Slalom, Park & Pipe and Moguls Workshops

If you haven't heard, winter has arrived in our region...just in time for you to join one of our workshops to improve your riding, racing or bump skills. Hunter Mountain offers quite a variety of workshops:

NEW! Snowboard Park & Pipe Workshop - (Riders age 19 and over)
Dates: #1: Feb. 3 (Saturday)
Open to riders who have mastered single-diamond black terrain. Riders can develop the skills to ante-up in our park and pipe. All workshops meet in Goldye's of the Learning Center and run from 8am-4pm.

• 1 day without lift tickets: $105

Click here to register on-line

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Slalom Workshop - (Skiers age 19 and over)
Dates: #1: Jan. 12 (cancelled) #2: Feb 2 (Friday only), #3: Feb 16 (Friday only), #4: Mar. 10 & 11 (weekend)
One or two day Alpine race training favorite will focus on skill development, with a special emphasis on building strong gates techniques and tactics. All workshops meet in Goldye's of the Learning Center and run from 8am-4pm.

• 1 day without lift tickets: $105
• 2 days without lift tickets: $210

Click here to register on-line

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Moguls and More - (Skiers age 19 and over)
Dates: #1: Feb. 3 & 4 (weekend), #2: Mar. 3 & 4 (weekend)
Open to skiers who are comfortable on blue square terrain or better, this workshop is designed to enhance your bump skills through a variety of drills that enhance short turns and mogul skiing ability. Learn how to pick the best line, and use different tactics to navigate even the toughest of bump fields. All workshops meet in Goldye's of the Learning Center and run from 8am-4pm.

• 1 day without lift tickets: $105
• 2 days without lift tickets: $210

Click here to register on-line

For more info on our workshops and programs, click here!

Annapurna....

That's all I've got for now!

Annapurna Gets Snow: Starting TONIGHT!

In true Hunter fashion, we have managed to open more than 75% of our terrain, including our terrain park, pipe and snowtubing parks in an incredibly short time. The season's beginning has been a challenging one, but our legendary recovery time has shown our snowmaking prowess once again. To give our skiers and riders a much-needed reward for the long wait, we've decided to blow snow on Annapurna, one of our signature trails.

Annapurna is a beast of a trail, as our experts will tell you... it's steep, bumpy, and scenic. We are pleased to give all of our skiers and riders the opportunity to ski one of our best known and most loved trails... so look for Annapurna's opening soon! And in case you haven't heard, another favorite, Clair's Way, opened on Friday. Enjoy!

Pictures from Today!

Here are some pics of snowtubing and the park!

The Halfpipe is OPEN!

As another awesome surprise for all of you who have been waiting, today we've opened our halfpipe! It is looking great and will undergo a bit more work before it's perfect, but we are absolutely pleased to have it open...so head up here and HIT IT!

There are also assorted jumps and rails available. Snowtubing opened yesterday and today has 8 chutes and 2 lifts in service; open from 9am to 9pm. Today we've got 40 trails (and 9 lifts), including Clair's Way...open all the way from the top!

We've got tons of special deals going on, so click here to download the Daily Deals, and we hope to see you this weekend! Pictures coming soon!

NASTAR Begins Tomorrow!

NASTAR begins tomorrow, January 27! We were originally not holding it until next week but decided to start it tomorrow.



For more information, go to the NASTAR information page of the website!

Inside the Snowmaking Shop

One of our groomers took a walk through the Snowmaking Shop and took some pictures, and even shot a short video...so if you ever wondered what the inner workings of Hunter Mountain's awesome Snowmaking Shop look like, here's a little peek! Keep in mind, that this is where the snowmaking begins!


The air compressors



That's a big air compressor!



A long line of pumps



And some more pumps!



A control panel



Now you guys know what's in one of the shops! Keep checking back...there will be plenty more sneak peeks!

Video of the Week 1/25!

CHECK IT OUT! Ok...I know...we can't use that phrase anymore...



By the way, if the whole video doesn't load (it's 3 minutes long), go here to see the full video.

New Podcast!

Hello skiers and riders! It is a beautiful day up here at Hunter Mountain! I just finished recording our latest Podcast, so feel free to download it by clicking on the Podcast icon below!


