Located in the Catskill Mountains south of Albany, N.Y., about two and a half hours from Manhattan, Hunter Mountain is the New York metropolitan area's biggest ski mountain. With 1,520 feet of vertical drop, it makes it onto Mountain Vertical's first page list of "big ski mountains" in North America, where it shares space with peaks in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, as well as Colorado, British Columbia, California, and Alaska. It's the only metroplitan New York ski mountain to make the cut.
The downside is crowds: My old skis still bear scars from Hunter in the form of slash marks across the tips from lift line encounters. Weekends and holidays are especially bad. It's not just the lift lines: The crowds on Hunter Mountain's slopes can be as much of an obstacle as the moguls, especially when the slopes steepen and lines of worried beginners look over the edge wondering how they will ever get down. Weekdays, on the other hand, can be magical, except during the school vacation.
Hunter Mountain Stats: Ski Trails and Ski Lifts
Hunter Mountain has 11 lifts and 55 trails. The lifts get people up the mountain fast: They include a six-seater, two quads, two triples, five doubles, and a surface tow. The main mountain has the majority of trails (33 of Hunter's 55 trails), and a mix of all levels.
Hunter has terrain for everyone, but it's weighted toward advanced skiers, with 30 percent green, 30 percent blue, and 40 percent black and double-black.
- Beginners. The best place for beginners is on Hunter One on the far east side, where the 16 trails are almost all green and blue. Beginners should stay as far away from Hunter West as possible: if you find yourself up there by mistake, the only way down is via a black or double black slope.
- Intermediates. Intermediates can ski on Hunter One or the main mountain. Both offer plenty of choices, and the opportunity to try a black if you are so inclined.
- Advanced and experts. Black diamond skiers should head to West Hunter. There are only six trails there, two black and four double black. Even solid skiers can get chewed up by the double-black bumps on steep and narrow Annapurna.These are real double-blacks, not "baby East Coast" double-blacks.
- Ski and board acrobats: Head to the Empire Terrain Park in the middle of the Main Mountain, where you can rotate, flip, and fly all day.
Hunter Mountain Specialties: Tubing, Ziplining, and More
Along with Hunter's impressive size come big-mountain amenities. Hunter Mountain has both a base lodge and a summit lodge, as well as a a spa, a bar, and ski and snowboard shops. For non-skiers and small children, there is tubing.
The mountain also boasts a world-class zipline facility, with three courses: A short, fun course at the base, a medium-level mid-mountain course, and, high up the mountain, a course billed as the "longest and highest" zipline tour in North America (and the second biggest in the world). The course has a 3,000-foot long zip line 600 feet off the ground. (And yes, those zeroes are in the right place). The two upper ziplines are open all year, so you can ski in the morning and zip in the afternoon.
Finally, Hunter Mountain has two more unique and interesting features. At the mountain's true summit (and not accessible via ski lift) is the highest fire-tower (elevation 4,050 feet) in New York State. And at the ski lift summit on the main mountain, you'll ski past a life-sized statue of Rip van Winkle, carved of native rock.
Note: Hunter Mountain squeaks onto the first page of Mountain Vertical's list of North America's "big mountains" because it tops the 1,500 cut-off by 40 feet. Nearby Catskill mountains Belleayre and Windham just miss the 1,500-foot cutoff, but the difference between the mountains is not huge. If you find Hunter too crowded, or want to explore other big mountains within a day-trip drive of the New York metropolitan area, give Belleayre and Windham a try, as well.
Karen Berger - Karen Berger is the author of 15 books. Please click on her name to read her full bio.
