Windham Mountain, NY: 12/2/12

It’s my goal to ski and report on every ski mountain in New York. Given the demands of work, family, and our property near Gore, that may take a while. Until today, I’d never skied Windham Mountain in NY and it was a big gap in my resume.

Windham Mountain NY

My plan was to ski Windham for the first time last Friday — the mountain’s planned opening day — but work didn’t cooperate. Today the stars finally aligned, and I got my chance.

The forecast called for afternoon showers, so I left the flatlands well before dawn, to make the most of the morning. When I arrived at the mountain around 8:15 it was gray and warm. I grabbed a cubby in the main base lodge area and ordered breakfast. The resort feels very well cared for, and when you’re in the common areas, you do too. After chatting with the chef, I whirled around and somehow my egg sandwich ended up on the floor — it was replaced even before my embarrassment slipped away.

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Plattekill Tree Skiing Workday 2012

While some resorts tout summer improvements like a new Waffle Hut, RFID tickets, or shuffled deck chairs, Plattekill did something a little different this past weekend.

Early ups

In a joint venture launched by the mountain and the NYSkiBlog, 25 volunteers came forward to do a little pruning in the woods.

The result was truly beneficial to the skiers of the Catskills; a new intermediate-to-advanced glade was cut in a snowy and consistently pitched area of the mountain that many should be able to enjoy.

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The Ski Season in Photos #12

Bumpin Riley • Plattekill Mtn • March 19, 2012

After the snow gods delivered a solitary week of winter across the northeast, a cruel blow was served: the winter hating heat wave. In mid-March temperatures soared to mid-summer levels reaching in the 70s and 80s for nearly two weeks.

Already limited snowpacks began to vaporize and mountains across the state scrambled to figure out how they could cram in the normally extended party that constitutes the spring farewell to the lift-served season.

Plattekill bumpfield

The jump from winter to summer coincided with St Patrick’s Day and many mountains scraped together whatever snow they could find and scheduled parties for the weekend of March 19, 2012.  Plattekill unveiled an new annual event — a mogul competition — to take place at midday on St. Plattekill’s Day.

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