Hickory Ski Center

[Snowballs]

i see it's for sale. anybody know how much ? who's the realtor? and who does Harv make his check out to ?

anybody ever ski there? share some tales ?

would be cool to have your own ski area. put a house on the hill, rip around in the summer on your quad. free lift tickets to Hotties . possiblities here.

yo Harv........are you gonna charge to park ? Sure hope the food is good..............but Merlot?

http://www.nelsap.org/ny/hickory1.html

[mattchuck2]

Last I saw, it was like $1.2 million.

There was a real estate listing for it a while back, but I can't seem to find it now.

I only skied there once (as a kid), but I remember it being awesome (serious pitch and vert for a smaller mountain).

Also, the mountain produced some of the better skiers who ski at Gore now.

[mattchuck2]

Found this:

http://www.loopnet.com/property/14958257/43-Hickory-Hill-Road/

It would immediately be the best ski area in the east if I owned it. Let's hope nobody bought it and turned it into a "hunting camp" as this listing suggests.

[Snowballs]

right. thanks for your posts- they where interesting. reread OP- i added a link

about the terrain. i've always heard it was pretty cool, rad, gnarly so on. but i never knew how much credence to give such talk.

do you really think it's THAT good ? what would make it the "best in the east" ? i see it's got 20 % more vert. than West Mtn does. on the link Matt posted it claims " the 6th steepest vertical drop in the east".

the mtn looks cool from the road. add bottom to top chair, snowmaking. looks like a whole lotta glades.

Anybody else got Hickory Tales ?

[skimore]

That place was great. Was there 2 years ago. Some trails were starting to get a little brushy, but some were fine.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3341/3200708134_8b5f1acfa1.jpg

[skimore]

It had the gnarliest poma. It would launch you off the ground at the start. I watched people fall on there face trying to ride that thing. I saw people scared to get on it.

[Snowballs]

check out that hand painted map. ^^^ i'll bet that trail map will bring back memories to some.

about that poma, do you think it was the operating speed that caused it to be gnarly? on one of the sites i read " a high speed poma " describetion

[jimmer]

never skied there, been by it a thousand times,rode my 4-wheeler up it,it is steep,i remember as a kid we used to go to the sitting bull( I THINK THAT WAS THE NAME OF IT)for a winter party,a plane would fly over and drop styrofoam balls,if you got one you got some kinda prize,it was pretty cool,the place had indoor swimming and a pretty good buffet on sundays.it was the place you go by to get to the ski hill,in case u were wondering.

[Snowballs]

you road your quad at hickory ? did you hit many of the trails or just an up and over poach ?

yep. Sitting Bull. i stayed there in the late summer of '01, right before i moved here. i had fun, nice pond, bar and it was run by a little guy named - Big Jim ! he was a Dink.

[jimmer]

you road your quad at hickory ? did you hit many of the trails or just an up and over poach ?

yep. Sitting Bull. i stayed there in the late summer of '01, right before i moved here. i had fun, nice pond, bar and it was run by a little guy named - Big Jim ! he was a Dink. yea we rode the trails,they had an atv expo in LG and the ridding part was at hickory,the next year it was at west mt,not sure whatever happened to the expo it was a good time,the trails at west were awsome.

[ka2kci]

Ahhh Hickory Hill. I used to be a regular skier there. It has some of the steepest gnarliest glades in NY State. The Poma's were high speed....you had to be pretty much an expert skier just to survive the ride up. The local kids would build jumps on the upper poma so that you got plenty of air (like 10 feet) on the way up!!!.

After skiing Hickory, everything at Gore and Whiteface seems relatively easy. Hickory never made snow and didn't groom anything so you had steep moguls with 5 to 10 foot drops to negotiate. Throw in a few choice rocks and you always had to be on your game. There's no such thing as cruising at this mountain.

One of the beauties of the Hick is that the poma's were immune to the wind. You could ski there with a -20 degree temp and a howling wind and you never got cold. Usually, most skiers couldn't take more than about four hours of punishment there since you never really got a chance to rest on the ride up. The people that ran Hickory were super cool and very retro and everybody cheered each other going down the main trail (Winfall) as you were riding up the poma. The lift tickets were always cheap and since they were only open on weekends, if if snowed during the week, it was waiting for you on Saturday morning. My best day ever there was during the Blizzard of '93 with 36 inches of new powder to play in. It was awesome.

