Plattekill Conditions (2017 - 2018)

I want to demolish and redo the maintenance, pump house etc and bulldoze that part of the road so you ski right through that area. I'm envisioning all new parking at the bottom. Now that I think of it, maybe the tubing can go where the current parking is, basically running from the current lodge's third level right down to the new lodge. That would be a badass tubing Hill

I do see what you mean about the trees on the other side of Overlook but I feel like some local insiders already ski out there and I kind of like keeping the infrastructure compact the way it is now

I always wanted to ski those trees, but I don’t want to have to hoof it up the road afterwards.  So I like Ethan’s idea!

Lots of good thinking Ethan.

Funny as hell seeing a lift coming right out of the farmers field.  As far as I know, there is only one rule at Plattekill... "don't ski in the farmers field!"

Seems like the trees at all of my mountains are getting trails.   Maybe just a rope tow on the ridge?  

JTG4eva! wrote

I always wanted to ski those trees, but I don’t want to have to hoof it up the road afterwards.  So I like Ethan’s idea!

JT you know this: If you didn't have to walk at the end there would be many more tracks in the snow.

Harvey wrote

Maybe just a rope tow on the ridge?  

What do you mean? Where?

I am an advocate for having an old school ropetow somewhere too.

Let’s get back to reality. Who’s skiing tomorrow?  It’s going to be fun. I wish I had a snapshot of post rain pre Snow

trail count is low. can't imagine the trees are in play. i blew edge out last year in the 40 inch storm with no base underneath it.

.        Beautiful day at Platt.  Lower angle natural trails were skiable. I wish I could figure out how to post right side up photos

scottski63 wrote

 I wish I could figure out how to post right side up photos

When my IPhone does that, I go into pictures, open the pic, hit "edit", select the crop tool, crop a hairs width off the edges, rotate it all the way around (360 degrees) then save it that way. Then I go back and edit the post, delete and redo the pics and it posts right side up. It takes less time then the explanation makes it sound

Skied Plattekill today. after skiing Gore a lot, I forgot how legitimate the vertical is. It kept me entertained all day with basically 4 runs open. (Plus Blockbuster which had to be poached)

Probably everybody’s seen this already but two different people sent it to me so I thought I’d share... They share the love with Magic and MRG as well
http://www.mademan.com/old-school-ski-resorts-gnarlier-think/

I think Laz shared this the other day, but I hadn't actually seem it..  I'm pretty sure the photo the used for Plattekill was taken by someone here.

Thanks for posting Broski.

Nice

What are people's thoughts on platty tomorrow? Concerns with freezing rain yesterday

So I skied Platty today for my first time. Private day - rented out by employees from two sites of the company I work for.

It seemed like they must have gotten a little rain later in the day yesterday, then some additional snow overnight. THe conditions on the ungroomed trails were a couple inches of powder, over crust, over about 7 or 8 inches of powder.

Started off with a run down plunge which had just two tracks down it at 9:30. Was on my AT setup - Voile V8's - so as long as I kept speed the crust wasn't too much of an issue. And there were plenty of windblown pockets to be found.

Since there were only about 90 people signed up to ski, and most of them were on the triple, it felt like I was totally alone on half the mountain at times. I could look up the chair and down and see nobody. There were times I rode up and not a single person went down that I could see!

Anyway - after Plunge I hit Northface which turned out to be the run of the day. I think I hit it 7 times. There was more powder blown over there I guess, and there was a series of snowmaking whales that made for fun turns up and over. Even at 2:00 there was plenty of powder left.

I hit Freefall twice - it was decent but took a bit more route picking than Northface. The base obviously wasn't as deep as NF.

Also did Blockbuster twice. That had some really deep drifts - like 4 feet in a couple places...I know because I wasn't paying attention and ended up plowing into one and coming to a pretty rapid stop on my ass. When I tried to get up my pole went in to the grip. The crust and the drifts absolutely made this a challenging run. Although no doubt better than trying to ski it with frozen up bumps.

Did Plunge a couple more times - skier's left was better. The middle section was closed off so had to detour on I think Giant Slalom or something like that, but ski patrol was putting pads on the lift towers in the afternoon so probably opening that section tomorrow.

Some of the outer trails on looker's left - Twist, The Cliffs, and those others over there - had less cover and the crust seemed a bit thicker. Even riding the V8's I found myself driving from the backseat a couple times to keep the tips from diving under the crust in the variable cut up spots or the slower (flatter) areas.

I did a few runs off the triple. Skiers far right on the run under the lift was very good - lots of windblown powder. If you got too far away from that you were skiing from bare crust to powder over and over.

I never ventured into the woods. If it was crusty in there it probably wasn't much fun, and as you know AT gear ain't cheap so I was hesitant to test the base depth in the trees.

Had a beer in the lounge before taking off...forget the bartender's name but a nice talkative guy.

Great day despite the crust. Very cool place. Hoping to go skin it later this season on a closed day, and definitely go back for a powder day.

Billy the crust buster!  I'm sure all tomorrow will appreciate your efforts.

How far is the drive for you? Hope to see you there some day soon.

Sweet report, thanks for the detail.

Harvey wrote

I'm sure all tomorrow will appreciate your efforts.