Hidden Valley is open for skiing.
February 13, 2007
33 posts
11 users
15k+ views
Hidden Valley is open today and Sunday from 9a.m. - 4 p.m.
However, there is nothing at all in the ski shop. Hopefully, they were pointing towards a 12/15/ opening and thus have this week to stock the shelves.
The original opening date for the slopes was to be next fri. the 15th. I have been told the shop will open next weekend.
That is what I kind of said and thought.
Does anybody know what the prospectus is for skiing at HV over the MLK weekend?
Listed as open today, 1-12-07, Friday 9-10, 25 dollars for lift tix, 4 slopes on the valley side open. (Counting on the reliability of the website here, even though it has been listing the dates as 2006 for the past few days.) I know they have been working hard blowing snow the last few days, plus 4-5 inches natural. Raining now, however, and 40 degrees on the thermometer on my porch at the top of Imperial.Have to keep our fingers crossed.
Do you think that they could at least get Imperial open?
I doubt it. It rained fairly steady here today. When I drove down the hill, I did not see one skier. (Doesn't mean there were not any out there. I just did not see any.) Temps stayed at 40 degrees plus.
Just came back from HV. They didn't even have the tubing run open yesterday.
Although colder temps are expected later this week, this season has been a disaster for the area. There was a lead article in the Somerset Newspaper Sunday about impact it is having from the B&B's to the Rental shops to the part time workers. The Somerset "Fire and Ice" Ice sculpture event had all the ice quickly reduced to rounded blocks of wet slop.
As you know, HV is already in a tenuous financial position . They have no other way of making income other than the golf course, skiing and real estate sales since the inn and conference center closed. I just hope they are able to make a go of operating the ski area. The 'Outback' slopes did not open last year. Looks like 2 years in a row.
My ski jones is not gettin' satified.
A friend of mine stopped up at HV over the weekend to get his picture taken for his pass and see what was going on at the resort. In talking to an employee, they suggested that at this point, it was possible that HV was going to pretty much throw in the towel on the ski season and not even attempt to open. This was not anyone with any authority, but an employee nonetheless.
Someone please tell me this person was confused or enjoys starting nasty rumors. Anyone who lives up there please report if and when the guns fire back up.
All of my contacts including the National Ski Areas Association have indicated that *no* resort in the mid-Atlantic is throwing in the towel. Temperatures look good for snowmaking this week and there's still the potential for a good two months left in the season. Visitors easily offset the cost of making snow so it makes no economic sense for a resort to "give up" with so many potential snowmaking days left in the season.
If you hear rumors of any resort "throwing in the towel" before mid-March, please ignore them -- they're not true.
Thank you for the reply, Scott. That is what I assumed, but with the way this winter has gone (hopefully changing as we speak), nothing would surprise me!
Leo
Hidden Valley is already making snow today. I can't see them throwing in the towel already. It is only Jan 16th.
They are trying again--blowing snow most of the day today Tuesday into Tuesday night. (sigh...)
Thanks for the info everyone. I couldn't imagine such a thing could be true, but, you never know.
Anyone know if they plan to open before this weekend?
I heard they were planning on opening on Thurs. the 18th.
Right--that info is up on the website.
Well I gave up and signed up for a trip to Telluride. But when I come back, I'm hoping that the slopes will be in tip-top shape. I can't imagine them not opening unless they ran out of cash to run the machines. They need some income and besides, there are I believe more that 1,000 season passes. It has been a while since we had a big snow event in the Laurel Mts. Thus we are due for one. A big snow event could salvage the season and allow the whole mountain to open. we still could have 2.5 months of skiing.
Actually, I heard that they sold well over 2000 season passes this season (more than last year)but, as a comparison, far less than the 11,000+ passes that 7S claims to have sold.
Anyway, made it up this weekend. HV was making snow full-blast Thurs night, all day Friday and Saturday (even during sessions which was difficult in combo with pretty strong,swirling winds) and had partial snowmakers on throughout today (SUN). Nothing was groomed on Saturday but today pretty much everything on front face was opened and imperial, cobra, continental, rambler and beginners area were groomed -- it was a nice day of skiing. Was told that snowmakers have also been on on North face however there was not enough snow on tracker (crossover) to open N.Face. They did have portable blowers going on Tracker pretty much full time however, until today, when the winds died down, seemed that little of the man-made was 'settling' where intended. Got several inches of the real stuff over the weekend and it was still snowing pretty good when I took off mid afternoon. It was just good to get out and feel those leg muscles again! Nothing advil can't handle.
I have not been to HV in a while. The website says they're 100% open. I will be up there this weekend. Can anybody provide an informal trip report? This is the 1st time they have been 100% open since 2004, I believe.
Any news on the sale of the resort?
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I have not been to HV in a while. The website says they're 100% open. I will be up there this weekend. Can anybody provide an informal trip report? This is the 1st time they have been 100% open since 2004, I believe.