Unfortunately, they have had maintence problems with the lifts and a lack of volunteers. The local town won't give them any tax breaks and they had no choice but to close. I heard a rumor that it has been purchased by some guy from Texas who plans to put a chair lift in and add snowmaking. I don't have this confirmed. If anybody has more info regarding this please let me know.

Best of all...THEY DON'T CHARGE FOR PARKING!!!

[Snowballs]

great tale! the poma " launch " sounds like fun. also sounds like the little rascals had a ball ! which is what it's all about.

i see what you mean about lifts being cold proof. kinda like the high peaks chair, before it crosses cloud, low to the ground keeps you outta the wind. would be good advice to any new owner. a bottom to top, terrain hugging, closed in by trees, low to the ground chair could have been skied even these last couple of frigids.

if anyone has info on any sale please post here.

anyone got anymore tales on the trails, glades, possible cliffs to chute or rocks to huck, or just good time memories ? Please share.

[megatron]

It sold last year to some guy from Texas :shock: But, I heard from the agent that sold it that he was going to try to open it. But, the land is zoned resource management by the APA, and the "grandfathering" time ran out before the sale was completed. So, this means to open, he will have to go through the entire permitting process of the APA, not just the local review boards. I am sure eventually he will be able to open, but the cost is not gonna be cheap.

C

[twinplanx]

I was up in LG the weekend after New Years and headed up to Gore, when a hill w/ some cut trails caught my eye outside of Warrensburg. I phoned a friend who told me of fond memories at Hickory Bump. The real "kicker" was he to recalled the wicked poma launch. All this just a few days before this thread was started :shock:

[SnowSnake]

I was there about 10 years ago and the place rocked, no ropes, no grooming just pure fall line line skiing with moguls rocks and trees. I hope this Texan really intends to open it back up, and not hold it as some investment, would be nice to have another option other than Gore up there.

[Snowballs]

skiresortsnow.com listes Hickory's longest run at 10,560 ft - 2 miles !

i found two reviews of Hickory, both spoke really fond of the " Hill ". both also said if you could ski Hickory you could ski anywhere. the mtn. seems to be really close to a connect on the NYS Snowmoble trail system.

let's hope it re-opens. let's also hope it would have tower mounted snow cannons that only need water and electricity, skipping the expense of piping air all over the hill, buying large air compressors and the large amount of electricity they consume and paying an army of snowmakers to set up/attend the out of date approach. w/tower mounted snow cannons you just flip a switch to start making snow ....like at West mtn. plus electrifying the mtn. brings the option of night skiing, which gets good business when close to a metro area. West mtn. does good night ski business. the extra customers would help a new Hickory's bottom line.

let's hope we find more out about the sale. we could contact the new owner to show encouraging enthusiasm, good ideas, and insights based on our local expertise and past experiences at Hickory Ski Center.

[Lbtchnlgs]

I rode Hickory last year, took about 3.5 runs. What a gnar mountain. Knee deep powder to my self. Did pick up a solid core shot, but it was cool riding an abandoned mountain with all that snow. Did see a few other folks around noon who started hiking for their turns.

It was neat snooping around looking in the lodge, the "groomer" sitting at the base and the concessions area. The hut up top is pretty cool too. It would be killer if it re-opened. Gore/Whiteface/Hickory pass (with no affiliation!, just benefit from night skiing) Warrensburg would greatly benefit

[Snowballs]

I rode Hickory last year, took about 3.5 runs. What a gnar mountain. Knee deep powder to my self. Did pick up a solid core shot, but it was cool riding an abandoned mountain with all that snow. Did see a few other folks around noon who started hiking for their turns.

It was neat snooping around looking in the lodge, the "groomer" sitting at the base and the concessions area. The hut up top is pretty cool too. It would be killer if it re-opened. Gore/Whiteface/Hickory pass (with no affiliation!, just benefit from night skiing) Warrensburg would greatly benefit

whacha do....poach it ? do others poach it ? anybody wanna organise a clandestine trip to Hickory ? people seem to equate Hickory in a MRG catagory......ski it if you can.

