# Hunter VS Mt Snow



## kingslug (Feb 5, 2018)

Hunter is 2 hours away , Mt Snow around 3 ish...so... Tired of Hunter but is Mt Snow worth the extra hour. Havent been there in a while but they seem to get more snow.


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## KustyTheKlown (Feb 5, 2018)

they both suck pretty bad.


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## andrec10 (Feb 5, 2018)

KustyTheKlown said:


> they both suck pretty bad.



Keep telling yourself that and stay away....


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## KustyTheKlown (Feb 5, 2018)

happy to stay at platty belle and windham during my limited time in the cats
happy to ski literally anywhere else in Vermont.


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## camberstick (Feb 5, 2018)

Mount Snow is some of the best skiing for the least amount of driving you can do ,imo. It's not steep or challenging really but it is a fun Mountain for a day trip.


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## crank (Feb 5, 2018)

I find Hunter's terrain marginally more interesting but haven't been to either hill in a few years.  Skied both a lot a long time ago, just prefer other places.


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## asnowmobiler (Feb 5, 2018)

It's not worth it to me to drive the extra hour plus all the time, but it is worth it to do once in a while to mix things up with my Peaks Pass.
The lodge is so much nicer, Hunters lodge is a dump with a bar that overlooks the parking lot(who's bright idea was that?)


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## Smellytele (Feb 5, 2018)

KustyTheKlown said:


> they both suck pretty bad.



+1


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## bdfreetuna (Feb 5, 2018)

Has this comparison ever been made before?


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## cdskier (Feb 5, 2018)

camberstick said:


> Mount Snow is some of the best skiing for the least amount of driving you can do ,imo. It's not steep or challenging really but it is a fun Mountain for a day trip.



Depends where you're coming from. For me Mt Snow is about 3.5 hours, so I don't really consider that a day trip distance. If I lived closer I could see it though. Catskills are 2-2.5 for me, so those are my choices for day trips (with Platty being 2.5 hours and my first choice as long as conditions allow).

If I'm going to drive an extra hour from the Cats to somewhere else, I'd personally probably pick Gore. That's about the same distance as Mt Snow (although obviously if we're looking at only Peaks resorts then this choice is irrelevant).


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## FBGM (Feb 5, 2018)

Hard to compare dog crap to cat crap. Drink heavily to get through the day at either.


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## tnt1234 (Feb 5, 2018)

Yeah, I just did Hunter and Snow back to back...It's probably worth the extra drive if there is a lot of new snow.  North face area is pretty big and would be fun with good coverage.

Nothing very steep and all the front trails are basically the same, but even with marginal coverage we found it fun for a day.  There are some decent glades here and there, and four different faces to explore....I;d do it after some snow.

We were midweek, so can't speak for the crowds.


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## ss20 (Feb 5, 2018)

This forum is savage...

Ripcord is legitimately steep, albeit short.  The general comparison I've heard/agree with is it's a shorter and narrower version of Outer Limits at K.  Plus it faces north and they groom it just  a handful of times each season so its usually glacial till mid-March.  Jaws and Little Steep are also pretty good diamonds, and both are natural snow.  Good trees on the North Face next to Oylimpic, very long.  There's other stuff on the map and off-the-map if you look hard enough.  If you look at the Main Face on a trail map you'd assume it's flat and groomed.  However there are some nice pitches to it and I've always enjoyed skiing it.  The runs are very long.  They leave a lot of terrain ungroomed.  Outside of Magic its the least grooming you'll find south of Killington.  On a typical weekday with everything open they'll groom 50-60% of their terrain, a little more on the weekends.  It's a good mix.  Crowds are bad on the weekends on the express lifts but nothing else really has a wait.  Long John and Cascade/Canyon get mobbed but its easy to find a quaint trail if you take something ungroomed or out-of-the-way.  

