Plattekill 3-19-11

[Ride Delaware ?]

Sorry I'm a few days late on this one, but I haven't had time to sit down and write up a detailed report Ride Delaware style. So, I will do my best to remember the details, but I can't make any promises as to the absolute accuracy of my memories. All the trails and runs start running together. So, I digress...

 

It had been since the 3rd week in February, and I was jonesing hard to get back on the snow. I had heard of Plattekill and its backwoods Elk Mountain like vibe, so I decided it would be the absolute best place to get some good runs in without crowds. I called up Afroman7 last Wednesday, told him the plans, and planned to leave as soon as he got off work on Friday. Afroman7 finally arrived at my house around 6:30 and we headed out immediately. We stopped at Wawa to grab some dinner and then made the trek up to Kingston, NY. We arrived about 5 hours later and scored a room at the Econo Lodge in Kingston. The accommodations weren't 5 star, but as Steeze and anyone else who has stayed in one of the hotels on 28 west can attest, it was vastly better than some of the alternatives. We hit the sack after checking up on some NCAA games and prepared to wake up early.

 

Plattekill has a weird operating schedule (8:45 to 4:15), so we were able to sleep until 7. We quickly packed our bags and hit the continental breakfast. After some instant oatmeal and fresh baked goods, we got on the road and followed the GPS to Plattekill. Unfortunately, my GPS decided to take the road less traveled (old Rt 28 instead of Rt 28) and we were quickly into "where the fuck are we" territory. We were going up and down hills in the middle of farm fields, following some slow ass guy in a pickup, and going over roads that were partially dirt (no, not potholes, just where the paving was slowly stripped away). We finally got onto Rt 30 where we made some turns around some abandoned trailer homes. It almost looked like a trailer home junkyard. Soon after that we were finally turning onto the dirt road that signified that we had finally arrived at Plattekill.

 

Even on slow days I am accustomed to following a couple cars into the parking lot. That was not so here at Plattekill. In fact, when I arrived at 8:50 there were only about 5 cars in the lot and I was afraid the mountain was closed even though I had checked that it was open. Soon after, another car pulled in behind us and I was afraid that it would get crowded However, I soon realized that there were going to be very few additional skiers and riders at the mountain. Afroman7 and I booted up and then proceeded to the lodge. The trail map deceived me and made the mountain look much wider than it actually was. I walked up to the lodge, which is quite small and quaint. Its got a great backwoods feel to it, and I assumed, given the size, that there was more than one lodge. Thats not the case. All of the outdoor ticket booths were closed and we headed inside to buy our lift tickets. I was dismayed to find out that they did not take AMEX, but luckily I keep a backup Visa and quickly purchased my discounted lift ticket for $44. The mountain reported 33 of 35 trails open, and we headed to the triple to get our day started.

 

On my way out of the lodge to the lift, I saw a sign that said "leashes required." Most mountains require leashes but don't actually enforce the rule. Hell, I boarded in Massachusetts, and it is a law there, and they still didn't enforce it. Suffice to say, they actually checked for leashes and I had to run to the car to grab the spares I keep in my boot bag. There were all of 10 people on the mountain when we finally got on the triple lift and headed to the top. I turned around and shot this picture from the top. You can see how many cars were in the lot around 9:15:

 

 

At the top of the lift we took a right and decided to warm up on the beginner trail Powder Puff. It was groomed and was in excellent shape with better than average coverage. Here is a picture of Afroman7 shredding the gnar on Powderpuff:

 

 

We lapped the triple for a solid hour and a half because the double had not yet opened. It had been close to 60 degrees the day before and then cooled down to 29 when we had arrived in the morning. Therefore, they were taking the extra time to groom out the trails off of the double. It was a good thing. It became obvious rather quickly that the groomed trails were the only ones possible to ride on. The ungroomed trails were solid ice with some of them still showing ski tracks from the day before. They werent even remotely edgeable. We took our first run on that lift down Overlook. It was also groomed and in excellent shape. It is a long trail and has decent pitch for being a beginner trail. Here is Afroman7 meandering his way down:

 

 

We then decided to try out Ridge Run which was also groomed and had wall to wall coverage for most of the way down. However, at the bottom of the trail, it intersects with Twist, Home Run, and the Cliffs, and the warm weather and increased traffic showed. Here is a shot of that intersection:

 

 

