# Plattekill 3/1, Berkshire East 3/2



## C-Rex (Mar 3, 2015)

I FINALLY had a chance to meet THE Scottyskis this past Sunday.  A friend and I made the trip out to Plattekill to pop our Catskills cherry.  We picked up Scotty at Potter Bros. on the way.  He was a most gracious tour guide as he told us of various points of interest throughout the drive.

     We arrived at Platty around 8:45 and got a good parking space.  Not that it would have been an issue as the crowds were nonexistent all day.  For someone who generally rides southern VT on weekends, it was a real treat to be able to ride right onto the lift all day on a Sunday.  Scotty was awesome at schooling us on all the mountain had to offer.  It was great riding with him!  

     The terrain at Platty is simply awesome, especially for a person looking for a challenge or some excitement.  With all the DH mountain biking trails that they are known for, the woods have a lot to offer in the way of gnar.  Cliffs, manmade drops, steeps, berms, and all sorts of goodies await if you venture into the trees.  At one point, while following fresh snow, I ended up cliffed-out just above a traversing trail.  I had to hang from some saplings and drop down from around 10-12 feet up.  I landed in a powder drift so all was well, but I learned that it pays to know where you are going at Platty.  For those eastern New England skiers like me, if you take Magic and add a bunch of mountain bike trails and drops to the woods, you get Plattekill.  The vert, pitch, and vibe of the mountains are nearly identical, which is awesome.  Even with a 3 hour ride, I'd definitely love to go bake to Platty for a powder day, or maybe make it a 2 day trip and hit Hunter too.

     On Saturday, I had talked my FWB into buying new skis.  She's an intermediate looking to advance beyond her Atomic Cloud 8's.  She ended up buying a pair of Solomon Myriad's.  They are a cool looking ski with a wide, rockered tip, nice side cut, and a fairly fat tail.  The edges have a new 5 point contact design that was really interesting to me.  Kinda reminds me of the magne-traction system on my board.

     She had to work Sunday so I took Monday off and went to Berkshire East with her.  It was empty and they had 3-4 inches of fresh snow blowing around for us to enjoy.  The skier's left of the mountain was deserted in the AM since the quad over there wasn't running.  We made lots of fresh tracks over there.  She loves the new sticks.  Way more stable in crud, more float in powder, and much better at bombing straight than her old ones.  I'm happy for her.  She needed a step up and is now more confident and has a renewed enthusiasm for skiing.


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## watkin (Mar 3, 2015)

Glad you enjoyed the mt, I've always held the notion that Platte is very similar to Magic as well.


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## rocks860 (Mar 3, 2015)

I think I'm gonna try and go to platty this weekend. Sounds kinda intimidating


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## C-Rex (Mar 3, 2015)

rocks860 said:


> I think I'm gonna try and go to platty this weekend. Sounds kinda intimidating



It's definitely a lot of fun with plenty of challenge thrown in.  Check out the trail called "The Cliffs".  As the name suggests, it has some huckable cliffs on it.  Everything I saw had a go-around option though, so you won't get yourself in trouble.  Some of the bike trails were hardpacked, dust on crust type conditions when I was there.  I can only imagine how awesome it'd be with a good blanket of fresh on top.


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## xwhaler (Mar 3, 2015)

Nice report. Plattekill is definitely on my radar but from where I live in Seacoast NH from here its a real long way.
I did ski Hunter a couple yrs ago as my friend worked there and gave us free tickets but probably should have manned up and hit Platty instead of driving home Sunday AM.
Someday I'd like to do these 4 in NYS: Platty, Hickory, Gore, Whiteface


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## marcski (Mar 3, 2015)

From Platty, Saturday - 2/28/15:


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## rocks860 (Mar 3, 2015)

Crex, my choice this weekend looks like platty or berkshire east. Platty would be an extra hour and a half drive but would also be about 20 bucks cheaper. Any thought?


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## ScottySkis (Mar 3, 2015)

Glad I finally got to meet you.really was nice warm day. Snowed 28 kept traffic slow.  Decided not go into the trees without my helmet. Less people then 3 weeks ago goo d platty crowds . I got to try the other 2 low crowds magic and berskire e hope this winter. Spring less people will be in Catskills now not that their have been crowds here or Hunter compared to 90s so Lucky to have even blue trail heaven of bell and Windham all over 1000 we need to open Bobcat and Bearpen lol so close.


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## rocks860 (Mar 3, 2015)

Still trying to get crex to weigh in here or in my other thread in the general forum


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## Savemeasammy (Mar 3, 2015)

If you can fit the extra drive time in for this trip, go for Platty.  You could save the BEast for when you don't have the extra time.   Both of these places have been getting a lot of love on the boards, so you will probably be happy either way. 


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## rocks860 (Mar 3, 2015)

Savemeasammy said:


> If you can fit the extra drive time in for this trip, go for Platty.  You could save the BEast for when you don't have the extra time.   Both of these places have been getting a lot of love on the boards, so you will probably be happy either way.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



I don't mind driving and I've got nothing to do saturday so that's the way I'm leaning


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## rocks860 (Mar 3, 2015)

rocks860 said:


> I don't mind driving and I've got nothing to do saturday so that's the way I'm leaning



Although now I'm confused because Google is telling me it's 4 hours to get there vs the 3 and a half it said yesterday

Although that may be based on the traffic currently


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## gmcunni (Mar 3, 2015)

rocks860 said:


> Although now I'm confused because Google is telling me it's 4 hours to get there vs the 3 and a half it said yesterday
> 
> Although that may be based on the traffic currently




yes, traffic


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## Savemeasammy (Mar 3, 2015)

^I like to just plug the address into my garmin.  That's usually pretty accurate.   Google maps, etc, don't seem as reliable.  


