The North Face at Mount Snow vs. Hunter West

[JimG.]

This may have been covered, but too lazey to read thru again.

Why don't they normally open together? Or in general, why can't Hunter open these trails consistently? they can make snow faster than anyone else in the country.

44(Westway) is a snow pig...very wide, very steep. In addition to that, it faces NW into the prevailing winds in the area, so alot of snow gets stripped off by wind. So, the best scenario for 44 to open is usually a decent storm of 12-18" followed by a few days of snowmaking.

Annapurna is usually open every year, but Hunter decided to open 44 first last year and blew a ton of snow that basically dwindled the rest of the season. Never did get a decent storm to help it out either. By mid-January they decided they had blown enough of the snow budget on 44 so they never made any on Purna.

 

[random_ski_guy]

this has probably been discussed ad nausum on another thread, but here goes.

does anyone have any specifics on what hunter is looking to do to add terrain in the hunter west area? i thought they want to add another lift back there with one or two more top to bottom runs to the skiers left of annapurna.

as for "44," thats a sweet run. one of the best in the catskills in my humble opinion.

 

[MarkC]

You do know Hunter...I'm guessing from your location that you get to Plattekill a bit too.
Would be great to hook up for a day of ripping this season.

Plattekill is my home mountain. You can find me there whenever they are open. I like to get to Hunter on Tuesdays or in the early / late season. If you are ever coming to plattekill shoot me a PM and we can hook up.

 

[MarkC]

I consider a couple of trails at P'kill harder

Overall in like conditions blockbuster can be considered as difficult as anything on the west side of hunter, but plattekill's steeps very rarely ice up. But I do see where you are coming from.

 

[kingslug]

The thing with Plattekill is that the trails, especialy blockbuster are natural. They may blow a little on it but what nature brings is what you get. The top of Blockbuster is pretty steep, especialy when you look up after a few turns. I didn't get there last year so I'm really hoping for a good hit this year.

 

[Greg]

I personally think these two areas ski pretty similarly. Perhaps TNF has a bit more pitch and vert, but they feel pretty similar to me. I have to give a slight edge to TNF in terms of amount of terrain and challenge, but I haven't given Hunter's West side a fair evaluation yet. In fact, I've only skied Claire's and Way Out.

I need to correct myself here. I was surprised to discover the West side is about 1,250' and TNF is only about 950'!

Even considering just in bounds, lift-serviced terrain, can Anna Purna really stack up to some of the most challenging runs in the East? This is a serious question. I've never skied it.

I finally skied Purna this season and loved it. Annapurna footage starts about 1 minute in.



Challenging run for sure, but I wouldn't put it in the same league as the Rumbles and Paradises of the East.

 

[JimG.]

I need to correct myself here. I was surprised to discover the West side is about 1,250' and TNF is only about 950'!



I finally skied Purna this season and loved it. Annapurna footage starts about 1 minute in.



Challenging run for sure, but I wouldn't put it in the same league as the Rumbles and Paradises of the East.

I don't think TNF has any more pitch than the West side either.

I wouldn't even compare Purna to trails like Rumble or Paradise at MRG.

 

[Greg]

I don't think TNF has any more pitch than the West side either.

I agree. I had not skied TNF in some time when I started this thread. After my revisit with you guys later in November, I was surprised how much less steep TNF seemed to me. When I started out skiing, I spent a fair amount of time at Snow. TNF obviously seemed much steeper in the novice and intermediate years.

 

[2knees]

I agree. I had not skied TNF in some time when I started this thread. After my revisit with you guys later in November, I was surprised how much less steep TNF seemed to me. When I started out skiing, I spent a fair amount of time at Snow. TNF obviously seemed much steeper in the novice and intermediate years.

Not to totally disagree with you but all you skied was chute, correct? Jaws, Plummet and obviously Ripcord are much steeper then Chute. I would guess Ripcord is steeper then anything at Hunter, at least what i've skied. It is very short though.

