Plattekill: 1/27/2007

adamti91 · Jan 27, 2007, 2:53 PM

Plattekill Mountain, January 27, 2007:

Introduction: I went up to Plattekill today to get information about becoming a snowboard instructor. It was more in the middle of nowhere than I had remembered, and it was pretty much empty all day long. When I first got up there, I assisted a lesson on the bunny slopes, so I didn't get up to the rest of the mountain until around 11ish. I met up with AZ'er MarkC (an instructor at Plattekill) for a few runs after my introduction to instruction, and he showed me some of the nicer lines (only 4-5 top to bottom trails were open, I think around 9 in total). After he went in for lunch I took a few more runs on 'The Face', and on my last run discovered a nice jump on Sundown. I had to leave at 2:30, but hopefully I will get back up tomorrow.

Weapon of Choice: Option Supercap 149

Conditions: Plattekill got six inches or so on Thursday, so I was excited to get up there. Conditions on the few trails that were open were for the most part great. Upper 'The Face' had real nasty ice chunks for about down to midstation, but only on the left side, as the entire length of 'The Face' had decent powder (little crusty on top) on the right side. Powder Puff and Sundown all had nicely packed powder, pow on the sides and NO ICE. The park was getting sort of icy toward the end of the day, but nothing to complain about. Best conditions I've ridden on this year. Sundown was PP and had some nice hits on the sides, in addition to a pretty decent sized jump. The park had one big hit, a small spine, two rails and a box (which they closed in the afternoon), but the landings got pretty icy towards the end of my day there. Not much else to say, but great conditions for the most part.

Weather: It was not that cold (in the 20s all day), and pretty overcast the entire day. There was the occasional snow shower, so all in all there wasn't really anything to complain about (considering how cold it has been lately).

Lifts: The triple and the bunny tow were open. The triple is pretty old, I think 30-40 years, so it made some weird noises and stopped once or twice for a few minutes- nothing too bad.

Notes: I forgot my camera at home, so no pictures. I'm now an instructor there, and hopefully I will be able to get up at least once a week. The lodge is smaller than most, and the whole mountain is more 'friendly' than other mountains. It's really out there in the middle of nowhere, at the end of a near-dirt road. As Mark put it, Plattekill is the 'Mad River Glen of the South'.

Rating: 7/10

Conclusion: Great conditions, but not many trails were open.

**Greg** · Jan 27, 2007, 5:42 PM

Nice! Don't see too many Plattekill TRs. Thanks!

adamti91 · Jan 27, 2007, 8:35 PM

Sure, it's pretty out of the way, but definitely worth the trip.

trackbiker · Jan 28, 2007, 9:22 PM

I was at Plattekill on Friday, 1/26. The forcast was for negative temps and windy so my son and I slept in and stopped for a good breakfast before heading up.
Got there just after 11:00 and they had just gotten the triple running at creep speed. Rumor has it that it was -16F at the top the night before.
We decided to wait to see if they got the chair running faster due to the cold and the fact that they were blowing snow on the Upper Face under the chair and didn't want to creep through a manmade blizzard at those temps.
We played some pool in the bar upstairs in the lodge and chatted with the locals until 1:00. The chair was up to about 1/2 speed and the reports from the few who ventured out were good, so we decided to give it a try. The snowmaking was no problem on the chair as it was so cold that the snow was very fine and very dry. It was like riding through mist on a foggy day.
The predicted windy never arrived and conditions were excellent on what was open and just as adamti91 described. We did about 10 runs due to the fact that you had to come in to warm up about every 3 or 4 runs to avoid frost bite.
Plattekill is a great place. Can't wait to get there after a good dump.

MarkC · Jan 29, 2007, 9:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg

Nice! Don't see too many Plattekill TRs. Thanks!

I have been very lazy with TR's. I will do my best to post a few as I am there everyday they are open. My internet connection is from my cell phone when I am up in Roxbury so they may be a few days late if i can not find good signal but I will get them up as soon as I can.

Edit: I have a bunch of pictures from the past few weekends that I will post when I get home tonight. .