Any news on the sale of the resort?
It looks like all has been quiet on the HV front. I was originally planning on hitting winterfest this weekend, since my better half does not do snowsports. I found out last week that a fraternal I belong to still has their annual ski weekend at HV this coming weekend. If it really is 100% more or less, I might just have to head over there.
It has been more than a decade since I skied Hidden Valley.
The only area that might not be 100% is some of the new slopes on the back side. And even those slopes have enough cover just from the natural snowfall we've had. Conditions are as good as they've been in years. HV has definitely put a reasonable effort in to the ski operation this year.
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The only area that might not be 100% is some of the new slopes on the back side. And even those slopes have enough cover just from the natural snowfall we've had. Conditions are as good as they've been in years. HV has definitely put a reasonable effort in to the ski operation this year.
That is correct. The Outback, as well as the rest of the slopes, was open over the weekend, but kind of choppy. But conditions are indeed great--as far as I am concerned, the best they have been in years.
And I have heard nothing as to the sale of the resort. 
I don't have anything to add -- just got tired of seeing the older subject "Hidden Valley is not open for skiing" since that's clearly no longer the case, so I updated the subject.
Just returned from my third weekend in a row skiing HV and just want to pass along that slopes have been getting in progressively better condition and could not have possibly been in better shape then they were this past weekend. Every slope/trail is open EXCEPT for the halfpipe. (And significant more snow is predicted for the laurels this week!) With the Prresidents Day weekend coming up and more popular resorts (i.e., 7S) likely to be packed, just wanted to give a quick report on the conditions at HV for all to be aware.
I was there this weekend and conditions were quite good. In fact in the 3 years I have been skiing at Hidden Valley, Saturday was the most crowded I have ever seen Hidden Valley. There must have been a large group because I saw a lot of those ancient rear entry boots and Dynastar skis that HV somehow still maintains in the rental inventory. I doubt they'll last another year.
Unfortunately there was a very strong 'up slope' wind which severly retared your downhill velocity. And man was it cold - 15 degrees on Saturday, with a tough wind chill. Sunday it was a little warmer and the crowds were gone, although there was a good turn out. My only complaint as far as snow conditions was the Charger and Outback slope which appeared to have no snow making coverage and relied on natural snow cover only. Given the cold weather, I would have hoped they could have made snow on these slopes since they haven't been open in 2 years. While these slopes were considered 'open' there was grass and rocks sticking up through the snow. When I left on Sunday, the waitress at the Italian Oven told me that 1 foot of snow was predicted for Monday and Tuesday. Hopefully this will provide coverage for these slopes.
On a final note, I would like to lament the passing of JP's Restuarant, probably the best restuarant in the Somerset City limits. Hopefully another one will show up to give us some better choices.
Anyone who was there Sunday have an update on the instructor who fell from the lift? It looked to be fairly serious...hope all is okay.
I assume that this may have occured on the Lightning or Blizzard lifts? Since they cannot control the speed of these ancient lifts, they can be dangerous. I can't believe all the young kids I have seen fall off while loading. These lifts are fast ( I call them the 'Express Duo), but they are dangerous and need replacing. I also heard that the previous weekend, the arm rest bar broke off one of the chairs and they had to stop the lift. I truly hope no one gets hurt.
Yes, I was skiing hv on sunday and the the situation for a time appeared rather 'serious'.
However, thru the grapevine, via a hv neighbor of mine, i heard that the young man in question miraculously (and thankfully) suffered no long term, permanent injuries. He apparently has several broken ribs and a badly broken arm.
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I assume that this may have occured on the Lightning or Blizzard lifts?
I'd almost forgotten about these "Express Duo" lifts. Several years ago when I was teaching my daughters at HV, my cousin fell off this lift shortly after loading. (He was OK...only shaken up) Like a lot of the old double chairs, you load from the side rather than the rear like you do on most modern lifts, which means both riders have to ski down or push the ramp and execute a small turn while trying to line up. As I remember, this lift comes on you very fast and bangs you pretty hard. And it's the only way to the Outback from the Main Area.
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It has been more than a decade since I skied Hidden Valley.
Same here! I was only a sophmore in college since the last time I've skied at Hidden Valley, and that is something like 15 or so years ago! I used to live in Uniontown and remember going up there during Christmas break (it was cheaper than 7 Springs at the time as well, which is why I went up there). I remember skiing that place at least a good 10 times or so during a typical break. Seems they have added a bit of terrain (wish I still had one of the old maps), since then.
A humorous aside - seem like everytime I've seen one of those "Hidden Valley Range" salad dressing commercials, I keep wondering how the skiing is there! 
Definitly need to get back up there one of these days.
It is a family resort mostly. HV gets plenty of natural snow and the snow making isn't bad.Challenge is limited, Imperial and Cobra are the best runs. The conditions can be quite good for the Mid-Atlantic. Stop by Glaciers Pub for a cold one.
