The Plattekill Plunge Army

I really like skiing lift lines. Something about them is just a bit more exciting to me. Maybe it’s dropping directly down the fall line, or maybe it’s the extra pressure from above to do your best.

Plattekill sign

On top of that, I’ve always had a thing for Plattekill’s Plunge. For starters, it’s a steep and narrow trail below a Hall Double. Plunge has snowmaking on its upper and lower third and is mostly all natural in the middle.

From the top, Plunge is often groomed about 60% of the way across starting from skier’s right. Down skier’s left 2 or 3 bump lines will form if given enough time. The middle — after the split with Giant Slalom — is almost never groomed.

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Gore Mountain: Love the One You’re With

NYSkiBlog was originally designed to be a skier’s decision engine. The Weather Center was created to help road warriors — those who have to travel far and plan ahead — make the best possible decisions to get good snow.

It’s certainly not a fool-proof tool. Weather data requires persistent monitoring and educated interpretation to pay dividends. And even with all that, things can go wrong.

My idea at the beginning of the week was to ski Plattekill in the warm sunshine that was forecast for Saturday, and then move north to ski Gore on Sunday. But as the week wore on, a spring storm crept into the forecast and affected my plan.

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Plattekill: Five Days Later

After a slow start to my season, I finished last weekend with 25 ski days, within striking distance of my annual goal of thirty-five. With my weekend jammed with family responsibilities, I got a day off from work and drove to Plattekill, my goto destination for Fridays.

Route 30
Route 30

It snowed on Monday and even with two mountain rentals this past week, I knew that we’d find untracked snow both inbounds and in the sidecountry. Five days later.

We’ve had a good season at Plattekill, but snow depths are well below where they were last year at this time, when Riley dumped 40 inches on the mountain. We hadn’t really been out on the ridge much this season and looking at the forecast it seemed like this could be a now or never moment.

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