Plattekill, NY: 1/19/24

[Temp6]

The last time I laid eyes on Plattekill was in the rearview mirror after a season ending injury in march of 2023. I didn’t have much motivation to get back on a board for most of the early season this year because of it. Well that, and the lack of snow anywhere south of NVT until January. I actually hadn’t even planned on skiing much this year at all and booked an early spring surf trip to Brazil instead during prime corn harvest time. Once the flakes started falling consistently this month though, I couldn’t fight the urge and ultimately succumbed to the dopamine rewards system pulling me into the higher elevations.

My wife and I finally found a good time to get on the hill this week after an abundance of cold snowmaking windows and a fair bit of natural too. The mountain was in fantastic shape with only one trail closed, plunge under the double chair. It was surely to open the following day though with the impressive Platty snowmaking cloud pounding it with snow. I was amazed to see what was basically an entire man-made weather system engulfing this section of the mountain.

All the steepest trails were completely covered and skiing great, with the exception of natural cover only freefall. On a board, it was still just a tad thin to really sink the rail in and the descent was more of a gingerly float hoping not to give myself a base grind in the process.

The pick of the trails for us were the snaking ridge runs and twists on the double side. Left all natural as well, and with skier traffic at a minimum, it was wonderful to see my wife really challenging herself cruise through uneven, real snow.

Excellent powder turns were to be found here all day. There was not one section lacking a soft side pocket to carve into.

It was really great day to get the legs warm. Lingering injury anxiety quickly evaporated. Stoke filled my wife and with most of my friends battling work and child rearing schedules, she’ll be the one to join me most often for the foreseeable future. I can’t say I’m upset about it as it was nice to really take it easy and not worry about lapping up perfect conditions for once. Her enthusiasm for photography is also a bonus. She loves to capture these moments just as much as I do. Rarely would my friends ever man the camera for a good run!

Of course it’s not a complete trip to Platty without some reggae and IPAs in the lodge.

Still sore today but hopefully we’ll get another day in before a quick flight to ABQ in mid Feb. I’ll be hoping for deep fluffy desert pow of course but sunny southwest groomers won’t be such a bad consolation with my wife in tow!

 

[Harvey]

Stoke filled my wife and with most of my friends battling work and child rearing schedules, she’ll be the one to join me most often for the foreseeable future. I can’t say I’m upset about it as it was nice to really take it easy and not worry about lapping up perfect conditions for once. Her enthusiasm for photography is also a bonus. She loves to capture these moments just as much as I do. Rarely would my friends ever man the camera for a good run!

Awesome

Thanks for posting Temp.

 

[Abubob]

I too had a season ending injury last year. Except mine was in January. I was ready to get back out after a month but my physical therapist and my wife (especially my wife) didn’t want me to chance it. I was raring to go this December. However, I am skiing more causiously. More turns. Less speed. Glad you’re getting out there and you have reliable ski buddy.

 

[Temp6]

I was ready to get back out after a month but my physical therapist and my wife (especially my wife) didn’t want me to chance it. I was raring to go this December.

I had a thigh injury so bad that I never wanted to ski trees again! My wife had actually convinced me (prior to the season) to take a year off the slopes and spend the money on surf trips hence Brazil. With her enjoying quality time between just us two on the hill though, her whole mindset has changed.

And with a different ski partner, my whole mindset changed too. Conditions and steep trees feel far less important now than just cruising and taking it all in. Of course, she needs a break every now and then and i’m still able to charge a hard fall line too so it really is a nice dynamic. We’ll see how it goes at a big western mountain though!

 

[MarzNC]

And with a different ski partner, my whole mindset changed too. Conditions and steep trees feel far less important now than just cruising and taking it all in. Of course, she needs a break every now and then and i’m still able to charge a hard fall line too so it really is a nice dynamic. We’ll see how it goes at a big western mountain though!

Investing some time to enjoy skiing together will be well worth it in the long run. My husband is a total non-skier for assorted reasons. In recent years I've done ski trips/days with potential travel companions who were intermediates who were quite willing to ski solo at times. I've found that a mixed ability group of 3-4 adults sharing lodging can be great fun for a week at any size resort. In my case, usually most of the people have a spouse who doesn't ski.

I started skiing with friends who were advanced skiers 15 years ago when on ski trips out west. Started with spring break trips with my daughter as a tween meeting up with schoolmates from North Country School at Alta. Even doing one "adventure run" in the morning helped me get more comfortable off-piste. Might not have had the interest in working to improve technique after a knee injury 10 years ago without those experiences. The silver lining for that injury was that I started investing time and money into lessons once PT was done.

 

[Temp6]

I've found that a mixed ability group of 3-4 adults sharing lodging can be great fun for a week at any size resort.

So many families are now present where it was once just the boys chasing at the last minute. I can see how a nice big rental in a place with ample activities for many would be an awesome time regardless of conditions and no matter who skis what. Looking forward to those days but I think I'll let the infants get a bit older before jumping into that! I'm sure my friends will too. Would love to put together just a spouses, no kids trip before then though.

 

[Ripitz]

I’m seeing lots of Peppa Pig in your future. Enjoy your freedom and sanity while you still have it!

 

[raisingarizona]

Have you been to New Mexico to ride before? If no you're in for a treat. It's awesome. The mountains, culture and food there is quite a different experience from other states and popular ski destinations. Santa Fe is doing pretty good and I don't think Taos is far behind.

 

[MarzNC]

So many families are now present where it was once just the boys chasing at the last minute. I can see how a nice big rental in a place with ample activities for many would be an awesome time regardless of conditions and no matter who skis what. Looking forward to those days but I think I'll let the infants get a bit older before jumping into that! I'm sure my friends will too. Would love to put together just a spouses, no kids trip before then though.

For future reference . . . As a older mom with a non-skiing husband, what I ended up doing was ski weekends with another mom who had a girl the same age as mine. My daughter was always the better skier, but was very social and didn't mind skiing greens with a friend. As a tween, she'd ski longer with a friend than with me, so it worked out. My home hill is smaller than Plattekill. A small hill is ideal because there is only one lodge.

Bonus for me was that most of the other moms who went with us didn't ski for assorted reasons. So they took care of meals and even provided chauffeur service if the girls didn't want to ski as much as I did. At my home hill, there isn't true ski in/out lodging but plenty of condos 5-10 drive from the ski lodge.

 

[Temp6]

Have you been to New Mexico to ride before? If no you're in for a treat. It's awesome. The mountains, culture and food there is quite a different experience from other states and popular ski destinations. Santa Fe is doing pretty good and I don't think Taos is far behind.

I've ridden at Taos before but no others. I haven't decided on exactly where but possibly a little road trip to Pagosa Springs/Wolf Creek and hit Pajarito on the rebound. The wife and I LOVE that whole region. We visited Las Cruces/White Sands/Santa Fe on an April trip with no skiing in the past and had a blast.

Funny story from a trip to Taos in 2016 - mountain was in great shape and 100% open but hadn't seen fresh snow in a bit. Still had excellent snow quality even without fresh BUT, the morning of our flight an absolute monster was blowing in. Discussions were made about sticking around but at the time I had an important job interview to get home to. As we were flying out, Jeremy Jones, Jimmy Chin, Cody Townsend and crew were just arriving and they scored tits deep 1:20 ratio blower in the following days. Needless to say it was agonizing tuning into their socials and maybe that was the catalyst which kicked off the next decade or so of strictly chasing last minute. I think I still have mental scars from missing out on that one with the pros.