# Highland 4-29



## buellski (Apr 30, 2016)

My son and I headed over to Highland for the public opening day. They opened for pass holders on Thursday. We got there around 10:30 and the lift line was pretty short. The weather, which we were concerned would be cloudy and cool, ended up being perfect. We started out by going to see if the new beginner jump trail, Freedom Trail, was open yet. They reworked the beginning of Easy Rider and it is now much easier than the old trail. Much more beginner friendly for those of you looking to try it out. About a quarter of the way down you come to the entrance of the Freedom Trail. It was not open yet. Word is that it will be very similar to Central Park only starting much further up on the mountain.

After that, we spent the rest of the day mainly lapping Cat's Paw, Fancy Feast, Cat Scratch Fever, and Happy Hour. The trails are in prime condition right now. With the exception of Cat's Paw, everything is pretty buffed out. Cat's Paw, due to its popularity, is already seeing some pretty good braking bumps forming. This is after two days. Happy Hour was in the best shape I've ever ridden.

Speaking of lift lines...about 1:30PM the line got ridiculously long. They normally have a singles line, but it was not open at that time. I heard the lifty tell someone that they were short staffed. In the singles line, the attendant takes your bike and hangs it on the hook for you. If they don't have an extra person, they can't open the line. Well, we got through it and did our run. When we got back, the lift line was pretty much gone and the singles line was open. Reason: Mark Hayes, the owner, was running the lift while the lifty was managing the singles line. I was pretty impressed to see the owner out there running the lift to insure a better time for his guests.

Not too many photos. To busy riding :smile:


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