End of the Season at Plattekill...

Heaven, that's what it looked like there at Plattekill on Saturday. Above the clouds. And it was heavenly too, but also bittersweet because Saturday was the penultimate day of skiing for the season. The hill was melting fast and for the mogul competition skiers had to ride over on an ATV fitted with ski racks. 

I have to say I'm still sad. Yeah, I've been playing tennis and cycling this week (and the end of the season is very good for my novel-in-progress), but that doesn't quite cut it. So, I leave you with these last parting shots. And some results of the bump competition too. I judged with Harvey Road of the NY Ski blog. I was on jumps. He was on style; Eli from the ski patrol manned the stopwatch. Top prize went to Ted Battesh from Sarasota Springs who got a season pass for 2012/13, and then second prize to Caleb Jensen and third to the awesome Joe Supp (brother of Elaine who is ranked in the top 3 nationally in boardercross and of Steve Supp, aka Vintage Skier Man, and his long skis). 

And for all who hoped Steve might compete – and come on a Saturday rather than his usual Sunday – a dapper gentleman in a pink button-down and long straight skis took to the bumps between competitors. He rocked quite a line, not a zipper, but the man had style. That shirt alone was a bold statement. 

I will miss you all till next year. Maybe we could even get a dumping of snow still. I've not put away my skis or poles yet. (Though we have planted broccoli, peas, spinach and chard... ). Oh and if anyone can tell me who that is rocking the bumps below send me a message, okay? Or just send me a message so we can shed tears about the end of the season....

Photo by Dick Sanford at the Catskill Mountain News

Photo by Dick Sanford.

Photo by Dick Sanford

Till Next Year... 

St Platty's Day

The Bar at Plattekill

There are plenty of things I love about Plattekill – steep vertical, chilled vibe, no lift lines... and the bar. They have 12 beers on tap – including local brews from Ommegang and The Davidson Bros' Dacker Ale, Ithaca Nut Brown Ale, but one fact sticks out to me on the beer front: They sell more Stella than anywhere else in the Catskills. Which makes me feel like I'm back in London again.

This weekend there will also, of course, be Guinness and Jameson's and Murphy's. And what Nate Batthany (who is in charge of the awesome bar as well as the food in the bar – that steak quesadilla, say) calls an "Irish Car Bomb." Now while I was left stuttering over this politically tricky, say, notion, he explained that this was a combo of Bailey's and Jameson's and said, "You don't know what it is because you're not a college student." Too right. But anyone who drinks Bailey's has bigger problems. That stuff is just gross. So is Irish Whiskey. I'm a malt lady myself. Scotch malt.

Yes, Rudd checking your email helps you ski bumps. Or are you putting on Ryan Adams?

The other thing on tap (ha-ha) this weekend is the Bumps competition on Blockbuster. With its 1000 feet straight vert (the only of its kind in the Cats)  the soundtrack for the competition should be The Chemical Brother's Block Rockin' Beats, which might just date me as much as the, ahem, "Car Bomb." There will be spring conditions so everyone can bomb the bumps (perhaps not with a "Car Bomb" though. And yours truly will be judging. I am open to all influence peddling. Remember I like Scotch (as in from Scotland and not Ireland) whisky.

Nailing the kicker at the top Block (and also proving why action sports photography is a proven skill. He did catch air.

So bring your sunscreen, maybe even rock your retro gear. With temps in the 70s next week this could be our last weekend.... And bear in mind this bon-mot from Nate about the bar: "Whenever anyone asks what our hours are, I say, 'we close when you go home. It's till the last man standing.'" Which is some professional drinking, I say.

She caught air too... I just didn't. At least not on film.

The Tunis clan takes in the glory of the day and 1000 feet of vert.

Elaine Supp, Plattekill Rider, Rocks the Boardercross

Elaine Supp is like a Plattekill fairytale. Her dad (my ski hero) could be called the mascot on the mountain with his long skis and excellent style, and Elaine on her snowboard is bringing fame to our little hill.

She is ranked third in the nation in boardercross (it’s like motocross on snow with jumps berms and 3 other racers on the course with you going gangbusters). And this is a sport she only started competing in last year. As you might recall, she got her start when she saw a boarder cross race on TV and thought, “Hey I could do that.”

