Thanks to several divas strongly recommended Ski Plattekill, I went there last Saturday.
It was GREAT!
Not that I'm a stranger to that mountain. I bike there in the summer. So I knew the terrain is good. In fact, too good, for my ability, I felt. But there's extra incentive this past weekend: it was still on "early season rate"!
And the big dump of the previous weekend means, they were nearly 100% open! (Plattekill isn't exactly small, something like 30-40 trails and a decent vertical: > 1000')
One thing I knew for sure. It wouldn't be crowded, because it's so out of the way. But when I pulled into the parking lot after 10 (it's a 2 1/2 hr drive for me), there were parking spots right next to the lodge! For a moment, I wondered if they were open! But then, I saw the lifts were churning, with peopel on it...
The lodge is still the same I remembered, for all the years back. Nothing fancy, very basic. A warm fire was buring in the middle of the lodge making a cozy place. A few families were milling about, going in and out...
Lift ticket was...$30. Was that a 80's price? ;) Anyway, I changed and hopped on the chair. Oh, did I mention no lines? Not only no lines, there weren't even anyone nearby!
At the top of the lift, I overheard a group talking about going down "the chute". Mmmm... maybe later. I cruised down a blue, just to check out their definition of "medium difficutly" and check out the snow condition. It was SOFT. No ice. Just nice (old) powder and packed powder.
So, I went back up, barely had enough time to catch my breath. And went down the "Chute", which is only a blue. But it was narrow and twisty. In other resort, it probably could have been rate a black.
Seeing the snow so soft and forgiving, I took the next run down a black (Rdigeline?). Honesly couldn't tell it's any harder than say, the Chute. So I sampled a couple more and it's time to break for lunch.
After lunch I "accidentally" ended up on a double black (Exhibition?). The snow was too soft and received too little traffic to bump up yet. So it was just a steepish un-even wide boulevard, with snow piles here and there. It was actually a lot of fun to blast down it. Amazingly, my "icy-carver" (K2 One Luv) handle the chopped up snow fine.
I went back up over and over, sampling everyone of the black and double black. There's actually not much difference between the two. When condition was good, trails got quite a bit easier. I was having fun. But my thighs started to let me know the end was near...
It wasn't even 3 o'clock yet, but my legs were giving out. Since there's no line whatsoever, I skied pratically every single trail at least twice, in that short time (remember I didn't get there till 10:30). I changed leasurely. And when I went back to the lodge, a small musical group of 3 had started playing by the fire... A few families were lounging about enjoying the warmth and the music. I so wanted to sit down and relax. But I had a 2 1/2 hr drive ahead of me. So reluctuntly I left. A tired but very satisfied skier.
It was a fantastic day. So again, thanks for all those who strongly recommended it. And for those who hasn't tried Plattekill and are within driving distance, you've got to try it!
p.s.
As another diva mentioned, Plattekill doesn't have much beginer trails. I think there were only two open last weekend. There're quite a few blues. But some of the blues are a bit, errrh, darker blues.
It was GREAT!
Not that I'm a stranger to that mountain. I bike there in the summer. So I knew the terrain is good. In fact, too good, for my ability, I felt. But there's extra incentive this past weekend: it was still on "early season rate"!
And the big dump of the previous weekend means, they were nearly 100% open! (Plattekill isn't exactly small, something like 30-40 trails and a decent vertical: > 1000')
One thing I knew for sure. It wouldn't be crowded, because it's so out of the way. But when I pulled into the parking lot after 10 (it's a 2 1/2 hr drive for me), there were parking spots right next to the lodge! For a moment, I wondered if they were open! But then, I saw the lifts were churning, with peopel on it...
The lodge is still the same I remembered, for all the years back. Nothing fancy, very basic. A warm fire was buring in the middle of the lodge making a cozy place. A few families were milling about, going in and out...
Lift ticket was...$30. Was that a 80's price? ;) Anyway, I changed and hopped on the chair. Oh, did I mention no lines? Not only no lines, there weren't even anyone nearby!
At the top of the lift, I overheard a group talking about going down "the chute". Mmmm... maybe later. I cruised down a blue, just to check out their definition of "medium difficutly" and check out the snow condition. It was SOFT. No ice. Just nice (old) powder and packed powder.
So, I went back up, barely had enough time to catch my breath. And went down the "Chute", which is only a blue. But it was narrow and twisty. In other resort, it probably could have been rate a black.
Seeing the snow so soft and forgiving, I took the next run down a black (Rdigeline?). Honesly couldn't tell it's any harder than say, the Chute. So I sampled a couple more and it's time to break for lunch.
After lunch I "accidentally" ended up on a double black (Exhibition?). The snow was too soft and received too little traffic to bump up yet. So it was just a steepish un-even wide boulevard, with snow piles here and there. It was actually a lot of fun to blast down it. Amazingly, my "icy-carver" (K2 One Luv) handle the chopped up snow fine.
I went back up over and over, sampling everyone of the black and double black. There's actually not much difference between the two. When condition was good, trails got quite a bit easier. I was having fun. But my thighs started to let me know the end was near...
It wasn't even 3 o'clock yet, but my legs were giving out. Since there's no line whatsoever, I skied pratically every single trail at least twice, in that short time (remember I didn't get there till 10:30). I changed leasurely. And when I went back to the lodge, a small musical group of 3 had started playing by the fire... A few families were lounging about enjoying the warmth and the music. I so wanted to sit down and relax. But I had a 2 1/2 hr drive ahead of me. So reluctuntly I left. A tired but very satisfied skier.
It was a fantastic day. So again, thanks for all those who strongly recommended it. And for those who hasn't tried Plattekill and are within driving distance, you've got to try it!
p.s.
As another diva mentioned, Plattekill doesn't have much beginer trails. I think there were only two open last weekend. There're quite a few blues. But some of the blues are a bit, errrh, darker blues.
