Plattekill Conditions (2015 - 2016)

There was some fog down in the valleys early this morning after last night's hard frost. (It's mid-March and I'm talking hard frosts...should be talking big dumps...but I digress).  But the skies were clear...
 


Another deep Platty Blue Sky..



Midday:



It was fun to finally meet TheHof as well as Brownski today.  It was a really fun day.  Always nice to see Ethan and his brother as well as the entire Platty crew.  Hit repeat for tomorrow. Ski it while you can!!

Gotta agree it was a great day. Awesome meeting Marcski and Thehof. I was dissapointed I missed Ethan - was looking out for him. My big win was adding two new members to the Plattekill cult. My nine year old got such a kick out of seeing people straight line the grassy patches he decided to try it himself- eventually nailed it. They skied Sunrise and Bunny Buster most of the day but got on Face after lunch and did great. I got a chance to walk over to the top of Blockbuster while they were eating and it skied real nice- run of the day for me. Happy St Plattys day!

So much awesomeness.

Yes it is great to meet fellow NYSB people. 6 lines top to bottom skiing was plenty to make my last day of season complete.
Conditions are to no surprise spring like. Nice whales still hanging around,use em before they leave.
#1
#2
#3

It was a great day. Sorry I missed you, Brownski. I actually saw a guy with X-scream skis, and the guy seemed to have similar facial features, so I went up had was like "Hey Brownski" The guy looked at me strangely, and said "I don't know what you mean."

I think one of those kids you saw grass skiing was me.  Glad your kids had fun!

Ethan Snow wrote

........so I went up had was like "Hey Brownski" The guy looked at me strangely, and said "I don't know what you mean."

Ha!  I went up to a guy at WF that I thought for sure was Skiray.  Same facial features, daughter the right age.  Nope....slightly awkward!

Yeah, same. This guy even had a kid next to him whom looked about 10 years old. I thought for sure it was him.

I just laughed out loud when I read this Ethan. That's hilarious. Those Xscreams will trip you up every time. They must've been the best selling ski of all time. My kids really got a kick out of the grass skiing, though.

One more good weekend was had. For me it was actually kind of sad. At one point I nearly cried when I first saw the empty parking lot followed by an empty lodge.   Once I got past that, I had just as much fun as always.  The snow was not spring corn being rather cold, but was very edgable. North face still has a very solid base which isn't going anywhere this week, but unfortunately, there just aren't enough people to support running the lift anymore. Seemed like about 10 skiers today, and there must have been at least 20 mountain bikers on the triple side. It's just hard to get business when the only two slopes that are open are marked as double diamonds.


Plunge was good too.


My brother and I helped to bring down bamboo, and Lift tower pads. Dude, skiing with those things is almost as good as flying! They are just heavy enough that they counteract your bodyweight when they get air under them. It makes you feel really light when you are skiing.



I could definitely feel the flame dying down. With more grass than snow on the triple side, an empty lodge, and bringing stuff off the mountain, it just felt different. However, there were no compromises when it came to the physical act of skiing down the mountain. I did my last two runs with Laz, as we talked about summer plans on the lift. As I got off for the last time, I looked behind me and noticed that the lift had stopped. My heart sunk.
It was the very last chair of the season. At the top were a few ski patrol members, Me, Laz, and my brother, Joe. We talked briefly about this unusual season as we stood on 8 inches of solid ice, and then we went our separate ways. Well, two anyway. That being said, it was a good conclusion to the season even though it wasn't exactly what we were hoping for mid-March.

I missed you this weekend, Ethan. I was there all of Saturday after a late, 11 am start and early this morning for a few hours before taking off at noon.  It's always bittersweet this time of the season.

There were definitely more bikers than skiers.  But, I know a bunch of passholders that re-upped for next season, including yours truly. And, I loved seeing the few people that both skied and biked, including at least one kid under the age of 10!  

