V-Day Double Header (Greek Peak AND Plattekill)

When the storm was forecasted to dump a foot on the Catskills and only 1-3" in Central NY, we bought lift tix on Liftopia for Plattekill for Friday. The storm came and dumped on use while we slept.

I awoke at 4:30 to find a fresh foot of snow. I put on the headlamp and my xc skis and took the dogs out to break trail while my traveling companion slept in. She balked at the 5:30am departure time. AcidChrist and Wharthog got on the road early but the chicks could not manage the alpine start, so we made an executive decision to get on first chair at Greek Peak and ski untracked snow all morning before we went to the Catskills.



Greek Peak was pretty empty most of the morning. We didn't find a foot of snow at Greek Peak, but a nice fresh 6" that blanketed the natural trails. We took our first run on Olympian. It was deep in the troughs and a little wind buffed. But the best skiing was in the trees, so we headed down the right side of Fields and over to chair 4.

We did 3 laps in Labrynth. It was fantastic.









Once we had that tracked out we headed over to chair 5 and lapped my favorite lines through Alsops and Arethusa. Once tracked out, we headed back over and one more run through Ronnys Run...we were the first ones on nearly every trail and glade we skied.

Then we got in the car and drove to the Catskills and skied soft bumps for a few hours on all the main trails. We tried the trees, but the woods weren't all that friendly. Not really glades there, but single track bike trails that had limited lines through and plenty of rocks and obstacles. The best skiing was on-piste with 18" of skier tracked powder.

Whole day looks great. Really want to get to Greek when the trees are going.

Powderqueen wrote

Not really glades there...

There is a lot of tree skiing at Plattekill. And in the last three years we've added or cleared two long lines in bounds.  PDQ, next time you are going, if trees are in play, let me know and we'll get someone to show you what is easiest to access.  The new work is pretty easy to get.

http://nyskiblog.com/plattekill-work-day-112011/

http://nyskiblog.com/plattekill-tree-skiing-workday-2012/

http://nyskiblog.com/plattekill-glades-work-day-2013/

These were taken Jan 3 with way less snow than there is now:




Plattekill photos by ml242

We ventured into the woods but didn't find any "glades". There was nothing on the trail map about glades either. There were lots of "sucker" tracks into mtn bike trails. We gave up after a couple of attempts and rocky conditions with lots of thwackers.

Next time I go I will get better directions to the glades if they do indeed exist.

  While there is not those wide open glades at Plattekill that Greek has, there are about a thousand different ways to the bottom at Plattekill. My ski Family did not get much challenge from Greeks glades but are entertained all day long in the woods of Plattekill.  Sure dead ends exist but you gotta keep diving in.
        I personally helped with the glades and had a sore shoulder (from using a bow saw) for about 2 wks. Had a great time meeting NY  Skiers and I learned a new tree stash.

no glades at platty.

Nice pic ml242!

Powderqueen wrote

... the glades if they do indeed exist.

They only exist in the minds of true believers! LOL