SKI HICKORY!
My last birthday, I went skiing. This is how I always spend my birthday.
However this time I went back to one of my favorite places in the 'Dax
Hickory Ski Center
For a place that's been around since 1946!; it remains a little known area outside of Warrensburg NY
They re-opened 2009-2010 after having a hiatus of a few years.
First things first, there are no chair lifts at this mountain. This fact may turn away most skiers.
POMA LIFT EXAMPLE
Don't let the this scare you off.
POMA is one of the faster lifts.
The only drawback that I found was for every down there is an up.
You ski the mountain both ways.
Secondly, in the era of global warming, It's natural snow only...
So you get what you get.
Ski Report 2-17-2014
My wife and I got up there around noon, I don't normally ski longer than four hours since I have had broken my right leg back in 1991 at Mt Baldy (long story there)
She found the place delightful and rustic. I had plans to go with a friend, but he could not make it, so Harriet stepped in to keep me company.
The lodge had been rebuilt in the 70's after a fire, but they used the original plans to build it they way it looked in the 40's (best I could tell)
You have to understand, it's not the lodge that makes the experience, it's the people.
It's as if you are part of a small club, the staff are warm and welcoming.
There were quite a few "this is the first time we've been here." folks also.
My wife does not ski. So her hanging out in the lodge required us to make sure she had things to do. She packed her knitting, her drop spindle, audio books, comfy chair and lunch; as the lodge just has picnic tables.
She set up next to the fire place, settled in and I was off to the slopes.
Three days earlier there was a 15 inch snow fall, but I know the slopes
so I grabbed my rock skis that I had found on the side of the road in May this year.
I rode Poma 1 to the mid-station to the top of Honey Run to test my legs, the snow and my new to me remounted bindings.
The snow had been packed down, but there was some "freshies" still on the side of the trail. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing off about fresh powder, but I had been skiing just an average of two outings a winter for the last twelve years.
I may be an expert skier, but I ain't stupid. Honey Run was kind to my legs so I dropped down to the T-bar as that area of the mountain is the first place to melt off and I had never seen the T-bar run before.
Let's say I am no fan of the newer t-bars.... I could not get the movable T positioned correctly so I wrapped my arm around the tube and the T and was dragged up-right on my skis up hill. Needless to say that's the last time I went near the T-Bar.
At the top of the T-bar I headed over to Cotton Tail then traversed to Poma-2
Poma 2 for the uninitiated runs faster than Poma 1. It also runs over a variable landscape of rills and hillocks. Luckily, the snow was forgiving.
I will not go into details of the rest of my runs, but I took a lunch break around 2 pm to check on Harriet and eat.
She was engaged in conversation as always and she never got to hear her audio books and barely knit!
I hit the slope again to poma 1 then went on slope for another hour.
My legs let me know I was done after I hit Upper Beatnik. My right leg had a cramp, so I took it slowly and actually wound up making fresh tracks in the middle of Upper Beatnik.
At 3:30 I was done for the day, the lodge was closing down and the last shift for ski patrol had hit the slopes for clearing.
I advise anyone who is search of a memorable ski area GO HERE!
More pic's at this gallery...
However this time I went back to one of my favorite places in the 'Dax
Hickory Ski Center
For a place that's been around since 1946!; it remains a little known area outside of Warrensburg NY
They re-opened 2009-2010 after having a hiatus of a few years.
First things first, there are no chair lifts at this mountain. This fact may turn away most skiers.
POMA LIFT EXAMPLE
Don't let the this scare you off.
POMA is one of the faster lifts.
The only drawback that I found was for every down there is an up.
You ski the mountain both ways.
Secondly, in the era of global warming, It's natural snow only...
So you get what you get.
Ski Report 2-17-2014
My wife and I got up there around noon, I don't normally ski longer than four hours since I have had broken my right leg back in 1991 at Mt Baldy (long story there)
She found the place delightful and rustic. I had plans to go with a friend, but he could not make it, so Harriet stepped in to keep me company.
The lodge had been rebuilt in the 70's after a fire, but they used the original plans to build it they way it looked in the 40's (best I could tell)
You have to understand, it's not the lodge that makes the experience, it's the people.
It's as if you are part of a small club, the staff are warm and welcoming.
There were quite a few "this is the first time we've been here." folks also.
My wife does not ski. So her hanging out in the lodge required us to make sure she had things to do. She packed her knitting, her drop spindle, audio books, comfy chair and lunch; as the lodge just has picnic tables.
She set up next to the fire place, settled in and I was off to the slopes.
so I grabbed my rock skis that I had found on the side of the road in May this year.
I rode Poma 1 to the mid-station to the top of Honey Run to test my legs, the snow and my new to me remounted bindings.
The snow had been packed down, but there was some "freshies" still on the side of the trail. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing off about fresh powder, but I had been skiing just an average of two outings a winter for the last twelve years.
I may be an expert skier, but I ain't stupid. Honey Run was kind to my legs so I dropped down to the T-bar as that area of the mountain is the first place to melt off and I had never seen the T-bar run before.
Let's say I am no fan of the newer t-bars.... I could not get the movable T positioned correctly so I wrapped my arm around the tube and the T and was dragged up-right on my skis up hill. Needless to say that's the last time I went near the T-Bar.
At the top of the T-bar I headed over to Cotton Tail then traversed to Poma-2
Poma 2 for the uninitiated runs faster than Poma 1. It also runs over a variable landscape of rills and hillocks. Luckily, the snow was forgiving.
I will not go into details of the rest of my runs, but I took a lunch break around 2 pm to check on Harriet and eat.
She was engaged in conversation as always and she never got to hear her audio books and barely knit!
I hit the slope again to poma 1 then went on slope for another hour.
My legs let me know I was done after I hit Upper Beatnik. My right leg had a cramp, so I took it slowly and actually wound up making fresh tracks in the middle of Upper Beatnik.
At 3:30 I was done for the day, the lodge was closing down and the last shift for ski patrol had hit the slopes for clearing.
I advise anyone who is search of a memorable ski area GO HERE!
More pic's at this gallery...
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