01-25-07

For an archive of all of Hunter's podcasts, go here. Enjoy and stay tuned for more 'cast news next week!

Also check out our video of the week, coming soon...in an hour or two!

It's beginning to look a lot like....SNOWTUBING!!!!

Hello bloggers and blogees everywhere...snowtubing may actually open on FRIDAY, from 1-9pm...it is scheduled to open on Saturday, January 27, but we're thinking it juuuust miggghhhtt open on Friday. So, call the Snow Phone and check on Friday morning for info!

And in case you've forgotten, we have 6 extra chutes this year, all scheduled to open for business before the winter passes...so stop by and check it out! We have been blowing snow non-stop on it through the weekend and will continue...call or check the website on Thursday night or Friday morning for further details!

Today's blogger visit!

Halley and Kody, frequent Hunterblog visitors, stopped by for a day at Hunter Mountain! As promised, Randy and I took them out and got a photo before they rode out together for a last run of the day. Thanks for stopping by guys, and see you all soon!


From left: Kody, Halley, me and Randy

Another awesome day at Hunter Mountain!!! Hope to see you all soon!

Some goodies from Slopestyle!

We have some fun stuff to post today! We are currently holding Catskill Mountain Series Slopestyle up in the terrain park...so we have some photos AND some video...lots of snow, guns on, chairs running and people of all ages rocking out in the terrain park!

Video first:


And some photos, taken by Gary in Grooming...awesome shots! Click on the image for a larger version!













ENJOY! More later, maybe some pics of the lovely new snow in the snowtubing park? Hm...I think so! Rock on guys, and if you're not here this weekend, GET HERE!

Hunterblog Weekly Lift Ticket Drawing

Congrats to Robert Portesy from Freeport, NY, the weekly winner from the Hunterblog weekly lift ticket raffle!

Remember to sign up for the Hunterblog (located below on the left sidebar) for your chance to win a free lift ticket! A winner will be selected every week...so good luck!

Throwing up the rails!

I know some of you are aching for the terrain park to open -- so I took a few shots of the Park Crew working on the rails you'll be riding tomorrow if you're here...enjoy! Click on images for larger versions!

















And remember, Catskill Mountain Series Slopestyle is tomorrow!

Video of the Week

From me and Rob, to all of you...we know it's DIY, but that makes it better! Don't forget to rate & comment on YouTube!

Why, oh why, we shut the snowguns off.

Alllright. Wondering why we shut off the guns? After talking to the snowmaking department, here's what I have:

1. It is 30 degrees. Because we have such incredible conditions today (I'll vouch for that! Video coming soon!) the snowmaking crew doesn't want to jeopardize what we have down. It is too warm to blow snow, especially with the sunlight, and expect it to stick.

2. We ARE spreading out. We opened Upper Crossover and a few other areas today. Try to take into consideration that the people who make the snow you ski on have been working here for 20, 25, 30 years. They know what they're doing.

3. We have wind issues today. South and east winds are blowing the snow off the trails...everything is very windswept. If we blow, it won't hit the trails.

4. Our guns will be off for less than 24 hours!

You cannot possibly compare each area's snowmaking techniques. Windham may be dealing with different winds and temperatures, even though they are only 15 minutes north. The conditions out there are excellent. You should all be skiing, in awe of how fantastic the snow is.

Thank you, and have a wonderful day!

And Let The Events Begin!!!

For those of us who work in the events world, we couldn't be happier that the cold has come, and just in time for some of the best events of the season! This Saturday, will be the Catskill Mountain Series Slopestyle event in the terrain park. All are invited to join this great event, but keep in mind, you must be a member of USASA! (You can sign up for this at registration!)

On Monday, January 22ND, the first race of the LocalMotion series will be kicking off! Registration will start at 9am, with the race starting at 11am! Anyone is invited to attend. This is a fun race series that allows friends to get together and race down the hill for bragging rights. The cost of the race is $12, which includes the race and the apres ski party to be held at Slopes, in Tannersville starting at 5PM.

Also next week is the East Coast Police Winter Games, held Wednesday-Friday. This is a race to salute New York's Finest. Members of various police stations will be competing in this race, along with family and friends. Make sure to stop by the mountain and check out this great event!!! Many more events to come the week of the 29Th, an update soon to come on those events!!!!

