Hickory Ski Hill 12/26 (Lost Ski Area)

[powderfreak]

This is a "Lost Ski Area" in Warrensburg, NY just off I-87 (Exit 23), and I
happened to be driving through there on my way to Indian Lake during the
afternoon with all my gear. It wasn't planned but I took a detour up to the
area to take a look around. A couple inches of pure slop was on the ground
but I wanted to explore a little bit and saw the trails were in pretty good
shape with many work roads that looked skiable on even 2" of wet snow.
Changed cloths in the car, put the skins on, and the dog and I were going up
at the late hour of 3pm.

http://tinyurl.com/ykdvu5
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Above the lower slope, I took a work road up to the left (skiers right side
of the mtn) and crossed what looked to be a fairly new T-Bar, still in great
shape. This is the T-bar that comes out of the photo above with the lift
corrals still in place for busy days.
http://tinyurl.com/yed69p
Another shot of the T-bar and I ended up skiing this slope on the way back
down. Not much coverage but the very wet snow provided ample padding and no
damage was done to the skis. I was very, very surprised at what great shape
the trails were in...some rocks but all small, mostly grassy slopes that
could be skied in marginal conditions like these. If this place got a foot,
it would be game on and one would be able to ski most all trails with no
worry about whats underfoot. There was no deadfall, no debris, no nothing
on the trails.
http://tinyurl.com/sv36x
Skin track on the right side of photo, I wanted to save the work road
untracked for the descent.
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Onto another trail...again, trails were in great shape to be skied in
marginal conditions.
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Skinned up lookers left side of this trail, and skied down lookers right
side. Areas with the least amount of grass showing.
http://tinyurl.com/y49xac
Here's the summit t-bar and where the pitch really starts to increase. If
we ever get a decent dump here in the east, I'd highly consider coming here
to skin 15 minutes up to this point and then just lap these upper trails.
The pitch was just too much to ski on 2" of snow so I continued to follow
the round about work road.
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Looking across at some of the steeper front trails.
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I continued up the work road to the left of the picture but ran into several
glades coming out of the woods and crossing my ski route.
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Glade starts back up on the otherside under arch tree.
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Ahh the joys of skinning in very sloppy conditions.
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Needless to say, I was due in Indian Lake at 4:30pm and with no cell phone
reception nor anyway to get in contact with the rest of my party, I turned
around a couple hundred yards from the top. Darkness was rapidly
approaching, as was another fog bank, and I wanted to be able to see what I
was skiing to avoid any larger obstacles. The ski down was interesting to
say the least but it was do-able. There really were no true obstacles on
these trails...not knee high stumps, logs, rocks, etc to take you out.

Skied back down to the car, through slick knee deep grass at times, but
overall I'd definitely go back to explore with anyone else who wants to earn
some turns at an abandoned ski area with very easy access (5-10 min from
I-87). Fun stuff to go exploring and find another little gem to add to the
list of things to do when the resorts are skied out or overcrowded.
http://tinyurl.com/yag5zz
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Some rays of sunshine broke through as darkness fell once I hit the road to
continue on up to Indian Lake and followed the upper Hudson River to warmth
and food, with the goal of skiing Gore the following day.
http://tinyurl.com/ygf4xx
http://tinyurl.com/yall3c

Gore report forthcoming.

-Scott

 

[skimore]

ssshhhhhhhhhh :-#

My experiences with the place are that the upper terrain is a bit rocky. I would say you need a good couple feet for that upper terrain. Definatley a cool place. After a good dump we would go there instead of Gore. You should see people trying to ride that POMA lift that goes to summit. Liftie stands there with the lever while you get into place then hits it and the thing rockets you off the ground. People end up on their face. I've seen people afraid to get on that thing. I will definately be up there once cover permits

Have a few pics from up there
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/skimorebump ... 2336037242

 

[Sharon]

Scott, I can't believe you skied on that little snow!

Anyhoo, I have skied at Hickory once, before it was totally closed. They only were open on weekends, so after a dump on the weekday, it was a great day to boot pack up the t-bar for a few runs.

In fact, that trip was the first time I had ever earned turns top to bottom. I think I got hooked after that experience. I like being able to skin up with my dogs and they can follow me down. They enjoy that kind of work-out as well. Now with AT gear that experience will be even more enjoyable.

I have a good friend living in W-burg, so I believe some earned turns at Hickory are in my future, provided it ever snows for real.

Bring it on!!

-Sh

 

[jasdmd0]

I'd make a bet that just about anyone that skiis, even the 500lb'ers that you see on the token "heavy slalom" races would catch some serious air upon release of those poma's onto the line.

Man do I really miss that place having grown up about 45 min South of there!