There had been some debate about whether Black Friday would be a good day to ski. My plan was to ski Hunter the day after Thanksgiving. Somebody suggested it was a blackout day on some Epic passes so that meant it would be crowded. Harvey thought Sunday would be better.
I’ve always had good luck skiing on those days that are famous for something else — like Super Bowl Sunday for instance. My thinking was that a big event — like football or shopping — distracts the casuals away and only hardcore skiers are on the slopes. And Sunday skiing would mean driving home with the weekend traffic.
One of the great things about Hunter Mountain is how close it is to Metro NYC. It’s less than a two hour drive for me. I stuck with my plan – Friday at Hunter. It turned out Steve Aaron was available to meet up that day so even better.
I got up at about the same time I would for work and rolled out casual. Passing the Thruway exit for the Woodbury outlet malls bolstered my argument for Friday. It was backed up a half-mile three lanes wide. I cruised by in the left lane and enjoyed a moment of pride in my strategic planning.
I arrived at Hunter at 8:15 AM and there were maybe twenty vehicles in the parking lot before me. I moved my skis to the rack by the Kaatskill Flyer and did a quick lap of the lodge area to reacquaint myself with the layout. It’s been a couple years since I skied Hunter.
I texted Steve that I would boot up at my car and find him after I got my ticket. I’d never skied with Steve before but we’d met in person recently at Long-Path Outfitters in Nyack at a book signing promoting his “Catskills and Shawangunk Scenes” calendar and Ken Posner’s new book “Chasing the Grid.” We found each other by the ticket window and headed up to the lift. We didn’t get first chair but were pretty close. No lift line.
Steve is good company. On the lift we talked about his photography, The Doublechair Podcast and all things Catskills and NY skiing.
Hunter had one way down but the coverage was deep, wall-to-wall, and they had the guns roaring to keep it all fresh. We could see from the lift that Belt Parkway was lit up too. I imagine it will be open by the time this piece is published. The skiing itself was excellent. The crowds were not bad. The Flyer was ski-on all morning.
That’s how the day went. We skied hard but not fast since we were on limited terrain with active snowmaking happening. I’ve learned over the years to treat each snow gun as its own microclimate. Even with the best equipment and crew you can have radically different quality from one gun to the next, especially when there is a mix of fans and towers going at once.
Steve agreed and shared a story about taking a hard fall under a wet fan gun a few years ago. We skied cautiously all day but to be honest, I don’t think I found any wet guns on Friday. There was a spot on the mountain — maybe halfway down — where you could feel a change in the snow density but it was all good. Hunter did a great job.
I try not to overcomplicate skiing this time of year. To me, early season is all about getting in the laps. Now is the time to get your legs and muscles used to skiing again, get your gear dialed and just immerse yourself back into the sport. It was appropriate that we were skiing the day after Thanksgiving because that was how I felt — happy that ski season had returned.
7th Avenue photos by Steve Aaron
Steve publishes a wall calendar featuring landscapes from the Catskills and Shawangunks.
For more information on the calendar, join Steve’s mailing list.
Seems like a perfect first day on the slope.
It was a fun day skiing with you Brownski. Nice job capturing the feeling of the day. Love your insight that each snow gun is a unique micro-climate – very true and well stated. Nice to see a few of my photos included in the report.
“treat each snow gun as its own microclimate.”
Sage, sage advice. Especially on the first run down a given trail on each day of skiing.
I always call it ‘White Friday” and it’s been my goal to ski it when I can! I can relate to your “microclimate” comment. I took a really bad fall at Dry Hill a couple years ago-I felt like it took almost a year to fully recover!
Thanks for the update on Hunter. We plan to get there this year.
Tracy, we already called it white friday back in 2023!
https://nyskiblog.com/hunter-mountain-opening-day-2013/
Laps are laps and turns are turns. Plus you did them with a “famous person” good.
Many years ago I was speeding down Belt Parkway with active snowmaking and decided to air off one of the whales. My skis immediately stopped and I kept going in a Superman position. Upon landing, I was promptly covered head to toe in a wet slurry. Lesson learned, haha, good times.
I love that 7th Avenue pitch. You can really arc some big turns through there if you carry speed from Hellgate. That top to bottom run is probably the best in the region, especially when there’s no people. For a mountain that is unfortunately known for its crowds, it looks like you guys had it all to yourselves. Nice work.
Looks great Brownski! Get after it!