I daytrip there 5-8 times a season and it's 3 hours for me.  If you're coming up 91 and the weather is nice get off in Greenfield and you'll save 5-10 minutes long as you don't get stuck behind someone.


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## Glenn (Feb 5, 2018)

ss20 said:


> This forum is savage...



Seriously. Welcome to the internet I guess.


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## skifree (Feb 5, 2018)

I enjoy mt snow. no pucker factor except ripcord on certain days. a few wood options.
agree with greenfield exit.


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## GregoryIsaacs (Feb 5, 2018)

Completely agree with this assessment. I find that the people who bring the "i'm too good for this" attitude just have no idea where to ski and blindly stick to the most crowded areas. But hey the more haters on this site, the emptier the trees are for people like us.

hmm empty trees..... something you wont find at the larger "more extreme" mountains.


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## danimals (Feb 5, 2018)

Hunter is 3.5 from me and snow is 5 flat. I usually see how I feel once I near the hunter exit on thruway, because if I’m still caffeinened up and have a few podcasts left to listen to I’ll make the Trek to snow.

Snow has one of my favorite trails ever. Not steep but narrow and twisty, natural only. I think it’s called uncles, not sure. The north trails at snow are legitimately fun. Sun brook is a nice break too. 




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## sankaty (Feb 5, 2018)

I've tried to adopt the skiing mantra of a friend of mine:

If the skiing isn't up to your standards, lower your standards.

I love the trees at Snow.  They are not super challenging, but most winters there are many days with fluffy turns wire-to-wire.  Plus, there are almost always a few fun bump runs on the North Face when most of the rest of S VT is groomed.  In spring, when much the trees have melted out, Stratton has been groomed to death, and Magic is too thin, the North Face of Snow is almost always a reliable spot for corn bumps.  

I've never been to Hunter, so can't compare.


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## Smellytele (Feb 5, 2018)

It is the weekend crowds there that I just can not handle. The north face lifts are old and slow. The main face is boring. I can have fun there but there are just so many better places to ski that I can't justify it. I can get to so many mountains further north in about the same time Cannon, Killington or a little more (~30 min) Burke,Wildcat, MRG, Sugarbush, Stowe. I understand that those further south aren't as lucky and I am glad they have a place to go.


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## kingslug (Feb 5, 2018)

Guess ill just try it..just tired of Hunter.


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## jmgard (Feb 5, 2018)

Had plenty of great untracked powder in the trees at Snow today.  It's been my home mountain for a few years now and has plenty of fun stuff to keep you occupied if you know where to look.  Decent tree skiing all over the place, some marked, some not so much.  Caveat: I avoid it on Saturdays if at all possible.  It can be insane, however they have a ton of redundant lifts so if you don't ride Bluebird you'll generally be okay. This is because Mount Snow is to Connecticut what Loon is to Eastern Mass. Tons of people go there because it's the first "real" mountain if you're coming from points south. Long John at 1pm on a Saturday is one of the most difficult trails on the East Coast...


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## jmgard (Feb 5, 2018)

To add: I've been to Hunter once, on a midweek day last season with 4-5" of fresh snow. It was a fun day and I was pleasantly surprised by the terrain on the back side (Annapurna) and upper mountain/F lift area (Crossover, Minya Konka, etc.), and the 6pack lift on the front is great for fairly long laps if there's no line, but it definitely feels a lot smaller than Snow. Never been on a weekend but have to imagine it's similarly busy. One weird complaint: there's a big wide slope in the middle of the mountain that is named as like four different trails at the same time? What's the deal with that?


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## 180 (Feb 5, 2018)

The reason, resorts like to name so many trails is to help with identification of locations for ski patrol and maintenance



jmgard said:


> To add: I've been to Hunter once, on a midweek day last season with 4-5" of fresh snow. It was a fun day and I was pleasantly surprised by the terrain on the back side (Annapurna) and upper mountain/F lift area (Crossover, Minya Konka, etc.), and the 6pack lift on the front is great for fairly long laps if there's no line, but it definitely feels a lot smaller than Snow. Never been on a weekend but have to imagine it's similarly busy. One weird complaint: there's a big wide slope in the middle of the mountain that is named as like four different trails at the same time? What's the deal with that?


