Quantcast

Platty is done

daisycutter

Turbo Monkey
Apr 8, 2006
1,651
124
New York City
Looking at their site it looks like they are not offering weekly lift service this year. Sad to see back in the day Plattekill was the place to ride in the Northeast.
 

TrumbullHucker

trumbullruxer
Aug 29, 2005
2,284
719
shimzbury, ct
Times are a changing; thats for sure... I was talking with my buddy at Creek last weekend about what Diablo looked like back in the day.
If I was a local I would be super bummed, but I surely will be there on the weekends like always. Cant replicate Plattys gnarly terrain.
 

6thElement

Schrodinger's Immigrant
Jul 29, 2008
15,827
13,063
Platty is probably still my favorite place to DH. Combined with camping and you always made it home with good stories to tell from the weekend.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,573
24,191
media blackout
um, platty never offered weekday lift service on any sort of routine basis. often times they'd add a friday and/or monday for big races or holidays, but it's pretty much always always been weekends only.

unless there's something we're missing.,
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
um, platty never offered weekday lift service on any sort of routine basis. often times they'd add a friday and/or monday for big races or holidays, but it's pretty much always always been weekends only.

unless there's something we're missing.,
this. theyve never offered weekday lift service on the regular.
i was incredibly bummed to see only one race there this year. one damn race!

friends went skiing a few months ago and they assured them theyll be open this year.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,921
borcester rhymes
yeah they never offered weekday service. I wouldn't be surprised if they stopped offering recurring weekend service and went for scheduled weekends instead, but I hope they live forever.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,921
borcester rhymes
happy to delete the thread if there's no truth to the rumor. there's been speculation about platty's status for a while...anybody have any confirmation?
 

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,195
4,419
other way around there. they used to have XC races, but then dirt roadies started to infiltrate the xc race scene, they complained the courses were too hard (they weren't)
It was a bad attempt at a joke. Can't believe I haven't yet been to platty... of all the places. This will change this very year.
 

kickstand

Turbo Monkey
Sep 18, 2009
3,441
392
Fenton, MI
It was a bad attempt at a joke. Can't believe I haven't yet been to platty... of all the places. This will change this very year.
Depends how far you are traveling and what you are after. The slow ass lift and long lines are probably not an issue when they don't host a bike race on the same weekend as their fall harvest whatever festival....

If you are after a "bike park" it's not your place.

If you are after steep, unmaintained, often sketchy, and gnarly, that's your place.

Note that the T-Bar last I Checked is closed, so you're in for a bit of a drive to find a good beer and bar food after riding. The T-Bar had ok beer and ok bar food, and good cheep rooms.

I like platty, but as with any bike park, a 10 hour drive makes it a tough go for us considering some of the lack of ammentities, but I really did enjoy racing there the last couple of years.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,573
24,191
media blackout
Depends how far you are traveling and what you are after. The slow ass lift and long lines are probably not an issue when they don't host a bike race on the same weekend as their fall harvest whatever festival....

If you are after a "bike park" it's not your place.

If you are after steep, unmaintained, often sketchy, and gnarly, that's your place.

Note that the T-Bar last I Checked is closed, so you're in for a bit of a drive to find a good beer and bar food after riding. The T-Bar had ok beer and ok bar food, and good cheep rooms.

I like platty, but as with any bike park, a 10 hour drive makes it a tough go for us considering some of the lack of ammentities, but I really did enjoy racing there the last couple of years.
agreed on all of the above.

non-race weekends there's no lift lines whatsoever.

worth noting - if anyone is planning on taking the trip that way, Windham is about 30-40 minutes away. Their bike part is worth a stop for a day of riding as well, even though there's "only" 4 trails - flow trail, jump trail, amateur race course and world cup course. They're all at least full top to bottom trails, no overlap. The jump line is really really good, IIRC it was built by gravity logic.
 

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,195
4,419
Depends how far you are traveling and what you are after. The slow ass lift and long lines are probably not an issue when they don't host a bike race on the same weekend as their fall harvest whatever festival....

