Has anyone skied Bobcat Ski Center in the Catskills? From what I can tell, it was closed last season, hopefully due to the less-than-stellar snowfall. The ski area is a small local one that is only 20% snowmaking. Anyway, I was just looking at a map, plotting potential ski adventures when I go up to NY for the holidays (and if the weather cooperates -- it's 80 degrees as I write this!), and was wondering if anyone is this is something I should waste my time trying to find, or go brave the NYC crowds instead....
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Bobcat Ski Center in the Catskills?
- Thread starter Pequenita
- Start date
I don't know about Bobcat, but I've heard good things about Plattekill, also in the Catskills. It's not a big area, but the expert terrain is supposed to be very good. Family owned and operated, which is nice. I think it's only open weekends.
Lilgeorg
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Bobcat is a fun little hill. Surely not a mountain. But it has that old time flavor and there is some challenge. We only skied there once but we had a blast. Food prices and lift tickets were very reasonable and no crowds. Id do it again.
Platekill offers free skiing on real powder days. And it is very under developed. You drive out into farm land forever thinking certainly there is no hill here and bam! There you are. The lift tickets, ski shop , and cafeteria are all run by the same 3 people. If they want to ski, all those things are closed till they get back in. But they are there first thing in the morning. The trails ahve no grooming and offer a surprising variety. You have to pass Bellayre to get there so most folks don't. They had an offer to "buy-in" awhile back. I am not sure how that worked out.
Both places are a break if all you get to ski is Hunter and Windham.We had fun.
Platekill offers free skiing on real powder days. And it is very under developed. You drive out into farm land forever thinking certainly there is no hill here and bam! There you are. The lift tickets, ski shop , and cafeteria are all run by the same 3 people. If they want to ski, all those things are closed till they get back in. But they are there first thing in the morning. The trails ahve no grooming and offer a surprising variety. You have to pass Bellayre to get there so most folks don't. They had an offer to "buy-in" awhile back. I am not sure how that worked out.
Both places are a break if all you get to ski is Hunter and Windham.We had fun.
Lori_K
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Bobcat is so dependent on natural snow that they were rarely open when we lived in NY.
We went to Plattekill several times-- great place (when it has snow). It's definitely a skier's hill-- you don't go there for the food or the ambience. Lift tickets are cheap, it's never crowded and they have 1000 ft vertical, with some solid steep runs. Even the blue runs are interesting with all the twists and turns. There is some trail grooming, and limited snow making. They are typically only open on weekends (Fri-Sun), so if there's been good snow during the week, you can still get find good snow on the weekend.
Our other Catskill favorite was Belleayre. They typically had the most consistent snow conditions, and they have a fair bit of terrain. It can get pretty crowded on the weekends, though. Belleayre was usually one of our choices for early season (December) skiing.
We went to Hunter. Once. Never again.
We went to Plattekill several times-- great place (when it has snow). It's definitely a skier's hill-- you don't go there for the food or the ambience. Lift tickets are cheap, it's never crowded and they have 1000 ft vertical, with some solid steep runs. Even the blue runs are interesting with all the twists and turns. There is some trail grooming, and limited snow making. They are typically only open on weekends (Fri-Sun), so if there's been good snow during the week, you can still get find good snow on the weekend.
Our other Catskill favorite was Belleayre. They typically had the most consistent snow conditions, and they have a fair bit of terrain. It can get pretty crowded on the weekends, though. Belleayre was usually one of our choices for early season (December) skiing.
We went to Hunter. Once. Never again.
We went to Hunter. Once. Never again.
Lol. I went there last President's Day weekend for the first time since middle school b/c it was the furthest north I could think of going (under the guise of visiting the fam, of course!) to take advantage of the mid-February blizzard. I lasted 3 hours.
Thanks for the insight on Bobcat and Plattekill.
marta
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Shhhh, Plattekill is a secret gem! 
Two lifts - one double, one triple, and never a line. Fri-Sun only, unless it dumps 12+" during the week, then they'll spin the lifts on a weekday for 100% ungroomed heaven "powder daize". It's an anti-resort, real ma & pa. It's the type of place you'll see expert skiiers in tan construction coveralls. Top to bottom double blacks, nice long beginner cruizers, and narrow twisty intermediate trails. Often more snow than its neighbors. Definitely worth the extra 20 min drive.
I've wanted to check out Bobcat myself, but I can't get the hubby to go anywhere that relies on a t-bar as their main lift. Couldn't get him to Plattekill until they got that 2nd chair lift.
Two lifts - one double, one triple, and never a line. Fri-Sun only, unless it dumps 12+" during the week, then they'll spin the lifts on a weekday for 100% ungroomed heaven "powder daize". It's an anti-resort, real ma & pa. It's the type of place you'll see expert skiiers in tan construction coveralls. Top to bottom double blacks, nice long beginner cruizers, and narrow twisty intermediate trails. Often more snow than its neighbors. Definitely worth the extra 20 min drive.I've wanted to check out Bobcat myself, but I can't get the hubby to go anywhere that relies on a t-bar as their main lift. Couldn't get him to Plattekill until they got that 2nd chair lift.
You know, I've had pretty bad experiences at Hunter crowd-wise, too, but it really is a pretty good mountain for where it is. Hunter West is supposed to be pretty challenging. If you're going to be around during a non-holiday week, I would definitely check it out on a Tuesday or Wednesday. We keep meaning to do this every season and for some reason we haven't done it yet.
marta
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Belleayre is still a great place, always soft snow when we go. The lifts still all have mid-stations. It can get very crowded. But where else can you ski for free on your birthday! It feels good to support the state run places. The cat rarely runs, it needs a lot of natural snow. They're now trying to get permission to develop below the mountain with condos/hotel/spa.
