Quality....

So this might be a tad meditative as WITC posts go and my idea is quality not quantity, which is always the value system at Platty. I skied the last two days and there was powder, chop, bumps which were a blast. My skiing was not quality. I don't know about you, but often I wake up in the middle of the night obsessing about things like my pole plant, that my upper body still flails about. And how much I wish I could ski like Steve Supp .... Last night was one of them. Which is a bummer for my poor husband. Who wants to hear their wife at 3 am talking about their ski hero (another man at that) or the drills she wants to do and the skis she really wants which are easier on chop? (BTW they're the K2 Lotta Luvs 2010-2011 if Santa is still listening)

All of which takes me away from quality. I was amazed at how great the trails were. (Which also explains why I've not been taking many pictures I never want to stop skiing) There might not be many trails open but the conditions were amazing. Powder, my friends, powder, that was fun and a challenge to ski. It wasn't skied off and there were a few slick spots (I believe in full honesty here at WITC) but there was good snow to be had. And this is what I love about Platty. Even if I didn't have 10 trails to choose from (which are more like 5 given that most hills count a trail that gets crisscrossed and joined by another as 2 trails, ski-flation if ever I heard it), the conditions were great.

Much to the credit of Macker and Nolan and the Platty team, but also that Platty is a little secret.

Then check out the pics below,the action shots of the young'uns sprawled out on Lower Face throwing snowballs at ski patrol. Gotta love them. Ski patrol and the kids. Platty is a place that welcomes all, and that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Happy New Year!

Plattekill's Grand Canyon

AT the top of Plattekill is something every skier should like to see. A giant hole 60 feet deep. Now partially filled with water. “Welcome to the Grand Canyon,” Laszlo says and waves his arms behind him. He’s dwarfed by said Canyon and the Komatsu excavator behind him. (This was back in November when Macker and 3 others were busy welding pipes to the Canyon.)

This Canyon is Platty’s new snowmaking pond. They’d wanted a bigger one for years and then came Irene and want became need. The original pond at the top of the hill suffered from erosion as did some of the trails. Repairing one meant repairing the others. The rock hauled out of the pond was used to stabilize trails and build a new, bigger parking lot by the lodge. (No more walking up the road on busy days). And, to get the construction crews to the top, one of the hardest hit trails – Powder Puff – was widened and some of the hairpin turns made a tad less steep. A bonus for beginner skiers.

Perhaps the sweetest benefit? The rock is also going to help with other Irene recovery efforts. It’s being used by local road crews and even on the Gilboa Dam.

The project is so big it will take two years to complete. Blasting the rock took 100,000 pounds of explosives, and the wires are still hanging out of the rock walls. But while we’re waiting for the final pond, it will still be in service this year. Given the weather so far, that’s the best news of all. As is the fact that Platty has just bought another 45 new snowguns.

{check the before and after shots and also the equipment that did it...}

White Christmas 2011

While everyone else is having fires and chestnuts and dreams of mistletoe and sugarplums dancing all in their heads (which could be the effect of too much wine or whisky or other indulgences that won't get mentioned here in a family-oriented blog) the elves at Plattekill are working hard to ensure a white Christmas and a good opening day. And for all who don't remember last year's post, snowmaking is hardly easy. The pictures here might well give that away.

It's more a job of man vs machine vs nature. It's cold. You have to keep checking water pressure, lugging guns and pipes around, dragging them uphills on snowmobiles which is a bit like herding animals. Only at 11 degrees Farenheit. You have to getting ice off the fans and out of the pipes. Ice that comes flying off hard as bullets from the turbines. So when you ski this week, give it up for the snowmakers who've been out overnight and will be again tonight on Christmas Eve and on Christmas itself, riding another kind of sleigh to deliver the best gift of all. Powder.

A Winter of Warmth

from living tree to seasoned firewood in as little as three months

A friend, Cindy Dunne of design company Blue Farm Graphic Design in East Meredith, recently posted to her Facebook page (photos included here) her success in creating 2 Holz Hausens for her winter firewood storage. The Holz Hausen is one of the most unique forms of storing firewood, and a tried and true method at that. They look like a beehive made out of wood and are very pleasant to gaze upon. Almost like a prehistoric form, or modern art in the manner of Andrew Goldsworthy.