The events world is kicking it into a high gear! Watch for more updates on upcoming events that are fun for all!!!

Contest Winners!

Thanks to everyone for entering the contest! Below are the winners...congrats, and hope to see you all soon! Check back in the near future for more contests, and remember to sign up for the Hunterblog mailing list on the sidebar for a weekly chance to win a free lift ticket!

The winners are...
Ted DeDonato, Smithtown, NY
Heide I., Teaneck, NJ
Mike Dixon, Fanwood, NJ
Scott Goldstein, Dix Hills, NY
John Podmayersky, Saugerties, NY

We've got snowaking! And free lift tickets!

I have a present for all of you. I figured since you can't all be here, that I'd shoot a little video...so here it is.

By the way...want a free lift ticket?

THE FIRST FIVE PEOPLE WHO E-MAIL ME AND TELL ME WHY THEY LOVE HUNTER MOUNTAIN (3 or more sentences) GET A FREE LIFT TICKET...READY SET GO!!!

***Make sure to include your name and mailing address. Winners' names WILL BE POSTED in the blog...start writing!



Enjoy!! Look for more info later!

The Skinny: Weather, Conditions, Snowmaking, etc.

I know you guys are hitting refresh way too many times per day, so I am posting this before I originally intended to. Here's the deal on what's coming up...

1. We have one more day of sub-par weather...after which, it's going to get cold. We're looking at single digit nighttime lows hovering around zero starting Monday night and continuing through the week. Temperatures will have highs in the 20's for the week. National Weather Service is showing snow in the forecast, too.

2. We're going to start blowing snow again tomorrow night, and run the guns throughout the week. We will do our best to keep everyone updated as to what's going on with snowmaking, and with snowfall, which leads me to another major point...

3. Most of you who have been skiing and riding here for years know that what Accuweather is telling you it's doing here may not always be true, as is the case with NOAA/National Weather Service, Precision and Weather.com. These forecasts rarely take inversions and other altitude-related things into consideration.

This makes it difficult for people to know what's going on -- I would suggest calling the SnowPhone and speaking to the operator if you have doubts about what you are seeing. We do our best to inform people as to what's really happening on the mountaintop, but take into consideration that it is not doing what the websites say. Just a thought. As far as which service is most accurate, in my opinion, NOAA/National Weather Service is the closest you'll get.

4. In any event, we are hoping to open snowtubing on Saturday, January 20. With the temps we are seeing, things are looking good. We have been told that this time, mid-January to be exact, is going to be the turning point, where winter becomes WINTER. Put-on-your-boots-and-bust-out-your-shovel winter. So get ready, people.

Hope this helped, I will be online as usual to answer any questions.

Missed the fireworks? Here's the finale!

Terrain park's open...seven features so far!

Hello hello, the terrain park is open with seven features available:

Spine
Medium Hit
Small Hit
40' Rollercoaster
30' Fruit by the Foot Rail
20' Box
C-Rail
15' Mailbox

Click here to download today's park report/diagram, complete with features. Enjoy, and check back soon!

In case you haven't heard... winter's here in Hunter!

Hello skiers and riders! The town of Hunter has recently been blessed with four inches of beautiful, fluffy white stuff and our fantastic snowmaking crew has blown tons more on our slopes.

In the last two days, we've managed to reopen and blanket 20+ trails, with more opening for this weekend. Right now we have the West Side up and running, along with Hunter One.

The terrain park will be opening tomorrow with a few rails and jumps...we are also hoping to open our snowtubing park sometime next week, so keep in touch!

Celebrate MLK weekend at Hunter Mountain... check out our fireworks!

If you missed our incredible New Years fireworks, there's still a chance to see some light up the sky on Saturday evening at 6pm. We'd love to see you there!

Have you eaten at The Plaza yet?

Our charming Plaza Restaurant has been moved into The Coppertree and serves intricately crafted food including gourmet sandwiches and custom-mixed salads. Tomorrow the specials include seafood quiche, lasagna Bolognese, broiled tofu with ponzu dipping sauce, steamed mandarin pork dumplings, stuffed portabella mushroom with spinach, leeks and cappicola ham, broiled tilapia with mango salsa and Thai curried tofu with edamame and sliced grape tomatoes.

