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hunter mtn opening 12/10/2011


guitar73

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we were there today.

 

we left phxvlle @ 5:20AM, got to the mtn @ 9:15-ish (no traffic on the way up). by the time we got there there were no lines to speak of, actually it was kinda dead around the base and parking lot. we got geared up and took the 6-pack up (nice fast lift). there was snow all over the place, but it was kinda thin except where they blew stuff. trails open were hell brook and broadway (to the F-lift). F-lift was running up to the summit from midstation, downloading on B-lift.

 

conditions was pp at the summit and quickly became wind-blown bullet-proof hardpack down the face. no grooming at all, so there were some nice little bumps starting to form. loads of rock hard death cookies the size of dinner plates everywhere. the trail wasn't too crowded on the slope, so that was nice. we did one run, and that was it. fitness level wasn't there and we didn't feel like biffing it (or worse) on the first day of the season. a lot other people had the same idea. the line to download was much longer than any of the lines.

 

after downloading and packing up, we headed over to belleayre to see what was going on there. they wanted $47 for 3 trail segments......needless to say we passed on that and came home, lol.

 

we'll be heading back to hunter at some point this season: the mtn is giving a $10 discount if we bring today's lift ticket with us next time.

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I was also at Hunter yesterday. I have a friend who just bought a house in Monroe Ny, so I figured we would pair the visit with a trip up to Hunter. Left his place at 7:00 AM, pulled into the parking lot just past 8am. Bought our $28 lift tix, and headed over the the line at the six pack around 8:45, I would say at that point we were about the 15th chair heading up, and it wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be.

 

Drank a Left hand Sawtooth ale on the way up to celebrate day 1 one of the season. At the summit conditions gave the appearance of looking pretty nice, however one you got to the top of hellgate that all changed very quickly... There wasn't a place on the trail that wasn't covered in baseball sized death cookies, and the "ungroomed" snow on the side of the trail was actually a solid plate of sheer ice. As guitar explained above, they were only open down to F lift.

 

My buddy and I took 6 laps, and by that point the conditions were just getting dangerous,the slopes more crowded, and they had fired the snow guns back up around 10:30am at the summit and some mid mountain. My friend said he wanted to take a beer break down at the car so we got in the very long line to download the B lift. As we were riding down we noticed some just decided to ski and ride down on thin cover, we were bummed we waited in line instead of doing the same.

 

 

Overheard Hunter employees joking around about the how the line to get down was way longer than the lift line to go up, and once in the parking lot we cracked some beers when another employee joked that was the best thing to be doing with the snow conditions on the mountain. We decided it wasn't worth the time to upload for a few more runs which assumed had only degraded more.

 

A car of NYers pulled in and we sold our lift tix to them in the parking lot 2 for 20$ before we rolled out at about 11:30am. Was great to get out on the snow, I am not knocking on Hunter too bad because its opening day but those conditions were just really rough.

 

EDIT: LOL at that AZ report. Good conditions? haha! As I said I am aware it was the first day and conditions wouldn't be that good, but I wouldn't even come close to calling them good! Good thing I downloaded before the lift broke down, can't even imagine how long the download line was after that.

Edited by Night Rider
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@Ride Delaware?.......thanks, but i believe it more about being desperate to get out on the snow, LOL!

 

@Night Rider....i really hope those conditions don't persist. i would think that a place like Hunter should be able to manager their snow conditions to not be like that. hell, even belleayre had their groomer out on their early snow base. i think hunter should have been able to do the same....oh well.

 

and i guess that guy on AZ prefers to ice skate rather than ski....

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It really depends on the snow conditions and depth on whether it should be groomed... Freshly blown snow really isn't the greatest due to it's high water content this time of the year... It needs to be pushed out, allowed to drain, and then groomed over... When you don't push it out and it freezes up, and then push it out, you get you those huge death cookies... Hunter will turn it around... I'd expect pretty good conditions by next weekend for sure...

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I was hoping for a Bell report... I know you had the place to yourself last year, and they have more terrain open this year...

Nah, I changed plans when I saw that Bell was charging $47 for 1/2 a trail when Hunter was only $27 for t2b. Still Hunter was pretty empty. Still working on the pics.

Edited by RootDKJ
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