No matter what form you choose to stack your cordwood, situate it with a southern exposure where there are no trees to block the sun and in a place that is easy to transfer it indoors.

Historically, the dimensions of a Hotz Hausen are a 10-foot-diameter circle with a center pole 10 feet high. You may want a shorter one if this is your first try with say… a 7-foot-diameter base, stacked to a more reachable height of 7 feet. Place a splash of paint or other dryness indicator at the 5 ft. 8 in. level. 80 percent of the 7-foot pole's height.

1. On level ground, lay out pieces of split firewood, end to end, to form the base circle (you can use other things like bricks or other lumber). Some folks like to build on top of a tarp. Beginners may want to put a measuring pole in the center of the circle to use to measure against as the pile shrinks or seasons.

2. Place wood in a spoke-like manner (perpendicular) with outer edge resting on the base circle. Keep pieces with good bark on them for your top (#6)

3. As the height increases, place some pieces as shims across outside edges of these spokes to keep wood tilted toward the center

4. The interior space is filled with the wood standing on end (upright). This acts as a chimney as it pulls air in and up through the pile, aiding the drying process.

5. Continue this stacking process until you have reached a height of about 5 feet. For the top 2 feet of stacking, don't use any shims. This will allow the wood to begin to slope down toward the outside.

6. Place the top layer with the bark side up. Like a tile or thatched roof, this prevents rain and snow from entering the mass of the Holz Hausen.

As the wood dries, it shrinks and the stack settles, losing 20 percent of its height. More and more of the pole is exposed above the top of the Holz Hausen. When you can see that patch of paint at 80 percent of the pole's height, the wood is ready to burn.

Be patient if you try this – do a little research online to see other styles. Some create an actual roof like profile for a real “wood house”. Building a beautiful wood storage system is kind of like giving a gift to yourself - twice over!

Cut Your Own

Okay so we’re looking on the bright side here at WITC. There isn’t much snow on the ground, but that makes it easy to pick (and cut) your own Christmas tree. We went up on our land with a saw—not even a chainsaw and hiked half a mile in and half a mile out with two trees, including one that was more Charlie Brown’s Christmas than perfect. Now you could do that too, or go to places like Robson’s tree farm in Bovina, or out on your own piece of land and pick one, but there are some tips I’d follow:

1. Check out the size of your space. Or read this from last week’s NY Times. The truth is sobering, and the article's name says it all: The Holiday Gaffes That Keep On Giving.

2. Bow saw. Christmas is a time when no one wants to visit ER. Unless you know how to use a chainsaw stick to a bow saw. Slower = safer. No need to act all macho in the woods.

3. If you can’t find a small enough tree (It can be tricky out there, and in the wild, they're bigger than they appear. No ceilings for one. Or walls.), then cut it further up and it might even regrow. Think of it as two-for-one.

4. When you’re picking your tree, remember that pack-it-in, pack-it-out rule. Aka, the tree has to get to the street to your car. Remember that if it’s heavy. And you have young children with you who might be getting cold. Or restless. For that matter bring some cocoa along too. In case you get cold.

5. Get it in water as soon as possible and keep watering it often. This keeps the needles on the boughs.

6. Pride yourself on your savings. Just remember the tree you’ve cut in the woods costs a fraction of that $300 tree in the City. And this being the spirit of the season, maybe donate the savings to a good cause. Like flood victims.

7. Remember to feel good about yourself for another reason: Picking your own Christmas tree is an awesome moment of family togetherness, witness this week’s pictures. Thank you to Nick and Shyama, David and Norm and Miriam.

See happy smiles all around....

In the Spirit of the Season

This weekend Platty is getting into the Christmas season. Giving. Giving and skiing (or if you must, snowboarding). As the mountain gears up for winter, they are trying to get new skiers in gear—a big part of the mountain’s advances this winter. And as such, for the giving and gearing (up that is, I don’t think there is any free gear being given away…) they are doing free lesson for beginners, and as always those under seven get to ski free. Lesson are at 10 and 1, so come early….

Having a Laugh....

