A Day to Remember at Plattekill

It actually started on Thursday, when I decided to take advantage of the last two hours of skiing after class at SUNY Delhi. (FYI, I am attempting to bridge the gap between Ski Bum, and College Student.) I could see significant snowmaking progress on Blockbuster, but not enough to open.  At the end of the day, I went upstairs to thank Bobby C for adding me to the closed FB group, "Snowmakers of the World Unite." A few minutes turned into a few hours, spending time with Plattekill employees at the bar.

 It was then that Macker invited me to shadow him for his daily opening routine early Saturday morning. His day starts at 6 AM, and so did mine. But I had to get up at 4 AM in order to make it on time. Dennis agreed to send me a wake-up text message before going to the gym. When I arrived, It was dark, but I could hear the snow guns hissing on Blockbuster. ("Roaring" is no longer an appropriate adjective for describing the sound of a snow gun. Especially at Plattekill where all the snowmaking equipment is modern, and up-to-date. Unless you are referring to one of those extremely outdated ground guns that the ORDA resorts still use . No wonder our taxes are so high.


 We started by doing a little grooming on Plunge, and then Lower S. I really appreciated having the floor in the snow cat angled way back because going down plunge in this machine is slightly intimidating.


 We then did an inspection on both chairlifts. It was cool to see a chairlift drive up close.

 As the morning went on, It was getting warmer, and it was time to kill a stage on the snow guns. I went up with two other Snowmakers, and let me say, they are fun guys to work with. Rich is a firefighter, and he naturally enjoys spraying water in the air. It's just so much less stressful when nothing is burning. He seems to really enjoy making Snow.


  We ran the guns high and dry for the rest of the morning. The result left the whole mountain giddy for the rest of the day. I went skiing after this, but a couple hours later, they turned the guns off. Blockbuster was loaded with GunPow. It was "closed" for most of the day, but everyone was skiing it because it was the best run on the mountain.  Bumps had plenty of cover, and the powder was phenomenal. Eventually Laszlo made the call and officially opened it at the end of the day. There was no reason not to.



It was also exciting to meet MarkSki, who had nothing but encouraging words to say about me, and Woodstream Ski Area.

Mark, we would love to see some of your pictures too, when you get a chance.

Yes, as I said here:  http://forum.nyskiblog.com/Plattekill-Conditions-tp4065663p4070983.html , in the platty conditions thread, it was a pleasure to meet you. Just remember your early supporters and boosters when you're running a big time resort one day, Ethan!   

I can't agree more about Blockbuster.  It was just fantastic. Bumped up by the end of the day and was skiing great all day Sunday as well.  My one photo of Block is posted in the Platty Conditions thread (link above).  The only other photos I have are these:  

Saturday morning's beautiful view:



Saturday afternoon's Apres-ski bluegrass pick-up jam on the main floor of the baselodge  (One of my many, favorite things about Plattekill):

bringing me back guys, thanks for this.

Ethan, let me know when you want that job we spoke of.....great story, glad your day was impressionable.  

Marc, that there is an upstanding member of the highly desirable and sought after collectors edition Plattekill Mug Club and an outstanding musician and retailer.

Glad everyone is enjoying the fruits of the snowmaker's efforts.  

Plattekill wrote

Ethan, let me know when you want that job we spoke of.....great story, glad your day was impressionable.  

Marc, that there is an upstanding member of the highly desirable and sought after collectors edition Plattekill Mug Club and an outstanding musician and retailer.

Glad everyone is enjoying the fruits of the snowmaker's efforts.

Agreed. But the Mug Club mug in the picture is mine!  Purposely placed to highlight it in the center of the photo!  

  Awesome.

Ethan Snow wrote

"Snowmakers of the World Unite."

So Jealous! Would they admit an enthusiastic JONG?

Ethan Snow wrote

Dennis agreed to send me a wake-up text message before going to the gym.

Um Dennis?  

Ethan Snow wrote

Rich is a firefighter, and he naturally enjoys spraying water in the air. It's just so much less stressful when nothing is burning.

Ethan Snow wrote

Blockbuster was loaded with GunPow. It was "closed" for most of the day, but everyone was skiing it because it was the best run on the mountain.  Bumps had plenty of cover, and the powder was phenomenal. Eventually Laszlo made the call and officially opened it at the end of the day.

So much win.

Nice Ethan!

Awesome post Ethan; brought me back to my own snowmaker/ liftie days. Looks like you had a great time.

Laszlo, we are definitely going to have to talk sometime. I can start at the end of May/ beginning of June. Now that I have my own wheels, I'm all in.

This seemed like a good place to have a link to the short movie called Snowfarmers from 2018.

https://vimeo.com/270014059

Ahem

https://nyskiblog.com/snowfarmers-by-carboni-and-michaud/

Brownski wrote

Ahem

https://nyskiblog.com/snowfarmers-by-carboni-and-michaud/

Yeah, but it's hard to bump an article.

Marcski wrote

Money.

Chris on trumpet with mute FTW.