Warrensburg would greatly benefit. so would we. my drive time would be halved.

[skimore]

whacha do....poach it ? do others poach it ?

you don't listen very well....he gave the answers

[Snowballs]

whacha do....poach it ? do others poach it ?

you don't listen very well....he gave the answers

yea i know what he said. i was just makin sure as those lifts ran on again - off again and wanted to know if people poach it regularly. so there.

[Lbtchnlgs]

Yeah you gotta hike up.

Skiied the Lake Chutes today. First time i've been a little nervous about going down something in a long while. 55 degrees. My roomate ragdolled 3 times and slid the rest of the way after make 1.5 measly turns
http://www.postimage.org/aV2W8XpA.jpg (http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aV2W8XpA)

[twinplanx]

I rode Hickory last year, took about 3.5 runs. What a gnar mountain. Knee deep powder to my self. Did pick up a solid core shot, but it was cool riding an abandoned mountain with all that snow. Did see a few other folks around noon who started hiking for their turns.

It was neat snooping around looking in the lodge, the "groomer" sitting at the base and the concessions area. The hut up top is pretty cool too. It would be killer if it re-opened. Gore/Whiteface/Hickory pass (with no affiliation!, just benefit from night skiing) Warrensburg would greatly benefit


I'm wondering what "Tex" thinks of folks tresparsan? Has anyone ran into a hassle over there?

[Snowballs]

I rode Hickory last year, took about 3.5 runs. What a gnar mountain. Knee deep powder to my self. Did pick up a solid core shot, but it was cool riding an abandoned mountain with all that snow. Did see a few other folks around noon who started hiking for their turns.

It was neat snooping around looking in the lodge, the "groomer" sitting at the base and the concessions area. The hut up top is pretty cool too. It would be killer if it re-opened. Gore/Whiteface/Hickory pass (with no affiliation!, just benefit from night skiing) Warrensburg would greatly benefit


I'm wondering what "Tex" thinks of folks tresparsan? Has anyone ran into a hassle over there?

see skimore that's why i was askin.

i found two videos on you tube. Hike up Hickory Hill - New York 12-26-08 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCk2NYZ8alY&NR=1
Ski Hickory Hill-12-26-08 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGQeAoHoVL4&NR=1



http://www.loopnet.com/43-Hickory-Hill-Road-Warrensburg-NY-12885-Property_EvW9Zeo4A/ click and drag image up to see Hickory mtn.

i found this page from a link on the page Matt posted - thanks Matt.

[B SMACKER]

Yeah you gotta hike up.

Skiied the Lake Chutes today. First time i've been a little nervous about going down something in a long while. 55 degrees. My roomate ragdolled 3 times and slid the rest of the way after make 1.5 measly turns
http://www.postimage.org/aV2W8XpA.jpg (http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aV2W8XpA)

That looks like the back side of Gore!!!

[Snowballs]

overheard shuttle stop conversation yesterday.

60ish lady " I grew up Skiing Hickory. if you could ski hickory, you can ski anything.huge moguls, trees, rocks cuz that's all there was. my kids still go on about how much they loved it ".

she said the " sale is tenative, cuz he wants to buy the whole thing. some of the shareholders don't wanna sell".

[Harvey44]

I want 1%.

And I want to patrol the trees.

:D

[skimore]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3305/3215126241_38bccf95df.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3485/3215126299_7557be3c14.jpg

[Lbtchnlgs]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3305/3215126241_38bccf95df.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3485/3215126299_7557be3c14.jpg

when are these from?

[skimore]

when are these from?

2005

[Powderqueen]

I skied it back then when it wasn't open on weekdays. Never did get to experience the poma. I heard people say "ride it if you can" about that surface lift. We hiked it back then on the weekdays. It is a sweet mountain.

I looked at it last weekend and was wondering what the crust was like on it. There was about 8" of fluff on top of crust in the woods up high, but probably more crust down there. That mtn isn't that high.

[fujative.]

my ski team coach skinned up it this saturday. i didnt hear much about the conditions though, and next time ill see him is on weds so i cant get much info.

but rossi told me his dad said someone bought it... any word on this?