Hunter Mountain (ski area) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hunter Mountain |
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Snowboarder at Hunter Mountain
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| Location | Hunter, New York, U.S. Opened 1959 |
| Nearest city | Kingston, New York, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 42°12′01″N 74°13′49″W / 42.200278°N 74.230278°W |
| Vertical | 1,600 feet (490 m) |
| Top elevation | 3,200 ft (975 m) |
| Base elevation | 1,600 ft (488 m) |
| Skiable area | 320 acres (130 ha) |
| Runs | 67, beginner 25%, intermediate 30%, advanced 30%, expert 15% |
| Longest run | 2 mi (3.2 km) |
| Lift system | 13 chairlifts; 1 Carpet Lift; 1 Pony Lift |
| Lift capacity | 19,390 passengers/hr |
| Terrain parks | 4 |
| Snowfall | 120 in (305 cm) annual average |
| Night skiing | No |
| Website | https://www.huntermtn.com |
Hunter Mountain is a popular ski resort in Greene County, New York. It's about a three-hour drive northwest of New York City. The resort is known for its impressive 1,600-foot (488 m) vertical drop, which is the difference in height from the top to the bottom of the ski trails.
Right from when it started in the late 1950s, Hunter Mountain has been a leader in making snow. It was the first ski place in New York State to use snowmaking machines. It was also the first in the world to have snowmaking from the very top of the mountain all the way to the bottom. Even more, it was the first place anywhere to have 100% snowmaking coverage across the entire mountain!
Besides skiing, you can also try snow tubing at Hunter Mountain. The resort has four special areas called terrain parks. These parks are designed for freestyle skiing and snowboarding tricks. Hunter Mountain often hosts cool freestyle events during the ski season.
Contents
Discovering Hunter Mountain's Past
How Hunter Mountain Began
In the mid-1950s, some local business people had a great idea. They wanted to help their area's economy get better after tough times. These times included the Great Depression, World War II, and a drop in tourism. They saw that skiing was becoming very popular. So, they thought about turning Hunter Mountain into a ski resort.
They tried to get the state to build a ski area, but it didn't work. Then, they talked to Denise McCluggage, a sports editor. They told her they would give away a mountain to anyone who would build a ski area called Hunter Mountain. Her article got the attention of some people from Broadway shows.
Early Days and Challenges
This group formed the Hunter Mountain Development Corp. They were the first to run Hunter Mountain. James Hammerstein, whose father was the famous Oscar Hammerstein II, led the group. Many Hollywood and Broadway stars were part of it. Orville and Izzy Slutzky provided most of the land. Their company, I. & O.A. Slutzky, did the construction work.
Work on the ski area began in the summer of 1959. The group was given the area to operate with two main rules. It had to be called "Hunter Mountain Ski Bowl." Also, it had to have snowmaking abilities, which was a new technology back then.
Hunter Mountain first opened on January 9, 1960. Only the "B" Lift was ready. The "A" Lift was still being built. The old Starr Hotel was used as the first main lodge. The Hunter Mountain Development Corp. ran into money problems by the 1961-62 season. So, the Slutzky brothers took over.
Growing the Mountain
In the summer of 1962, the "A" lift was finished. This allowed skiers to go all the way to the summit. Over the next few years, many new trails were created. More snowmaking equipment was also added. In the summer of 1963, Hunter even tried summer skiing on plastic chips! This only lasted a few years. In the winter of 1963-64, Hunter Mountain started offering night skiing. However, night skiing stopped in 1972.
In the summer of 1964, work began on the main lodge you see today. It opened on December 12, 1964. It had a large dining room, a swimming pool, and health facilities. The "D" Lift opened in December 1967. It was the first triple chairlift at Hunter Mountain. That winter, Hunter Mountain became the first place in the world with snowmaking from the summit to the base. The "East Side" of the mountain was also developed then. This included K-27, which is the steepest run on the mountain.
New Areas and Festivals
In the summer of 1969, trails were built on Hunter West. This area opened with the "Z" Lift. The Summit Lodge was also built that summer. The first Hunter Summer Festival happened in July 1975. It was a ten-day German Alps Festival. These festivals grew bigger each year.
The Colonel’s Hall was added to the base lodge in 1977. The Mini-Lodge was also built in Hunter One, but it has since been removed. In 1980, Hunter Mountain became the first ski area in the world to have snowmaking on 100% of its trails.
In December 1983, the Sushi Bar opened in the Summit Lounge. In the summer of 1987, the SnowLite Express Quad chairlift was built. Also, the West Wing and CopperTree Restaurant were added to the base lodge.