That’s what I’ve been thinking about winter – the snow gods are having some big bad practical joke. It’s December 7^th and the only snow of any consequence came

for Halloween which now seems more trick than treat. Though Plattekill opened for a day (check out the picture by Bri George) and I went snowshoeing…

But now that winter is kicking in today, tonight, with some 7-10 for the Western Catskills. So, WITC is officially in action. This season we will be talking about how to make your own ice skating pond, ice fishing – and following my quest for cocoa. The search is a bit like Lord Of The Rings but less dangerous and unfortunately come with no Viggo Mortensen (though none too shabby Alan Cumming does ski Platty). My search is also more tasty than LOTR. Last year it took me to Alta where I had great cocoa and saw a sundog (a feat of nature worthy of Lord of the Rings).

This year Platty, which is redesigning its menus focusing on local homemade food in the cafeteria and bistro/bar upstairs is also adding a cappuccino machine, has promised me fancy cocoa. Nagging sometimes pays off. Belgian chocolate, here I come.

I recently asked Macker what he was doing to get ready for opening day. His answer? "Drinking a lot of beer." And not the craft ale you find in the bar. He's a Bud and Marlborough man through and through. I've also seen his long lists of things to do, pipes to lay and pumps to move, but there will be more on this in my next post as Platty builds the Grand Canyon of the Catskills.

With snow expected tonight I assume everyone will be out this weekend. Except, um, me. I will be celebrating my mom’s b-day. Mom WITC does not live near a ski hill – perhaps why I was a late-adopter. Also this year for WITC I will learn to snowmobile, but that is in part for the pursuit of fiction. There are a number of snowmobiles in the start of the novel I’m working on. Better I learn to snowmobile than how to kill someone which is also at the start of the book. Welcome to WITC 2011-2012.

Me snowshoeing on Halloween Weekend. Note the bright colors. I am not small game...

Laszlo at Jay...

For all those Platty fans, Laszlo goes on vacation. To ski at Jay. And blogs. Here's a preview... but you can find the rest on the NY Ski Blog here...

The kids were up at 6, ready to go. You'd think that with a season of real early mornings and real late nights, a guy in the ski industry could sleep in because someone else is taking care of everything, but not in this family — it's time for first tracks.

Midwinter conditions and snow at Jay today. Very windy, all high-speed lifts were closed including the tram. We all stepped out of the condo and yarned back on the bridal as the sub freezing temps hit us like a ton of bricks. We layered up and prepared ourselves for a mid-winter day. We skied down to the base lodge alongside the magic carpet.

Trail Map Competition Winners!

We have 2 – well 2.5 winners. The .5 is an honorable mention and not actually allowed to win as he is the owners’ son.

All this came about because I’m obsessed with Platty’s hand-drawn map in the bar as well as James Niehues who has monopoly on the trail map market. He’s done 75% of the large resorts – and spends about “80% of his time on trees….”

Not to be outdrawn are our two winners Cynthia and John – who both could offer Niehues a tip or two on trees. John Stewart seems to be anticipating spring with his bold use of brown and green (colors unseen on the hill in February when his map was drawn). While Cynthia wins in the over-14 (aka “Adult”) category for her bold renaming of Blockbuster as “Netflix.” There’s 21st century thinking for you… And, we heartily agree with her sentiment about loving helmets particularly since her map notes exactly where she fell two years ago. Clearly a memorable fall. Nick Vajytay gets an honorable mention with his abstract lateral thinking in his map. His is a

cross between an info diagram Edward Tufte would approve of and Rem Koolhaas’s SMLXL (See below. And Nick, you have a future as a designer or architect. Keep it up) Our two winners each get a pair of lift tix to Platty for next season…

More lovely hand-drawn maps can be found thanks to the Hand Drawn Map Association – though I don’t think they’ve tackled trail maps yet….

Toast the Cardinal...

Bagpipes, skiing like its 1982 and a cardinal. Last weekend at Platty was madcap, crazy – the end of days (or at least this year’s season) seemed nigh. A piper played on the deck and then skied down Powderpuff. Bag pipes being traditionally played at funerals maybe due to that dirge-like sound they produce. (The video below is thanks to Steve Gaon and John Tunis, who is heading off to Block…)

Then there were those rocking the retro gear – another end-of-season sign. From left to right it's Andrea Wortmann, Nicholas Panas, Elizabeth Kurpis and Lauren and Andy Welch all sporting the style. (Best of all is Andrea's Portillo hat. That’s thinking ahead or at least South of the Equator). With another red cap comes the cardinal. Literally a Cardenal. A group of skiers – all guys many of whom look and ski alike – nips off to an undisclosed spot in the woods (I promised not to give away the location) where they’ve stowed a bottle of brandy for the season. There they have a tipple of Cardenal Mendoza – named for a 15^th century Spanish cardinal who they toast in the trees. Clearly the prayers paid off. It snowed this week and will be cold enough to seem like deep mid-winter….

