hey skied @ 7 Springs on Friday it was nice but today we went to Hidden Valley and it was reaaallly nice!!! The renovations are excellent - we grabbed some food and wine @ The Clock Tower restaurant/bar good chili . Actually the snow was waaay better than 7 springs! And not a whole lot of people either! I really liked it! Nice easy stuff to ski and not very hectic . A good relaxing place.

Thanks for the heads-up on Hidden Valley, Crush. I haven't skied either 7S or HV and hope to get over that way this season, probably just for a day trip. I figured that of course I'd go to Seven Springs. After reading your post, though, I'm taking a closer look at Hidden Valley.

Sounds as if you have a good time at both.

Woody

Definitely have to agree. Have the midweek pass at 7 Springs and ski HV mostly on the weekends and some weekdays as well. Without a doubt, the grooming, snow consistency and conditions have been much better at HV. Maybe it's just 'chance'---then again, maybe not?

Thanks for the HV info but I`m wondering if they`ve had a chance yet to do anything with the chairs. The lifts are fast enough as I remember but the chairs were pretty crude. Anyway,it`s great to see new ownership that cares.

I was hoping that they were going to open the Charger slope. They have been piling up snow on that one for the past 4 days - huge piles!. There were huge piles of snow on that slope yesterday and the snow makers just kept churning out more. Hopefully it will stay open for a while since under the old regime, this slope was rarely open and offers some nice cruising/challenge. When this slope is extended to the top of the hill, it may be the best Blue on the mountain.
Slope conditions were good this weekend. Sunday however was brutal - 2 degrees with a 20 MPH wind! Monday there were minimal lift lines. Usually I skied up and got on the chair.

Yeah they have this siamese-quad-lift thing (two quads running side by side) that looked all new and shinny. Most of the uphill traffic was using it so we used the older ones which never had a line for 'em ... so even tho they are old it's the fast way up. Also they have this groovy little thing off the other lift that is not in the main base area , like a gated, moving conveyor that you get on and then the lift chair scoots under you and off you go ... i've never seen anything like it but it was a hoot.

Actually, I think you are referring to the side-by-side triples (not quads) that are probably the most used lifts at HV. They did replace all the chairs this year on both triples. I (and most people I speak with agree, although not confirmed) believe they also increased the spacing between the chairs on these lifts which seems to be an improvement since they no longer are constantly slowing down or stopping the lift for inexperienced 'loaders'. They have also been running the 2-man located between thunderbird and firebird more often than in prior years which is a quicker way up that side of the mountain.

I have found that the loading conveyor which was installed at the North Summit quad lift has vastly improved the operation of that lift. It also used to stop frequently because of inexperienced or small children having difficulty loading. With the new loading conveyor, the lift rarely stops now. This lift could still be faster though. It's a long ride to the top.
A former Foundation board member told me that their original plan was to not even open the ski area this year. I assume that everything was in such decrepit condition from years of neglect they felt that replacement was the only way. They have done a yeoman's job of gussying things up.
Next season we're supposed to have a new quad lift replacing the two double chairs to the right of the Imperial slope. The old doubles are one speed (fast) but are dangerous for loading small kids. I hope the new quad gets us to the top as fast.
The pint of beer price has been lowered at John Harvards and I hear that they are attrachting locals. The Outback slope (not the Charger slope as someone else indicated) has seen extensive snow making and should be able to stay open for some time. This slope has rarely been open in the past. Now if they would start making snow on Barracuda!

Given Buncher's short & long range plans for HV and given the observable evidence of what they have accomplished in such a short time (about 4 months), the future looks very promising for HV. Now if only they could add about 500 feet of vertical (I'm sure they would if they could).

500 feet of vertical. If we could only do that. How is it that North Carolina was blessed with mountains over 5,000 feet in elevation. Could you imagine what HV would be like if it was the same elevation as Sugar Mountain (5,700 feet I believe!) And of course add 500 feet on top of HV's hills would be great. The founder of Mt. Snow in Vermont once proposed to use nuclear bombs to alter the mountain for skiing! How about taking 100 feet or so of fill from the quarry across Rte 31 and adding it to the top of the Outback area. Might not be 500' but every 100' counts. Also, if Buncher adds Laurel Mt to the mix, the vertical there is 900 feet. There's your 500 feet!

Skied at 7S this past Tuesday. Was snowing like mad all morning and had a nice day of skiing.

But yesterday (Thursday) I skied HV. In the morning, almost all slopes were groomed to perfect corduory. It was spectacular 'cruisin' conditions. A minor blizzard hit by early afternoon and by 5-6pm we had 4 or so inches of powder covering perfectly groomed slopes. Incredible skiing! In contrast, the powder at 7S on Tuesday was nice but couldn't trust what was underneath.

If you are bringing beginners to advanced intermediates out to ski, I have to suggest that you try HV for the great snow conditions. Buncher has been doing a great job with snowmaking and grooming.

Was at Hidden Valley yesterday. The snow conditions were great throughout the whole day. I have got to get a job that allows me to ski during the week to take advantage of those powder conditions. Never really any crowd. Hope that doesn't deter Buncher from continuing to invest in the place.

My understanding is that Buncher does recognize that they need to bring people back to the resort and that that won't happen instantly. It wasn't all that long ago (though time does go fast) that there were lift lines and pretty large crowds at HV.

They also have emphasized that they want a nice "resort experience" for their homeowners. I have heard that they basically intentionally eliminated a lot of the "group" skiing (ie. churches and schools coming up on buses). So maybe huge crowds isn't what they are after (we have 7S for that).

Was there yesterday as well. Skiing was good, and quite honestly, there were more people there yesterday than there were on any Sunday the last few seasons under Kettlers. So I'd say they are definitely on track.

Send the church and youth groups to Laurel next year, I loved teaching the 5 week plans over there. So much fun taking a never ever on their first full mountain run.

Yeah I had heard that the groups were chopped off too. The 6 week adult program was canned. That was a great program. As teenagers my kids learned a ton being involved with it. There were hundreds of people. Timberline still makes a living on a steady stream of kids in scout groups. Go figure.

I think they still have the 5 week programs. I know a couple people who's children have been going up to HV with their schools this year. Our district chose SS due to the uncertainity of HV for this season. Hopefully they will change their mind and go to HV next year.

If anyone had the pleasure of being at HV Sunday morning, I just have to say:

Major kudos to the grooming crew. I realize that it did warm up some from Friday night to Sunday morning, but everything was pretty firm on Saturday, and on Sunday morning, everything they had groomed was nearly perfect corduroy. I mean, it was actually hard to believe that I was at Hidden Valley. Great job by the grooming crew.