Plattekill Tower Pad Day

This past weekend was, for many ski hills, the day they opened the lifts to day ticket holders. It was kind of an experiment to take it to the next level. From what I saw last weekend at Whiteface and Gore, the way to avoid a crowd in line was to ski after lunch.

Meeker Hollow Road
Scottski

I thought about using my SKI3 at Belleayre on Saturday afternoon, before the forecast weather came in. It’s a long drive for half a day, but it’s skiing, and let’s face it, who knows how long this season will last. As it worked out,I was looking for something to do in the morning. I spoke to Laszlo and he said it was tower pad day at the mountain. Time to get all the pads in place, in anticipation of opening day next Saturday.

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Whiteface Opens 2020

I did what I needed to do, to get first chair, on Whiteface’s opening day 2020. I cleared my schedule and drove to the Adirondacks on Friday afternoon. I woke up at 5am Saturday morning and left our place at six. I arrived in the River Lot at 7:30 and booted up there.

the drive to Whiteface

I went over the bridge to the base lodge, through the tunnel and up to the Face Lift. A small group waited patiently as mountain ops finished the grooming on Fox, the final stretch of the only way down. Broadway to Lower Valley to Fox.

Ron Kon saw my skis, which pretty clearly ID me, and he introduced himself. We talked about Whiteface, and uphill policies, and ski days. It was Day #13 for him.

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Man, I Wanna Be a Local

Man, I want to be a local. And this year, I’m not alone. Second homes in the mountains have been occupied full time since the spring, and the real estate market in the Adirondacks and Catskills has been off the hook.

But for me, this isn’t a new thing. I’ve been dreaming of living in the mountains of New York since I found them for the first time back in 1988. I discovered my love for cold and snow and remote locales, freeheeling in leather boots in the Siamese Pond Wilderness.

While we have a plan to make it happen, it’s a few years off, in 2024, so it’s not going to help me this season.

In pursuit

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