully colder temps sticking around, plus the added bonus of the clocks being sprung forward I think the skiing should be incredible the next few weeks. With the snow cover, grooming and base conditions I'll bet Hunter will easily be open into April. Here's hoping that's the case.
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