This post is the second in my series of skiing posts ranking resorts (Vermont was the first). New York is home to the most ski resorts of any state in the U.S. Somehow, we’ve only skied two. That’s because over the years, Hunter Mountain – the closest big mountain as my husband will say – became our home mountain. We have a condo there and our daughter is learning to ski there. Therefore, this post is mostly about Hunter. I’d like to think we also know the mountain well. I’ve skied there since my first year on skies, and my husband’s been doing West Side laps for over two decades.
Once our daughters are older, I have high hopes to venture out from Hunter and hit up Plattekill, Belleayre, Gore, and Whiteface. Until then, this is all I have. FWIW, I’ve heard great things about all four.
Disclosures: I’m in no way compensated for any of this (I wish someone would sponsor my ski trips). Opinions mine, rankings come from conversations with my husband (mostly) and some friends. Thoughts were accurate as of my last visit, which could be up to 5 years ago. If you want to read more about the criteria I made up or how I score things, check out my “Ski the East: Vermont” post.
The New York Score Box
| Hunter | Windham | |
| Skiable Acres | 320 | 280 |
| Trails | 67 | 54 |
| Vertical | 1,600 | 1,600 |
| On Mountain | ||
| Terrain | 3 | 4 |
| Uphill Capacity | 3 | 3 |
| Snow | 2 | 3 |
| Personal Experience | 2 | 3 |
| Food and Beverage | 2 | 3 |
| On Mountain Average | 2.4 | 3.2 |
| Off Mountain | ||
| Getting There | 1 | 1 |
| Accommodations | 1 | 1 |
| Apres ski | 2 | 3 |
| Rest Day Activities | 2 | 2 |
| Off Mountain Average | 1.5 | 1.8 |
| Final Score | 2.1 | 2.7 |
| Multi-Mountain Pass? | Epic | Ikon |
| Daycare? | No | No |
Hunter Mountain – All In Score: 2.1
Hunter is a skier’s mountain. Surprisingly challenging, it can be a bit of a tough mountain for groups with mixed abilities, but if you are an advanced to expert skier and you want a fun day without driving all the way to Vermont, Hunter is your mountain.
On Mountain – 2.4
Terrain – 2.5: This would absolutely be a 2 bordering a 1 if Vail invested a bit more on snowmaking and maintenance on Hunter West and the top of Hunter One/East. I think they’ve given up on that last one, and they haven’t cleared most of the trails on Hunter West in several years, meaning it takes a DUMP to get most of Hunter West open. That said, when Hunter does have the West side open, it’s amazing. Some of the best skiing in the East. Ungroomed, super steep, and a dedicated high speed quad servicing the terrain. Last season, they mostly had Clair’s Way open, which was better than the previous few years of nothing.
Hunter also has several areas of fun glades (not as much as a VT mountain but better than nothing), when there’s snow. When there isn’t nature provided snow, Hunter still offers a lot of great options for advanced/expert skiers. Beginners will need to be content over on Hunter East’s 3 runs, and taking one of the two chairs servicing mid mountain. There’s only one intermediate trail from the top of the main mountain – The Belt Parkway. Weekend traffic on the Belt gets as bad if not worse as it’s namesake during rush hour. It’s also a true intermediate trail. I took some beginners down it last winter and they were not happy about that life experience.
With the addition of the North Side a few years ago, Hunter really expanded their intermediate terrain. Personally, this is my favorite side of the mountain. It’s not as crowded as the main face and the 6 pack allows you to do laps. It gets super icy in the afternoons though, so be aware.
If you can ski diamonds, Hunter has a lot on offer. There are a couple fun runs on the North side, Hunter West when it’s open, and then the main mountain. Upper Crossover and Milky Way tend to be ungroomed and bumpy all season, so you can get in some turns. Racer’s Edge is STEEP, not for the faint of heart. My top 3 runs are Minya Konka, Eisenhower Drive, and Overlook on the North Side. My Husband loves Hunter West.
Uphill Capacity – 3: Hunter has two 6 packs, a high-speed quad, and 6 other lifts if they are all turning (a big if on that one). It’s still not enough to manage the crowds, particularly on the main mountain. The line at the Flyer on a weekend can be brutal. We tend to take the B chair to the F and ski off the F or the West/North side until lunch, after which the flyer line lets up a bit. They are planning to make some upgrades for the 2025 season, so stay tuned.
Snow – 2.5: Hunter’s claim to fame has always been its snowmaking. They were one of if not the first to have full mountain coverage. When the Slutskys ran the mountain, they seemed to care about coverage over profit and blanketed everything. Vail seems to be more strategic, focusing on keeping good coverage on the most popular trails while leaving more advanced terrain (looking at you Hunter West) to Mother Nature. Mother nature can be fickle in the Catskills. March tends to be the best time for dumps. Vail recently announced they are planning to add more automated snowmaking to the mountain including on Belt Parkway and Clair’s Way, which could really help in future seasons.