The Plaza is open from 11am-3pm Wednesday through Sunday in the Copper Tree Restaurant.

What a day at Hunter Mountain!!

Its about 4:30PM, the snow is falling, there's about 4 inches of fresh snow on the ground, and the snow guns are still pumping!!! Defintely a day to smile about! Right now, we are reporting 19 trails open and 3 lifts.

The snow guns will be blowing all night, and those numbers may change by morning. Make sure to check back in the morning for an up to date report on trail openings, lifts, and snowmaking reports. Conditions for the next couple days should defintely be fantastic!!! Have a great night and hopefully we'll see you on the slopes tomorrow!!

Mother Nature provides fantastic powdery conditions as a rider

makes some turns down Minya Konka.

Its beginning to look a lot like winter!

And so the snow Gods have finally answered our prayers! Its 10:45am, 3 inches of fresh powder on the ground, AND its still snowing heavy, and on top of that, we're blowing snow EVERYWHERE!!! Can life get any better? (Well yes it could stay cold and snowing!!)

We'll take what we can get at this point. I wanted to share some pictures with you of our snowy morning here at Hunter! Snowmaking is still in progress, and the mountain is shaping up very nicely!

More trails and lifts open!! The snowmaking continues and the real stuff is flying!

Well I must say, I couldn't have started my day off better! I woke up to see snow flying and the grounds covered in white!!! Winter is here (at least for the time being!)

A little update on where we are at, we currently have 12 trails open.. in Hunter One we have Centrail Park North, Gramercy Park, and the Learning Zone. We also have Hellgate, 7th Avenue, Kennedy Drive, Fifth Ave, lower Madison Avenue, Mossy Brook, B Flat, and Belt Parkway. We are blowing snow on all the above mentioned trails and 3 additional trails in Hunter One, two trails on the westside, and 3 additional trails on the main line. Lifts A,B, and C are open. Skiing is good for all abilities today.

Weather looks good to blow snow straight through the day, which will allow the possibility of more trails opening through out the day. As I get more information you all will be the first to know!!! So call into work tomorrow, pack up your cars, and come up to Hunter! Conditions are great, we have some natural snow on the ground, and everyone here is in just a bubbly mood!!

See you all on the slopes!

The Snowmaking Continues!

A little update on the snowmaking! Snowmakers have been working all day to get as many main line trails covered with snow. Right now they are concentrating on all trails that currently have snow, trying to build up the base and patch in the empty spots. They plan on blowing snow through out the night, and by tomorrow morning, we'll have a better grasp on what will be open and what the next step is for possible expansion of snowmaking.

The Mountaineers/Explorers program will reopen tomorrow (Wednesday, January 10th) as well as PlayCare.

More trails will reopen tomorrow, as well as lifts. Check back first thing in the morning to get an updated report on trail openings, lift openings, and snowmaking progress. Jessica is taking a much needed day off, so I will do my best to post whatever information I get through out the day tomorrow!

Until then, think cold, and pray for snow! Have a great night!!!

** A little side note, come by and see our firework show on Saturday, January 13th at 6:00PM as we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend!

Tuesday Info.

We have 6 trails open today and are blanketing the rest with snow. As I've been saying, sit tight, because more trails will open and Hunter One will hopefully be back open by tomorrow. Terrain park is closed and please check the website for info on where we are blowing snow at the moment.

Some pictures from this morning (click for larger versions):








Playcare and Ski School are closed today. Not sure what is going to happen by tomorrow but we are keeping the guns on all day today. Keep checking back for more info throughout the day.

Snowmaking Scoop!

I know you all are dying to hear what is going on with snowmaking, but truth be told, we really aren't sure yet. Here's a short Q&A to help spread some info:

1. Are you blowing snow? Yes, we are blowing snow. We began around 3:30pm today and will continue through the night.

2. Where are you blowing snow? At this point I am not sure where they are setting up. Tonight they are probably going to reblanket "HBK"/mainline and cover vital areas.

3. What will be open by tomorrow? Right now my trail count is still 12. My assumption is that they will reinforce the open trails (ie, the ones that were open today), and then branch out to ones that have been closed. I will know more tomorrow morning.

