It’s Always Snowing at Hunter

Five years ago, in March of 2013, I took my first spin on skis at Hunter Mountain. I spent two days tumbling in slushy spring snow, working my way from the bunny hill to the summit. Finally, on the last run of the second day, I took the Kaatskill Flyer to the top of the mountain and skied Belt Parkway all the way to the base.

I was hooked on skiing, and I have since skied over 120 days since, progressing from faceplants on the beginner slopes to confidently skiing steep western bowls and icy east coast moguls. Every visit to Hunter is a nostalgic trip down memory lane, revisiting the snowy Catskills slopes where I first fell in love with winter.

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Skiing in the Rain

“Man it’s raining outside. What the hell is wrong is wrong with you? Are you stupid?” I’ve heard people say that a lot over the years.

skiing in the rain

Luckily, skiing by myself bothers me even less then skiing in imperfect conditions. The ski season in the northeast is short; if I can get away and the mountains open, I want to be making turns. I don’t really understand skiers who don’t feel the same way.

That’s why, on a Sunday in late March, I found myself parking my car at Hunter in the midst of a cold 34 degree drizzle. I booted up in the car, pulled on my Gore-tex and headed for the lift. I got two or three good runs in before it really started raining hard.

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Hunter Opens 2016

In spite of the long wait for ski season to start, my son and I overslept. Hunter is conveniently located for us, so our extra Zs were not a big problem. We pulled into the parking lot just a couple of minutes after 9 AM.

brownski-junior

We were eager to get after it but I was kind of nervous too. I’m on the record as fan of early season skiing but this would be junior’s first opening day experience. Would the traditional white-ribbon-of-death and the Hunter faithful overwhelm him?

We booted up, schlepped our skis over to the racks and redeemed our Liftopia vouchers at the ticket window. Hunter’s detachable six-pack, the Kaatskill Flyer, whisked us off to the top.

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