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Tags: Catamount Ski, fireworks, Hunter Mountain, Satellite Shine, ski, skiing, Windham Mountain
The Watershed Post’s Lissa Harris writes about a feature about skiing the Catskills in The Washington Post. In “The Impulsive Traveler,” freelancer Irwin Curtin takes his family for a weekend of skiing at Hunter and Windham, and compares the experience at the mountains which are ten miles apart. He also gives a thumbs up to several of the area’s inns and restaurants. Read the Washington Post’s feature about Hunter and Windham.
Tags: Hunter Mountain, ski, skiing, Windham Mountain
National Weather Service forecasters predict that it may actually feel a bit like winter on the area’s three mountains this weekend. Catamount Ski in Columbia County has 28 trails and four lifts open with 16-36″ of snow. Windham Mountain has a snow base between 14″ and 44″ on 40 trails with six lifts open. Hunter Mountain has up to 18″ to 72″ of snow on 43 trails with six lifts.
WGXC’s Paul Smart talked with Hunter Mountain snowmaker Bruce Fansue Wed., Feb. 8 on the “Work” show on WGXC, about just how many people it takes to make all the snow on the mountain. Click here to here an excerpt of that interview.
(Note to hosts: 10-second Ski report bumper is available in Campcaster for intro/outro.)
Tags: Catamount Ski, Hunter Mountain, ski, skiing, snow, Windham Mountain
Another winter week without real snow on the mountains, and higher temperatures. Catamount Ski in Columbia County has 30 trails and four lifts open with 16-36″ of snow. Windham Mountain has a snow base between 14″ and 44″ on 40 trails with six lifts open. Hunter Mountain has up to 18″ to 72″ of snow on 45 trails with seven lifts. All three mountains are offering Super Bowl-weekend specials.
(Note to hosts: 10-second Ski report bumper is available in Campcaster for intro/outro.)
Tags: Catamount Ski, Hunter Mountain, ski, skiing, snow, Windham Mountain
Mountain conditions
All three mountains got a little snow this week. Catamount Ski in Columbia County was closed Friday because of the rain, but reopens Saturday with 16-36″ of snow. Windham Mountain has a snow base between 16″ and 48″ on 40 trails with five lifts open. Hunter Mountain‘s snowtubing is closed Friday, but back open Saturday. The mountain has up to 18″ to 72″ of snow on 45 trails with six lifts.
Tags: Catamount Ski, Hunter Mountain, snow, Windham Mountain
Listen to Jack Ross-Pilkington with an audio ski report here. PLAY CLIP
Meanwhile, Chris Valdez in the Windham Journal reports that at Windham Mountain this weekend, the Adaptive Sports Foundation holds its eighth annual Learn to Ski and Ride Festival for the veterans of the Wounded Warriors Project. The free festival, formerly known as Support the Troops, is a three-day event introducing disabled veterans to skiing, snowboarding, tubing and ice skating on the slope side of Windham Mountain. “It’s one more step for our vets to transition back into civilian life,” volunteer ski instructor and media coordinator Karen Feldman said. “It gives them confidence to try other things, expand their comfort zone and understand their abilities. When they see that they can do this, it empowers them to try other things.” Read the full story in the Windham Journal.
Mountain conditions
All three mountains got a few inches of snow this week. Catamount Ski in Columbia County reports 25 of 33 trails are open, with four of six lifts running, and 16-32″ of snow. Windham Mountain has a snow base between 16″ and 44″ on 41 trails with six lifts open. Hunter Mountain has up to 12″ to 50″ of snow on 41 trails with six lifts.
Tags: Catamount Ski, Hunter Mountain, skiing, snow, Windham Mountain
W. T. Eckert in The Daily Mail reports that 41-year-old Brian Mattice of Gilboa, a Hunter Mountain Ski Resort staff member, died Wednesday, falling 200 feet from a ski trail. Working with snow-making equipment in the morning, Mattice slipped on ice, slid down an embankment near the Milky Way ski trail, state police said. striking a tree and rock. “Mattice was wearing a helmet and ‘crampon’ style foot gear attached to his boots,” Eckert wrote. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.
