Ski Column: Warm Gloves for Cold Hands

by Albert Neubert

I’m beginning to sound like a broken record but then again Mother Nature keeps repeating herself.  Last Saturday turned out to be a gorgeous spring-like day with temps rising into the 40s and even 50s at ski areas throughout the Northeast.  A light freeze on Friday night kept the slopes firm for a while but by noon, conditions started to get heavier on any trail facing into the sun.

I skied at Plattekill, one of my favorite ski areas in the Northeast, on Saturday.  Plattekill is located near the village of Roxbury on the western side of the Catskill Mountains.  The ski area got from 10-12 inches of snow from the previous Monday storm and much of it was still there when I pulled into the parking lot at 8:30 AM.  Early morning temperatures ranged from the low 30s at my house in Woodstock to the low 40s in the Route 28 corridor until you got to the crest at Belleayre where readings were in the low 30s and right up to the Plattekill parking lot.

Saturday was opening day for the season at Plattekill and the area had a good amount of terrain open on the triple chair side of the resort including the upper and lower Face run under the triple.  There was also Sundown and Shredded Mozzarella, both intermediate runs and upper Powder Puff over to Crossover.  While Powder Puff is a wonderful novice run from the summit, by not having the lower portion of the trail open, it was limited to intermediate level skiers and snowboarders over the weekend. 

The Learning Area was also open and served by its own conveyor lift and it was very busy the entire time I was there.  There was a very good turnout but, as is so typical at Plattekill, I never waited more than a minute for a chair ride and I rode the chair by myself each time.  I managed 12 runs before noon and my legs started to get tired from working the increasingly softer snow as the sun started to beat down on the south facing terrain.  I left feeling like I had a great workout and improved my…