Hunter, NY: 03/27/14

Spring has taken a long time to arrive in the northeast and my recent day at Hunter was indicative of that. Due to the almost nonstop below-average temps, there's been little to no loss of coverage on the trails and with Hunter's snowmaking prowess, they're working with a serious base, up to ten feet in spots, that should carry them comfortably through the April 13 closing date with a large percentage of the terrain open.

As we pulled into the parking lot, you could see that all of the trails had wall-to-wall coverage, including a few that usually have dirt patches by this point in the season:


Jason and I got on the lift around 9:30 and an hour later, things started softening up nicely in the late-March sun.

Broadway:


Upper K-27:


Way Out:


Clair's Way:


Lunch on the Patio:


Jason went back to Hunter yesterday and said that it was one of his best spring days in years.

Noticed in the first pic that snow is gone at the entrance. Would this be on par with normal snow coverage for this area even in a season with below average temps.

The south facing natural snow was gone, but any thing facing north still had 6 or so inches..
Hunter experienced just average snowfall this winter, but with bellow avg temp , they blew like crazy..

Anthony":3pnblz5y said:

Noticed in the first pic that snow is gone at the entrance. Would this be on par with normal snow coverage for this area even in a season with below average temps.

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Hunter compares very closely with Bromont as far as natural snow (not that much, usually in the low 100 inches) and snowmaking/grooming (extensive), so that explains the difference between the entrance and the trails.

jamesdeluxe":1f1s2sn4 said:

should carry them comfortably through the April 13 closing date

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I decided to go and look; and their website is now along the lines of "open though at least April 13". Maybe they'll go for a bonus weekend or so that you can hit up for some true spring slush.

Just like anywhere else, they'll have to figure out if enough paying customers to make it worth their while. In all likelihood not.

jamesdeluxe":1t4q3uvb said:

Anthony":1t4q3uvb said:

Noticed in the first pic that snow is gone at the entrance. Would this be on par with normal snow coverage for this area even in a season with below average temps.

Click to expand...

Hunter compares very closely with Bromont as far as natural snow (not that much, usually in the low 100 inches) and snowmaking/grooming (extensive), so that explains the difference between the entrance and the trails.

Click to expand...

I don't know what Bromont looks like right now, but I know that everyone in Ottawa stills has snow on their lawn (south and north facing). That looks pretty gray to me. Again, the total accumulation doesn't tell the whole story.

Patrick:h0pagh0m said:

I know that everyone in Ottawa stills has snow on their lawn (south and north facing). That looks pretty gray to me. Again, the total accumulation doesn't tell the whole story.

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All we were saying is that despite the lack of snow in the Catskills this month, temps were colder than normal and trail coverage is good for this late in the season.

jamesdeluxe":15msnzzr said:

Patrick":15msnzzr said:

I know that everyone in Ottawa stills has snow on their lawn (south and north facing). That looks pretty gray to me. Again, the total accumulation doesn't tell the whole story.

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Not sure what the point about Ottawa lawns is :-k -- all we were saying is that despite the lack of snow in the Catskills this month, temps were colder than normal and trail coverage is good for this late in the season.

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You mentioned that Bromont and Hunter gets the same amount of snow. Numbers isn't the only thing...lawn is gray versus white here (which probably is close to 100" also).