Retro Weekend – Life in the Fast Lane

This weekend rock your 80s gear at Platty, and if you need inspiration -- there's Vintage Skier Man aka Steven Supp who skis the long planks with style. Or, the sartorial choices on show last Saturday from Bri George, Jacob Libertore, Tristan Mulder and Garrett Hinkley ... Check them out above or in the awesome video Bri shot. Truly the 80s are still alive at Plattekill.

And, for those brave enough to don the vintage duds prizes are promised. Peg yourself somewhere between Suzy Chaffee, Sheena Easton and Sheila E and you won't go wrong... Well, not too wrong, that is. Just remember the shades to protect you from all the neon.

Boardercross Beauty

Elaine Supp’s making it to the USASA National’s in boardercross is somewhere between fluke and fairytale with a dash of fate added in. For those of you paying attention to Winter in the Catskills her father is Vintage Skier Man (his superhero title) and she a snowboarder.

At the end of January she was watching the Winter X Games and in particular the boardercross and thought, hey, I could do that. Now I should add that she is a particularly excellent boarder, not one of those who goes down the hill face first perpendicular with the slope scraping off all the snow. She’s well prepared for all the jumps and obstacles the nascent sport requires thanks to Platty’s terrain.

Boardercross (and skiercross, there is a 2-planked version) is a relatively new sport. It made it to the Winter Olympics last year in part because the IOC wanted to up the youth quotient. In each heat there are 4 riders on a course at a time. They have to tackle jumps and berms and obstacles – and finish first – a bit like motocross on a snow (or ice).

As Elaine explains it, she texted her sister saying, “I’m going to try this.” Her sister understandably thought she was joking. After all, the sport is intense, competitive and dangerous – few women decide to start in their early 20s. But Elaine was undaunted. She went to the USASA website and found an event in Windham the next weekend. “I wanted to see if I could do it,” she says with a laugh.

Shockingly she won, beat all her competitors and did it again last weekend, taking gold in her category, which to make it more competitive had her racing girls in a younger age group. Now, with those two victories she’s ranked number one in the Catskills making her eligible for the Nationals in Copper Mountain Colorado this April. With the same verve and determination that got her to her first race, she’s determined to go – and because it’s such a new sport she could actually break out to the level of pro riders.

Bob Basil head of the Catskill Mountain Series of the USASA put Elaine’s win in context. “Most girls her age are pros already,” he said “but with the sport’s size and her dedication she could go forward. It’s amazing to see someone in her age group up for riding and racing girls younger than her. She’s clearly a strong athlete.” He also said that the sport itself favors athletes in their late 20s. “You’re facing downhill going fast and making on the spot decision about obstacles. That takes intellectual maturity, but few women in her age group would decide to just go out there and try this – and win. Particularly after combining her group with another age group to make it more competitive.”

For her part Elaine is still adjusting to her wins. “Everything is new, just the layout of each course, and all the kids at these events show up with a coach.” Not Elaine though. No, she dragged her boyfriend along, and he brought a backpack full of snacks. Now she’s approaching local businesses and her employer to help her make it to the Nationals. Others who want to help can make donations on Paypal and on Facebook.

Vintage Skier Man

Marcel Proust has nothing on Steven Supp. The smell of madeleine’s might have transported the author back to his grandma’s kitchen and sparked off nostalgia as well as several grand tomes, but that can’t compete with the pull of straight skis on Steven.

He’s the skier I’m tempted to call Retro Man or Vintage Skier – the one in the Carhartts, safety glasses and 200 cm long skis with a pink florescent price tag proudly emblazoned on the front. $2.99 it says as if he were some Minnie Pearl on planks. (He’s also got Rossi 198s and Fischer 193s). To see him skiing these is a thing of beauty. And wonder. He could almost be Platty’s icon or mascot. On his long skis he embodies the spirit of the place: a bit contrary, definitely un-commercial and a darned good skier.