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## jmgard (Feb 5, 2018)

180 said:


> The reason, resorts like to name so many trails is to help with identification of locations for ski patrol and maintenance



Ah ok thanks, I get that for upper/middle/lower, I just hadn't seen it side-by-side on one open slope before.


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## Funky_Catskills (Feb 6, 2018)

KustyTheKlown said:


> they both suck pretty bad.



yawn.....  chortle.....yawn....


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## Funky_Catskills (Feb 6, 2018)

Glenn said:


> Seriously. Welcome to the internet I guess.




Welcome to the complaints of intermediates with too much testosterone to admit they suck and can't navigate eastern conditions....  hahahaha.....


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## lerops (Feb 6, 2018)

cdskier said:


> Depends where you're coming from. For me Mt Snow is about 3.5 hours, so I don't really consider that a day trip distance. If I lived closer I could see it though. Catskills are 2-2.5 for me, so those are my choices for day trips (with Platty being 2.5 hours and my first choice as long as conditions allow).
> 
> If I'm going to drive an extra hour from the Cats to somewhere else, I'd personally probably pick Gore. That's about the same distance as Mt Snow (although obviously if we're looking at only Peaks resorts then this choice is irrelevant).



This 


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## andrec10 (Feb 6, 2018)

Funky_Catskills said:


> Welcome to the complaints of intermediates with too much testosterone to admit they suck and can't navigate eastern conditions....  hahahaha.....



Thanks for that!


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## Funky_Catskills (Feb 6, 2018)

andrec10 said:


> Thanks for that!



I dunno....    If it gets crowded I find a place that is not..  Even at Hunter.
I stick to the sides of the trails where the snow ends up.. 
I ride the harder trails that aren't as crowded.
I ride during lunch on weekends when it's not as crowded.
I take the D chair to the F chair to avoid the 6Pack..
I don't complain.   I can handle this..  Not even a problem.   It's actually fun..   Remember fun?


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## andrec10 (Feb 6, 2018)

Funky_Catskills said:


> I dunno....    If it gets crowded I find a place that is not..  Even at Hunter.
> I stick to the sides of the trails where the snow ends up..
> I ride the harder trails that aren't as crowded.
> I ride during lunch on weekends when it's not as crowded.
> ...



Exactly!


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## NYDB (Feb 6, 2018)

asnowmobiler said:


> It's not worth it to me to drive the extra hour plus all the time, but it is worth it to do once in a while to mix things up with my Peaks Pass.
> The lodge is so much nicer, Hunters lodge is a dump with a bar that overlooks the parking lot(who's bright idea was that?)



I thought that was setup so you could entertain yourself with viewing all the parking lot fights.


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## Smellytele (Feb 6, 2018)

Funky_Catskills said:


> I dunno....    If it gets crowded I find a place that is not..  Even at Hunter.
> I stick to the sides of the trails where the snow ends up..
> I ride the harder trails that aren't as crowded.
> I ride during lunch on weekends when it's not as crowded.
> ...



I find another place to ski that I don't have to deal with any of that.


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## kingslug (Feb 6, 2018)

They groom the hell out of the west side now..so you know, everyone can go down it...be it on their ass..or face. Same with Racers. scary watching people sliding right for the fence/tree patch near the bottom..where that guy got killed. People see a groomed run and figure ..how hard can it be...


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## legalskier (Feb 6, 2018)

kingslug said:


> Hunter is 2 hours away , Mt Snow around 3 ish...so... Tired of Hunter but is Mt Snow worth the extra hour. Havent been there in a while but they seem to get more snow.



