NYSkiBlog’s 8th Annual Meeting

This 8th Annual Meeting recap was not supposed to be authored by me. I’ve already got two front page posts in a row, how much more can you take? I’m posting this one because it’s personal.

shovel snow on the ramp

It was no coincidence that I went all out last week, with three day trips in seven days. Two of those trips were the farthest I’d ever gone for a single day. On Sunday Scottski and I round tripped Gore, and on Wednesday we did it again to McCauley.

As I turned the page on another year, the multi-faceted “birthday effect” was again in play. My motivation to chase snow is even higher on my birthday. At the same time, those who count on me at home are more understanding about my disappearance into the mountains.

view from Upper Face
The Face

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Plattekill Opens 2019

The awesome early season storm that dropped 27 inches of snow on Hunter last week, also spread the love to some of our other favorite mountains, including Magic and Plattekill. Both mountains planned to open on Saturday December 7, and both stuck to the plan, taking advantage of cold temps to save the powder for opening day.

Plattekill Opening Day 2019
Belsky and Bro

Putting the financial wisdom of this aside for a moment, it also worked for us desk jockeys, giving us another shot at skiing that great storm.

Brownski and I discussed our assignments. He’s all in on the Indy Pass this year, so he and the boys were off to Magic. More on that later this week. For now let’s just say that for me, it felt right to be heading to Plattekill for opening day.

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The Plattekill Plunge Army

I really like skiing lift lines. Something about them is just a bit more exciting to me. Maybe it’s dropping directly down the fall line, or maybe it’s the extra pressure from above to do your best.

Plattekill sign

On top of that, I’ve always had a thing for Plattekill’s Plunge. For starters, it’s a steep and narrow trail below a Hall Double. Plunge has snowmaking on its upper and lower third and is mostly all natural in the middle.

From the top, Plunge is often groomed about 60% of the way across starting from skier’s right. Down skier’s left 2 or 3 bump lines will form if given enough time. The middle — after the split with Giant Slalom — is almost never groomed.

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