November Snow in the Catskills

This has been a year of transition for my family. Our daughter is in her first year of college. My wife and I are building a house in New York, and planning to move in the first half of next year. And after forty years of employment with one company, I’m retiring. I’ll be honest, it hasn’t been easy keeping it all together.

Galli Curci Road

Finishing our house and managing my exit from the company are taking priority. The season snuck up on me, even more so than usual, and I definitely don’t have my act together. Last weekend I skied Gore with a cotton teeshirt under my fleece. This weekend, I couldn’t even find my real camera.

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Plattekill Tree Skiing Work Day 2024

The Roster is FULL. 50 lopper hounds, we are at our max. Thanks everyone!


Plattekill Mountain and NYSkiBlog are stoked to present the 14th annual Plattekill Tree Skiing Work Day at the ski area in Roxbury NY on Sunday October 27th, 2024. There is no rain date at this time.

Plattekill fall aerial photo

The tradition — imagined in the mind of dedicated NY skier— lives on. We’re recruiting a motivated, smiling crew of lopper wielding powder hounds to continue our maintenance and expansion of some of the Catskills’ best tree skiing.

Our longterm goal is to clear as much terrain as possible under the legendary double chair. As Plattekill regulars know, the mountain is committed to helping skiers pursue their passion and find great lines all over the mountain.

free tree lines

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Spring Hiking in New York

Ski season gave way to hiking season in April for me. After a few local hikes to stretch out the legs, in late April, my dog Stella and I joined my friend Ken for a hike up Wittenberg Mountain in the Catskills. This was my first “big” hike of the season, with the goal of meeting up with my daughter Alison and her friend Alice as they completed their Catskill 3500 peaks on Wittenberg.

Climbing Wittenberg

Ken, Stella and I started at Woodland Valley, trudging along to the base of the steeps of Wittenberg. The climb up the steeps was a great challenge so early in my hiking season and it went well for all three of us. There was one spot where I had to hand off Stella to Ken to pull her up a tall, steep section.

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