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Some guy
from jersey
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Mar 3, 2007 |
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Overall Rating: 3.6   |
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overall the mountain is good and hunter west is great, although sometimes icy.The muntain is very repettive though. It seems like there are only 20 trails on the whole mountain and the lfts are very slow and the main lift needs to updated. Though's are the only cons i saw other than the crowds, but they were not to over whelming.
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Linda S
from Katonah, NY
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Feb 12, 2007 |
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| Overall Rating: 3.0 |
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We went to Hunter on a weekend and the crowds were awful beyond description. Lift lines were long, though they moved at a reasonable speed. The slopes were very crowded, with lots of snowboarders making me nervous.
I have mixed opinions about the ski school. My 8 year old did well and enjoyed it, and the instructors did a good job, but the beginners class for my 6 year old was lame. The tow rope is difficult for the little ones to hang on to, and the beginners area is small and crowded. My son did not enjoy it at all, though I have no complaints about the instructors.
The thing I disliked most about Hunter was, ironically, the snowmaking, which was on all over the place while we were skiing. The snow machines are vicious, and it is impossible to stop the shards of ice from hitting your face, and worse, getting in your eyes if you aren't wearing goggles. I will probably go back to Hunter, because in all, it is a lively place and the ski school is good, but I prefer other places.
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Darryl K. Lewis
from Jamaica, New York
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Jan 25, 2007 |
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| Overall Rating: 3.6 |
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Skitown Review
Ski resort reviews can be helpful only if you know the skill level and skiing perspective of the person authoring the review. I am a middle age advanced skier with no interest in jumping off cornices or cliffs. I will often at high speeds hit a small lip in the terrain and get a little air, but thats about the extent of it. I venture in and out of moderate mogul fields in an attempt to become a better all-around skier, but I tend not to spend a majority of my ski day dealing with the bumps. Since my ski addiction was really getting the best of me, I decided to hop a mid-week bus from New York City and visit Hunter Mountain (my backyard mountain, and the self-proclaimed snow making capital of the world). With that said, here are my impressions of Hunter Mountain (Hunter):
Terrain Rated 3.0:
The layout of Hunters terrain is exceptional. Rank beginners do not have to worry about being run over by fancy-pants experts. Hunter One is on the far left as you face the mountain. Hunter One is the beginners haven with a multitude of beginner and intermediate trails and a couple of black diamond terrain parks. Hunter One has approximately a 400-foot vertical drop. As you move to the right you then encounter Hunter Mountain, which has about a 1,600-foot vertical drop. There may be one or two beginner trails on this main mountain, but the rest are blue squares and black diamonds. Here is where the most challenging territory lies. A strong intermediate skier may be able to negotiate most of Hunters black diamonds. The hair-raising trails are the double blacks, and I believe there are only two that may give an advance/expert skier heartburn and a mild case of the heebie-jeebies. They are Upper Crossover and K-27. Heading further right is Hunter West. Hunter West may have about a 1,000-foot vertical drop consisting of several fall line black diamond trails that are relatively steep and make great thigh-burning cruisers.
I was surprised that glades arent an evident piece of the Hunter landscape. This was somewhat disappointing. The trail configuration seems somewhat artificial and lacks a natural mountain flow. The exceptions to this are the smaller Hunter West and Hunter One areas. There is certainly nothing wrong with trails that switchback and turn, some people call that character, but at Hunter, the trail layout seems somewhat forced and arrhythmic. Some of the trails have safety fences to avoid out of control skiers and riders from dropping off into an abyss. But these built-up trails with fences give the feeling of elevated exit and entrance ramps on expressways (Could this be a New York City influence?).
Service Rated 3.0:
The general services at Hunter are on par with most other ski resorts. Many of the lift attendants would say things like, How ya doin? or Back again? like most lift attendants will do on a not so hectic day. Hunter made a concerted effort to keep the cafeteria tables clean. The clean-up attendants would remove trays and trash immediately after patrons had finished dining. I ordered a relatively small bowl of chili, and they added onions and as much cheese as I requested. They even added a piece of corn bread. I was beginning to believe that Hunter had hit it right with regard to the food department. But then I tasted it. Bland! Bland! And more bland! No kick to the chili and no pieces of meat! Is there any ski resort that can prepare a decent bowl of chili? I was mildly disappointed in ski shop salesman. He didnt seem to have a good handle on the relationship between the width of a skis waist, on-snow floatation, and its ability to hold an edge on ice. He didnt know whether I was a serious buyer or not, and seemed anxious for me to leave. Ill give him a break and assume that he was just having a bad day.