These days though sticking with straight skis takes equal parts dedication and nostalgia – plus a dash of frugality. Steven learned to ski when he was 10 with his brother, and “That was skiing to me. Still is, always will be.”

The two of them went a few times, and as Steven explains, “A few years go by and you get to be 16 and get a job and a car and get married and then skiing goes out the window for 20 years, only straight skis were burned in my mind about skiing in 1967. I never got away from it and that’s where I still am.”

Today he even consults manuals about straight skiing like the classic Skiing With Control. “Which is kind of funny,” he says, “as I spend most of my time on my face in the snow.” (I have to add here that is not true, but typical understatement from the superhero of straight skis, Vintage Skier)

The day I caught up with him he was out with his daughter Elaine – she on a snowboard. They both joked about that was how she got to be on something shaped… while various Platty regulars promise they will get him on shaped skis. Though somehow I doubt he'll ever try rocker.

“I was almost thinking of going to the shaped skis,” he says at the top of Free Fall. “But, I came in on the straight skis and I’m going out on the straight skis.” But for anyone who wishes to join him copies of Skiing with Control are easy to find on Amazon.

To Ski Is To Love

A man walked into Guest Services at a ski hill and asked for a wedding

ring, his wife’s wedding ring…. (This could be the opening line of a joke—but no this actually happened this past Sunday at Plattekill). Heather Davie, who was manning the desk, asked when he’d lost the ring, assuming it was the day before, maybe the week before. But no.

Ten years ago.

“On what trail?” she asked. He wasn’t sure. He wasn’t even skiing. It could have even been the parking lot – and the he in question, David Koehler of Taconic, was mountain biking with his wife. (Now ex wife – they divorced about five years ago as if the loss of the ring presaged a bad omen). They called the next day, the next week, the next month and the next year. No ring. But everytime he’s come skiing and riding at Plattekill he’s asked. Still no ring.

Everyone including owner Laszlo Vajtay said that no wedding rings had ever been turned in. But his wife Danielle (with her wedding ring firmly affixed to her finger) checked the safe. She thought there might be something in it. At the back hidden in a little drawer was an envelope with “wedding ring” written on it. David saw the envelope and started shaking. He said, “I’ll know if it’s it by the inscription.” He took it out, shaking even more as he held it in his palm.

And the inscription? “To ski is to love.” His said: “To love is to ski.” Truer words never spoken (or maybe never inscribed into a slim gold band). He handed it to Heather, and after studying the inscription she asked if he’d noticed the date on the ring? Feb 27, 1999. He found the ring twelve years to the day since David had originally put the ring on his wife’s finger. Of all the days, after all the years of searching for it, he found it on their anniversary. Aptly they were married at a ski resort.

Now he’s called his ex-wife to return the ring, and all we can say is the moral of the story is: They clearly weren’t skiing enough….

Give A Hand To Those Who’ve Got Your Back

Next Saturday March 5 Plattekill’s Ski Patrol are having a benefit dinner. These are the men (and women) in red who work tirelessly on the mountain. They train for hours and are there when you need them. So give them a hand back.

Platty’s patrollers are an all-volunteer department and they pay for all their equipment. Everything from bandages to backboards, sleds, defibrillators and radios. So ante up. Pay out. It’s only $12—for chicken BBQ and Blues Maneuver. Also they’re a 501C3 – which means they’re an official charity, so any donations over and above your ticket price are tax deductible.

Perhaps another reason to turn out on Saturday? The Guinness girls will be serving up some fine Irish stout. There will also be a snowboarding Captain Morgan…

Time to Make The Donuts

Rather than reading like a Dunkin Donuts ad from the 90s, the title should have a question mark after it. Like: “Where does he find the time to make the donuts?” The he in question is Macker, who, yes, makes donuts for Plattekill. As if it’s not enough that he keeps everything running smoothly and the mountain groomed (particularly after a thaw like last week) he finds the time to deep fry some dough.

