Another Hickory Believer

The sticker is modeled after one of the most iconic images in skiing: a rectangle with two lines of elegant, efficient text offset by white and red: “Mad River Glen: Ski It If You Can’t Ski Hickory.”

Winfall Poma-2

When I first saw one, I chuckled at the different possible meanings presented by both the original and the parody. Like too many New York State skiers, though, I continued driving right past Hickory Ski Center on my way to Gore for years without much consideration for the mysterious mountain in Warrensburg.

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Hickory Ski Center: Back to the Future

Things change. The world is in constant motion and almost nothing can escape the forces of change. Eventually it seems that all of us have to choose which side of the moving line we want to be on.

Top-Notch

I started in our sport as a nordic skier who didn’t own a pair of plastic boots. As I grew more fanatical about sliding on snow I found myself dying to make turns by Thanksgiving before there was any snow in the woods.

So I began skiing the early season at Gore Mountain, in my leather boots on 210 cm skis. At the time I didn’t realize it, but the agents of change were acting upon me.

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Hickory Ski Center: Opportunity Knocks

Opportunity is always knocking. The key is to open your eyes and see it.  When I woke in North Creek on Sunday, my plan was to go to Gore Mountain to ski the morning, and then head for home.

Hickory-Fire-Pit

But something happened on the way to the forum. Over coffee, a local religious leader convinced me to remain true to our faith and capture a third consecutive day of untracked pow. I headed south to Hickory Ski Center.

Driving down Route 28, the opposing lane was filled with a stream of cars with roof boxes zoom, zoom, zooming to the biggest hill in the county. I was zigging and it was feeling right.

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