Hunters snowmaking may be cracked up to their claim as the snowmaking capital of the world. During this horrendous snow year, Hunter had approximately 45% of the mountain open, and the coverage was pretty good at 10:00 a.m. Although the mid-week crowd wasnt that heavy, by 1:30 p.m. Hunter Wests black diamond trail, Way Out, was skied off and completely a bullet proof piece of boiler plate. Heaven help this place on a busy weekend.
Crowds Rating 4.0:
Hunters proximity to New York City, gives it the well-deserved reputation of having monstrous crowds and horrendous lift lines. I visited Hunter during mid-week, and just at the peak hour before the lunch break, I may have waited at the main summit lift a maximum of only two minutes. The rest of the lifts had no lift lines whatsoever. In the lodge cafeteria, you could sit anywhere you liked, and for après ski I could easily get a seat at the lodge bar. The lousy ski season could have attributed to the lack of patrons. But please keep in mind that these factors definitely do not apply or occur on weekends!!
Activities Rating 4.0:
Hunters main lodge has a huge après ski bar. They didnt have a great selection of beer (Heineken, Amstel Light, Bud, Coors, but nothing local, rare, or original) but the environment for meeting people and discussing the days adventures was outstanding. You can tell that the Hunter experience is one of partying, nightlife, and good times. The access road is crammed with pizza joints, bars, motels, hotels, inns, and restaurants. The area was somewhat dead at 9:00 am on a Friday morning, but come the weekend I am sure the main drag livens up.
Value: - Rating 4.0:
If you walk up to Hunter Mountains ticket window without any pre-planning, you are going to get hosed. Lift tickets are substantial and the cafeteria food is exorbitant. But with a little bit of forethought you can take advantage of many of the Hunter discount programs. During the pre-season, I bought a Hunter Big Lift Card for the total of just $39. It entitled me to one free lift ticket with no restrictions (thats a $59 value). In addition, with this card I can then purchase a $25 lift ticket on any Tuesday, a $20 discount for the remaining mid-week days, and $10 off weekend tickets. One trip to Hunter with this Big Lift Card pays for itself. The food prices are another story. My yucky bowl of chili with a small cup of yogurt cost me $10.49! But thank goodness dealing with the food prices is a matter of personal choice.
In summary: Mid-week at Hunter is not a bad deal; its not very crowded, mid-week discount programs will not cause you to mortgage the farm, and its a decent size mountain with enough varied terrain to satisfy all levels of skiers. I will definitely be back on a mid-week day, but I will bring my own lunch.
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Richard Stanley
from Suncheon, South Korea
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Nov 23, 2006 |
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| Overall Rating: 4.0 |
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I lived in Baltimore, MD for most of my life and this was my weekend ski mountain. Very good mountain, great vertical and snow coniditions for being so close to New York City. They do a great job making snow and it shows. The crowds are not bad on the backside of the mountain even on a snowy Saturday.
I really enjoyed my weekends at hunter!
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Ray
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Sep 21, 2005 |
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| Overall Rating: 3.8 |
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Pros -- Amazingly strong snowmaking capabilities, great expert terrain, seems to have good management, decent food at a reasonable price (for a ski area), excellent ski school and learning center, seperated beginner terrain and expert terrain.
Cons -- weekend crowds from the greater NYC area, intermediate trails from the summit lack for those who are not comfortable on black diamonds (stick with the triple if you fall into this category), did I mention weekend crowds?
Hunter is the best overall skiing available in the NYC area for experts and beginners. (Intermediates will probably prefer nearby Windham or Belleayre, which are both nice for cruisers). The only other mountain close to NYC with decent steeps is Plattekill, but they do not have the snowmaking capabilites of Hunter, which offers reliable conditions that sometimes even seem to defy weather. I usually ski Hunter a few times a year, and I'm almost never disappointed (I was disappointed once due to icy conditions even though it had snowed throughout the day). I find the terrain to be better than many of your popular and more expensive Vermont resorts, including Mount Snow and Okemo. The trails have character here...it's not all the same stuff over and over like you find at some places. (If the snow conditions are good, nearby Plattekill is also full of trails that have character.) If you are either looking to learn or are an expert bored with the "doubleblack diamonds" at other mountains, this place is a must-visit.
Though it still attracts a strong party crowd, this mountain has become very family friendly over the past several years, especially with the new learning center and new luxury hotel. Lodging and dining in the area seem to be getting better, but you're still better of driving th 8 miles to the town of Windham if you want a selection of restaurants in my opinion. There is also some dining in Phoenicia, about 15 minutes south of Hunter. As far as lodging, the new slopeside hotel is the best lodging in all fo the Catskills. It's very similar to the Grand Summit Hotel at Killington and Mount Snow or the Jackson Gore Inn at Okemo, if you have ever stayed at those.