Personal Experience – 2: We obviously love Hunter or we wouldn’t have a condo there. Would it be better with about half the people and more snow? Of course! Is it your best option in the area if you don’t want to drive to Vermont? Also yes.
Views from the top are beautiful. I’ve always been mesmerized by the frozen icicles that line the Belt Parkway. On a powder day, I’ve had as much fun at Hunter as some of my best days out west. Even after 2 winters of skiing laps upon laps here, the mountain still delivers and keeps you on your toes.
Food and Beverage – 2: For a smaller mountain, Hunter has a decent amount of on-mountain dining. The main lodge has a cafeteria, pizza station, sandwich spot, and an awesome bar that people literally line up for at opening time. There are also two restaurants at the base area – Rip Van Winkles and Copper Kettle. Lastly, on weekends, there’s a small cafe at the summit serving soups and small bites.
Off Mountain – 1.5
Getting There – 1: why is Hunter so crowded? Because it’s so convenient. At just over two hours from Manhattan, it’s the closest big mountain skiing. Bus tours for day trippers are wildly popular on the weekends. For us, it’s equal distance to the Poconos for significantly better skiing. At the end of the day, it’s all about location, location, location.
Parking can be aggressive. Since it’s mostly only friends and family reading this blog, I’ll let you in on a secret. There’s a parking lot served by the Hunter North lift that is never busy and is a very short walk to the six-pack. This season it’s only serviced by diamonds until they get the blue trails open. It also lacks facilities save a few port-a-potties. To find the lot, drive past the mountain road and make a left turn over the next bridge you come to.
Accommodations – 1: Both Hunter and nearby Tannersville have tons of options ranging from flea bag motels, high-end luxury hotels, ski-on/ski-off rentals (like ours!), houses, and everything in between. Nearly everything has a two-night minimum during ski season unless you head down the mountain pass to Saugerties. Before kids we always stayed in Tannersville so we could walk to all the bars and restaurants. Once we had a kid, ski on/ski off at the mountain has been a life saver.
Apres ski – 2: You have three real options for Apres:
- The lodge bar which usually has live music or a DJ on the weekends, so that’s super fun.
- Ronnie Macgregor’s across fom the mountain access road – this is where the locals will be, a fun dive bar that is usually cash only
- Head into Tannersville and hit up Slopes or Last Chance. This is a great option if you are staying in Tannersville. Slopes is under newer ownership and is pushing to make Apres a thing there so they have DJs and specials.
Rest Day Activities – 2:
Most people come to Hunter for 2-3 days so rest days are rare, but for the non-skiers in the group there are a ton of activities in the area. Hiking, snowmobile tours, shopping, cross-country skiing/snowshoeing, this area in the Catskills has a lot on offer! See my “summer in the Catskills” post for information on hiking and shopping.
Windham Mountain – All In Score: 2.7
Windham made some big changes going into the winter of 2023-24. Notably, they’ve moved to more of a private club model, restricting lift ticket sales and requiring 2-day minimum passes on the weekends for non-club members. It’s still unclear how this will impact the mountain. Opinions below are based on my visit in 2018 during a massive snowstorm that took Hunter’s power out and sent us to Windham. With the changes the new owners have made, we are unlikely to visit any time soon.
On Mountain – 3.2
Terrain – 4
If you want to ski groomers or have a more intermediate group of skiers, Windham is a great mountain. For us, particularly on a powder day, it was a bit of a let down. We had to work to find more challenging terrain, and trees seemed non-existant. That could be because we didn’t know the mountain, but overall, this was a much easier mountain to ski than Hunter.
Uphill Capacity – 3
Lift capacity was fine, especially given how crowded it was. They seemed to have a good mix of high speed lifts and fixed grips to allow you to disperse a bit across the mountain.
Snow – 3
This more speaks to the grooming than the snowmaking. My understanding is Windham has solid snow making, and they keep a lot open all winter. That said, they seem to groom everything, which is not my personal preference.
Personal experience – 3
We had a great day at Windham, but also felt a little cheated. With two feet of powder, it should have been an epic day. The following day, we went to Hunter and did in fact have an Epic day. 🙂
Food and Beverage – 3
The lodge at Windham is beautiful, and has lots of options. Which is great, because it’s your only option. With the changes, they are planning to add additional dining FWIW.
Off Mountain – 1.8
I’m not going to go into detail on most of these as Windham is only 15 minutes from Hunter, so everything for all previous categories except Apres apply here and I scored the same.
Getting There – 1
Accommodations – 1
Apres ski – 3: A short word here. I personally feel that the town of Windham does not have as much going on as Hunter and especially Tannersville. The day we skied there I think we went straight to Tannersville for Apres since the lodge was mobbed.
Rest Day Activities – 2
I look forward to many more years at Hunter, and getting to update this post as we explore new mountains!
Adventures Await 