Monday, January 08, 2007

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.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

build up terrain park = #1 priority :)

Jessica said...

We'll be working on it ASAP -- if there's any new snow there tomorrow, I'm almost positive the park guys will be out there shoveling.

Anonymous said...

Hi, Jessica, I met you when I was up there over new year - just wanted to thank you again for these terrific updates - they're very helpful in our plan making.

Cheers,
David Jameson

(no need to publish this :-)

Jessica said...

Why not publish it?! It was so nice meeting someone who reads the blog...I wish more people would stop by! I hope you come up to visit again soon (you don't have a choice...I think you mentioned you have a condo!)

Anonymous said...

Jessica,
Just wanted to say thanks for the updates. Your doing a great job with the blog!

Hunter Mountain Rentals NY at Hunter Mt said...

Thanks for asking all the questions in such detail. Looking forward to the weekend - rain or shine - there's always some fun to be had.

Jessica said...

THANKS! I am having so much fun with this blog, I totally love it. Wait until we redesign it, it might even be informative AND pretty one day!

Anonymous said...

Heeeeeeey sick update! Is it snowing up there right now? It is here.. not much though..(Im in Saugerties). Im going up to hunter tommrow.. any chance of an early picture of the day (around 8-9)?

Jessica said...

We've got a thin white cover here -- one of the snowmakers just told me it's snowing up there on the mountain (like 2 miles down the street).

I get in at 7am, we'll see if I can get something up by 8am...no promises, but I'll try.

Anonymous said...

Forget the terrain park and concentrate on 44 and purna :))

Jessica said...

Personally I'd like to see White Cloud to Way Out. Shady, dark and you never know what you're going to get.

Anonymous said...

6 trails?!? dissapointing.. :(

Jessica said...

I think I call that "getting worse before it gets better." We'll have more open tomorrow.