Impressions of Catskill Skiing

[dmc]

Screw the Catskills, ADKs for life!

There ARE people that have your same vapid attitude about Hunter directed towards Whiteface...

There's a guy in Jackson Hole right now that says Targhee sucks.. And another Kicking Horse that says Panorama sucks.. And a guy in Vail that says ABasin sucks...

 

[JimG.]

There ARE people that have your same vapid attitude about Hunter directed towards Whiteface...

There's a guy in Jackson Hole right now that says Targhee sucks.. And another Kicking Horse that says Panorama sucks.. And a guy in Vail that says ABasin sucks...

Guess it depends on where you live. How many times have I heard the "Iceface" label?

I'd ask him to join us for a day at Hunter, but it sounds like he has his mind made up.

 

[RIDEr]

Guess it depends on where you live. How many times have I heard the "Iceface" label?

I'd ask him to join us for a day at Hunter, but it sounds like he has his mind made up.

Seems like he had one bad time and believes it to always be the case. Unfortuate for him, lucky for the others that enjoy the Catskills mountains... I am heading to Whiteface for the first time at the end of March and will see whether his opinion can be so bias.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

Seems like he had one bad time and believes it to always be the case. Unfortuate for him, lucky for the others that enjoy the Catskills mountains... I am heading to Whiteface for the first time at the end of March and will see whether his opinion can be so bias.

MC2 has stated that he is an instructor at Gore. No doubt he's skied WF, but I think he's at Gore most of the time. Let me know when you'll be at WF. I'll be glad to give you th AZ-VIP tour if you are so inclined. March is prime time for the Slides.

 

[RIDEr]

March is prime time for the Slides.

Thanks for the invite. The whole reason for heading there is the enjoy the slides

I'll shoot you a PM prior to heading up.

 

[RIDEr]

MC2 has stated that he is an instructor at Gore. No doubt he's skied WF, but I think he's at Gore most of the time. QUOTE]

I was referencing MC2's comments on the Catskills. I just threw in WF since he stated his love for the ARK's.

 

[jimme]

The 'Daks get all the attention, but the Catskills are gnarly, wicked and challenging too! NY State's "best kept secret".

. . . and there's Bobcat! The Little T-Bar, The Big T-bar, no grooming, no snowmaking and a very basic lodge. Tight old school trails! I LOVE this place. Hard to find it open though. Worth the trip!

Hunter rocks! (pun intended), at least on uncrowded weekdays. Hit a pow day and had a blast! Met many good people too!

Belleayre is great for beginners and families. Windham is, well, Windham. Nice. Not too challenging since I can ski the "double" blacks with ease. ha-ha

Plattekill- Now there's MY mountain. Tight twisty trails. Ski anywhere you want. Little grooming. Just enough snowmaking to help mother nature. Avg over 250" of snow each year. Uncrowded. MRG is the Plattekill of VT!

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

Plattekill- Now there's MY mountain. Tight twisty trails. Ski anywhere you want. Little grooming. Just enough snowmaking to help mother nature. Avg over 250" of snow each year. Uncrowded. MRG is the Plattekill of VT!

250? Where you getting that from? Hunter avgs. about 100 I believe.

 

[mattchuck2]

Guess it depends on where you live. How many times have I heard the "Iceface" label?

I'd ask him to join us for a day at Hunter, but it sounds like he has his mind made up.

I might be in for this . . . The way people talk about the place I MUST have missed something when I was there.

Next time we get one of those southern storms that don't touch the North, I'll take a day off midweek and come down. I'll form an OFFICIAL opinion after this.

 

[loafer89]

250? Where you getting that from? Hunter avgs. about 100 I believe.

I don't know about the 250" figure, but Plattekill does get ALOT more snow than the rest of the Catskills seem to. I have personally seen and skied this many times.

 

[JimG.]

I might be in for this . . . The way people talk about the place I MUST have missed something when I was there.

Next time we get one of those southern storms that don't touch the North, I'll take a day off midweek and come down. I'll form an OFFICIAL opinion after this.

Well, I don't want to force you to do anything you wouldn't normally do...

but, I welcome the challenge of changing your opinion and I'm always game to ski with a good skier.

 

[kingslug]

I get the feeling we may make some believers about Hunter. But they have to come up or down to see. A meet up at Plattekill should also be on the list.

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

other than the few trails off the backside, i think Hunter has a horrible layout with the switchbacks and trails merging...i've seen so many disasters there...i like it alone on like a Tuesday...quick drive from LI...get some pitch in off the back.....never never on a wknd...didnt care for the vibe on the wkends, too many NYC bus trips with the yahoos

 

[dmc]

other than the few trails off the backside, i think Hunter has a horrible layout with the switchbacks and trails merging...i've seen so many disasters there...i like it alone on like a Tuesday...quick drive from LI...get some pitch in off the back.....never never on a wknd...didnt care for the vibe on the wkends, too many NYC bus trips with the yahoos

Hunter averaged 4 busses a weekend last year..
Back in the day - we'd park up to 40...

There's no merges or switch backs on Eastside or Westside trails..

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

Hunter averaged 4 busses a weekend last year..
Back in the day - we'd park up to 40...

There's no merges or switch backs on Eastside or Westside trails..

Yeah, I remember those 40 bus days. Why do you think there was such a big dropoff?

 

[catskills]

Back in the late 60s I believe Hunter use to hit peaks over 90 buses. I remember Peak Tours would load up buses of high and junior high school kids with rental equipment. At age 16, I was a liftie (assistant) on the beginner C-Lift. I seen sme pretty funny stuff getting off that lift. You could always tell the ones that never skied off a lift before. They had that look of horror.

 

[dmc]

Yeah, I remember those 40 bus days. Why do you think there was such a big dropoff?

Maybe they just got sick of the crowds? And they were the crowds...

Maybe it's due to busses going to other areas like mountain creek and camelback...

 

[dmc]

I remember Peak Tours would load up buses of high and junior high school kids with rental equipment.

I was one of those kids in 1979.. I was terrified of the "ski off", because my first trip up I didn't pass and wasn't allowed on the "big mountain"...

 

[rjc1976]

I don't know about the 250" figure, but Plattekill does get ALOT more snow than the rest of the Catskills seem to. I have personally seen and skied this many times.

After looking up the stats, Plattekill averages 245" a year and Hunter averages 125" a year. Looks like the lake effect that Plattekill receives essentially doubles Hunter's average.

 

[ajl50]

One reason is plattekill is 25 miles west, across a number of snow-catching, mountain ridges from hunter, and is on a good snow catching side of a ridge. When the lake effect is in effect thos 25 miles make a huge difference.