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## rocks860 (Mar 3, 2015)

Savemeasammy said:


> ^I like to just plug the address into my garmin.  That's usually pretty accurate.   Google maps, etc, don't seem as reliable.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



It was factoring in the crazy traffic on 84


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## legalskier (Mar 3, 2015)

C-Rex said:


> if you take Magic and add a bunch of mountain bike trails and drops to the woods, you get Plattekill.  The vert, pitch, and vibe of the mountains are nearly identical.



Similar vibes, yes. Lots of excellent tree skiing, yes.
But Magic's vert is 1,700 while Platty is either 1,000 or 1,100 (depending on the source), a significant difference. As for pitch, Magician (45 degrees at top), Black Magic, Black Line and Red Line are steeper. And Magic is bigger.
I've been skiing Platty since the 70s- it has a lot of fun terrain, good steeps, lots of ungroomed, a relaxed vibe with nice folks. Definitely worth hitting if you've never been, and then some more. But people shouldn't go there thinking they're getting Magic.


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## marcski (Mar 3, 2015)

I grew up skiing Magic and Berkshire East. I am now a Platty homer.  I still love and support all three mountains.  While, Magic does have more total vert, 1700 vs. 1100', Platty has no runout, Magic's is noticeable.  Platty also has a significant elevation advantage:  3500' vs. 2850' at the summit.  Magic has some gnarlier in bound terrain in certain areas, I actually think Platty has more sustained steeps than Magic.  Either way, IMHO, they both have some of the most fun, interesting terrain and overall vibe around.


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## Harvey (Mar 3, 2015)

I approve of this thread. :grin:

Glad you guys had a good day.  I skied P Saturday with Marcski and the usual suspects.   

Awesome day, one of the best this season for me and probably not in the top 5 for a homer like Marcski.


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## skimagic (Mar 3, 2015)

_It was factoring in the crazy traffic on 84                         _

I drove over last season on a Thurs from meriden, took 2.75 hours with a little BS in danbury.  Go slow on the main route (rt 28 ) through the catskills, obey every speed limit sign -the catskill cops are out in full force.


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## rocks860 (Mar 3, 2015)

skimagic said:


> _It was factoring in the crazy traffic on 84                         _
> 
> I drove over last season on a Thurs from meriden, took 2.75 hours with a little BS in danbury.  Go slow on the main route (rt 28 ) through the catskills, obey every speed limit sign -the catskill cops are out in full force.



I can take 84 or go through northwest ct and avoid 84 altogether. I may do that


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## Rowsdower (Mar 5, 2015)

I'm looking at Platty this Saturday or Sunday. Got a place to stay for the weekend so will be there early. No drive is gonna be nice.


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## rocks860 (Mar 5, 2015)

Looks like I'll be there on Saturday. I've never been, anything in particular I should check out?


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## ScottySkis (Mar 6, 2015)

rocks860 said:


> Looks like I'll be there on Saturday. I've never been, anything in particular I should check out?[/QUOTE black trails band left side the mountain. Blockbuster for bumps and steeps. Glade s are not marked but easy boo to see when your on chair your see others in trees. Also take green trails see how they wrap around you see glades off those to but also be careful of usually rocks in those areas. Cliff tails half way down at bottom . enjoy Platty .


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## C-Rex (Mar 6, 2015)

rocks860 said:


> Looks like I'll be there on Saturday. I've never been, anything in particular I should check out?



Hey dude, sorry for the slow response.  I hadn't been checking this thread.  I'd definitely make the drive to Platty if you can.  Where in CT are you?  If you can take 91 to 90 that's going to be your best bet.  

As far as what you should hit... depends on what you like to ski, of course.  While there's definitely some fun stuff off the triple chair, the double is where it's at.  The place is small enough that you can definitely explore most of it in a day.  I really don't know the place well enough to give good advice, but I really like The Cliffs, the woods to skier's right of the double chair, and all the twisty trails to the skiers right side of the mountain.  Scotty and Cornhead can give you more specifics.


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## rocks860 (Mar 6, 2015)

C-Rex said:


> Hey dude, sorry for the slow response.  I hadn't been checking this thread.  I'd definitely make the drive to Platty if you can.  Where in CT are you?  If you can take 91 to 90 that's going to be your best bet.
> 
> As far as what you should hit... depends on what you like to ski, of course.  While there's definitely some fun stuff off the triple chair, the double is where it's at.  The place is small enough that you can definitely explore most of it in a day.  I really don't know the place well enough to give good advice, but I really like The Cliffs, the woods to skier's right of the double chair, and all the twisty trails to the skiers right side of the mountain.  Scotty and Cornhead can give you more specifics.



I'm in Rocky hill. I'll either take 84 over or take 44 up and over to 23 I think. 44 is nice and scenic and traffic shouldn't be bad. I hate 84 with a passion


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## C-Rex (Mar 6, 2015)

Why not go straight up 91 to the Mass pike?


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## rocks860 (Mar 6, 2015)

C-Rex said:


> Why not go straight up 91 to the Mass pike?



Looks like that would be pretty far out of the way. Based on Google maps its 184 miles to go that way vs 147 to go 44 and Id be going pretty far north to go back south again. It's definitely more highway going up to 90 which is obviously faster. I'll have to consider it. There's also the whole tolls thing


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## Rowsdower (Mar 7, 2015)

Gonna be at Platty tomorrow. Anyone else heading up?


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## rocks860 (Mar 7, 2015)

Rowsdower said:


> Gonna be at Platty tomorrow. Anyone else heading up?



Was there today, I'll post a trip report when I get home if I don't pass out


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