Tags: Brian Mattice, Hunter Mountain
Catamount Ski in Columbia County opened last weekend, and will be back open this weekend in Hillsdale with 8″ to 20″ snow base on 15 trails with four lifts. On Windham Mountain‘s second weekend open, more than 200 Santas on skis raised more than $2000 for the local food pantry at Hope Restoration Church in Windham on Sun., Dec. 18. Windham Mountain has an artificial snow base between 6″ and 25″ on 14 trails with three lifts open. Hunter Mountain has up to 44″ of mostly artificial snow on 23 trails with five lifts.
Tags: Catamount Ski, Hope Restoration Church, Hunter Mountain, Santa, ski conditions, skiiing, Windham Mountain
Tags: Hunter Mountain, skiing, snow, Windham Mountain
Lissa Harris in the Watershed Post blog reports that over 800 cyclists will trek through Greene and Ulster counties for the fourth annual Tour of the Catskills, a three-day road race that over almost 200 miles with amateur and professional cyclists that begins Fri., Aug. 5 at Hunter Mountain with a 12-mile individual time trial. From the Watershed Post:
The video above shows a few of last year’s cyclists pushing through the infamous Devil’s Kitchen stretch of Platte Clove Road in Saugerties, which was added to the race just last year. It’s a notoriously punishing climb, with some stretches over 22% grade; local biking blog Capital District Road Climbs calls it “quite possibly the most hellacious climb in New York State, and one of the most difficult climbs in the Northeast.”
The Watershed Post’s radio show, “The Half-Hour News Hour,” which airs on WIOX in Roxbury, will also air today, Fri., Aug. 5 at 3 p.m. on WGXC 90.7-FM.
Tags: bicycles, cycling, Hunter Mountain, Tour of the Catskills
Jail lieutenant gets day in court
Colin DeVries in The Daily Mail reports that the Greene County Jail lieutenant who shot a fellow hunter in Round Top last year when he said he was aiming for an animal that is illegal to shoot has a pre-trial conference at 10:30 a.m. today, Wed. May 4, in Halcott Town Court before Justice Anton Kasanof. On Nov. 20 last year, opening day of deer season, Greene County Jail Lt. Kenneth Leis allegedly opened fire on a mammal known as a fisher, but hit the backpack of another hunter, Robert Warrings of Round Top. Warrings was tracking a bear at the time; Leis says he thought he was shooting at a fisher, mammals of the weasel family which are permitted to be trapped in New York State, but not shot. Leis was charged with a DEC violation of attempting to take protected wildlife. He pleaded not guilty on Dec. 23, 2010 to that charge. “This is still pending with a trial date for the Environmental Conservation Law violation (attempting to take a fisher),” said DEC spokeswoman Lori Severino in an e-mail to the newspaper Tuesday. Read the entire story in The Daily Mail.
Attention campers: Fun is on the way… maybe
Diane Valden in The Columbia Paper reports that the wife of a Town Councilman in Ancram is requesting the town fix up a ballfield, and revive a summer youth day camp that has been out of commission for 13 years. Ruth Thomas, “brought a detailed proposal to the Town Board’s April 21 meeting hoping eventually to gain approval and a financial commitment from the board to do some fixing up at the town’s Blass Memorial Field, which includes the town pool and basketball court,” the story says. Valden also talks with Columbia Health Department Public Health Sanitarian Ed Coons, who tells her the proposed Ancram program, is considered a day camp, and would become the 16th municipal program in the county with others in Germantown, Claverack, Copake, Chatham, Ghent, Greenport, Hudson, Livingston, New Lebanon, Stockport, Canaan, Austerlitz, Kinderhook and West Ghent, and one coming soon to the Village of Kinderhook. There are also four private day camps and eight resident/overnight camps in the county, he said in the story. Read the entire story in The Columbia Paper.
Crossroads named best brewery in Hudson Valley
Larry Rulison in the Albany Times-Union reports that Crossroads Brewing Co. in Athens was named the “Best Craft Brewery” in the Hudson Valley last weekend at the TAP New York beer and food festival on Hunter Mountain. The brewery, which has just a tasting room but will soon open a brew pub in downtown Athens, also won two other awards. “Crossroads won a bronze medal for its Outrage IPA in the category for best individual craft beers in the Hudson Valley, and it won the John Calen Memorial Award for the best English style pale ale in the state, also for Outrage Ale, a 7 percent IPA,” the story says. When Crossroads opens later this year owner Kenny Landin and partner Janine Bennett will have ten beers and two sodas on tap. Read the story in the Albany Times-Union.
