Sunday, February 28, 2010

Hunter Feb 27-28 special edition

It's chaos here with unprecedented snow & skiing! Long lift lines like the old "A" lift on all lifts and lots of intermittent power failures which also affect the lifts. Parking is a nightmare. This upcoming ski week will be amazing - be a part of history and bring your cameras! See news article below!
Ski ya,
Jon


Detailed Local Forecast
Today: Occasional snow showers. Temps nearly steady around 30. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 60%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.
Tonight: Variable clouds with snow showers. Low around 25F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 40%.
Tomorrow: Windy. Some morning flurries. Then snow showers in the afternoon. High 31F. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 40%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.
Tomorrow night: Variable clouds with snow showers. Low near 25F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 60%.
Tuesday: Chance of a few snow showers. Highs in the low 30s and lows in the mid 20s.
Wednesday: Snow showers. Highs in the low 30s and lows in the mid 20s.
Thursday: Cloudy. Highs in the low 30s and lows in the upper teens.

23A reopen, Greene Co. still tough going
CATSKILL -- Route 23A in Catskill is reopen to all traffic. The Greene County Sheriff's Department had shut it down due to extremely heavy traffic headed to ski resorts plus the nearly seven feet of snow that had fallen since Tuesday. Greene County itself is still under a state of emergency.

Authorities closed the road near the intersection of 32A early in the afternoon on Saturday but lifted that by 5:00PM Saturday. In a release, they say "Motorists should continue to exercise caution while traveling the roads. All business including the ski areas are operating as normal."

Saturday, the high volume of traffic created gridlock around the Hunter Mountain Ski Area and, because of the snow, many parking spaces were covered, according to a spokesperson with Hunter Mountain.

Additionally, Hunter had power surges and some skiers went to Windham Mountain as well. The GM at Ski Windham said they had up to 70 inches since the storms started Tuesday.

Saturday, they reached close to record numbers of skiers and the mountain exceeded its budget by 20%, the GM said. They honored day tickets until 6:00PM.

"Ski conditions were off the charts," he said. "The crews had a challenge keeping up with the snow in the parking lot - everything was fine on the trails."

The resort has about 300 homeowners in its association who live on the mountain. They had to keep all their roads, driveways, and lots clear.

A spokesperson at Hunter said they have had seven feet of snow since Tuesday and they had more than 5,000 people at the mountain on Saturday.

A State of Emergency has been declared for all of Greene County effective 10:00AM Saturday morning. It has been declared due to snow removal and traffic control conditions. All state and county roads are open but travelers should be alert for snow removal, public utility and public safety crews. Town roads in Hunter, Windham, Jewett, Ashland, Lexington and Prattsville may have limited travel, according to the Sheriff's Department.

1 comment:

  1. The remarks about the skiing are incredible,best runs of our lives,chest deep,face shots the entire way,people going over fences,belt parkway fence to lower road,super death steep,over Jimmy Huega and the Cliffs fences ,skiing under lifts,Annapurna was set up the best ever,ect The remarks about the ski areas performance and readiness for the snow,lets see,the power out wasn't their fault but....................... They knew the snow was here and coming,this was a multi day storm,even if they blew it on the first day anyone ever hear of overtime for employess? Why weren't the lifts dug out and ready ,for the early morning,why was the Copper Tree food services not ready or open, the parking lots dug out? In one of the biggest storms of the century an opportunity to showcase the mountain to all the new people that came and there were lots of them,they were greeted by a huge line never ever seen before because of the lack of preparedness,this is a ski area,in the snow business,and when a lift sits for days not being made ready there is something wrong with managements decisions,its as Hunter Mountain is run by not a single person who is a skier,that has a clue from the customers perspective about what they see.They don't want to wait to spend their money,both on the lift ticket sales line,to spend money for food,(like an extra cash register or two would be so mind boggling during the lunch rush.The fact that the power went down is not Hunters fault,but that hundreds and hundreds of people walked out with not a single bus in sight is disgraceful.Again season pass holders were given nothing,like we don't matter,and regular customers who buy maybe a ticket or two were given vouchers for $40 to $80 for the walk .Hunter missed a huge chance on this .The advertising could of been huge ,but too bad many new customers went away very unhappy,most of us season pass holders are used to it,and will still be here,but I know of several that are so fed up that are contemplating other ski areas for next year,and thats a shame,because the ski experience this past week should of been epic all the way around .

    The cost cutting and laying off of personnel in prime season is an obvious hatchet job,a crude one at that,and the one that will suffer is Hunter itself. Isnt this what was done in Mount Snow before it was sold???? To make the bottom line better???No imagination to make the resort better and make more money for it,just make it seem better for the total,is that what marketing is all about?Just curious.Saving a dollar every one is conscious of,as any business should be,however this is a resort area.Employees are much needed and the thought behind laying off personnel in the winter is so stupid that whoever is in charge(and I do know who that is) should be fired instantly as its only hurting the resort,not helping it.Hunter had a huge chance to shine,money was there for the taking,except a dollar cutter is doing his best to cut costs than make the place better. Hunter and its loyal people deserve better,and so do its employees that aren't in top management Vic Magnotti

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