And I should say for those who think that Dunkin Donuts (or Krispy Kreme) are the last word in donut-ness, try Macker’s. They’ve got a slight crisp on the outside and flaky inside. Oh, and a light dusting of powdered sugar or cinnamon. When I asked what the deal was with the donuts – meaning how the hell does he manage to cook them and do everything else (I personally have never made them. Anything that requires a deep fryer scares me) he said, “They’re round and have a hole.” And then laughed as if it was all elementary. In truth he’s been making them for years at Plattekill. It was one of his first jobs at the hill.

However, these days he doesn’t eat them. Macker – ever the perfectionist – doesn’t eat sweets – no cake, no ice cream. Only chocolate. It’s his sole sin (food-wise, that is). And if you want to experience the donuts, he’ll be doing them again next weekend for the cafeteria. They’re 3 for $1.50….

Free Skiing

What two words ring better to a skiers ear? Fresh Powder? Possibly... But I'll take free and I've got two ways for you to get it too. 1) "Like" Plattyon FB and if they get 2000 fans by the end of the month, the mountain will do a free day for their fans. (As of posting time they only need 350 more fans...).

2) The Plattekill Trail Map Competition sponsored by our fine fair mountain and WITC... Entry forms are at Plattekill but if you don't happen to be there this weekend (and snow is forecast so why would you not?) you can also email them directly to me. Make sure to include your age and contact info. Best interpretation wins. And as you're pondering just what that might mean, we've posted these pics of Freefall (below – and, my personal fave trail) and Blockbuster above. Block, as many fans know, has 1000 feet straight vert – the most in the Cats.

Thanks to Macker, I can also tell you just how it got its name. The guy with the bulldozer who cut the trail said it was too steep, dangerous and so on. "There's no way anyone can ski that. They’ll break their block." Hence Blockbuster was born. Meanwhile Freefall got its name from Laszlo's mom who won the competition to name it before he'd even bought the mountain.

Take it to the Macker

Macker is the man behind the mountain. He prefers to stay behind the scenes. Preferably behind the wheel of the groomer. “That’s where I get my calm, my peace,” he says. But in a sense, all you need to know about him are his skis. Stockli. They’re Swiss – handmade, the kind of planks a perfectionist goes for.

Macker is a man of few words, exacting standards (witness the Stockli skis. As he puts it, “I don’t get to go out very often so I need to make it count.”) He puts quality over quantity. He also hates the limelight and grimaces for his pictures (it wasn't easy to get him to smile for the one above). This, plus his sparkly baby blues, gives him a Clint Eastwood flintiness.

And, we can thank him for the quality of the snow at Plattekill. He is the sort of guru who knows when to groom and when to hold back – making sure that the goods are never over-used or over-groomed. He knows how to build a base and keep it strong, getting the most of out both manmade and natural snow (which has, this year, been divine).

He started working at the mountain in 1982. He moved to Roxbury and was working construction. “So,” he explains, “in winter work dried up. And, I ended up here.” With no idea that nearly thirty years on he’d still be here, head of ops, guardian of the hill’s lore and also every wire and piece of pipe in the lodge and on the hill. He’s done all the repairs and laid all the lines for the snow guns. He started, though, by running the T-Bar (yes, a T-Bar that took you all the way up North Face – which didn’t yet exist – not even as its first incarnation Barney's Bluff). The next year he came back, made a little snow and started running machines working the lifts and started doing that every winter. Now he is director of mountain ops and dedicated to the hill because “It’s a stronghold of the community.”

The name – Macker – was coined when he ran a garage and was the Mac Tools salesman for the area (even then he continued to work at the mountain in winter. He was that dedicated to it). And, from that time hence the man once known as Ken Davie became Macker – which sums up his personality – being the kind of person who says, “It’s not my way or the highway. It’s just my way.”

In shying away from attention, he insists I talk to others about him – like Jen Schumann who runs the ski school desk. When I ask her about him, she says, “He gave you list only of women

right?” and laughs – “He’s such a flirt.” Indeed now those steely Eastwood looks make sense.

(Above – Macker starts a fire ... with a flame thrower....)

Snow Hope Pt ... a Billion

Yes, look at that band of snow due today. We've had 3 inches and are owed up to 7.... All of which equals lovely conditions.

This year's already brought way, way above average snowfall (we're talking well near 120 inches for the Western Cats) -- which also translates into great skiing. Even last weekend with its mixed bag of (let me put it euphemistically) mixed precip .... In fact I might have had my best ski day ever in that rather sodden mix falling Saturday. The Plunge in low-vis cloud cover anyone? I can tell you it was a blast...

