Jamesdeluxe and I arranged a pre-dawn departure from NJ to take part in the maiden voyage of Hunter’s Kaatskill Flyer: New York’s first six-passenger detachable lift.
The Flyer is a beauty: comfortable, fast, and smooth. Things ran well today, with the spanking new lift designed by Leitner-Poma covering 1,477 vertical feet in a brisk five minutes. There were very few stoppages, and little confusion on the loading and unloading platforms.
Hunter Mountain has released photos and video footage of what will be New York State’s first high-speed six-pack detachable chair: the “Kaatskill Flyer.” The new lift could be a game-changer for Hunter on busy weekends and holidays.
And, next summer, Hunter is planning to replace the two old fixed-grip lifts on its famed West Side with a new quad, as well as adding more snowmaking to cover the steep expert terrain.
Over the past week, Hunter Mountain in the Catskills unveiled its much-awaited year-round attraction: zipline tours. Jason, I, and 20 other thrillseekers met with New York Zipline Adventures principal partner Bradd Morse, who, over a 27-year career, has helped design and operate canopy tours all over the world.
After leading us to the equipment office to sign an extensive release and provide us with a specialized harness and helmet, we boarded a custom built “Zipline Limo” and were transported to the mid-mountain tour area.
At Hunter, with the omnipresent snowmaking guns and trails that were blasted into the terrain like a superhighway, very few skiers say “wow, that’s a beautiful mountain.” But go figure, right between Hunter One and the main ski area is a stunning ravine that is how I imagine the Catskills looked before the hemlock forests had been cut down in the mid-1800s.
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