- Joined
- Jul 15, 2020
I was planning on skiing Plattekill on Sunday.
Friday night around 11pm Zelda and I were reading in bed and she says "how about you ski tomorrow, so we can go out for dinner on Sunday?" I was all in for that. There'd been some largely unforecast snow Thursday night at Plattekill, and Saturday is always a fun day to ski. Plus Plattekill is the place to ski on a holiday, not really crowded, even when it's crowded. And of course there was the Snow Pope Parade. Details to follow.
I got out of bed, packed my boot bag, and headed for the guest room. It's where I sleep, when I'm setting out on one of my insane, early alarm adventures. I woke after four hours of sleep, made coffee and hit the road. In the past, early alarms have been really tough, but now I'm generally getting a lot of sleep and one night's shortfall didn't actually feel too bad.
Technically it's President's Week and Plattekill is clearly getting more popular. An hour before first chair is no longer early enough to be first in the lot. There were at least 30 guest cars when I arrived. All day I saw people who were clearly visiting for the first time.
Mornin'
Like much of the Northeast, Plattekill had some liquid last week, but the new snow on the groomers was pretty well bonded for most of the day. The skiing was good, better then I expected.
Freefall, groomed
I'd seen on Insta that Freefall had been groomed Friday night. I'd never seen that before this season. It was one thing that got me out of bed for that early morning start, I had to see it.
The trees were variable. In many spots they were skiable. They were challenging, and I clearly shouldn't have been doing them alone. Anything that had seen a good amount of skier traffic was good to go. The best trees I found were what I have been calling the Lower Cat Track Trees. When I did dip in, I stuck to those lanes.
JK
I ran in to Jennifer, a noted Catskill skier and writer. Uncharacteristically she was also alone, and we got to ski several runs together, maybe as many as 10. (I count my ski days, but never count my runs.) It was the most of the skiing we've done together in the years I've known her. I learned about her life, and how she met David her husband. I told her about our new house and our plans.
Jen was ripping. She was an advanced beginner or light intermediate when I met her maybe a decade ago, and now she's a hard charging expert now.
A funny thing happened, when we stopped at the top of the Cat Track Trees, Jen says "I don't ski trees, but I'd ski that!" Was that Jen's first time in the trees? I have no idea, I didn't ask, but she stomped it.
Cat Track Trees
Plunge
At noon, about 50 skiers, rode to the top of the triple to honor Penny, a beloved Plattekill skier who passed five years ago. Penny was known as the Snow Pope, she seemed to bring new snow with her wherever she went. Her husband Scott lead us on the annual Snow Pope Parade, down to her favorite spot, now called Penny's Corner, on Powderpuff. It's tradition to adorn the sign with precious jewelry. At one point I swear, without a cloud in the sky, snow was falling.
Penny's Corner
As a weekend warrior, I can see why you might want to ski bell-to-bell on a Saturday when conditions are good. Now retired, my skiing has been streaky. I was up in the mountains and I skied eight days straight. Then I came back to NJ for a week, and this day at Plattekill will be my only day this week. One thing is sure, I am getting more ski days. I'm close to 30 days, which is a lot for me before the end of February.
It's a long way of saying I'm trying not to ski too much, meaning all day, every day. Ultimately guys who get 100+ days in a season don't often ski late into the afternoon. Somehow on this day, my first hardpack day in two months, I made first chair, and skied until "sundown" around 3:45. It was fun.
Ultimately I came to believe that the only way to survive until the end of the day, would be to lap Ridge and Twist. Both trails had loose natural snow maybe 20 feet wide, on skiers left. All together I skied those trails, my favorites, a dozen times. I ripped my last several runs with @Roman, it was a great way to end it.
Before I headed home, I went down to the office, to say hello to Laz or Danielle or Leigh or Autumn, whoever was home. I ran into Danielle. She seemed content, the season has been a good one. I always love to hear that kind of news.
