Chasing Winter at The Top

Powder skiing in New York came to an abrupt halt in early March. Without a season saving storm in sight, the mountains have been losing snowpack. Even at higher elevations, temperatures above freezing during the day and below freezing overnight, brought on an early spring.

Marcy Dam

Spring isn’t bad. Longer days, light crowds and of course, t-shirt weather. Corn snow is a blast when time and temperature align. Early in the day, it can be a nightmare of frozen crud, and in the afternoon it can become mashed mush. Combine all of it together, and you have a springtime backcountry tour in the High Peaks.

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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.

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