After 12 runs we decided to head into lunch. The lodge is tiny but awesome. There is a wood stove downstairs and a wood burning open pit fireplace (with ventilation) upstairs in the dining area. The dining area can't seat anymore than 150 people, and the kitchen/cafeteria are like 1/3 the size of Elk. The ski shop is also tiny and is located on the 2nd floor in the back of the dining tables. The bathroom is equally as tiny and has 2 urinals and 4 stalls. This place is not prepared for large crowds, and I can only imagine what it is like on a busy day. After eating we headed back out to the triple to continue our day. The snow had softened up decently after lunch and became more sugary than the granular we were accustomed to in the morning. Our first run after lunch was down Blockbuster which was starting to get bumpy but had plenty of loose soft snow. The traverse to Blockbuster down Buckle Up was uneventful, but I saw an abandoned lift (rope?) and decided to snap this picture:

 

 

Close to the end of our day, we decided to go back to the triple to get a couple more runs in over there before we finished up. There was a jibhonk in front of us who had been playing some loud music, so when I started to hear music, I figured he had flipped his headphones and was blaring for all to hear. However, after listening a little longer, I noticed that the music was clearly bagpipes, something you don't see many 16 year old jibhonks listening to. The sound disappeared and I quickly forgot about it. However, on my next trip up the lift, I began to hear the music again. When I got off the lift and sat down to strap in, the music kept getting closer. I looked on the lift, and low and behold, there was a skier playing bagpipes on the trail. He got off the lift and headed to Powder Puff to take an easy way down the mountain all the while playing the bagpipes. I snapped this picture of him at the top:

 

 

Even better, after we took that run and headed back to the double, we heard the music again. After finishing his run, the bagpiper took a rest and began to play on the corner of the deck. It was awesome having some great live music while riding. You could hear it almost 2/3 of the way up the mountain. We ended the day on Powder Puff, but before that run we took one more down Northface (the double liftline). It was in great shape and was covered wall to wall minus a little bare spot at the bottom near the lift. Here is a shot of that trail:

 

 

After 25 runs we decided to call it a day. Overall, the experience at Plattekill was amazing. Given the weather, they did the best they could, There was plenty of loose snow on the groomed trails and there was mostly wall to wall coverage. However, it was apparent through the dirty snow that the base was getting low. They can push the snow around for this weekend, and according to the website they will do so. However, another warm week will probably do them in. We hopped back in the car and left for Elk. I will write another detailed report on that tomorrow or as I have time. Depending on the weather, maybe I'll try Plattekill again this weekend.

 

Terrain Park Report:

 

Basically non existent. There was a terrain park on the triple lift line, but it was terrain park by committee. I have never seen anything quite like it. Random riders and skiers would just ask the lifty for a shovel and paint and then go down to the park and build a jump or rail. There were several rails on the side of the trail just sitting there, and on several occasions, I watched some of the "park crew" pull one out, build it up, and then tear it down or switch it out with a different rail. The jumps were also pretty beat. Loose granular is terribly difficult to form into a jump and most of the takeoffs and lips were just falling apart with traffic. Overall, I would say without a doubt that their park was one of the worst I've seen, but I liked you build option they offered.

[Kyle]

awesome trip report

[RidgeRacer]

The trail in the first pic looks real steep. How's the terrain compared to elk?

[toast21602]

looks like a fun place.

[Ride Delaware ?]

Terrain is fairly similar to Elk. Definitely has a short run out like Elk, but pretty good headwalls on some of the expert terrain... Elk definitely has better cruisers... All of the good cruisers at Plattekill are beginner trails around the outside... Some fun intermediate stuff in between the lifts, but overall definitely similar to Elk. Otherwise, the only difference is the lack of giving a shit... The woods weren't in play due to the warm weather and the freeze thaw, but I could tell that they have some fun wood runs... Definitely worth trying out if your in the area...

[Ride Delaware ?]

Yeah, the leash thing was total bullshit. Luckily I keep my spare washers and screws from my bindings in my boot bag and all bindings come with a leash, so I had them easily accessible. I made sure to be blatantly pissed about it in front of the liftie, but he was a big burly man wearing Carhartt, an orange hunting beanie, and an open mechanics shirt showing off his rather rotund abdomen, and I knew I wasn't going to be able to sway him on the topic. I went to GP my senior year of high school on a college trip and wasn't bothered about wearing a leash... I personally agree with you as I have never lost my board, ever... It takes some absolute newbishness to lose your board on a mountain... I wore a leash my first 2 years when I rented a board, but after I got to Killington and started riding Gondolas, it became too much of a hassle to put them on every time... I haven't regretted scrapping the leash once... Its bullshit, but since they weren't going to let me on without it, and I had spares in the car, I lived with it...