# Any opinions of/experience with Plattekill Mountain (Catskills)?



## flex (Mar 11, 2008)

Funny you should mention this because I just started looking into this place the last couple of days and am thinking of taking a 1-2 night trip to hit up platekill and maybe hunter or belleayare. 

From what I've heard don't go by only the trail map. There are a lot of "unofficial" trails that are marked by the regulars. As long as you keep it in the mountain boundaries they don't mind you taking these unofficial trails. Also there you rarely have to wait in any lift lines since the mountain is in such a remote location.

Check out the article below for more info

Ski Plattekill


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## The Jake (Jan 19, 2010)

*thanks*

that's very helpful. and if i can be of some assistance to you, don't go to Hunter. it's absolutely awful. Belleayre and Windham are 1000 times better in every way, and they're right in the same area.


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## rgrwilco (Oct 15, 2007)

i think im going there soon. i live near philly, and we get a coupon book for things to do in south jersey, and theres buy one get one tickets for plattekill(yeah i have no idea why for them, when they are 4 hours away) but ive always wanted to check it out.

i hear its all about the riding there. pretty bare bones and whatnot, which is awesome as hell


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## Mr. Polonia (Apr 5, 2009)

The Jake said:


> that's very helpful. and if i can be of some assistance to you, don't go to Hunter. it's absolutely awful. Belleayre and Windham are 1000 times better in every way, and they're right in the same area.


i used to HATE hunter...but ive been going there quite often but only during the mid week where its dead, and i must tell u, that its not that bad. there r a lot of trails to explore that r hidden and if u catch them on a pow day, u will jizz in ur pants haha


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## Magnum626 (Dec 31, 2009)

My friends and I had a house at hunter for two seasons. Needless to say I didn't ride much on the weekends...lol It's a lot of fun during the week though and more fun terrain than Bellayre and Windham. I haven't been back to windham since I dislocated my elbow 11 years ago so I may be a bit biased.

I'll be heading up there tomorrow to catch the snow.


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## Mervin (Dec 18, 2008)

I ride bikes here a lot in the off-season but have never been here for snow. I've always thought if they got a lot of snow the bike trails would be fantastic fun but if the snow is thin I'll bet it kinda blows.


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## The Jake (Jan 19, 2010)

*maybe*

i'm biased, but every time i've been to Hunter (a good 4, 5 times in the past two seasons) it's been crazy crowded, and crazy icy all over the mountain. i find the runs to be shorter, and more importantly, a lot of them don't get direct sunlight, meaning they freeze faster in the cold weather. the best run for intermediates is the Belt Parkway, and even that is crazy crowded and iced over the entire day.

i find Windham's runs to be much wider, much less crowded, and much longer. Belleayre isn't as big, but it gets about half (or fewer) people, meaning the runs are never crowded. 

if you ride mostly terrain park, i can see liking Hunter better because of the park and the halfpipe, but for someone like me who just likes to cruise and carve, i really can't stand it.


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## Mervin (Dec 18, 2008)

Hunter is the only mountain I've actually seen a fight break out in the lift line. I also was threatened by some meathead that he was going to show me his "biscuit", which I later found out meant his gun... here I thought he was coming on to me.... it is New York


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## The Jake (Jan 19, 2010)

sadly, that doesn't surprise me at all.


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## Mr. Polonia (Apr 5, 2009)

The Jake said:


> . i find the runs to be shorter, and more importantly, a lot of them don't get direct sunlight, meaning they freeze faster in the cold weather.


this is so true, but if ur an intermediate rider, u should stick to the black diamonds on the west side of the mtn like hells gate. throughout the entire day there is sun beaming on it.

I never want to go there during the weekend since theres is only one bottom to top lift and i can predict hell on weekends,, but hey its the Catskills. we gotta take what we are given


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## Magnum626 (Dec 31, 2009)

Yea I would avoid the place on weekends. The other side does get sun and people tend not to go there. I've never seen a fight break out though, that's kinda funny. And if that dude was yelling talking about showing his 'biscuit' I'd gladly yell back that I don't sway that way. A gun at a ski resort? Really? Reminds me of back in the day playing tackle football in the park and this kid ran back to his bag to pull out a gun because he thought we were tackling him harder than anyone else. :dunno: :laugh:

Either way I don't expect ice there tomorrow.


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## lisevolution (Sep 20, 2007)

Platekill is definitely a small mountain. IIRC they're only open on the weekends and big snow days during the week. You should check that out before taking a trip up there to ride during the week. It's been at least 5 years since I've been there since my friend moved out of New Paltz but it was always empty when I was there...


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## Vlaze (Nov 12, 2008)

The Jake said:


> i'm biased, but every time i've been to Hunter (a good 4, 5 times in the past two seasons) it's been crazy crowded, and crazy icy all over the mountain. i find the runs to be shorter, and more importantly, a lot of them don't get direct sunlight, meaning they freeze faster in the cold weather. the best run for intermediates is the Belt Parkway, and even that is crazy crowded and iced over the entire day.
> 
> i find Windham's runs to be much wider, much less crowded, and much longer. Belleayre isn't as big, but it gets about half (or fewer) people, meaning the runs are never crowded.
> 
> if you ride mostly terrain park, i can see liking Hunter better because of the park and the halfpipe, but for someone like me who just likes to cruise and carve, i really can't stand it.


That sums it up pretty well. Bell is o.k. since it is spread out well but IMO there's only a handful of runs that are good. Hunter is good for the park, pretty much it. 

Windham on a POW day is the best place to be with the diverse and spread out runs IMO. Plus their lodges are bigger with more room especially for the bar.


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## The Jake (Jan 19, 2010)

well, a year has gone by since i posted this thread and i've had a bit of a change of heart. still never made it to Plattekill, though.

with my skill level having improved to the point where i can comfortably navigate blacks, i must say, i don't hate Hunter as much anymore. i find Hellgate and Jimmy Huegea Express to be fun, relatively un-crowded trails. the Belt is still the Belt. fun on a weekday or off-hours, a gauntlet on the weekends. 

Belleayre and Windham remain my favorites in the Catskills. if you can survive without a nice lodge or decent food, Belleayre is the place to be. great snow (particularly this season), lots of lifts, spread out terrain and the costs are down (comparitively) because it's run by the state. 

Windham runs something called the Triple Play in the late fall and early winter season. I spent $89 for a three-day lift ticket (doesn't have to be used on consecutive days), which also includes night riding (cue David Hasselhoff jokes). Can't use it during certain periods (holidays, etc.), but otherwise an amazing deal.


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## tekniq33 (Mar 18, 2009)

I used to be all about Windham as well but then completely changed my mind back to Hunter as my favorite Catskills spot. 
The new high speed lift at Hunter this year is a huge improvement. The backside of the mountain allows things to spread out a bit as well. I also have had great snow conditions at Hunter this year while at Windham I found their grooming to be terrible and the park to be downright dangerous because of poor grooming and build quality. 

As for Belleayre I could not stand it because of how flat it is at the top and how much I had to skate around to get to the other trails. 

Also check out Liftopia for discounts.


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## The Jake (Jan 19, 2010)

fair point about the flat top at Belleayre. would it kill them to put a fricken rope tow up there? 

Windham can be spotty with conditions sometimes. earlier in the year there were fist-sized ice balls littered all over Wanderer (the long green trail). a couple weeks later it was fresh powder from top to bottom. gotta get lucky, i guess.

ahh, life in the Northeast.


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