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Poll: Best Downhill/Freeride Park in the Northeast?

Bog Dogs

Bog Dogs

Chimp
Jul 20, 2010
43
0
Grove City, FL, USA
I'm moving down south and have only one month to go. With my limited time and money I can only ride or race at one more bike park or mountain.

There are four that I'm interested in but have never been to - Plattekill, Diablo, Seven Springs and Vertical Earth.

Which is your favorite and why?
 
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IH8Rice

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
dont waste your time at Seven Springs. not enough trails to make the trip all the way from Mass.
my opinion might be biased, but i would say Plattekill. 100%
awesome trails, great environment, friendly riders and staff, amazing riding, all natural terrain.
 
T

ToddMMR

Chimp
Jul 13, 2010
3
0
My favorite places to ride are Vertical Earth, Plattekill, and Diablo would be my last choice of your group. 7 Springs will be nice in a few years when they have more than 3 trails. Diablo has a bit of everything and well done, but the attitude and the environment and the people there just suck. Plattekill is amazing and you can ride there all day and never get bored, levels of trails for everyone. Vertical Earth is similar to Platty, but run by a guy who loves the sport and is constantly improving his mountain. All around beautiful place. It's only been open for a year and a half and already a top spot to go ride real DH stuff.
 
Bog Dogs

Bog Dogs

Chimp
Jul 20, 2010
43
0
Grove City, FL, USA
Sorry Downhill Mike. I didn't mention Whiteface because I'll be travelling south on the last weekend in October and Whiteface is too far north. On the same note, I didn't mention Snowshoe because it will already be closed by then (I think).
 
nybike1971

nybike1971

Chimp
Nov 16, 2006
67
0
Niskayuna, NY
It depends on what you prefer: if you are after groomed trails, jump lines, and the occasional run down a proper downhill track, I'd say Diablo. Actually, you should skip Diablo and just go to Highland but given that you are in Massachusetts, I assume that you ride at Highland a bunch.

If on the other hand you are after a more DH oriented experience, Plattekill for sure. So many choices of historic race courses, great natural lines, some actual steeps. Don't miss the ProGRT race course, one of the best track at Plattekill, and the Pro/Expert line off the double chair, another gem.

If you go to Plattekill try to hook up with a group of riders that know the mountain well, it will make for a completely different experience of the mountain.
 
captainspauldin

captainspauldin

intrigued by a pole
May 14, 2007
1,263
177
Jersey Shore
I would personally do one day at diablo and one day at vertical earth. Vertical earth isn't that far from Diablo(2 hours I think), and you'll get the gnar east coast rock trails at diablo and then fresh/pumicy trails of vertical eart/blue mtn.
 
Sandwich

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,076
5,989
borcester rhymes
IH8Rice said:
my opinion might be biased, but i would say Plattekill.
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downhill mike said:
It's okay. Now your choice is easy. Plattekill!
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Sghost said:
this.
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Jim Mac said:
Platty - just for the sheer # of trails.
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your answer has been questioned! I love plattekill...two peaks worth of trails, wide variety, crappy trailbuilding but it's worlds better now than it was then, and it's a one man operation, what do you expect....BUT...with all that natural terrain, trails don't really have to be "built".

tl;dr If you like "downhill riding" go to platty, if you like park riding go to diablo.
 
Huck Banzai

Huck Banzai

Turbo Monkey
May 8, 2005
2,523
23
Transitory
Sandwich said:
your answer has been questioned! I love plattekill...two peaks worth of trails, wide variety, crappy trailbuilding but it's worlds better now than it was then, and it's a one man operation, what do you expect....BUT...with all that natural terrain, trails don't really have to be "built".

tl;dr If you like "downhill riding" go to platty, if you like park riding go to diablo.
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What he said.
 
motomike

motomike

Turbo Monkey
Jan 19, 2005
4,584
0
North Carolina
Bog Dogs said:
Sorry Downhill Mike. I didn't mention Whiteface because I'll be travelling south on the last weekend in October and Whiteface is too far north. On the same note, I didn't mention Snowshoe because it will already be closed by then (I think).
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Where are you moving to?
 
demo 9

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
Going to say diablo, only because there is more variety, while platty has all the gnarly "natural" dh and crazy chutes, diablo has the DH trails (maybe not as good-but thats debatable) but it also has lots of jumplines (3/4th a mile for 1 of them) a few smaller ones, lots of drops(not natural though)and a slalom course, and a trail called alpine, which is my favorite on the mountain, wallrides huge berms and lots of flowy jumps. Diablo does have DH, its just harder to find, find a local and there are plenty of dh trails there. My only gripe with platty is that after the shredding the gnar in the morning, there were no smooth trails to ride in the afternoon (when id normally go hit the jumps)

