Plattekill: Sending It In Style

Posted on by ml242

Last summer in the gym, I met a professional climber from Colorado who had relocated to NYC for a girl. When I asked if he skied, he recounted his glory days of competing in bumps and gates at Vail.

Plattekill Mountain

“Sweet!” I replied, following with an offer to show him the East.  His reply was anything but sweet. “Why would I want to do that? I know all about East Coast skiing by reputation already.”

The conversation went downhill. I took some ill-advised shots at Colorado and it was uncomfortable running into him at the gym. Eventually we exchanged apologies, and I made my offer again.

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Tagged: Catskills, Plattekill8 Comments

Relaxing Out West

Posted on by ml242

It’s been a great season for East Coast skiers, but if there was one thing we lacked so far it’s been a real spring.

West-Mountain-NY

Pre-appointed closing days have been shutting the doors and turning off the lifts at some areas without the opportunity for even one good beach session, cruising groomers and hitting bumps all in the name of getting a good tan and saying goodbye to winter the right way.

With this in mind, I pointed my gear to West Mountain on the mandatory work holiday for Good Friday. West’s location is an advertisement in itself, easily displaying its fully loaded slopes overlooking the Northway, and it seemed like a few other skiers had the same idea.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, West Mountain4 Comments

Thrills at a Chilly Mount Van Hoevenberg

Posted on by Peter Minde

Taking a whole weekend off to ski this year was a rarity. I have a job that requires working on Saturdays, and you gotta take care of business. So when the opportunity came at mid-winter break, my family repaired to Lake Placid to ski Mount van Hoevenberg.

Mount-Van-Hoevenburg-Skiers

In 1982, I skied Mount van Hoevenberg for the first time. Still a novice, my friends were extolling the virtues of this place and we came up on a chilly January weekend.

The first trail we skied then was the Ladies 5k, so named because it was the route for the women’s 5 km relay event in the 1980 Olympics. Only one of the most difficult trails in the place. The lower part of the loop I managed without incident. But from the height of land, I basically fell all the way back down to the stadium. I was still figuring out how to turn going downhill.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Mount van Hoevenberg, Nordic SkiingLeave a comment