I've skied both- MS 5 times, Hunter more times than I can count. Midweek mostly. Both have excellent snow making systems assuring very good coverage fast- good for seasons like this one. They have almost identical vertical drops, but MS's trails are longer which means they're generally flatter. MS North Face has a couple of good steeps but Hunter's steeps are better and more numerous. When I ski Hunter I feel like I'm getting a workout, not so for Snow. MS has nicer lodges but what I'm interested in is out on the hill. 
If you're tired of Hunter, you ought to try a variety of other hills, not just MS. I agree with others above that Plattekill, Magic & Gore are very good alternatives if you're factoring driving distance, though conditions so far this season have been disappointing. Gore is one of my faves of all Eastern areas. I also like Pico but that's further away.



jmgard said:


> One weird complaint: there's a big wide slope in  the middle of the mountain that is named as like four different trails  at the same time? What's the deal with that?



Originally it was called "Hunter Mountain Ski Bowl." First time I went there was 1969- I remember having the same impression the first time I looked up at the front face- "wide open."

It's a shame that Princeton Ski Bowl at Bearpen Mtn went under- it would have been another option for the 'Cats: http://nyskiblog.com/magazine/eastern-us/bearpen-mountain-ny-original-beast/


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## BenedictGomez (Feb 6, 2018)

ss20 said:


> This forum is savage...



I actually appreciate the honestly.   For instance, given I just learned Mount Snow is only perhaps marginally better than Hunter (if at all), it tells me I never need to bother going to Mount Snow.  There's value in that (brutal) honestly.


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## Glenn (Feb 6, 2018)

BenedictGomez said:


> I actually appreciate the honestly.   For instance, given I just learned Mount Snow is only perhaps marginally better than Hunter (if at all), it tells me I never need to bother going to Mount Snow.  There's value in that (brutal) honestly.



Or you could give it try and see what you think in real life vs. a forum opinion. Worse case: they were right, but you tried a new mountain.


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## Funky_Catskills (Feb 6, 2018)

Smellytele said:


> I find another place to ski that I don't have to deal with any of that.



Cool - I use the same techniques at other areas too..   Even Jackson Hole..


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## sankaty (Feb 6, 2018)

jmgard said:


> Long John at 1pm on a Saturday is one of the most difficult trails on the East Coast...



I like Snow, but this is a true statement.  They should market Long John from an ultimate-fighting-cage-match angle:

5000 novice skiers enter.  Only one will leave.


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## Funky_Catskills (Feb 6, 2018)

NY DirtBag said:


> I thought that was setup so you could entertain yourself with viewing all the parking lot fights.



So - just look over the parking lot and onto the northern peaks of the Catskills.  Thomas Cole,  Black Dome and Blackhead mountains..
Or just stare at a parking lot.... all goood... 


Other than Taste of Country - I an assure you after 25 years of riding Hunter I have not seen a fight in the lot..


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## Funky_Catskills (Feb 6, 2018)

KustyTheKlown said:


> happy to stay at platty belle and windham during my limited time in the cats
> happy to ski literally anywhere else in Vermont.



So what your saying is "you suck?" and need to ski low angles?  
Thats cool...   

I guess a "custy" can afford Windham - hahaha...


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## gmcunni (Feb 6, 2018)

Glenn said:


> Or you could give it try and see what you think in real life vs. a forum opinion. Worse case: they were right, but you tried a new mountain.



+1


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## GregoryIsaacs (Feb 6, 2018)

Funky_Catskills said:


> So what your saying is "you suck?" and need to ski low angles?
> Thats cool...
> 
> I guess a "custy" can afford Windham - hahaha...



+1 that guys a fool.


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## tnt1234 (Feb 6, 2018)

Whelp, trying to sort out schedules and weather.....might be at Hunter Saturday.  We'll see.


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## kingslug (Feb 6, 2018)

I remember when Hunter was the tough place to go to...all bumped up..westway was open. Much harder than mt snow..but nowhere near killington..but it was close. Different place now, guess they have to groom the hell out of it to preserve the base. I do like that th hey blew a ton on Annapurna.