For most people that kind of idle idea dies away – or should. Not for Elaine. She entered a race the next weekend. And won. Now talking about it on the lift recently she says she stayed up late reading and re-reading the rules, and they said there was an inspection at nine AM. “So, I thought that just meant they wanted to make sure I had the right bib and helmet and board since you need specific ones,” she laughs. “No it meant we got to ride the course. I had no clue.”

She went from no clue to medal stand. She kept racing and winning, wining and racing and went to the Nationals and placed third. Now having won pretty much every race she’s entered this season she’s about to go back to the Nationals in Colorado in early April. And she even has sponsors. There’s SPY, Swany, Sno Life, Berma, sending her gear, but skiers at Plattekill have  (and still are) to make sure she can make it to Colorado and represent the little mountain that could… 

Powder, Powder, Powder... Plattekill's got it.

Who needs words when you've got this? But I have a few: I LOVE LAKE EFFECT. At least 6 inches fell today. And, everything was open.

no lift lines but awesome conditions.

who wouldn't smile?

See, John Tunis knows quality. 

Love the patroller opening Plunge (though poached before-- and while we're on Ski Patrol please buy a raffle ticket to support them.... 

Lovin' it.

And yes that's me.... 

See the light. Avoid the liftlines. Come to Plattekill

Okay, yes I know these pics have nothing to do with my story. But today I rode the lift with two different Platty converts – one with a house “five minutes from Hunter,” and he was choosing Plattekill because of it’s old-school / homey / family feel now that he’s skiing with the kids and grandkids, and also the snow and terrain is great. “It’s a great little mountain,” he said, “but it’s unfair to call it little. There’s nothing small about it.”

He’d skied Plattekill as a kid but then turned to other mountains. And you know the moral of the story….

The other person had tried Belleayre on Saturday and then came here. Now all sorts of rumors have flown about lifts not running at the Bell, and I don’t quite know what happened, but this man, he was like, “Where have I been?” He was kicking himself for only just discovering it and going on about how great the terrain and vibe is. Then we proceeded to talk about altitude sickness and skiing out West and the measly 4” I had at Squaw.

But I can’t show you pictures of these people…. There’s one problem with blogging about skiing. I like to ski too much and hate stopping to take pictures. Anyway, this isn’t my usual long post about something, about a character, or personality but just these two folks who I happened to ride the lift with. Not that there were lines, but I always figure if you’re skiing alone, why waste a chair? You never know who you might meet. Next, I rode up with Dieter on the ski patrol and somehow we got onto German nudists. But there you go.

Oh and the conditions were great. There’ve been three days in a row where Platty’s gotten more snow than I saw in my entire two weeks in Tahoe. There’s another moral in that story too.

Snow Hope Plattekill's Got Powder For The Weekend

It's even cold enough to make snow at night....

I was in Squaw for nearly two weeks and all I got was 4 inches. The night I leave they get more than a foot. Now I’m home and Platty collected 4 inches last night – in fact in the entire 12 days I was gone their snow-totals were higher than Tahoe? Moral of this story?

Ski Plattekill. Well, yes....

I had a blast out West skiing (though I also became friends with granite and p-tex). But, this Sunday Platty is going to get more white and fluffies, and with the lake effect machine, it will be more than we expect as magically happened overnight last night. But since I didn’t have first tracks and am stuck in bed and coughing like a Victorian consumptive (which goes well with watching costume dramas on Netflix), I leave you with this picture from Tahoe…

At Squaw... notice the bare rocks. I got p-tex...

100% Chance of Snow

Celebrate all ye Winter in the Catskillians! Snow is coming, I promise. And how can I guarantee such things (particularly given this winter)? I am going West to ski. I have a bad history with this. Soon as I get on a plane the Catskills gets several snowstorms each totaling around a foot. And out West? Drought. Which is already the case at Squaw where I'm going. No snow in sight for the next two weeks. So, get out and ski some powder runs for me. I won't be.... (Not to say I'm complaining or anything).

