Slow day in the office (no mail + no banks) so I thought I'd share a recent trip to HV to kill some time today.

I headed out on a Friday morning Jan 6th on a solo mission.

Start of the bluebird day was in the high 30's. It was like having my own private ski resort.



First ride up the Sunset lift. Lower Continental slope below.



Looking down Upper Continental for my first run.



Riding up the Blizzard quad with Cobra on the right



Top of Cobra looking down to the clock tower



Top of Imperial



I think this was my longest lift line of the day. 1 Ski Patroller in front of me.



They opened the North Summit slopes at noon so I headed over there.

Here's a shot from the top of Comet



Riding up Avalanche Quad with Comet and Wrangler on the left.



I left around 3 PM and was home well in time for the 5 PM happy hour specials.

If you have a chance to blow off a mid week day and want a place all to yourself, I'd highly recommend HV. Best 28 bucks I've spent this year.

BD: Great pictures. Whats the make and model of your camera? Fantastic clarity.

Thank for the photos! Look like you had fun!

I always wonder whether it's worth visiting Hidden Valley. Everytime I am thinking about going there, I always ended up at 7Springs and I can't justify that 400 feet of vertical.

Actually the vertical is closer to 500', I believe. Very similar to the front side of 7Springs. Would more vertical be nice...absolutely. However, we make the best of it. I would rather ski the PA Turnpike than 7 Springs on a weekend. I think I would feel safer. Too many skiers. On a weekday it's great. Hidden Valley crowds on weekends are much easier to deal with. Even on weekends the ski traffic is spread out. Too many 'yinzers' at 7Springs.

Nice photos.

You'll laugh but its just the camera on my smart phone. LG Revolution.

Had a great time at Hidden Valley this past weekend with a few things to share:

- Although the parking lots were full and had to park far from the lodge, a shuttle bus arrives within 2 min of both arrival and departure with just one other passenger. Compare that with my experience at 7Springs, (not to mention the $10 parking fee they now have), and I am willing to give up a few feet of verticle.
- Even though we rented the kids skis off site, when we realized they screwed up the binding adjustments, the knowledgable at HV ski shop helped correct it so we could get on with our day of skiing. I have learned my lesson and will no longer bother renting offsite.
- I saw improvement in the changes in the food operations in terms of food quality and menu. Even at 1PM we were able to easily get a table at clocktower. Compare that with the chaos at 7Springs, and once again that is worth a few vertical feet.
- Although there were some lift lines midday, it cleared out after 2PM. I would rather be skiing on a slightly smaller vertical than standing in a line.

Edgar - I still think 7Springs is a better ski mountain, but the 'hassle factors' you mention I think factor into ones' decision as to where to ski. Skiing 7Springs on a weekday is very pleasurable; but I would rather ski HV on the weekend. I think the snow at HV is better also and they have done an outstanding job making snow this year. The 8" of powder this past Saturday morning on the Outback trail was great. What a beautiful weekend!

I don't think there's any question -- and I really hope I'm correct -- that Buncher's approach is paying dividends.

The snow making is the best in the region and I hope that if they continue to see crowds and increasing volume that we will see the Outback expansion, eventually.

This weekend (holiday example, I know), the slopes were crowded despite low temps and the uncooperative winter necessitating daytime snow making.