Some other misc **** worth noting is that platty is in the boons with nicer poeple, diablo is in a more populated area with douchebags and NYC folk.
Diablo lift is MUCH faster than platty, and you will get more shorter runs, which if planned right, can offer you more types of terrain.
Diablo is pretty flat compared to platty
 
IH8Rice

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
demo 9 said:
My only gripe with platty is that after the shredding the gnar in the morning, there were no smooth trails to ride in the afternoon (when id normally go hit the jumps)
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no smooth trails? jackpot
this is downhilling, not road biking

platty has no "dh trails?" uh what?
 
sikocycles

sikocycles

Turbo Monkey
Feb 14, 2002
1,530
772
CT
I usually ride Diablo because it is close. It is fun and has some great built up stunts and trails. But I recently went to Plattekill for the first time in a few years and had a smile on my face all day. Had the best time.
I will say plattekill. Just a great place to ride.
 
demo 9

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
IH8Rice said:
no smooth trails? jackpot
this is downhilling, not road biking

platty has no "dh trails?" uh what?
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didnt say no DH trails, its only DH trails, but i cant speak for you, at 1-2 o clock i get tired, and dont feel like having a deathgrip on my bars down the chutes, when i went i was only able to find 1 jump, which was by a wooden wallride berm bridge drop thinger
 
IH8Rice

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
demo 9 said:
didnt say no DH trails, its only DH trails, but i cant speak for you, at 1-2 o clock i get tired, and dont feel like having a deathgrip on my bars down the chutes, when i went i was only able to find 1 jump, which was by a wooden wallride berm bridge drop thinger
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i cant ride more than 2 hours at diablo before my hand hurts. the rail trails there are way too hard packed for me. i can ride 3 days straight at platty with no problems with my hands.
and youre right, there arent nearly as many jumps at platty as there are at diablo and that probably wont change. if you want jumps, go to highland.
 
CrabJoe StretchPants

CrabJoe StretchPants

Reincarnated Crab Walking Head Spinning Bruce Dick
Nov 30, 2003
14,163
2,484
Groton, MA
demo 9 said:
didnt say no DH trails, its only DH trails, but i cant speak for you, at 1-2 o clock i get tired, and dont feel like having a deathgrip on my bars down the chutes, when i went i was only able to find 1 jump, which was by a wooden wallride berm bridge drop thinger
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user error.
 
Sghost

Sghost

Turbo Monkey
Jul 13, 2008
1,038
0
NY
demo 9 said:
My only gripe with platty is that after the shredding the gnar in the morning, there were no smooth trails to ride in the afternoon (when id normally go hit the jumps)
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Ride the XC and original DH trails. There are a lot, look towards the back and sides of the mountain.
 
demo 9

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
Ill admit, when I had went to platty, it was the first ride of the year, i had a blast no doubt, ill never say i didnt have fun or like the trails, i just miss the variety, granted, i have only been on the triple side. Platty isnt for the lazy
 
demo 9

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
Well you have the rocky stuff like ripper, deceit, and slayer
Fast open stuff like bushwack, stalker, and twist
Jumps on dominion and such
slalom course
And some drops(man made)
 
Sandwich

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,076
5,989
borcester rhymes
can I just say that I thought the indy-x course at diablo was dumb as hell? And this is coming from a guy who really really likes alpine and the new happy hour trail at highland. Am I alone? I just wasn't impressed outside of trailbuilding.
 
IH8Rice

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
Sandwich said:
can I just say that I thought the indy-x course at diablo was dumb as hell? And this is coming from a guy who really really likes alpine and the new happy hour trail at highland. Am I alone? I just wasn't impressed outside of trailbuilding.
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it is boring after you ride it more than once in a day, but since there arent many other ways down the hill, its inevitable to ride more than once.
if it could somehow be a dual course, then it would a little better. but there needs to be more variety on the trail.
 
demo 9

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
Sandwich said:
can I just say that I thought the indy-x course at diablo was dumb as hell? And this is coming from a guy who really really likes alpine and the new happy hour trail at highland. Am I alone? I just wasn't impressed outside of trailbuilding.
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What i tend to like about it (which is the opposite of what i like on alpine) is that its hard to ride fast, its super easy to roll down, but take it up to race pace, and it gets really loose and hard to ride (since there isnt enough slant on the berms) I also LOVE the triple. Its not groundbreakingly hard or fast, but its not easy to go fast on.
 
nh dude

nh dude

Monkey
May 30, 2003
571
16
Vt
if you live in the north east and have never been to platty do your self a favor and go ride your mountain bike down a sick mountain before you become a official flatlander
 
jbro

jbro

Chimp
Apr 13, 2007
68
0
$50 bucks gets you 2 days of riding and a night of camping at platty.

BTW,I dont think I ever met anyone at diablo who made me think they were a douchebag, except that lift nazi guy.
 
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