Better than a Corvette: Joining Patrol

“Some guys buy a Corvette when they turn fifty. Other guys join ski patrol.” Spoken by a Belleayre patroller who showed up on a Saturday to help finish the testing process for some of my fellow patrol candidates. Joining ski patrol is my version of a mid-life crisis. Fundamentally, I was the same as a guy who buys the car he has been lusting after for most of his life.

injury at Killington
East Fall at Killington

Like the Belleayre patrollers, I was there to help out with testing. My son and I had been through the process a month before. It was the end of a long road that began last fall when I spotted a post on social media announcing that a patroller from Belleayre would be conducting an Outdoor Emergency Care (OEC) class for interested parties.

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Lightning Strikes Plattekill

Just before 3pm on Tuesday July 12, intense “straight line” storms came through the Catskills. In Delaware County the weather was extreme for several minutes. At Plattekill, the storm passed and after that, at the end of the workday, employees went home. At 5:45 pm an alert neighbor saw smoke rising from the base of the ski area and called it in.

fire fighters

Based on the timing and nature of the storm, those on the ground believed that lightning struck the control shack, at the base of the double chair.  If so, it may have smoldered for a while, before it was seen and reported. For the moment, until the insurance company can make their official determination of cause, the shack ruins will stay where they lay.

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Gary Hinkley: 1937-2022

Gary Hinkley and Glen Plake Feb 3 2019
photo by John Tunis

ROXBURY NY Gary Allen Hinkley passed peacefully on Sunday, May 15, 2022 at the age of 84.

Born on Sept. 27, 1937, to Harold and Ethel Hinkley of Meeker Hollow NY, Gary was a lifelong resident of Roxbury. His love for his family and the town ran deep. In 1957, he married the love of his life, his favorite dance partner, Bonnie Price, on Easter Sunday.

Gary had a long career of building homes and commercial structures in the Catskills and Downeast Maine. In 1963 he built the original Roxbury Motel. The motel allowed him to share his love for Roxbury with everyone who came through the doors. Gary and Bonnie lived next door to the lodge.

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