Public invited to weigh in on fuel storage plan
John Mason in the Register-Star reports about an April 27 Valatie meeting so packed he was among the crowd spilling out in the hallway. The meeting concerned the sale of the Hein’s Equipment Co. at 4020 Chatham St. to to Hein’s Fuel Service, which wants to store and sell propane, kerosene, and other materials there, in the area that is zoned residential. The Valatie Zoning Board of Appeals will hold a public hearing to consider a variance May 18 at the larger Barnwell Nursing Home, 3230 Church St. Read the whole story in the Register-Star.
Tranquility at hearing echoes modest tax hike
Jim Planck in The Daily Mail reports the reason that Catskill Central School District’s budget public hearing Tuesday night was so sparsely attended is that the projected tax levy increase of 1.14 percent is “the second lowest in the region,” according to Catskill Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kathleen Farrell. The Superintendent did say if the two percent property tax cap passes the legislature in Albany the district will have to do more cutting for the 2012-2013 budget. Read the entire story in The Daily Mail.
Tony Caio of The Rattles interviewed on WGXC Afternoon Show.
Interview by Ann Forbes Cooper and Richard Roth. The Rattles are a band for children and adults, and will be at the Hudson Children’s Book Festival Saturday at Hudson High School.
CLICK HERE TO PLAY THE AUDIO OF THE INTERVIEW.
Barbara Lehman interviewed about her children’s books and the Hudson Children’s Book Festival.
Interview by Ann Forbes Cooper and Richard Roth on WGXC Afternoon Show Tue. May 3, 2011.
CLICK HERE TO PLAY THE AUDIO OF THE INTERVIEW.
Richard Klin and Lily Prince on WGXC Afternoon Show.
Interview by Richard Roth and Ann Forbes Cooper. The local author and photographer talk about their book “Something to Say.”
CLICK HERE TO PLAY THE AUDIO OF THE INTERVIEW.
Tags: Crossroads Brewing Company, Hein's Fuel Service, Hunter Mountain, Kathleen Farrell, Kenneth Leis, Robert Warrings

Catskill ski conditions, as captured in a recent image from the state's Belleayre Mountain website.
The chamber this month began a promotion called the “Belleayre BOGO Campaign,” a buy-one-get-one-free offer to any customer of a chamber business that spends more than $50. One-thousand vouchers good for a day of skiing at the state-owned Belleayre facility have been distributed to chamber members, who use them as a way to get people to come into their respective businesses. And more vouchers are being produced. But Danielle Vajtay, who owns and operates Plattekill Mountain Ski Center, says the promotion is hurting the business she operates with her husband, Lazlo.
Similar complaints have come, in recent months, from Greene County’s two main privately-owned ski areas at Hunter and Windham, who have notified the state of their displeasure at the heavy promotional discounts Belleayre has been offering. But there has meanwhile been no bad blood between the two ski areas as a result of Hunter Mountain‘s new ski deal for gasoline fill-ups via Getty/Lukoil stations throughout the tri-state region, with Windham Mountain promoting itself this year based on its 50th anniversary of skiing in the region.
A few years back, the Greene County legislature went so far as to back a move in the state legislature to set up a Blue Ribbon panel to look into unfair competition from the state in New York’s ski industry, which in turn prompted similar responses from the Ulster County legislature regarding Belleayre. The state-owned ski industry has been the subject of numerous support rallies and opinion of late, as seen HERE, as it fights state budget cuts and calls for shifts in its public management.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: battling businesses, Belleayre, Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce., Hunter Mountain, ski deals, Windham Mountain
First there were the private ski centers in Greene County, backed by the states leading private ski industry association, charging that the state was being unfair in the number of free ski passes they were handing out at Department of Environmental Conservation-run Belleayre Mountain, in Ulster County. Which prompted local officials to start sparring over economic development pies, and who got what from what was once seen as a regional business. Now, the Times Union reports that businesses across the state are blaming competition from regional Boards of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES), known in Columbia and Greene counties as Questar, for forcing them to have to lay off workers, downsize and consider closure. Why? Adirondack Area Networks, a consortium that provides technology for schools, hospitals and small businesses throughout the state, and similar private IT associations are saying that the state’s 37 BOCES, with new funding coming in from the federal Race to the Top program, are saving school districts TOO much money by bundling services, including information technology services, and hurting private businesses in the process. They’re crying that BOCES use grants — money that ultimately comes from taxpayers — to artificially lower the prices they charge districts for services, creating an uneven market in which government is bidding against private businesses.
