This could only happen in the East, I woke up to (and shoveled) 15 inches of blower at my New Jersey home then drove 100 miles north to ski somewhere that received nothing, zilch. Harvey and I arrived at Hunter a little after 8:30, quickly got on the lifts, and headed straight over to Hunter West just as they dropped the rope on Way Out, giving us first dibs on fresh, rock-hard corduroy.
While it's no longer able to claim the "Snowmaking Capitol of the World" title anymore, the display of firepower is pretty impressive. It's amazing to see that they had 95% of the terrain open and in good shape with very little natural snow. Here's one of the technicians tending to his cache:
We spent the first hour doing laps on a top-to-bottom Claire's Way, Colonel's Alternate, and Taylor's Run, all of which were being pummeled by snowmaking, resulting in irregular minivan-size bumps. Here's Harvey doing some of that free-heel voodoo:
Me on Colonel's Alternate:
While there was some ugly styrofoam up top, most of the terrain was in really nice shape: chalky and edgeable. Here's Harvey on K27:
Kind of a shock to the system after my exquisite day at Mary Jane five days earlier, but you have to admire Hunter's ability to defy nature. What's really funny is when you ski through trails that were literally blasted into the mountain, like an interstate. No surprise that most of the trail names are taken from real-life streets and highways. Still, once we transitioned into "it is what it is" mode, Hunter was a good time. Harvey was impressed by the number of steep shots spread throughout, especially on the west side.
While it's no longer able to claim the "Snowmaking Capitol of the World" title anymore, the display of firepower is pretty impressive. It's amazing to see that they had 95% of the terrain open and in good shape with very little natural snow. Here's one of the technicians tending to his cache:
We spent the first hour doing laps on a top-to-bottom Claire's Way, Colonel's Alternate, and Taylor's Run, all of which were being pummeled by snowmaking, resulting in irregular minivan-size bumps. Here's Harvey doing some of that free-heel voodoo:
Me on Colonel's Alternate:
While there was some ugly styrofoam up top, most of the terrain was in really nice shape: chalky and edgeable. Here's Harvey on K27:
Kind of a shock to the system after my exquisite day at Mary Jane five days earlier, but you have to admire Hunter's ability to defy nature. What's really funny is when you ski through trails that were literally blasted into the mountain, like an interstate. No surprise that most of the trail names are taken from real-life streets and highways. Still, once we transitioned into "it is what it is" mode, Hunter was a good time. Harvey was impressed by the number of steep shots spread throughout, especially on the west side.