4. How fast will the closed trails re-open? The colder it is, the faster we can re-open. We had a 40" base before the rain, lost 10-15" of it, and it takes awhile to build that back up. However, our recovery rate is well known, and this time will be no different than any other. We will have more trails by the weekend, but we will NOT be able to open all of our closed trails overnight. We ask that you be patient with your expectations and understand that we are working as fast as possible.

5. When will Hunter One re-open? We are genuinely hoping to have Hunter One back open by this weekend, but we cannot promise anything. If the weather stays on our side, we will be able to open it back up, along with programs and the whole nine yards!

6. How long will you blow snow for? We are looking at a promising 72 hours of snowblowing weather (ie, the next three days). After that, it's hit or miss, but it's not warming up that much...no worries. We may get more time, we may get less. Right now we are using the time we have to the best of our abilities and everyone will just have to keep calling, e-mailing and checking the website.

7. Will you blow snow during the day? If temperatures stay cold enough, we will continue to blow snow throughout the day tomorrow, and Wednesday.

8. What's the forecast? Temperatures look excellent Tuesday and Wednesday, with a possibility of slight warming on Thursday or Friday and over the weekend we're seeing some possible precipitation. I'll take a closer look at my armload of assorted forecasts tomorrow morning at 7am and post again.

9. What will be open for the weekend? As I said, we're hoping to have Hunter One open, along with a handful of other trails, but we're not sure what they will be. Obviously trails will open throughout the days of the week and we'll have a higher count by the weekend, for sure, if the weather stays crisp and cold.

10. Will any new trails be open? Honestly no idea. We'll see what happens. We want to work on the main trails, then move over to the west side, and build up the terrain park. Keep checking back!

Hope that helps, ladies and gents. Feel free to ask anything else and I will gladly respond.

Rail Throwdown & Instructor Train

Who says you can't have fun on a rainy day? Our instructors hit the rails on Friday...and sent me some videos -- check them out!


Instructor Train on Rollercoaster Rail



Matt Briggs hitting the rail like no other!



REMEMBER....we do have four rails available in our terrain park, and we will have many more features coming soon after the cold weather arrives!

Check out the tango lessons!

Thought you guys might like to see something we did on Friday here at the main bar on Friday afternoon...people had a BLAST and we're going to do it again soon....TANGO LESSONS!



Tango lessons are going to be offered again today, and in the future as well.

Sit tight, skiers and riders...

...we are seeing some good snowmaking weather on the horizon: Monday night, to be exact, and continuing into the week. Once the weather gets cold, the guns will be running for as long as possible in order to cover as much terrain as we can get to. We've had a warm winter thus far... but the warmth may be ending very, very soon. Keep checking back for more updates!

Come to Play & Stay, with our new "No Risk Reservation Policy!"

Make your winter 06/07 reservation by January 15, 2007 and receive a 48-hour cancellation guarantee for any reservation between now and the end of the season. That's right, we're offering a 100% money back guarantee on all reservations booked between now and January 15, 2007, as long as your reservation is cancelled 48 hours prior to your arrival date.

Read about our Play & Stay Packages here: http://www.huntermtn.com/packages.html

Cancellations & Changes

Hello again skiers and riders! Before I write up the list of what's cancelled/changed, I want to post an awesome picture I happened to snap this morning on my way into the office (around 7am). Enjoy!


So, here's what's going on here (and I apologize for the inconvenience, we are really looking forward to holding these events and the weather is just not cooperating!)

1. Saturday's New Years Rail Jam cancelled. First we changed the time, and now we are cancelling it. No worries though...another jam, a Pipe Jam, is coming up in February...so sit tight!
2. LocalMotion #1 postponed (again)...the 15th is still holding for now, but we have to see what the weather does. We have not been able to blow snow on our race trail, Madison.
3. That said, NASTAR Pacesetting Trials are postponed and NASTAR will not be starting until Madison is available. Keep checking back for more information about this.
4. The Mini World Cup #1 has also been postponed, new date TBA.

I know it's tough to see all of these things put off, but we are doing everything we can! From what we're hearing, the weather will be turning starting next week, so sit tight and be patient...winter will come this year, and once it does, we will be ready with a slew of events for all of you!

Fireworks on YouTube!

Check this out! I posted the finale of our New Years Eve fireworks on YouTube...someone's head is in my way a bit, but it's still worth watching...I'll post again later with some other things!