 

[Greg]

Not to totally disagree with you but all you skied was chute, correct? Jaws, Plummet and obviously Ripcord are much steeper then Chute. I would guess Ripcord is steeper then anything at Hunter, at least what i've skied. It is very short though.

All I skied last season was Chute, but I've skied a few other TNF trails back in the day - Free Fall, Plummet, PDF, Chute and Timbers. Never skied Jaws, Olympic or Ripcord.

 

[JimG.]

Not to totally disagree with you but all you skied was chute, correct? Jaws, Plummet and obviously Ripcord are much steeper then Chute. I would guess Ripcord is steeper then anything at Hunter, at least what i've skied. It is very short though.

I've skied all the runs on TNF over the years...I wouldn't have commented if I hadn't.

Maybe that short strectch of Ripcord is steeper, but I was speaking in general terms and I stand by my statement...the pitch at TNF is no greater than the West side at Hunter in general. And I've skied shots off the map on the West side that are as steep if not steeper than Ripcord. But I won't count those.

 

[drjeff]

All I skied last season was Chute, but I've skied a few other TNF trails back in the day - Free Fall, Plummet, PDF, Chute and Timbers. Never skied Jaws, Olympic or Ripcord.

You need a return TNF visit then! Ripcord as mentioned, straight shot and STEEP, for real fun ski the trees next to Ripcord, the cliff in The Plunge(skier's right woods) is a blast with decent natural snow.

Jaws, is hands down one of my top 5 favorite trails. Old school, multi-falline, natural snow bumps that just keep coming at you

Olympic, is take Fallen Timbers, keep it on natural snow, widen it slightly and give it some turns and more natural features. The only problem I have with Olympic is that each time I head over there I find myself making a hard left and heading into the trees in The Trials next to it. I did have the pleasure though of hitting Olympic one Monday AM last season where they actually groomed it the night before, and I had forgotten what a blast Olympic is with full out high speed GS turns from top 2 bottom since they've been leaving "au natural" most of the time the past few years.

 

[Greg]

You need a return TNF visit then!

Planning on it!

 

[Newpylong]

Hunter has only a few runs on that side, the North Face has more, with more variety (and a little less vert). Nothing at Hunter like Ripcord and the Plunge (Ripcord trees), or the Trials for that matter. Jaws, Ripcord and Plummet steeper than anything marked or unmarked at Hunter West, hands down.

 

[Hawkshot99]

I Skied both of these places several times this past winter. I think the edge goes to Mt. Snow in my opinion. Every time I skied Hunter the West side was pure ice. Ask Greg, and Bivert of my awsome slide down Claire's. The North Face has always had much better conditions for me.

 

[millerm277]

The West Side is great with some natural snow, then the trails really shine, Lower Taylor's gets opened, and the woods off the trails are pretty good.

I have never skied Mt. Snow, so I can't comment on which is better, but after skiing 44 on the powder day this year, it'd be hard to beat for me.

 

[Greg]

Ask Greg, and Bivert of my awsome slide down Claire's.

Please don't. I'd much rather forget that experience. I was rather concerned. Claire's was brutal that day!

 

[kingslug]

The thing about the west side is it's varied conditions. When it gets good snow it's an awesome ride, but when it's nasty it can be downright dangerous. I still feel that Clairs is the best out of the three. It has multiple lines that are very different. You can have monster bumps on skiers right and almost none on the left. You never know what you're going to get until you hit it. I always take wayout first so I can get a look from the chair at what it's like. Anna is a straight, loooooong bump run that can really knock the wind out of you. the bumps can be HUGE and they seem to never end. A real workout but doesn't have the variety of Clairs. 44 is hardly open anymore but again is a long steep monster, with little variety though. When Clairs is good I can spend half the day back there and be very happy. I also like the feeling of solitude I get back there. Nothing to look at but mountain.

 

[millerm277]

@Kingslug, 44 was open for most of 05-06, and while it didn't "officially" open, it was being skied by many people after the storms this year.