Plattekill Opening Day 2023

If you’re following me this year, get ready to hear more about how hard it is to respond to the alarm, and head north to the Catskills. It’s always been hard, but now somehow, it feels even harder.  I’m retiring next year so there’s also light at the end of the tunnel thing going on.  Bear with me, for now.

I’ve always hated the expression “at the end of the day.” If something is true at the end of the day, isn’t it true all day long? In this case it actually makes sense to use it. At the end of the day, the reward for that early morning drive — a ski day — makes it worthwhile.  It’s the beginning of the day that gives me pause.

I’ve been skiing Plattekill since 2010, and I’ve probably skied more than 60 days in that time. Every one of them was worth the effort. Scott and I were talking about this on the deck on Saturday. The worst conditions I can remember in all of those days, is still one of my all-time favorite days at the mountain. We skied melty soft snow all day, on a few trails, and then we previewed the movie Snowfarmers, after dark in the lodge.  I remember it vividly.

When I’m day tripping from the flatlands, I have this lingering fear that I’ll unconsciously snooze my alarm and wake up at 10am to tweeting birds, gripped with regret. That hasn’t happened yet and on Saturday at 3:45am I answered the call once again. I stopped once on the way and was ultimately “late” to the mountain, arriving at 8:15, not even close to first.  I blame it on the hybrid I’m driving now. It relentless communicates everything about efficiency. I think it is brainwashing me to keep my speed down.

The drive up was mostly clear as forecast, but when I arrived in Meeker Hollow, the mountain was shrouded in fog. Inside the lodge it was dark; the ski was overcast and the lights were off in the bar.  All fine with me, I’m not a fan of bright lights.

After booting up and I went down to the office to see about my 23/24 seasons pass.  On opening day, of course it was busy, and Autumn was very nice to give me a day pass, allowing me to come back at the end of the day to do the paperwork on my full pass in a calmer afternoon moment.

After all that, somehow, I still ended up on Plattekill’s first chair of the season, with two great partners, Scott and Dean. In a good year, both of those guys will be a big part of my season. Our first run was firm, but edge-able enough. The sun was peaking in-and-out on our second run, and by our third ride up, we were enjoying a full on Plattekill blue sky morning. Within just a few minutes, The Face was getting carvy.

Options off the triple included Upper Powder Puff, Upper and Lower Face, and Sundown to Shredded Mozzarella. It seems that on opening day we’re either skiing those three routes down, or it’s a powder day and the entire mountain is in play. We started on The Face and returned to it over and over, after skiing everything else once. Most of the morning, it was really perfect.

After a recent avy incident in Tuckerman Ravine, there has been a lot of discussion of heuristic traps in various ski forums. It’s probably a stretch to suggest any of that relates seeking out thin cover in bounds with my buds. But, riding the triple we saw snowboard tracks on Blockbuster and I believe familiarity and scarcity did exert some pull on our decision making. We imagined the new ungroomed snow, and were excited to see it a day before the Grinch dropped three inches of r@in on every ski hill in the east.

Someone suggested it was “now or never.” By definition, the nevers are too smart to follow the nows. Scott and Buckethead and I made our way into the unknown, like Rudolf and Hermey the Dentist and Yukon Cornelius on an iceflow. Except far from ominous, t’was a beautiful day, not too warm to hike, and I really enjoyed it. My heart was pounding in a way I don’t often experience mountain biking or alpine skiing.

We made it past Blockbuster without incident.  When we came to Freefall, somebody couldn’t resist. “Hey I’ll try four turns and see what happens.” Scott pulled up, looked around and dropped in again. Bucket and I stayed in place, watching him all the way down. The skiing wasn’t exactly easy, more of a battle to stay upright.

Buckethead and I had simpler goals.  We wanted to see if we could float, on that one especially dreamy section of Lower Ridge Run.  When we got to the top of Overlook, we hung out for a minute on Plattekill’s storied wedding platform. Then we did what we could to find a gentle way down. After a break for lunch, we finished the day skiing the Face.

Plattekill skiers seek and find adventure when they come to the mountain. I’m happy to be one of them, and I’m grateful that I know many of the rest. It’s what gets me out of bed at those ungodly hours, and leaves me singing Classic Vinyl on the drive home.

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On my way out the door I ran into Plattekill’s owner Laszlo, speaking with Nicole Posey. She’s the organizing force behind an event called the Standing Sideways Plattekill Takeover. In the last few years, the annual snowboard gathering has been transformed into a fundraiser — to raise money for NY Oncology and Hematology — an organization that supports patients being treated for cancer. If you are a knuckledragger, and you want to participate in this worthy event, please buy a ticket in advance. All proceeds after costs will be donated to NYOH.