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## Rowsdower (Feb 6, 2018)

Hunter is probably steeper than Mt Snow, but smaller. Mt Snow also has somewhat more consistent conditions probably owing to geography.

It's not that they're bad places to ski. It's just that there's other mountains around either that I like more.


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## heiusa (Feb 6, 2018)

Are you asking about a day trip or a weekend/overnight trip?

For me 3 hours is my max for a day trip and even that is a long day.  I would rather go for the weekend.  I live on Long Island and Hunter is 3 hours away, Hunter is the best mountain I can hit for a day trip, but if I am going for the weekend, I would rather drive to Northern VT.

I can reach Killington in 5 hours.  

I am able to keep my costs down because I joined a ski club.  The club I belong to has a house at the base of Pico.  I pay $25 per night to use the house.  Plus we can buy discount tickets from the metropolitan ski council.

I can hit Pico, Killington, Okemo, and Sugarbush easily from our house.  On Sunday I can hit southern VT resorts on the way home.


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## Scruffy (Feb 6, 2018)

If you can ski Hunter, you can ski anywhere-just saying. 

Now, having said that: It depends on what's open; Hunter has the terrain, if it's allowed to open and be used as expert terrain. Peak seems to be pussies compared to the Slutskys. Lower K27 has been closed for weeks- maybe the last month!, Ana has been groomed flat and neutered, and Clair's is almost always groomed. Westway(44) is just a waste of a good steep slope-Plant some trees and make a f#cking glade out of it already so it will hold snow!!!  So far, I'll take the Slutsky's reign over Hunter, over Peak's. Peak needs to grow a set.


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## JimG. (Feb 6, 2018)

Scruffy said:


> If you can ski Hunter, you can ski anywhere-just saying.
> 
> Now, having said that: It depends on what's open; Hunter has the terrain, if it's allowed to open and be used as expert terrain. Peak seems to be pussies compared to the Slutskys. Lower K27 has been closed for weeks- maybe the last month!, Ana has been groomed flat and neutered, and Clair's is almost always groomed. Westway(44) is just a waste of a good steep slope-Plant some trees and make a f#cking glade out of it already so it will hold snow!!!  So far, I'll take the Slutsky's reign over Hunter, over Peak's. Peak needs to grow a set.



Could not agree more!

Bummed the MAX pass is going away and I'm stuck with a PEAKS pass next season.


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## kingslug (Feb 7, 2018)

Maybe they're trying to change its image. Make it a "family" place or something.


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## Funky_Catskills (Feb 7, 2018)

kingslug said:


> Maybe they're trying to change its image. Make it a "family" place or something.



All the partiers had kids...


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## skiur (Feb 7, 2018)

kingslug said:


> Maybe they're trying to change its image. Make it a "family" place or something.



Powder tried doing something like that at Killington,  it didn't work so well so they sent nyburg away and gave solimano the reigns.  Much better now.


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## catskills (Feb 7, 2018)

For me its all about snow conditions.  Its snowing hard right now in Woodstock, NY.  If you could have gotten to any of the Catskills resorts for early fresh tracks at 9:00am (or earlier) versus 10:00am tracked up tracks on Mt Snow well the choice is obvious.  You got to go with the fresh untracked power run where ever you can get it.  Plattekill would probably be awesome on Friday.    The locals will be climbing up Plattekill today but there will still be fresh untracked powder to be found at Plattekill. 

I have had some awesome days skiing in boot top man made powder on the west side of Hunter.  Conditions conditions conditions.  

Watch the weather to see if this 8+ inches of snow is going to get rain and how much rain this afternoon.  Further north may not get any rain in the afternoon.  

Also if you have intermediates in your group I personally would not recommend Hunter.  Hunter is going to be working hard to expand their intermediate terrain but there not there yet.  .  If you have one intermediate in the group that is going to take a few runs and spend most of the time at the bar then Hunter is an option.


