Hunter: Two Days, Two Trails, Too Fun

Hunter Mountain opened Saturday November 19 with two main routes down the mountain – the Mainline and Belt Parkway. I was fortunate to ski days 2 and 3.

morning snowmaking

The unseasonable cool temps in the days preceding opening day enabled Hunter’s team to lay down plentiful volumes of high quality snow. On the two open routes, conditions resembled mid-January more than late November. Kudos to snowmaking for a great job getting the mountain open.

My first day, Sunday November 20 was cold and windy. Between the weather and the snowguns blasting, it really felt like mid-winter.

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Belleayre Opens Early in 2022

Each year the season creeps up on me. I always believe there is still time to go to the gym and get fit. Another week before I need to wax and tune our skis and boards. I can wash the old neck gator tomorrow.

Belleayre main base area

Yet the snow falls and I find myself scrambling to get out the door to the mountains. I will never take a pre-thanksgiving opening weekend for granted, but maybe if I had one more week I would have been ready. Probably not.

ORDA was ready, and they were not messing around. The weather window opened up earlier in the week and they jumped through it. Tales from opening day at Whiteface gave me pause. I agree, snowmaking efforts have really paid off.

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Platte Clove: Off-Trail in the Catskills

Platte Clove in the northeast Catskills is among the wildest sections of the range. It’s a deep ravine created by ice age glaciers that drops about 1500 feet in little over two miles. The clove contains 17 separate waterfalls and is home to some of the Catskills’ most primeval terrain.

Platte Clove waterfalls
Lower waterfall

I joined my friend Bruce on the Friday before Labor Day weekend for an exploration of the southwest corner of the clove. As a frequent hiker through the clove, Bruce is an excellent guide — happy to point out areas of interest and equally as happy to explore remote corners of the clove. It’s potentially dangerous terrain, but with Bruce leading the way, I was in good hands.

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