MarkC · Jan 29, 2007, 4:38 PM

Pics posted in "Catsill Update Thread"

Jan 27, 2007, 2:53 PM	#1 (permalink)
adamti91 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Catskills Posts: 458	Plattekill: 1/27/2007 Plattekill Mountain, January 27, 2007: Introduction: I went up to Plattekill today to get information about becoming a snowboard instructor. It was more in the middle of nowhere than I had remembered, and it was pretty much empty all day long. When I first got up there, I assisted a lesson on the bunny slopes, so I didn't get up to the rest of the mountain until around 11ish. I met up with AZ'er MarkC (an instructor at Plattekill) for a few runs after my introduction to instruction, and he showed me some of the nicer lines (only 4-5 top to bottom trails were open, I think around 9 in total). After he went in for lunch I took a few more runs on 'The Face', and on my last run discovered a nice jump on Sundown. I had to leave at 2:30, but hopefully I will get back up tomorrow. Weapon of Choice: Option Supercap 149 Conditions: Plattekill got six inches or so on Thursday, so I was excited to get up there. Conditions on the few trails that were open were for the most part great. Upper 'The Face' had real nasty ice chunks for about down to midstation, but only on the left side, as the entire length of 'The Face' had decent powder (little crusty on top) on the right side. Powder Puff and Sundown all had nicely packed powder, pow on the sides and NO ICE. The park was getting sort of icy toward the end of the day, but nothing to complain about. Best conditions I've ridden on this year. Sundown was PP and had some nice hits on the sides, in addition to a pretty decent sized jump. The park had one big hit, a small spine, two rails and a box (which they closed in the afternoon), but the landings got pretty icy towards the end of my day there. Not much else to say, but great conditions for the most part. Weather: It was not that cold (in the 20s all day), and pretty overcast the entire day. There was the occasional snow shower, so all in all there wasn't really anything to complain about (considering how cold it has been lately). Lifts: The triple and the bunny tow were open. The triple is pretty old, I think 30-40 years, so it made some weird noises and stopped once or twice for a few minutes- nothing too bad. Notes: I forgot my camera at home, so no pictures. I'm now an instructor there, and hopefully I will be able to get up at least once a week. The lodge is smaller than most, and the whole mountain is more 'friendly' than other mountains. It's really out there in the middle of nowhere, at the end of a near-dirt road. As Mark put it, Plattekill is the 'Mad River Glen of the South'. Rating: 7/10 Conclusion: Great conditions, but not many trails were open. __________________ Winter '06/07: Belleayre: 1/20, 1/21, 1/28, 2/2, 2/10, 2/15, 2/18, 2/25, 3/3, 4/22; Plattekill: 1/27, 2/3, 2/11,3/19, 4/24. Winter '07/08: Belleayre: 11/17, 11/21, 11/24, 12/1, 12/3, 12/8, 12/22, 1/13, 1/14, 3/1; Plattekill: 2/23. Backpacking: Pacific Northwest: Summer 2007. Catskill Conditions Thread Last edited by adamti91; Feb 3, 2007 at 5:29 PM.

Jan 27, 2007, 5:42 PM	#2 (permalink)
Greg Nassahegan, CT: 8/14 Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Thomaston, CT Posts: 19,931	Nice! Don't see too many Plattekill TRs. Thanks! __________________ Greg 2007-08, 2006-07, 2005-06, 2004-05 Life's too short for warm up runs.

Jan 27, 2007, 8:35 PM	#3 (permalink)
adamti91 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Catskills Posts: 458	Sure, it's pretty out of the way, but definitely worth the trip. __________________ Winter '06/07: Belleayre: 1/20, 1/21, 1/28, 2/2, 2/10, 2/15, 2/18, 2/25, 3/3, 4/22; Plattekill: 1/27, 2/3, 2/11,3/19, 4/24. Winter '07/08: Belleayre: 11/17, 11/21, 11/24, 12/1, 12/3, 12/8, 12/22, 1/13, 1/14, 3/1; Plattekill: 2/23. Backpacking: Pacific Northwest: Summer 2007. Catskill Conditions Thread

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Jan 28, 2007, 9:22 PM	#4 (permalink)
trackbiker Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Eastern PA Posts: 68	I was at Plattekill on Friday, 1/26. The forcast was for negative temps and windy so my son and I slept in and stopped for a good breakfast before heading up. Got there just after 11:00 and they had just gotten the triple running at creep speed. Rumor has it that it was -16F at the top the night before. We decided to wait to see if they got the chair running faster due to the cold and the fact that they were blowing snow on the Upper Face under the chair and didn't want to creep through a manmade blizzard at those temps. We played some pool in the bar upstairs in the lodge and chatted with the locals until 1:00. The chair was up to about 1/2 speed and the reports from the few who ventured out were good, so we decided to give it a try. The snowmaking was no problem on the chair as it was so cold that the snow was very fine and very dry. It was like riding through mist on a foggy day. The predicted windy never arrived and conditions were excellent on what was open and just as adamti91 described. We did about 10 runs due to the fact that you had to come in to warm up about every 3 or 4 runs to avoid frost bite. Plattekill is a great place. Can't wait to get there after a good dump.

Jan 29, 2007, 4:38 PM	#6 (permalink)
MarkC Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Long Island for now Posts: 477	Pics posted in "Catsill Update Thread"