Just imagine how great Platte will be come Friday. See you there.

Sledding Anyone?

Thanks to the awesome weather - meaning abundant snowfall and consistent below-freezing temps - the result is a fabulous snowpack this winter for x-country skiing, back-country skiing, snowshoeing, riding 'sleds' (the official Delaware County term for 'snowmobiles'; if you hang with with Sarah Palin, you'd call them 'snowmachines'), and of course good 'ole fashion downhill sledding! Those of us with kids ( I have two youngsters) have a great excuse to act like kids in the snow - by going sledding of course.

Growing up my brother and I used my father's huge, old-school wooden toboggan. Yes, that's right- one of those six-foot long things with the alternating black and natural wood color boards - complete with the curl on the front.

We never could get it going very fast, unless of course the hill had about a 60-degree slope or we had that nice coating of crusty, icy stuff under the powder. With the conditions being like they are out there today and predicted for tonight, I think tomorrow might just be a perfect day for tobogganing.

Don't have one? Well neither do I anymore. I wish I did because my 6'4" frame would fit much better on that than it does on these plastic sleds of today. I now have to get more creative in ways to go sledding so that my 4 year old doesn't get disappointed in me. Remember the sledding scene in Christmas Vacation? That is what I feel like. I must now become the Clark W. Griswold and find not only the perfect Xmas tree, but also the "food-grade cereal shellac" that will surely make me the King of the Hill in my little guys' eyes.

Sleds come in so many variations today, but what I have discovered is they all work well under the ideal conditions they are made for. If the hill isn't steep enough, the snow not wet enough, or the sledder is not light enough, then it all comes down to one thing - track/route preparation.

Despite the wishes of the 4-year-old, take the time to prepare....make a few trial runs to pack down the track. Start with the lightest weight person and build up to that 6'4" 220-pounder - especially when constructing/packing down the jump at the end!

Taking the time to experiment and prepare is the key, but I also bring a couple different sleds. You have to work up to that Cadillac - start with old reliable first to warm things up....then bring out the big guns for the big fun.

How do you know when your sledding sled run is officially 'groomed' to perfection?
When you can successfully go body-sledding!
Get out there...enjoy the food-grade cereal shellac that Mother Nature has provided for us in the Western Catskills......its great for your heart, and all natural you know.

Happy sledding,
Aaron & Hudson Bennett

Ice Harvest - A Must Do Activity For Kids Of All Ages

I always thought you needed to be a parent to go to the Ice Harvest Festival at Hanford Mills. I mean, what could possibly pull me away from the woodstove on my day off? But last year I went. And was amazed. Mainly because I actually dressed correctly for the weather and didn't get cold (but that may have had something to do with the 3 trips into the store for hot soup, chili and cider -yum!!)

But it probably had more to do with it being easy and fun. HMM has done this event so many times it always comes off without a hitch. This year should be no different. The ice is thick and the storm brewing and there is a good chance of snow. Hopefully, an incredible Saturday awaits you. HMM provides Yak-Trak's for your boots so you don't slip. You get to use all the vintage ice cutting tools - these things are way cool and would make for awesome props in a slasher movie. There are boat loads of volunteers there to help you get the ice block cut, moved to the exit ramp, up and in the vintage car to move to the ice house where it's stored.

To top it off there was all sorts of stuff going on throughout the grounds from the horse drawn sleigh ride, and ice carving (which starts in the morning so if you want to watch them do the actual carving go early). The blacksmith was on site and making nails and hooks. Some huge one ton cow (ox??) was hanging out (one half of a team named Ben and Jerry). This year SUNY Delhi's ice hockey team will be on site for added fun like pond hockey demos and you can attempt to score goals on them I think. For me a every cool new activity - how to cook on a woodstove demo in the Hanford house.

Hanford Mills Museum is in East Meredith so really easy to get to off of I-88 or State Hwy 23 in Davenport - to the south. Or up Elk Creek or Irish Hill from Delhi. It's at the intersection of County Routs 10 and 12. I've posted some photos here from last year. But go out and take your own and have some FUN!!! Plus, how awesome is it to come back on 4th of July weekend and eat ice cream made from the ice you helped harvest??