Modern Upgrades and Ownership Changes
In 1989, Hunter was the first ski area in the U.S. to get an automated snowmaking system. This system can be controlled from far away. This year also saw the first condominiums built next to the lifts. Construction continued into the 1990s, with more lifts, trails, and shops.
In summer 2010, the old AA- Snowlite Express lift was replaced. A new, fast six-person chairlift from Leitner-Poma was installed. It was ready for the 2010-11 season. Also new were the Mid-Mountain Tour and the Adventure Tower. 150 new snow guns were added too.
The summer of 2011 brought more changes. Another 150 new snow guns were added. The Empire Park terrain parks also got improvements. The biggest change was a new high-speed quad chairlift on the west side. It replaced the Z and Y lifts. This new lift, called the Zephyr Express, was the old AA- Snowlite Express, which had been updated.
The original owner, Orville Slutzky, passed away on April 18, 2013. Hunter Mountain continued to be family-owned for a few more years. In late 2015, Peak Resorts bought Hunter Mountain. This ended over 50 years of family ownership.
On April 5, 2018, a big expansion called Hunter North was announced. It added 9 new runs, including trails and glades. A new high-speed six-person chairlift was also built. This expansion increased Hunter Mountain's skiable area by 33 percent. It also added a new entrance and parking lot. Construction finished on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2018. It was the largest ski resort expansion on the East Coast of the U.S. in over 15 years. Hunter Mountain now has two six-passenger chairlifts, making it unique in New York State.
In July 2019, Vail Resorts bought Peak Resorts. This deal closed on September 24, 2019. For the 2019-20 season, Hunter Mountain started accepting Epic Passes.
Hunter Mountain's Lifts
Hunter Mountain has many different types of lifts to get skiers and snowboarders up the mountain. Here's a look at some of them:
| Lift Name | Type | Manufacturer | Length | Vertical | Cap./Hour |
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| Kaatskill Flyer | Detachable 6-Passenger chairlift | Leitner-Poma | 5,400' | 1,477' | 2,600 |
| Northern Express | Detachable 6-Passenger chairlift | Leitner-Poma | 3,245' | 1,030' | 2,400 |
| B-lift (Broadway Limited) | Quad Chair | Poma | 2,642' | 490' | 1,800 |
| C-lift (20th Century Limited) | Fixed Grip Quad Chair | Poma | 1,393' | 171' | 1,800 |
| Hunter East Carpet | Carpet Lift | 390' | 52' | 1,479 | |
| D-lift | Double Chair | Poma | 3,500' | 900' | 1,800 |
| E-lift | Double Chair | Hall | 2,469' | 418' | 1,000 |
| F-lift | Triple Chair | Poma | 2,950' | 1,010' | 1,800 |
| H-lift | Double Chair | Heron/Poma | 1,793' | 205' | 1,200 |
| Highland Poma Lift (inactive) | Platter Tow | (inactive) | (inactive) | 400 | |
| Discovery Carpet | Carpet Lift | 50' | 50' | 1600 | |
| Frostyland Carpet | Carpet Lift | 120' | 120' | 1922 | |
| Zephyr Express | Detachable Quad Chair | Poma | 3,800' | 1,295' | 2,000 |
| Totals | 13 | 27,940 | 6,987 | 22,000 p/h |
How Hunter Mountain Makes Snow
Hunter Mountain is famous for its snowmaking abilities. They have been pioneers in this technology for many years.
- 1967: Hunter was the first place in the world to make snow from the very top of the mountain all the way to the bottom.
- 1980: It became the first area to have snowmaking on 100% of its trails.
- 2006: Over 1,100 snowguns were installed. Most of these guns are on tall towers. This helps the snow freeze better as it falls. Hunter has enough air and water to run half of its snowmaking machines at once, even when conditions aren't perfect.
- 2014: A new pumping system was added to help with snowmaking.
- 2015: Automated snowmaking was added to several trails. This means a full top-to-bottom run can have snow made automatically. Before this, only one trail had automated snowmaking. A new air compressor also replaced a very old system.
Grooming the Slopes
Hunter Mountain uses special machines to groom its ski slopes. This makes the snow smooth and fun to ski on.
Their grooming team uses several LMC 4700s and Pisten Bully Edges for regular grooming. They also have a PB300 Winch Cat for grooming very steep slopes. For the Empire Park and Half Pipe, they use a Pisten Bully Park Bully and Pipe Magician. There's also an LMC 3900 used just for the Snowtubing park.
Each grooming machine has special flexible roto-tillers. These tillers make the snow surface very smooth and consistent. The idea for these flexible tillers actually started at Hunter Mountain! They worked with LMC to create them. Now, flexible tillers are used all over the world. Hunter still has some of the very first two-piece, three-piece, and even the only four-piece snow tillers ever made.
