The Other Side of Hunter Mountain

by ml242

For me, summer has become the ski season “of the mind" — going on exploratory missions, trimming brush, and researching deals for the next year. But something happened a few years ago and I actually began to enjoy the summer, and the mountains, for being what they are.

View of Hunter Mountain from Firetower

I can trace the origin of this feeling to a specific camping trip to Mt. Greylock many summers ago. Although I went to the mountain with an ulterior motive — scouting out the legendary Thunderbolt — the trip was far more memorable for everything else that happened.

Thirteenth Lake Hike

I woke at 5 am today and spent the morning stacking wood and getting ready for next season. By the early afternoon I was ready for a break and decided to check out the "new" trail that connects Peaked Mountain Brook to the Hour Pond trail on the western side of Thirteenth Lake.

I've been thinking a lot about Thirteenth Lake lately — it just seemed appropriate to hike the newest trail in the Siamese Ponds Wilderness and complete a loop around the lake.

Friday Fantasy Photo #18

ml242 on Blockbuster • Plattekill, NY • March 18, 2011

"We skied the whole mountain, but focused on the steepest terrain. In the afternoon, when conditions peaked, we lapped Plunge and Blockbuster..."

Ski Season Calendar

I start to think about next season as soon as the current season is done. These are milestones that mark a mental progression towards the next season — some are mine and some have been contributed in comments. Here is this year's summer solstice ski season calendar update:

• Beginning of the off-season: The later the better.

• First Pass Deadlines.

• Summer Solstice: Days start to get shorter.

• July 21: Northern hemisphere begins to cool.

• Aug 10: First issue of Powder Magazine.

• Labor Day: Unofficial end of summer, and it feels cooler.

• Sept 21: Start of calendar Fall.

• Thanksgiving: With luck, lifts start to run at most ski areas.

• Dec 21: Start of calendar Winter.

• Jan 1: Start of mid-winter.

• Presidents Week: Half-time in a good year.

• March 15: Approx start of Spring Skiing in NY.

• March 21: Start of calendar Spring.

• Last Day of Lift Service.

• Last Day of Skiing.

Do you have a ski calendar in your head? How do you mark it?

Gore Mountain Lodge Improvements

Last year, the board of directors for New York's Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA), authorized Ted Blazer to negotiate a new contract with Centerplate as the concessionaire for the authority.

Gore Mountain's Base Lodge and Tannery Pub

Part of the deal requires Centerplate to invest in the ORDA venues. Gore Mountain is targeting the public lodges for this capital improvement.

Friday Fantasy Photo #17

Ike in Disconnect • Hickory Ski Center, NY • February 12, 2011

"In the afternoon, you could see an intense squall approaching from the northwest. The wind picked up and a small blizzard came through that dumped another inch in about 20 minutes..."

Beloved Belleayre Lift Attendant Passes Away

These days, it’s pretty rare to find a person who, through sheer force of personality, becomes the unofficial face of a business by embodying certain key attributes.

Belleayre's Jerry Siegel

For years, Belleayre Mountain in the Catskills had one of these unique people — someone who radiated the ski area’s atmosphere of friendliness, fun, and lack of pretention. Here’s what I wrote about him in a 2008 article:

Despite Belleayre not having the biggest, deepest, steepest, longest, or most expensive anything, there are a handful of reasons why so many New Yorkers are passionate about this mountain. One of them is the lift attendant at the Tomahawk Lift mid-station. Instead of a bored post-teen with tattoos, lip piercings, and bad skin, you’ll find a cheerful older gent who clearly seems to enjoy his job.

Friday Fantasy Photo #16

Mattchuck2 attacks Chatiemac • Gore Mtn, NY • April 10, 2011

"When we got to the bottom of Rumor, Mattchuck was waiting for us. After the trails started to get thick from the warmth of the day, we stayed in the trees..."

What Kind of Ski Snob Are You?

by Jamesdeluxe

If you think about it, we skiers are all snobs of one sort or another. Some are terrain snobs and care about nothing else but lapping the steepest, gnarliest, longest, and most consistently-pitched lines they can find. Others are powder snobs who don’t bother leaving the house unless there’s a decent amount of fresh snow waiting for them; and if the lift-served ski areas don’t have it, they’ll go off-the-map for their fix. Of course, for most people, the best situation is getting both powder and great terrain at the same time, but hey, this is the northeast and we have to deal with whatever’s on the menu for a given day and not whine about it.

Me? I’m an ambiance snob. I’ll happily make tradeoffs in the other two categories if I can find a place that feels right: an atmospheric lodge or base village with pleasant people, lots of elbow room on the mountain, and no lift lines or cookie-cutter terrain.

In short, I’m looking for a place that doesn’t feel like a tourist trap. And if conditions are good or great, that’s gravy. With that as my baseline, here are my top two ski experiences of 2010-11.

Belleayre Coalition Cautiously Supports ORDA Plan

This past week, reports surfaced that the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) was exploring taking over the management of the Catskills’ troubled state-owned and -operated ski area, Belleayre. Thursday, in a press release, Coalition to Save Belleayre Chairman Joe Kelly cautiously endorsed this possibility. He called this moment “a turning point,” and went on to add that the DEC is “too busy and too distracted to properly operate a ski facility.”

In an interview on Harvey Road last year, Kelly’s frustration with DEC management of Belleayre was quite clear. While not directly suggesting that ORDA run Belleyare, he touched upon how a closer working relationship with the authority could benefit all three state-owned mountains.

In the Coalition press release, Kelly says that he thinks most Belleayre supporters will favor the idea of ORDA management, but he expressed caution about how and when the transfer might take place. “We are endorsing this because we want a voice in our future — a voice we didn’t have with the DEC,” he added. “If Belleayre is going to ORDA, there must be local representation on the ORDA board.”

Friday Fantasy Photo #15

Danzilla at Whiteface • December 18, 2010

"There wasn't a ton of snow at Whiteface, but today, there was soft, natural snow stashed in the corners, it snowed most of the day, and the mountain just felt snowy."