Plattekill Closing Day 2023

I’ve got 26 days so far this season. I skied Gore 10 days, Plattekill 7, Belleayre 3 plus Titus, McCauley and Hunter once each. There were three days of nordic skiing in the Adirondack woods. I’m not saying this because I’m done or anything, just setting up the story.

Plattekill Closing Day 2023

At the end of the season I always seem to feel I didn’t ski Plattekill enough. I usually get five days, this year I got seven, but I still feel it.

Robert once claimed there were No Bad Days at Snow Ridge. I feel that way about Plattekill, like it’s actually foolproof when I go, I’ll have a good time.

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Belleayre with a Few Friends

In the offseason, when I think about spring skiing, I recall sunny days, skiing soft snow, all day long. I remind myself that spring is wonderful and it’s also generally reliable. The snow has to melt sometime, and you know the skiing is going to be good at the end of the season.

Right? It’s not as simple as it sounds. When it’s actually spring, I find I’m juggling things nearly as much as I do to chase powder.

Will the weekend include a sunny day with temperatures above freezing? Can I get a weekday off? Is the mountain I want to ski still spinning midweek?

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Skiing the Catskill Divide

Steam poured out of the roof of the Frost Valley YMCA sugar house. I could see the sugarman tending the boil through the open door. I wanted to spend all day there hearing stories of sap runs from years gone by. But there was no time for maple lore and syrup as I had other plans.

Biscuit Brook Register
Biscuit Brook

My long time ski bum friend, M.G. Sickman dropped me off at the Biscuit Brook parking area. He was headed off to Belleayre to ski for the day. We had been to Plattekill for their Powderdaize exactly a week before and conditions were now very different. My objective was a point-to-point ski traverse along the Catskill Divide on the 15 mile Pine Hill West Branch Trail ending at Belleayre.

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