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## kingslug (Feb 7, 2018)

And...Hunter just closed the 6 pack for the day...


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## andrec10 (Feb 7, 2018)

kingslug said:


> And...Hunter just closed the 6 pack for the day...



Can you say WIND!


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## Funky_Catskills (Feb 7, 2018)

andrec10 said:


> Can you say WIND!



crazy windy out...  Tomorrow is going to be awesome depending where the drifts end up..


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## dhmcgill87 (Feb 7, 2018)

Funky_Catskills said:


> crazy windy out...  Tomorrow is going to be awesome depending where the drifts end up..


no signs yet of the mixed precip creeping up either - wouldn't be surprised to see Hunter claim 12 inches from the storm. I am feeling a hooky day tomorrow.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk


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## Smellytele (Feb 7, 2018)

dhmcgill87 said:


> no signs yet of the mixed precip creeping up either - wouldn't be surprised to see Hunter claim 12 inches from the storm. I am feeling a hooky day tomorrow.
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk



Mixing looks like it has kicked in within the last 30 mins


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## mikec142 (Feb 7, 2018)

Any updates on Windham conditions would be great.  Thinking of playing hooky with my 13yr old tomorrow but it's a 2.5 hour drive each way.  Weather Underground says one thing and Windham says another.


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## Funky_Catskills (Feb 7, 2018)

Smellytele said:


> Mixing looks like it has kicked in within the last 30 mins



I can confirm this...  It's mixing... fukc....


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## mikec142 (Feb 7, 2018)

Funky_Catskills said:


> I can confirm this...  It's mixing... fukc....



What do you think this means for tomorrow?


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## KustyTheKlown (Feb 7, 2018)

if it doesn't turn back to snow it probably means a very un-fun crusty layer on top of a foot of wet powder. groomed runs will probably ski well. ungroomed, not so much.


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## Funky_Catskills (Feb 7, 2018)

mikec142 said:


> What do you think this means for tomorrow?



It means there will be a great base in the woods..   
Hunter will go out and groom it later rather than risk crust killing everyone..
Supposed to switch back to snow..  Should be nice tomorrow..


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## tnt1234 (Feb 7, 2018)

Funky_Catskills said:


> It means there will be a great base in the woods..
> Hunter will go out and groom it later rather than risk crust killing everyone..
> Supposed to switch back to snow..  Should be nice tomorrow..



Did it turn back to snow?

I'd love to know about these non-existing tree lines you alluded to...I assume you were referring to off-map stuff....


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## Rowsdower (Feb 7, 2018)

tnt1234 said:


> Did it turn back to snow?
> 
> I'd love to know about these non-existing tree lines you alluded to...I assume you were referring to off-map stuff....



Tree runs at Hunter? They're there, marked on the map. There's other stuff I've seen people hit but there probably isn't enough base to venture off the unmarked stuff.


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## Funky_Catskills (Feb 8, 2018)

tnt1234 said:


> Did it turn back to snow?
> 
> I'd love to know about these non-existing tree lines you alluded to...I assume you were referring to off-map stuff....



"Non-existing tree lines"  means - umm - they don't exist... 
So there's your answer because you said it...


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## tnt1234 (Feb 8, 2018)

Funky_Catskills said:


> "Non-existing tree lines"  means - umm - they don't exist...
> So there's your answer because you said it...



darn it - thought you were being sarcastic and had some stashes...

I always look at the gully under the zip lines and wonder if there ever enough snow to fill in those bands of rock I see there.  and I did read an article a while back about something skiers left of annapurna.  Always wonder about that.  Takes you down to a fire road I think.  Never been with enough snow though.


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## Funky_Catskills (Feb 8, 2018)

We totally have "non-existing" stashes...   

I mean - if you see a break in the woods across the ravine - we've skied it...    Why wouldn't we?
Have splitboard - will travel...


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