guitar73

@Ride Delaware?.......thanks, but i believe it more about being desperate to get out on the snow, LOL! @Night Rider....i really hope those conditions don't persist. i would think that a place like Hunter should be able to manager their snow conditions to not be like that. hell, even belleayre had their groomer out on their early snow base. i think hunter should have been able to do the same....oh well. and i guess that guy on AZ prefers to ice skate rather than ski....

we were there today. we left phxvlle @ 5:20AM, got to the mtn @ 9:15-ish (no traffic on the way up). by the time we got there there were no lines to speak of, actually it was kinda dead around the base and parking lot. we got geared up and took the 6-pack up (nice fast lift). there was snow all over the place, but it was kinda thin except where they blew stuff. trails open were hell brook and broadway (to the F-lift). F-lift was running up to the summit from midstation, downloading on B-lift. conditions was pp at the summit and quickly became wind-blown bullet-proof hardpack down the face. no grooming at all, so there were some nice little bumps starting to form. loads of rock hard death cookies the size of dinner plates everywhere. the trail wasn't too crowded on the slope, so that was nice. we did one run, and that was it. fitness level wasn't there and we didn't feel like biffing it (or worse) on the first day of the season. a lot other people had the same idea. the line to download was much longer than any of the lines. after downloading and packing up, we headed over to belleayre to see what was going on there. they wanted $47 for 3 trail segments......needless to say we passed on that and came home, lol. we'll be heading back to hunter at some point this season: the mtn is giving a $10 discount if we bring today's lift ticket with us next time.

finally! time to get my ski on

4.5 hrs isn't bad at all, considering there's nothing locally that's even close to opening. (it's way better than the 6.5-7 hrs to get up to k-mart!) the latest winter weather advisories i saw have bumped the projected max snowfall to 10-12 inches. if that does pan out then hunter should have quite a few trails open. although, if it doesn't happen then we won't be going up, lol......

approx 4.5 hrs from KOP area.

ok, got all the boots in and had a fitting session last nite.....and the verdict is **drum roll** the atomic rt cs110! can't wait to try them out on the slopes

i've been keeping an eye on this the whole week. if it pans out it looks like we'll be skiing @ hunter this weekend (knock on wood!)

ya 58 degs this AM.....

gotta watch for those temp inversions....they're a bitch

sweeet....

can't wait to hit up bc.....gonna do the truffle shuffle

check out their webcam. hopefully they will be open for Dec 10, but we'll see if it happens. http://www.huntermtn.com/huntermtn/webcams.aspx

ya, but blue mtn and bear creek are close enough to I-95 to get reduced snowfall....and i'd like to see snow at my house

fyi; accuweather just updated their 2011-2012 winter long range forecast. looks like PA is going to be stormy with slightly above average temps (with some cold snaps here and there). most of the storms will track inland, leaving the I-95 corridor SOL. http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/accuweathercom-20112012-winter-1/58451

2001-2002 is the winter i was remembering. awefull...

let's not mention 2002....that wasn't a good winter in general from what i recall

thanks for sharing!

looks like jay, stowe, & sugarbush are spinning their lifts (for now). also, gore & whiteface are open today....things are starting to look good!

@kyle....I sure hope you're right! bring it on

I'm not trying to be difficult here, but take a look @ contour maps of elk mtn... the top is at 2640-something feet. the bottoms of the D & E lifts are at 1700-something @ best. the 1600 ft contour is way past the parking lot & pond. there's no way that elk is anywhere close to 1,000 ft they claim, unless the contour maps are wrong.....just sayin'. btw...this warm weather def needs to get on out of here!

elk is about 70 ft shorter....but i totally agree that elk skis waay nicer than montage. elk is def my favorite mtn in pa.

@shadows..... my problem isn't that my current boots wore out; i didn't get the right boot in the first place. @phillycore....yeah, it's a pain in the butt that i had to order them....but he doesn't sell boots...i knew this going in. the guys at wicks are def knowledgeable. you may also want to check out salter's ski shop in eagleville/collegeville.

it sure does, but it's a shorter mountain than montage. well it's just a factual statement. elk isn't a steep mtn.

we live too far south...

this is true, but even montage has more steeps than elk, lol!