Monday, December 28, 2009

Hunter skiing 12/28

Hi all - Hunter greeted the start of the holiday week with a major quad breakdown - full lift evacuation via the rope chairs from about 9:15 to 12:15 - that's right - some were stuck for 3 hrs. The gear box blew with a big bang and froze the bull wheel so not even the backup motor could be used. Fortunately I was not on it at the time. Supposedly a tech from Poma (the lift mfgr) is on his way here and some spare parts located in Vermont are also enroute but until they open it up they do not know what they have.......what a mess! There is a sizeable holiday crowd and as you can imagine big lines at D, B & F - Z wasn't bad. We had about 1-2" of wet snow this am so skiing was clumpy wet on hard granular surfaces due to the fact that the spring-like conditions over the weekend froze last night. The temp here is low 30's, mixed sun & clouds with occasioanl flurries and plenty of wind out of the west. Temps are supposed to drop into single digits for the next few night with a strong wind and chance of snow - see the Albany storm advisory forecast below. Grooming was good last night except on Claire's which was only done on the lower half - the top section was frozen bumps. RT 80 (White Cloud / Wayout) was a nice run. The crowds scraped off the front trails quickly. They really need to blow more snow now and start thinking of replacing the old lifts.
Ski ya,
Jon

Detailed Local Forecast

  • Today: Occasional snow showers. Quite windy. High 29F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of snow 50%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.
  • Tonight: Becoming windy. Flurries and a few snow showers throughout the night. Low 14F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of snow 30%.
  • Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy and windy. Snow flurries and a few snow showers. Cold. High 14F. Winds WNW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of snow 30%.
  • Tomorrow night: Mostly clear and windy. Low 7F. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph.
  • Wednesday: Considerable cloudiness. Highs in the low 20s and lows in the upper teens.
  • Thursday: Mostly Cloudy. Highs in the upper 20s and lows in the mid 20s.
  • Friday: Snow showers possible. Highs in the mid 20s and lows in the upper teens.
Weather Advisories: A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect for northern Herkimer County through noon tomorrow.
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The first batch of snow that impacted the area this morning will taper to flurries early this afternoon with generally dry conditions from mid afternoon through the evening. The exception will be the western Adirondacks, western Mohawk valley and western Catskills where increasing westerly winds may produce occasional lake effect snow showers.
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A second batch of snow will impact the entire area during the overnight as an arctic cold front passes through the region after midnight. Snow showers will be most likely and most intense in the lake effect areas of the Catskills, western Mohawk valley and western Adirondacks as well as the upslope areas in the Greens and Berkshires. Much of the area will be dry by tomorrow morning, but lake and mountain effect snow showers in these areas will linger into tomorrow morning before ending.
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Additional snowfall accumulation is possible everywhere tonight as snow associated with the arctic cold front moves through. Accumulations will be most likely in the lake and mountain effect areas. Snowfall totals (including what has fallen this morning and early this afternoon from the initial batch of snow) through 8am tomorrow morning will likely be in the 1"-3" range for most locations in the Hudson valley except in eastern Ulster, Dutchess and Litchfield counties where snowfall will likely be an inch or less. Slightly higher snowfall amounts are likely to occur across the western Adirondacks, western Mohawk valley, Catskills, Vermont and northern Berkshire county where 3"-5" of snow could fall due to the enhancement of snow from the lakes and mountains. Northern Herkimer County could see 6" or more of snow.
This Afternoon: Cloudy.
Snow tapers to flurries early this afternoon.
Generally dry during the mid to late afternoon.
Windy.
Wind: West 10-20 mph, gusts to 30 mph
Sunset: 4:29 pm
High: Mid 30s
Tonight: Scattered snow showers redeveloping.
Snow showers most likely in the lake and mountain effect areas of the western Mohawk valley, Catskills, western Adirondacks, Greens and Berkshires.
Cold and windy.
Wind: WNW 15-25 mph, gusts to 30 mph
Sunrise: 7:25 am
Low: Mid to upper 10s
Tomorrow: Lake and mountain effect snow showers in the Catskills, western Mohawk valley, Greens and Berkshires diminishing.
Otherwise dry with a mixture of clouds and sunshine.
Very cold.
Very windy.
Wind: NW 20-30 mph, gusts to 35 mph
Sunset: 4:30 pm
Temps: Mid to upper 10s early, falling into the lower teens, wind chills 0 to -10
Tomorrow Night: Mostly clear.
Dry.
Very cold.
Wind: NW diminishing 10-15 mph
Low: 6, wind chills -5 to -15
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, but with some late day increase in high clouds.
Dry.
Cold.
Not as windy.
Wind: West 10 mph
High: 24
Thursday: Mostly cloudy.
Generally dry, but with a few late flurries possible.
Not as cold.
High: 28

1 comment:

  1. The quad breaking down for the umpteenth time is expected lately as its continually fixed with baling wire and crazy glue.Not until theres a death or tragedy will it be fixed. Unfortunately I was riding a lift with a guy who has never skied Hunter before ,and in that discussion will never be back again.Break downs are expected once in a while,constant break downs for years is just neglect and no consideration for the families who love and support hunter.

    The ski patrol did an outstanding job of evacuation.Its good to see that something works right.I was stuck again on the D lift this afternoon for 20 minutes.Its time this area had an upgrade

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