Crazy

It snowed there all day yesterday. About 5 bikers showed up, although, we are getting the trails in very nice shape of this coming MTB season. Hopefully it will start to feel like summer soon. I'm ready after this shitty winter.

Harvey Have you talked to Lazlo today ? Do you think he will spin lifts?

I haven't spoken to him today.  My guess based on the cover is no.  But I could ask.

Harvey wrote

I haven't spoken to him today.  My guess based on the cover is no.  But I could ask.

Confirmed. You may see more tracks on the cam tomorrow (snowing tonight) but the ground isn't frozen any longer so snow is melting from the bottom up.

I guess you could probably still make some turns.

I have always been impressed with Plattekill's ability to hold snow. More so on the North side.  They really do not make a deep base compared to Hunter, but somehow manage to hold on to decent size patches into May. This was a bad year too.

IMO, Northface would make the perfect "Superstar of the Catskills." It's close to the lift, and has covers a lot of vertical over a short distance.  The spots pictured below represent about 4-5 feet of base mid-winter. If Plattekill focused all their snowmaking power on Northface, and built a 10 foot base, (that's half of what Superstar does) they could have a guaranteed first weekend of May closing. Sometimes later. I would put a large pile at the top for keeping the lift ramp open, and a build up the Bottom of Northface a little thicker for the sake of keeping a ribbon to the lift loading area. If they really got ambitious, they could strive for May on Plunge as well.

The potential exists at this moment. The infrastructure to do this is already there.  It just takes someone to pull the trigger. I just think it would be cool to put Platty on the books for the longest season in the Catskills. With Platty's geographical setup, they have a better advantage for this than Hunter IMO.



For those who are missing winter already, the fun is not over. Plattekill is currently open for mountain biking.  I, along with a few others are currently working hard to put all the trails in primo condition. This summer we plan to re-build parts of our Greenhorn trail to make it very easy for beginners, and we are also planning on widening Warm It Up, and adding some table top jumps that can be rolled over for those who desire a less airborne ride. Both will be done with a dozer. Pictured below is the current Warm It Up trail which is still a lot of fun as it is.



Wether you are a seasoned downhiller, a casual XC rider, or a beginner, Plattekill will be a very fun place to ride this summer.   With our improved trail maintenance crew, there is something for everyone to ride here at Plattekill, and will continue to improve throughout the summer.  If you have even the slightest sense of adventure, and physical aptitude in you, I assure you, you will have fun. Rentals, and group or individual lessons are also available.

Plattekill doesn't have as big of a customer base as Hunter and will never make money staying open late.  Hunter makes their money late season by keeping the booze flowing.  It's a great idea, but definitely not profitable and will never happen, especially at a smaller mountain with more limited resources.  Also, if you pile up snow in one area, you've got that much less snow to make elsewhere, unless you increase the budget.  

I'd like to see it happen on Plunge. Closer to the lift, narrower (less sun?). The aspects must be pretty similar?

It does seem like it would take a few years for it to pay. Plattekill would have to commit and build the brand.

Man that would be so cool.

I sensed with Hunter (in the past anyway) as long as they went one week past everyone else they were cool with it.

Yeah, you would have to increase the budget, but the snowmaking budget does increase a little every year at Platty. I'm just suggesting that they focus on extending the season rather than expanding coverage. Most of the core trails have snowmaking. I'd honestly rather see the base on Northface or Plunge twice as thick than see snowmaking on Freefall which is in plan for the next few years.

Harvey, Plunge would be good too, but I was thinking Northface because it's easier to stockpile snow on. The Top of Plunge is fine, but the bottom is narrow and the lift is relatively close to the ground. It would be hard to put down a lot of snow on that trail, and it would melt in from the sides quickly.

If they are opening for mountain biking on the Tripple side anyway, they will already have staff, and operating costs, so holding down the longest season in the Cats seems like a no-brainer to me. With the low energy snowmaking system they have,  I would think that if they could just get like 50 skiers per weekend for the month of April, that it would pay off.