Hunter Mountain Zip Line

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.

Hunter Mountain zip line truck

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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ORDA Budget Update 2010

With the early season pass discount deadline looming on June 17, we took the plunge yesterday and laid down our money for two full passes. I’d assume early deadline passholders are curious about the budget. But from what I’ve heard, passes are selling at a normal pace.

I found an article in the Press Republican, dated yesterday, that reported on a recent meeting of the Essex County Board of Supervisors. Ted Blazer, ORDA CEO, seemed confident that ORDA would operate in some fashion next season. The state has been passing weekly “emergency extender bills” to keep the government running and ORDA has been included.

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