Ski2Live Live2Ski

Unless you live on Long Island you do not go through NYC on the way home from Hunter. FWIW my GPS said 3 hours and it only took me 2.5 Sunday AM. Took me closer to 3 going home because when I got there I realized I forgot my wallet (which made figuring out how to get a lift ticket quite a challenge) so I set my cruise control within 3mph of the limit the whole way home. Also more traffic at 4 pm than at 6 am on a Sunday. There are fairly clean and affordable chain hotels right off exit 20 on the NYST, under 30 minutes from Hunter on your way there if you use the NYST.

Would take the kids out for a couple hours on Vista this weekend if open

Feels like snowmaking weather out there tonight. Get with the program pokes or you will be known as slow pokes.

Big Boulder or Freedom?

So what PA options do folks think we could have next weekend.

Great day at Hunter today. 3 nice different runs off the top converging on a big snow field and funneling down to some soft bumps. Left around 2 as it was starting to get sled off, as were my legs after 8 months off skis (apart from BB last weekend). No lines at all on high speed 6, no bare spots, wall to wall coverage on what was open. Loving it.

No doubt but Pass doesn't make a lot of sense for my schedule and location that only let's me Ski weekends and vacation days. Especially with the alternative of 4 Pocono Ski days on each $55 Pocono Ski and Ride Card. Would have to ski a lot of days on a pass to come close to $14/day. I am in black from skis to helmet with a little neon green by the ski tips.

Looking to follow in your tire tracks this weekend, probably Sunday

Oops double post

Hunter actually is up to 3 of their 4 main black runs off the top now, though with all still funneling down to one lower mountain route to the base. And there are prospects of the 4th opening later this weekend. They have Hellgate, Cliff and JHuega open and will be working on MK overnight. All with 1470' vertical served by high speed 6 pack. These guys really are, along with Killington, the snowmaking champs of the US. Nice work creating such a viable early season option even with a couple days of rain this week.

From time to time I will. I did so to go to VT last December and will be doing so again this December and might hit CO this year too. I did a lot more ski travel before I was a parent, going 2x to Utah, 4x to CO, once to NM, once to Tahoe. Now I try to spend my vaca time mostly on activities with my kids and they are not yet good enough skiers to warrant taking them out west. Sure I will use an occasional vaca day to ski locally too but doubt I have ever hit 25 ski days in a year. Sorry if it conflicts with my screen name. I will do better if I ever get to retire.

I basically ski weekends, there are not that many in the Winter, and the extra vertical in the Skillz warrants the drive. It's not like the Pokes are that much closer. And the extra two hours I spend driving I would spend cursing lift lines on a weekend at Blue.

Windham has one TTB run open. Hunter is basically one TTB but with a second option for the top part, but I would not be surprised if they add one of two more top options by Sunday. Belleayre has one run but with only about half the vertical and a slower lift. Leaning toward Hunter Sunday.

Don't recognize that name

While I very much like more terrain open, the bottom line is that I can only ski one run at a time and if it is a good run with decent conditions and crowds and lift lines are bearable, then early season it beats the alternative of not skiing. Big Boulder with sub 200 foot non steep runs I won't bother with again as that fails the decent tun test except as a way to give the kids a first day on skis for the year, which they have now gotten in. Hunter Sunday is a good possibility for me. I will be flying solo so if others are making the trip let me know if anyone wants to carpool or meet up.

Scribner's Hollow. No longer there.

Yep glad I got a little last weekend. Might have to road trip this one.

With enough snow,I like doing the trees on the right side of Tuts to the glade to the right of Lazy, then Lazy down to Lower Sidewinder.

Hunter is as challenging as anything in S.Vt and much more challenging than the Poconos, and the runs are as long as most S.Vt other than Stratton or Okemo (which are actually probably less challenging than Hunter). But there is a large selection of runs to choose from, better ambience, and smaller crowds in S.Vt. Also worth considering Gore as an alternative to S.Vt.

I will add that, if Snow Conditions are iffy, Hunter tends to be the best at making the best ski surface on the most trails of anywhere in the Skills. The main reason that I had a Windham ticket that went unused last season.

Tannenbaum and Freedom are almost identical vertical and steepness. Freedom had more crowds as it had features set up.

Crowds and jerks on skis are more of an issue at Windham than Hunter, though if you stick to the hardcore stuff on Hunter West you will avoid that. Hunter has the tougher terrain and skis longer, but Windham is tougher and longer than anything in the Poconos and has the better ambiance. If by weekend getaway you mean two ski days, I would use two different mountains rather than skiing one both days. You can ski everything on either one in a single day. Belleayre and Plattekill are both well worth considering as well. Plattekill needs some natural snow cover to rock, but when it gers it it is the best terrain in the Skills. If you like Mad River Glen you will like Plattekill. Never a lift line there, which makes up for the slow lifts. Belleayre has some real nice stuff as well including a good amount of glades and ungrommed areas. But, despite stats, it skis no longer than Platekill as no TTB lift and the only lift as long approaching that only serves less than half the Mt. And that high speed lift gets some long lines.

(Dislike) Will hit Cskills if nothing decent local. December weekends are not to be wasted.

What seems likely for next weekend?

Tannenbaum would be easy for a green. It just appears as a park on the official map, so no trail ranking, but it has no park features this weekend. Couldn't really ask for anything easier to ski on other than a slight incline you walk up and ski a few feet down on.