Thursday, December 8, 2011

Hunter - Sat opening

Following just posted by Hunter:

We will be opening on Saturday!

At this point it is looking like we will use the Kaatskill Flyer to up/download for F-Lift, so we will at the very least be open mid- to summit. If we get some really good temps and make a lot of snow, we will obviously open top to bottom. We will do whatever Mother Nature allows, so things may change between now and Saturday in terms of open terrain. We are *hoping* to have Hellgate-Broadway-Kennedy (otherwise known as HBK or Mainline) top-to-bottom open for Sunday, and the nighttime temps look good.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Hunter weather Dec 7th

Hi to all 100 of you on my list.
Still 41 and raining but the guns will be on full blast tonight 24/7 in addition to an expected 8+" of natural snow tonight.
FINALLY, HERE WE GO!!
Be skiing you soon,
Jon

This Afternoon: Periods of rain. High near 43. North wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Tonight: Rain and snow, becoming all snow after 3am. Low around 27. Northwest wind between 8 and 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 8 to 12 inches possible.

Thursday: Partly sunny, with a high near 35. Breezy, with a west wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 20. West wind between 3 and 9 mph.

Friday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 34. Southwest wind between 5 and 9 mph.

Friday Night: A slight chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 19. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 30.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 13.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Hunter snow making & weather

Hi All,
The guns were on for a few hrs last night lightly covering the upper half of Hellgate and some sections of the Belt. The weather does not appear favorable for full blasting until next Wed. It is 45 now and although nights will be cold the weekend days will continue unseasonably warm with a mix of rain & snow expected Mon -Tues. There will be more spotty snow making over the next few nights. No opening date has been set yet. Consumer demo weekend is still scheduled for Dec 10-11.
The base lodge bar and pizza counter will again open Saturday from 12 - 6 and Van Winkles will have its usual happy hour 4-6.
The west side quad news:
December 1: The load test took place yesterday and went well. The lift is running great and we took our first ride this afternoon. We are in good shape for a mid-December opening of the new lift!
Ski ya soon,
Jon

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Hunter, 23A & weather

Hi All
Happy Thanksgiving!
FYI all of the temporary barriers and traffic lights have been removed and the road is again open to 2-way traffic.
It is raining up here with temps at 40. Friday through at least next Tues expect daytime temps in the 50's so no snowmaking.
The old quad - now the Zephyr Express - will be load tested next week.
The base lodge main bar and pizza counter will however open this Sat from 1 - 6.
Pray 4 snow!
Jon

Friday, October 28, 2011

Hunter October Snow


Hi All - Check out what we got last night: 3 - 4" with 6 - 9" more for Sat into Sun. You can ski it if you want to walk up. Hopefully we will enjoy an earlier opening than the past two seasons. Photo taken from the old "Club" property.
Ski ya all soon,
Jon

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Hunter - west side lift update

HI All,
Fall is arriving tonight by way of temps in the upper 30's after today's rain and a cold front arrives. Should be a beautifull fall-like weekend for the wine & brew fest.

For anyone interested, the heavy lift helicopter arrives tomorrow for setting the newly galvanized lift towers in place on the west side. The towers are stored in the field across Demmings Bridge & #23A (about 3/4 mile west of the turnoff to #296). Best viewing would be from the top of Ford Hill Rd (off of Wright Rd) just across from Demmings Bridge.
FYI - there is still a one way traffic light setup on 23A between Palenville & Haines Falls.
Windham has lifted its boil water alert and some of the restaurants including Millrock, Chicken Run & the Brewery plan to open tonight/tomorrow after a furious and costly restoration.
Won't be long now until we see some of that white stuff - snow I think its called!
Jon

Some details about the new lift:

Drive Type: Poma Detachable Alpha Drive
Slope Length: 3743' (1141m)
Vertical Rise: 1295' (395m)
Average Grade: 36.85%
Rotation: Clockwise
Primary Drive HP: 600
Line Speed: 5m/s
Number of Chairs: 80
Number of Towers: 15
Uphill Capacity: 2,400 p/h
Chair Interval: 6 sec.
Trip Time: 3.81 min.
Old Z lift and Y lift chairs are available for purchase for your back yard, ski house or condo! Chairs are $250 each, to benefit the Hunter Mountain Racing Foundation to support young athletes in Hunter's racing programs. For more information, contact Bruce Transue.

Construction Progress: Photos here

September 8: Progress continues on wiring and mechanical work on the bottom and top mechanisms. The new roof and enclosure are complete on the bottom mechanism. The new 600hp primary drive motor has been installed in the drive unit, and we're almost ready to set the entire 80 ton unit atop the pedestals at the bottom. We have a 200 ton crane scheduled for next week.

August 31: Luckily, the bottom terminal of the lift was undamaged by Irene. Work is continuing on the roof panels for the accel/decel mechanism.

August 18: Top terminal is being backfilled. Once the new roof panels arrive and are installed, the top and bottom terminals will look much more finished. Most tower foundations have been poured and the remaining difficult-to-reach ones will be poured next week via a concrete pumper. Line towers and tower heads and almost finished and are nearly ready for their helicopter ride into place.

July 28: The top terminal is coming together. Most of the support structure has been assembled, and the bullwheel has been dropped into position, but there are still many, many parts that need to be bolted into place. Line tower foundation work continues down the slope.

July 22: Concrete work on the top terminal is complete. Tower foundations are progressing down Westway. All towers are being relocated, since the tower anchor bolt pattern is larger for the new lift - no foundations can be reused. Nearly all galvanizing has been completed and returned to us. The new electric drive motor has been delivered, and work is starting on the drive terminal unit.

July 7: Foundation work on the return terminal is progressing. The final concrete pour for the top terminal is scheduled for Friday, 7/8. After that, it's down from the top to dig the tower footings.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Hurricane Irene Relief Fund

Hi All,
Here is another address for monetary relief donations - please help this town which was the hardest hit of all:

Town of Prattsville Relief Fund
c/o NBT Bank
Grand Gorge, NY 12434