Poaching New Lines At Plattekill – Like Bats Out Of Hell

This weekend promises powder and plenty of it, but last weekend was epic and surprising – to find that much snow and that many stashes to share. There were lines carved and taken and hikes made. It felt like being at Alta. My shoulder hurt from carrying my skis. But, better than my telling you about it – this is from an email sent to me by a dedicated long-time Platty skier. And, the names have been cut to protect the innocent:

"We skied the powdery ridge like bats out of hell all the way down because we are young and we don't stop, only I had to pretend.  We should have skied like angels.  But, no, we skied like bats out of hell.   We used to ski that way all the time through the woods at scary speeds."  

"We love the time of year when the Double is closed.  Once it is opened, we are chased further and further away to find the quiet.  In the old days, before the time of blogs and secrets de-secretized, we would be there only because we were and we would be alone with one another.  We had followed each other and asked about things face to face.  Now, people who wouldn't  know are in the know and they show up literally out of nowhere.  People come to find "the stash".  It's like reading a fly-fishing magazine that talks about undiscovered rivers filled with the best things and they tell you where the secret river is...."

All I can say is bring the snow and take me to the river.... Also most importantly thanks to the skier who wrote such a lovely email...

You Can Ski The Wasatch But You Choose Plattekilll...

 You can ski anywhere in the world but where do you go to teach your son? Well, if your Salt Lake City residents Dave and Jessi Raber (or else you happen to be reading this blog) you would say: Plattekill. And, by anywhere in the world I mean the best skiing in the U.S. which would be Utah. There Jessi didn’t just happen to ride both one plank or two – tele and snowboarding – she also worked for Sno Engineering Group, which designs ski areas. And her particular client? Snowbird. She had to ski for work. And, still she comes to Plattekill with her adorable two-year-old Silas who’s learning to talk and ski at the same time.

And baby makes three. Plus four planks.

Dave is back East for work for the winter. So, Jessi and Silas followed for the skiing. Out West the couple would pack the young’un up, skin up 11k-foot peaks like Clayton’s Peak or Catherine’s Area at Alta and ski down with the baby on their back.

Now that they’re here, they might well bring the powder with them. They got married at Plattekill (and you can see the pictures in the lodge). Two days before the wedding, no snow. Then, come the appointed weekend in December and a legendary powder day. “We figure the powder gods love us,” Jessi says, which if you look at today’s weather could well be true. Particularly since Utah’s been having the driest winter in decades.  

They wanted Silas to learn at Plattekill. “It just feels like home,” she says. “Here all the kids are included and everyone’s like a family looking out for each other. Silas can run around and I know he’ll be okay. I could never do that anywhere out West.” Even better, Silas is loving skiing. He keeps saying “more, more, more” when he’s out on the slopes. Prediction: he will be ripping down the North Face by the end of the weekend. Okay that’s magical thinking.

Both his parents are also volunteering and working on the mountain this winter: Jessi at the bar and Dave, a master mechanic, helping keep the hill running smoothly. Which in fact sent him home on Monday looking like a chimney sweep, but Platty owner, Laszlo Vajtay says, “They’re the perfect example of what embodies the unique vibe of Plattekill. We’re lucky they love doing what they do at Plattekill.”

Learning on Powder Puff

Ready to take after Dad. In the groomer.

Nearly A Powder Day at Plattekill With Harvey Road

Harvey shooting for the blog.

Where does Harvey Road founder of the awesome NY Ski Blog ski on his birthday? Not his home mountain but Plattekill. And here’s the proof on Powderpuff, where he stopped to do his job, shooting  down the hill. And, as if a birthday present just for him, Laszlo turned on the guns, (got out the "pixie dust," Harvey called it) on the The Face. So while Saturday had soft spring skiing, Sunday, which should have been hard and loud, was instead a powder day if you picked your runs right. What the gods won’t provide Laszlo and co will. And did.

And check out that grin. He's having a good birthday... 

The NY Ski Blog also deserves a big thank you (particularly after the heavy snows come and I hear rumblings that MLK Day is our day for some powder). They came out in November to clear trails, including some secret passageways through the trees. Read more here, and Harvey, come back to tell me where…

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.

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...

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.