One thing is sure, in the 15 years I've been skiing Plattekill, I've never had a bad day.
Friday night around 11pm Zelda and I were reading in bed and she says "how about you ski tomorrow, so we can go out for dinner on Sunday?" I was all in for that. There'd been some largely unforecast snow Thursday night at Plattekill, and Saturday is always a fun day to ski. Plus Plattekill is the place to ski on a holiday, not really crowded, even when it's crowded. And of course there was the Snow Pope Parade. Details to follow.
I got out of bed, packed my boot bag, and headed for the guest room. It's where I sleep, when I'm setting out on one of my insane, early alarm adventures. I woke after four hours of sleep, made coffee and hit the road. In the past, early alarms have been really tough, but now I'm generally getting a lot of sleep and one night's shortfall didn't actually feel too bad.
Technically it's President's Week and Plattekill is clearly getting more popular. An hour before first chair is no longer early enough to be first in the lot. There were at least 30 guest cars when I arrived. All day I saw people who were clearly visiting for the first time.
Mornin'
Like much of the Northeast, Plattekill had some liquid last week, but the new snow on the groomers was pretty well bonded for most of the day. The skiing was good, better then I expected.
Freefall, groomed
I'd seen on Insta that Freefall had been groomed Friday night. I'd never seen that before this season. It was one thing that got me out of bed for that early morning start, I had to see it.
The trees were variable. In many spots they were skiable. They were challenging, and I clearly shouldn't have been doing them alone. Anything that had seen a good amount of skier traffic was good to go. The best trees I found were what I have been calling the Lower Cat Track Trees. When I did dip in, I stuck to those lanes.
JK
I ran in to Jennifer, a noted Catskill skier and writer. Uncharacteristically she was also alone, and we got to ski several runs together, maybe as many as 10. (I count my ski days, but never count my runs.) It was the most of the skiing we've done together in the years I've known her. I learned about her life, and how she met David her husband. I told her about our new house and our plans.
Jen was ripping. She was an advanced beginner or light intermediate when I met her maybe a decade ago, and now she's a hard charging expert now.
A funny thing happened, when we stopped at the top of the Cat Track Trees, Jen says "I don't ski trees, but I'd ski that!" Was that Jen's first time in the trees? I have no idea, I didn't ask, but she stomped it.
Cat Track Trees
Plunge
At noon, about 50 skiers, rode to the top of the triple to honor Penny, a beloved Plattekill skier who passed five years ago. Penny was known as the Snow Pope, she seemed to bring new snow with her wherever she went. Her husband Scott lead us on the annual Snow Pope Parade, down to her favorite spot, now called Penny's Corner, on Powderpuff. It's tradition to adorn the sign with precious jewelry. At one point I swear, without a cloud in the sky, snow was falling.
Penny's Corner
As a weekend warrior, I can see why you might want to ski bell-to-bell on a Saturday when conditions are good. Now retired, my skiing has been streaky. I was up in the mountains and I skied eight days straight. Then I came back to NJ for a week, and this day at Plattekill will be my only day this week. One thing is sure, I am getting more ski days. I'm close to 30 days, which is a lot for me before the end of February.
It's a long way of saying I'm trying not to ski too much, meaning all day, every day. Ultimately guys who get 100+ days in a season don't often ski late into the afternoon. Somehow on this day, my first hardpack day in two months, I made first chair, and skied until "sundown" around 3:45. It was fun.
Ultimately I came to believe that the only way to survive until the end of the day, would be to lap Ridge and Twist. Both trails had loose natural snow maybe 20 feet wide, on skiers left. All together I skied those trails, my favorites, a dozen times. I ripped my last several runs with @Roman, it was a great way to end it.
Before I headed home, I went down to the office, to say hello to Laz or Danielle or Leigh or Autumn, whoever was home. I ran into Danielle. She seemed content, the season has been a good one. I always love to hear that kind of news.
One thing is sure, in the 15 years I've been skiing Plattekill, I've never had a bad day.
