Facebook Day at Plattekill looked a lot like every other day I’ve been to Plattekill. Good snow, terrain, plenty of parking, and no lift lines. We booted up at 10:15 and our timing was perfect.
We skied the whole mountain, but focused on the steep stuff. In the afternoon when conditions peaked, we lapped Plunge.
Funky soft, but very skiable, in the morning and then unbelievable corn perfection after the sun came out for real around noon.
Four months ago, we posted an interview with New York ski history expert Russ LaChapelle, in which he explained how his passion for lost Empire State ski areas developed over the years.
Of the many ski centers that had closed for good, none caught his imagination more than Bearpen — a mountain in the western Catskills that could have turned into the biggest resort east of the Rockies. Instead, it became a forgotten footnote. But this story must be heard.
After my last four destination trips ended up hitting the powder jackpot in one form or another, I finally got my karmic comeuppance this weekend at Windham in the northern Catskills, where we had booked two days of lessons for our son.
Jason called me from Hunter Saturday morning and said that the snow was nice, so I figured that the 3-5 inches predicted for that afternoon would only help conditions at Windham.
The problem was that a sneaky warm front also showed up, sending temps from 8 degrees to 40 in a few hours, which resulted in a deluge that froze everything solid overnight.
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