Fun & Fitness over 50

Well, today I took the day off from work and skied Plattekill in the Catskill Mtns. of New York.

I was a little leery about it because the temperature on Monday had reached almost 60° with torrential rains. And today the temperature plunged down to the single digits and that means .... ICE!

Plattekill is a small, family operated hill with 35 trails and limited snow making capability so I was concerned about their ability to recover from the bad weather.

As it turns out they had 12 trails open (enough for me!) and had received several inches of fresh natural snow over the week since Monday .... AND ... SKIER APPRECIATION DAYS. That means $15 lift tickets!

I really, really wanted to go to Plattekill this year. I hadn't been for 2 years and the last time Mrs. MTBMan1 and I went we had a great time.

But boy was it cold. Woo-EEE!

10° at the base and 0° at the top! And 20+ mph winds.

I have to say although my fingertips have gotten cold in the past this was the first time my toes got cold. My boots are really warm even with thin socks. But today was the exception.

It was also the first time I ever seriously worried about frostbite. The only part of me that was exposed was a little area around my goggles and that was really stinging when we rode the lift. Oh well, as long as you can still feel it ... right?

Mrs. MTBMan1 stayed home this time and I went with my friend Mike and his son Harrison. They snowboard. Mike is somewhat of a beginner and Harrison is quite good, able to ride the whole mountain and the terrain parks, etc.

As usual, I warmed up with a couple of green runs. The trail was in good condition all day and while easy it is fun and interesting with a couple of switchbacks and a deceptively fast finish.

After that we did a blue intermediate which I hadn't done before, "Sundown" which transitions to "Shredded Mozzarella" at the halfway point. Sundown was in good shape, some crud but it was all soft and light. It also had a nice switchback. The lower trail, Mozzarell, was rougher and right near the end had a very rough ice patch on a curve that was like going over a washboard. I never did learn to avoid that one.

Harrison coaxed his dad into doing "Northface" which is a double-black diamond which transitions into a blue intermediate. I took a pass on that one. I asked Mike where his car keys were in case I had to drive home.
"I'm carrying them."
"Well, in that case I guess we'll have to retrieve your body to get them."

I'm happy to say Mike survived by riding down on his butt with the board's side edge pushed out in front not even scraping the surface.

After lunch, I finished up the day with about 5 runs on the green trail. It was "smart" for me not to push it when I was tired so I could have fun and try new things without getting out of control.

Another successful mission! And I'm proud to say we persevered through the cold.

My hands are still tingling! ;-)