So it seems that just as some folks want greater savings from government services, in light of coming cuts such as those envisioned as part of a proposed 2 percent property tax cap for the state affecting all town, county and school budgeting, others are wanting to also cut any means for making up such shortfalls.
For the full Times Union story about business complaints regarding BOCES, click HERE.
For more on the ski industry battles, try HERE.
Tags: Belleayre, BOCES, Hunter Mountain, private vs. public, Questar, tax cut blowback, Windham Mountain
Dan Shaw in Rural Intelligence has twenty questions for Trixie Starr, who helped put on Hudson’s first Pride parade this summer (pictured), and is hosting “Christmas with Tom & Trixie: Is That All There Is?” Dec. 23 at the Hudson Opera House. Hudson gets the Starr treatment with a virtual tour of favorite wine shops (Hudson Wine Merchants), book stores (Hudson City Books), and clothing shops (Five and Diamond). Starr will also host a party New Year’s Eve at Red Dot in Hudson, the story says.
More Zip on Hunter Mountain
Dick May in Seeing Greene jumps the gun a bit writing, “GreeneLand now is home to North America’s biggest zipline. That’s the claim, at any rate, that is voiced by Bradd [sic] Morse of NY Zipline Adventures, which is the company that opened two zipline courses last spring at Hunter Mountain, and is about to open the third, the longest, the hairiest: SkyRider, which will enable riders to, uh, zip downward from platform to platform for as long as 3000 feet, over terrain that is as much as 600 feet below.” The company’s website says the new line is opening by Christmas.
Rabid skunks in Hudson?
Carole Osterink in The Gossips of Rivertown is a little short on details, but reports without sourcing that two possibly rabid skunks have been found this weekend in Hudson. “This morning, another skunk in similar condition was reported in the backyard of a house on the 700 block of Union St. In this case, the homeowner called the police,” Osterink writes. “An officer arrived, confirmed the homeowner’s opinion that the skunk was rabid, and shot the skunk.”
Town meetings tonightATHENS Regular Town Board meetings held first and third Mondays of each Month at 6:45 p.m., at Town Clerk’s Office, 2 First St., unless otherwise advertised. Register-Star story about the meeting here.
CANAAN Canaan Town Board will hold a special meeting on December 6, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. at the Canaan Town Hall, 1647 County Route 5, Canaan, New York 12029, to address Local Law #5 of 2010 (Adopting a revised Zoning Law to provide for the administration and enforcement of the NYS Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code and Zoning Law) and consider extending the bid opening for the Highway sand/salt shed.
TAGHKANIC Regular Town Board meetings are held the first Monday of each month in the Town Hall on Route 82 in West Taghkanic. Phone 528-851-7638. Agenda here.
Local traffic
511ny.org reports roadwork on US 9 in both directions between NY 9H and 23; NY 82 (Livingston) and Town of Greenport; Town of Livingston Line (Livingston) all lanes closed. The Stone Mill Road Bridge is closed until further notice. Use posted detour.
Birthdays
Dec. 6 birthdays include Dion Fortune, Agnes Moorehead, and Henryk Gorecki.
Tags: Hunter Mountain, rabid skunks, town meetings, Trixie Starr, zipline
The Columbia County Democrats’ website is crowing that Roberta Davis has beaten Republican Deborah Simonsmeier, citing an unofficial count of absentee ballots:
Roberta Davis: 1,062
Deborah Simonsmeier: 671
“The margin is well ahead of the dozen or so votes she was behind on Election Night,” the Democrats’ website says, and would make her Columbia County’s Third County Coroner with Angelo Nero and George Davis M.D. Mrs. Davis ran on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines.
Murphy votes for tax cut
Outgoing Congressman Scott Murphy voted Thursday for a permanent extension of tax cuts that apply to every family’s first $250,000 of income. The tax cut passed the House of Representatives 234-188, and is expected to be filibustered by Republicans in the U.S. Senate. Republicans there want to extend the tax cuts to all incomes, while Democrats believe families with higher incomes then $250,000 should be taxed more to pay down the debt or stimulate the economy. Chris Gibson, who defeated Murphy in November and takes over the District 20 seat in January, is out of the country, and could not be reached about how he would have voted on the bill.
