Hit the slopes for the first time this ski season this morning at HV. Skied for only an hour and a half, but given all of the obstacles local ski resorts have had to deal with so far this ski season, especially the monsoon like rain and thaw/freeze cycles, the open terrain on HV was outstanding. The managament should be commended for making snow only on trails that aren't open on a holiday when full rates are in effect. As usual, the people who work at HV are always courteous (lift attendants, bartender, wait staff, etc). I'm the first to criticize Bob Nutting when things aren't right IMO, but I'm convinced that his team at HV are doiing their best given the circumstances. He also is pumping plenty of $$$ into the snowmaking effort due to the natural deficit of snow.

Hopefully, the real stuff will fall from the skies next week.

Happy New Year

hockeydave wrote:

Hopefully, the real stuff will fall from the skies next week.

It will - between Jan 8-17 we will have a significant snow in western PA.

Crush wrote:

hockeydave wrote:

Hopefully, the real stuff will fall from the skies next week.

It will - between Jan 8-17 we will have a significant snow in western PA.

Crush,

You and JohnL gonna be out West from Jan. 8-17?  :)

I'm trying to understand this,

"The managament should be commended for making snow only on trails that aren’t open on a holiday when full rates are in effect."

Sorry, prior statement was not very lucid, so I'll try again. Snowmaking was occurring only on closed terrain during the 2 hours I was there (between 9:30 and 11:30). Therefore, for those who paid $65 to ski, which is the Holiday and maximum rate, they didn't have to worry about being pelted in the face by Techno-Alpin snow. Based on the webcam images from Seven Springs, snow guns were firing all over the place (open and closed terrain) during the same timeframe.

Glad to see the positive comments Hockeydave re snowmaking and services at HV.  I had looked at the webcams yesterday, and was surprised how well things looked considering the poor hand that mother nature has delt this season, and yes they deserve 

Things have been fairly quiet here on DCSki re HV since the Nutting purchase.  After it was sold over a year ago, I pretty much took a wait an see attitude to see what would develop.  I have not skiied there this season yet (partly due to the weather), but from what I have seen and heard over the last year would offer a few comments:

- They seem to be doing a reasonable job maintaining things as needed. No big flashy expansion, but attention to  the necesseties to maintain the resort.  

- Other than the Highlands pass, I am surprised to see little relatively little integration between the 2 resorts.  I guess was thinking that a shuttle bus and perhaps more joint marketing would happen to promote the whole area as one, but those things do not seem to be happening.  

- Have been disappointed with the closing of the Outback Resturaunt, and resulting limited food options during much of the year.  Just before Buncher sold, it seemed like they were finally geting a following for a year round restauraunt, but that seems to have gone by the wayside now.

- Although current mgmt initially made broad references of how with 2 resorts they were now going to focus on marketing the area to bring in more visitors beyond overall, can't say that I have seen much of that so far either.

- Prices have been raised significantly for lift passes and seems like everything else:(  

- Maybe it is just a perception, but it seems like there are fewer planned events at HV no;  No need to compete with 7S.  

Perhaps we are just in round one, and understand there could be initial digestion required to figure out what they have and what to do.  

On a related note, things seem very quiet at the neighboring property that Buncher still owns and was planning a big development.  Real estate does not seem to be moving much in the area, and looks like this is on indefinite hold, even after the significant infrastructure they had put in place to support it.  

FWIW, a friend of mine takes occassional shifts at Glaciers, and he said that they are under a recent order to stay open certain nights (like Thur-Sat) to 11PM, regardless of whether or not anyone is there.  So I think they are coming around on some of the concessions and amenities issues.  But people have to support those efforts too.  I stopped in for a beer one evening afer dropping off my skis for a tune and they had a nice sized crowd, but that was at 7PM.  Winter has indeed been tough, here's to hoping that we just turned a corner.

LH - I agree with most of your assessment. I like the commitment they have made to provide good ski conditions. Given the miserable weather for the past 5 weeks, I have been impressed with their continuing efforts with snow making and grooming. I spent some time in Glaciers this past weekend and it was pretty lively. Things tend to die around 11:00 PM, but I think the weather has put a damper on people showing up to ski. A tough time to have miserable weather. I also like the fact that they figured out a way to speed up the Summit quad chair. They remove 10 chairs to increase the spacing and PA inspection approved increasing the speed. They also renovated most of the bathrooms. Now, they just need a run of good weather. Steady, incremental improvements are fine with me.

SCWVA wrote:

Crush wrote:

hockeydave wrote:

Hopefully, the real stuff will fall from the skies next week.

It will - between Jan 8-17 we will have a significant snow in western PA.

Crush,

You and JohnL gonna be out West from Jan. 8-17?  :)

i dunno about JohnL but our CEO gave me take-off clearence to work part time in Park City Jan. 29 - Apr 8 so i'll be a 1/2 ski bum lol.