Hunter Mt bummer

I am at Hunter Mt in the Catskills sitting in the lodge writing this. I came down Sunday night for the on-snow portion of PSIA-E examiner training for this year. It is a pretty easy drive from Truxton; about 2.5 hours. I always seem, to stop at the Neptune Diner in Oneonta on my way. It has a huge menu and some Greek specialties but this trip I was not too hungry so I had a turkey burger and a coke. I got in around 9:00 PM, called home then settled in for the night. Yesterday morning was pretty cold and and a bit windy. I guess Hunter Mt doesn't really fit into the small mountain theme but the great thing about being a small mountain skier is that there are occasions to ski on a big mountain and they are usually very special days on snow. I went out with a group of 8. The front was pretty good but fairly buffed by the wind in places. Hunter has added a new six-pack in the front to replace the detachable quad. It is a really cool lift, you not only load 90 degrees to travel, you exit 90 degrees to travel too; first lift I have seen that is set up this way. We decided to try the back and discovered Annapurna had been blown with new man-made snow all night. It was the nicest I had ever seen it. We skied on it all morning. Just before lunch I was skiing slowly down to where the group was and my left foot went into a hole and stayed there. I went out over the handle-bars and the ski released but I hyper-extended my left leg. I thought I was okay but as I started skiing again, I realized something was wrong with my knee. I skied carefully down the rest of the run and while riding back up, decided to give up the next run with the group and go down the front and in to see if I could figure out how hurt I was. I hung around until after lunch but decided to rest my leg so, I went back to the hotel, put some ice in a trash bag and spent the afternoon taking ibuprofen, icing an elevated left knee and watching Manchester United win another soccer game. Hence he bummer in the title of this post.

Later in the afternoon the rest of the group started to return from the mountain so I rallied and went out to the lobby to be sociable. I wound up heading to Pancho Villa's Mexican Restaurant in Tannersville for dinner. I dined with the owner of Kissing Bridge ski area near Buffalo, NY, the ski school director from Gore and the other examiner out of Labrador Mt. We had a nice time and nice dinner. I ordered a Negra Modelo (Mexican beer) and Enchiladas Poblanas which are chicken enchiladas in a mole sauce. I can't seem to not order mole when I see it on a menu. I love it. This one was a bit sweet for my tastes but really good.

This morning, my knee seemed slightly better but still not right. I decided to take today off to give it some more healing time. I have a lot of days left to ski this winter. So, I am hanging around the lodge waiting for my commuting partner to finish and then head home later this afternoon. I will have my knee looked at when I get home. Hopefully I will be better soon...wish me luck.