Slopes open this weekend
Windham Mountain starts their 50th anniversary season Saturday at 8 a.m., according to their Facebook page. “Last weekend’s snowmaking held up and Team Snow had the system charged up at midnight,” the site says. Windham opens with two lifts, three trails, two boxes, and three rails this weekend. Hunter Mountain’s website says “anticipated opening Sun. Dec. 5.”
Audio from Hudson special school board meeting Monday
WGXC’s Alan Skerrett and Joan Geitz attended the special Hudson board meeting Monday, and made an mp3 recording you can listen to by clicking here. Read several different accounts of the meeting here.
Birthdays
Dec. 3 birthdays include Octavia Hill, Jean-Luc Godard, and Bobby Allison.
Tags: Chris Gibson, Deborah Simonsmeier, education, Hudson schools, Hunter Mountain, Roberta Davis, Scott Murphy, skiing, snow, taxes, Windham Mountain, youth
Perry picked for Taconic Hills school board
Christine Perry was chosen to fill the vacant seat on the Taconic Hills School Board at a meeting last Wednesday, according to the board’s website. Perry becomes a replacement for John Mastropolo, who resigned in September. Usually, voters decide on school board officials, but this time the board took over the entire process, making all decisions in executive session. The board picked between Perry, Sally Williamson, and Joan Spencer. In a story about this issue, John Mason in the Register-Star writes, “According to Robert Freeman of the state Committee on Open Government, the only court decision dealing with how school boards may select new members found that such decisions should be made in open, not closed, session.” Perry’s seat will be decided by voters again in May 2011.
Ravitch has low opinion of Capitol press coverage
Casey Seiler in Capitol Confidential reports on the interview between host Susan Arbetter of the “The Capitol Pressroom” (which will air live Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. on WGXC) and Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch. The outgoing Lt. Gov. told Arbetter that too much coverage of state government was devoted to scandals and “gotcha” journalism, at the cost of a more complete look at pressing problems such as infrastructure decay and the fiscal troubles affecting the state and nation. Ravitch, for instance, said more ink/bytes had been devoted to former Sen. Hiram Monserrate’s antics than to the actual state budget. “What the media does by putting so much emphasis on the misdeeds of very few is to create a culture in which going into politics isn’t attractive,” he said.
Central Hudson cleanup video
Albany-based television station YNN is hosting a video from Central Hudson showing their experiments in cleaning the Hudson River. From YNN, but sounding like it came straight from a press release: “Crews were hard a work using a crane to pull the two ton mats off the river floor. Central Hudson says the mats have been in the river for more than a year and says they are testing them to see how well the mats trap contaminants that have made it into the river from the company’s old Manufactured Gas Plant site. The plant closed in 1972 and the site is on the Poughkeepsie waterfront. The company says they expect the project to last until the end of the month.”
Skiing this weekend?
WGXC reported Friday that Windham Mountain began making snow last weekend, and both Hunter Mountain and Catamount Ski in Hillsdale in Columbia County report they will begin snowmaking after this week’s rain passes. Hunter and Windham hope to be open this weekend.
Birthdays
Nov. 30 birthdays include Mark Twain, G. Gordon Liddy, and Abbie Hoffman.
Tags: Catamount Ski, Central Hudson, Christine Perry, environment, Hudson River, Hunter Mountain, local video, schools, skiing, snow, Taconic Hills School Board, Windham Mountain
From Lissa Harris at Watershed Post:
This black bear, captured on surveillance video on Hunter Mountain a couple of weeks ago, isn’t really getting anywhere in his quest for midnight munchies until around the 1:27 mark. That’s when he (or she?) finds the motherlode of donut holes.
Tags: bears, Hunter Mountain
Congressman Scott Murphy (NY-20) announced Friday that the Hunter Mountain Ski Bowl will receive a $4.8 million loan from the USDA Rural Development’s Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program. Charles B. Slutzky, of Hunter Mountain said in Murphy’s press release, “This is great news for Hunter Mountain and for all of Greene County. This loan will enable us to build a new, state-of-the-art six-passenger chairlift that will dramatically improve our facilities and our ability to attract visitors to our region.”









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