Plattekill 01/15/2011

OK, love this place, always have. But before heading up today I thought the honeymoon was over, not true , can't help myself. Me and my wife try to get up to Plattekill at least once a season. With their reliance on natural snowfall you have to catch it just right, this weekend we caught it pretty good. We had a tough time deciding between Plattekill and Hunter, last time we were at Hunter had a great time. Me and my wife had the same idea, Hunter has some nice long trails, Plattekill, has nice trails, but not as big and long. In the end, after checking with some friends, we decided on Plattekill, good choice. We were heading up to Killngton and decided to hit Plattekill on the way. As a result, we opted for a half day ticket. We get to Plattekill about 11:45, parking lots were pretty full, we got the second from last spot in the lower lot. Went in grabbed some lunch, lodge was packed, and got out at 12:30 on the nose, just in time for the half day ticket. Grabbed our skies and headed to the "long" lift lines, today they may have actually gotten upto about a 2 minute wait a couple of times due to lift stopping :),

First, we took the Sunshine Triple and skied down the Face. Trail was groomed and firm, OK, but not great, found the good stuff on this trail second time around. After this, most trails we tried had some nice fresh powder. As is usually the case with Plattekill, especially this early in the season, some growth and a few rocks coming out here and there, but that was neglegable, especially when you consider the quality of the snow, great! Did a few intermediate runs, then worked our way over to the Plunge, nice super soft bumps here, I loved it. Unfortunately my wife wasn't ready for this and it killed her legs. Did a few more intermediates and greens give her a break. All in good shape, Ridge Run, Sundown, Bailout, etc.. Coming down Bailout, left wifey and cut across to Blockbuster. Blockbuster, was a bit on the firm side, but edgeable, and a usual a blast. Eventually worked our way back over to the Face, and this time found the good stuff, skiers right, all sweet soft bumps, almost the full length of the trail, was great. Took a ride down the Bumps at one point, great shape, always loved this trail as it's so deceiving,  Traverses across the top of the mountain, you would think that it a pretty level trail, nope, it always suprises you with drop after drop, great trail.

As most that know me can't help but know, my wife broke her ankle in 2007, since then, she's been very reluctant hitting tougher trails. This year has been a breakthrough in that she's been hitting some expert trails, but only nicely groomed ones. Bumps, soft powder, anything except groomed, scares her. Anyway, talked her into trying Northface, were they were making snow all day, trail wasn't groome, there were actual whales here and as we were coming down, we hit snowmaking guns most of the way down. I loved it, snow was a great consistency, whales are always fun, but was scared this would have turned her off. But, this was supposed to be our last run, so figured, not a big deal. Well we get down to the bottom and she loved the run, wanted to do one more, so we did. This time, she knew the trail and was more confident, fun watching her speed down, just like old times. Long story short, this year we needed a little reminder, but we will never stop loving this place. May not have long runs like Hunter, but their runs are special. The staff is friendly as all hell and the lines, well none existent. Recently there has been a fuss made by the owner,s wife about Bellyeare distributing free tickets through the Chamber of Commerce. And she's right, it's unfair as Bellyeare is state run. But as I have stated in other forums. I will always pay to ski Plattekill, but you couldn't pay me to ski Bellyeare. Just my opinion.

Requirement for Plattekill challenge :


Nice Map in the lodge, found it amusing:



Plattekill's crowded slopes (keep in mind, holiday weekend, full parking lot):




Bumps:


Love this view of Freefall, Plunge, and Northface to bad snow got in the way oh, it did snow for the whole duration of our stay :



Snowmaking on Northface:




And of course, Plattekill's main lodge:


God, I'll never stop loving this place. I mean, where else can you find the owner parking cars!

Folks ... we have our first winner of the Plattekill Challenge.

Funky send your snail mail address to the email addy in my signature by 5PM Monday, and we will get them in Tuesdays mail.

Appropriate that Funky Polak is the first of our two winners. A year ago Funky put Platte on our radar when he sent me this pic of BlockBuster:



Looks like you are going to have to ski Platty more than once this year.



Any tree skiing going on?  From what I had heard a lot was in play.

Thanks for tix and pic credit, send you my address in email, will be happy to hit it again and report again. As far as trees go, kind of tough for me with wife's reluctance, did duck in here an there however and seemed nice. Saw a number of folks hitting them as well with pow flying. One patroller I know did tell me that he would wait another week before really going in though, recommended bike trails.

Congrats to FP for what looks like a sweet day.

As Harv, Jason, and I witnessed during our late-Feb visit last season after the eight-foot storm, even on the very rare days that the parking lots are full and cars are lined down the access road (that was the day a lot of Hunter skiers headed to Plattekill due to storm-related power outages), there will be NO LIFTLINES. Not sure how that's possible, but it's true.

Funky Polak wrote

 I will always pay to ski Plattekill...

2 Lift Tix are in the mail now.  

You'll have to ski one time (at least) on a freebie, but if you post another great TR I'm sure Lasz will feel like he got his money's worth.

Funky Polak wrote

Love this view of Freefall, Plunge, and Northface...

Me too.

Funky Polak wrote

 
God, I'll never stop loving this place. I mean, where else can you find the owner parking cars!

And again... me too.

BTW looks like you were rubbing elbows with the Glitterati at Plattekill this weekend. Whoda thunk it?

Awesome post on the Platte. And, I love that trailmap in the bar. Soon we at WITC are going to be doing a trail-map competition, inspired by that very same one in the bar. There will be two categories -- under 14 and over 14. All must draw their own version of a Plattekill trail map (crayons and paper will be available in the lodge...). Winners in each category will get lift tix.

More to come...