Belleayre Run

Confession time, but I doubt any of the NYSB authors will be surprised; I’ve got a bit of an OCD thing going on. I obsess about numbers, among other things. With just a few exceptions, the only truly legitimate numbers are even, and some even numbers are better than others. The best numbers are divisible by other even numbers like 12, 16, 24 or 36.

Route 28

It effects me at work, slowing me down when I have to set column widths in a spreadsheet. It’s also effects my ski day count and maybe even my skiing. Last week looking at the weather ahead, I was sitting at 21 ski days and the weekend looked wet. Friday, on the other hand, was forecast to be sunny and very warm, at the end of a warm week. Skiing Friday felt right.

Continue reading

Plattekill: Back with the Tribe

I hadn’t been to Plattekill since the NYSkiBlog annual meeting in early January. A week after that great day, I joined a long list of skiers I know who’ve gotten hurt this season, and I was out for a month.

Plattekill Lodge

I wasn’t happy missing several weeks right in the heart of the season. I also felt I had let Plattekill down. When I first discovered this place, I knew I wanted to contribute. I kind of assigned myself the responsibility of telling the story.

The Catskills have had challenging weather this season and from what I had seen from a distance it looked mountain ops had done a solid job in spite of it all. I’ve seen several reports of good skiing at Plattekill this year.

Continue reading

Plattekill: Key to the Strategy

It’s no secret, I’m getting old. To ease the transition, each year I try to mark the milestone by skiing something that makes me happy. Last year I had covid on my birthday and it broke my streak of over 10 years, where every birthday was a celebration. This year I was determined to get back on track.

What am I thinking?

The common denominator in my birthday success over the last decade has been my focus on Plattekill. While my Jan 8 birthday is relatively early in the season, somehow, each year I’ve had a great ski day. Over those years conditions have ranged from acceptable to incredible, and I admit it doesn’t hurt that I totally love the place.

Continue reading