The Ski Resort at Plattekill Mountain

Plattekill Mountain is a small family-owned ski resort located in the midstate New York Catskills about 4 hours from New York City. The ski area is only open from Friday to Sunday, but remains intensely popular despite the limited hours. The lodge is located at 2400 feet with the summit at 3500 feet. This gives Plattekill a decent vertical of 1100 feet. There are only 110 skiable acres on the mountain, but there are still an impressive number of features packed in. Average snowfall comes out to 190 inches (4.8 meters) per year. In years when Mother Nature doesn’t provide, there is snowmaking coverage over 75 percent of the slope.

The Mountain and Trails

There are 38 named trails in Plattekill. Difficulty-wise, the trail blend is 20 percent novice, 40 percent intermediate, 20 percent advanced, and 20 percent expert. The lift system has two chairs (one double and one triple) and one new carpet lift for the learning center.  There is also one terrain park that can be found near the slow zone on the right side of the mountain.

The terrain park was just renovated last year, and it’s already become a skier favorite. There are terrain features for everyone, from low rollers to ten-foot rails to boxes that challenge as they jut out of the snow. Better yet, there are plans to keep improving the park in coming years.

Plattekill is definitely skewed toward the advanced skier; however, novice skiers aren’t going to be bored. Once they feel comfortable leaving the slow area and the learning center, either lift will take them to a long bendy groomer that’s going to challenge and provide one heck of a view. Intermediate skiers are going to have fun with the short tree-lined routes and bendy lines as they explore the mountain.

However, advanced skiers get the most fun. Every single acre of Plattekill that isn’t a marked trail is available for glade skiing. So if you’re someone who finds pleasure in making your way through unmarked terrain, dodging low branches, stumps, and fallen trees with only your wits to guide you, this is going to be heaven.

The Bottom Line

One of the primary draws for Plattekill is its lack of crowds. It’s not uncommon to find good corduroy on the trails well after noon, when other resorts would have long been hard packed. While the lifts aren’t high-speed, the lack of competition for a seat means that you don’t feel pressured to race around the mountain; you can take your time and enjoy your skiing. Plattekill doesn’t have any apres-ski to speak of, so if you’re looking for a rowdy nightlife, you may be happier elsewhere. If what you are looking for is great skiing, killer glades, and powder well into the afternoon, Plattekill delivers and then some.