If you are after a "bike park" it's not your place.

If you are after steep, unmaintained, often sketchy, and gnarly, that's your place.

Note that the T-Bar last I Checked is closed, so you're in for a bit of a drive to find a good beer and bar food after riding. The T-Bar had ok beer and ok bar food, and good cheep rooms.

I like platty, but as with any bike park, a 10 hour drive makes it a tough go for us considering some of the lack of ammentities, but I really did enjoy racing there the last couple of years.
Yeah, I'm interested in going to platty for all that makes platty famous. It's been on my to-do list since the days of seth, al3x and evil crew. (i.e. 2001)
 

kickstand

Turbo Monkey
Sep 18, 2009
3,441
392
Fenton, MI
Yeah, I'm interested in going to platty for all that makes platty famous. It's been on my to-do list since the days of seth, al3x and evil crew. (i.e. 2001)
Your expectations are properly set and you will enjoy yourself, like jonkranked noted, you won't have any lift lines on a non race weekend, the suggestion of windham is also good.

agreed on all of the above.

non-race weekends there's no lift lines whatsoever.

worth noting - if anyone is planning on taking the trip that way, Windham is about 30-40 minutes away. Their bike part is worth a stop for a day of riding as well, even though there's "only" 4 trails - flow trail, jump trail, amateur race course and world cup course. They're all at least full top to bottom trails, no overlap. The jump line is really really good, IIRC it was built by gravity logic.
you have 1 too many really's regarding the jump line.

It's good, but they went a little overboard on the turn the line up hill to slow people down portion. Otherwise, very fun.

Citizens course is pretty fun.

World cup course is fun, more fun the faster you go making it smoother, but then the odds of forking up and wrecking become more serious and more likely.

Batavia whatever it is called...never ridden, wife said it was fairly flat and required a lot of pedaling. I skipped it. Should check it out some time.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,921
borcester rhymes
Yeah, I'm interested in going to platty for all that makes platty famous. It's been on my to-do list since the days of seth, al3x and evil crew. (i.e. 2001)
let me know when you decide to go. I missed platty for a couple of years, ruining a 14 year streak since 1999. I never got out there often, but like once or twice a year. The way to do it is to get some friends, get in late Friday, camp and crash, ride all day saturday, grab a pizza in town (and a 12 pack), enjoy the night time, then ride some more on sunday before bailing and heading home. great weekend.

nothing comes close for that all natural DH kind of riding. I love thunder because trail maintenance, but I can get ride platty all day and enjoy. actually, jiminy comes close but they do even less trail maintenance. having a kid hampered my ability to go to platty , and I'm too far for a day trip, for a weekend, but I miss it.
 

Jim Mac

MAKE ENDURO GREAT AGAIN
May 21, 2004
6,352
282
the middle east of NY
agreed on all of the above.

non-race weekends there's no lift lines whatsoever.

worth noting - if anyone is planning on taking the trip that way, Windham is about 30-40 minutes away. Their bike part is worth a stop for a day of riding as well, even though there's "only" 4 trails - flow trail, jump trail, amateur race course and world cup course. They're all at least full top to bottom trails, no overlap. The jump line is really really good, IIRC it was built by gravity logic.
If it were me, I would set my weekend base at Windham and day trip to Platty. More amenities in Windham.
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
To all of our Plattekill Riders:



We are writing to you because we want to personally address the rumors that you have no doubt been hearing by now, with concern to Plattekill Mountain’s Bike Park 2017 operations. We are pleased to announce Plattekill will be open this year, for what is now our 24th year of offering lift-serviced mountain bike riding; however, we have had to make changes to our operating schedule.

Over the past 5 years, the mountain biking market has changed. The Northeast bike park landscape has become increasingly more competitive, which has significantly affected our ridership. Simply put, we can’t afford to turn the lifts and staff the park on the same schedule we have in the past. The revenue just isn’t there to make it work for our small business. In 1994, Plattekill Bike Park started as a grassroots movement and we’re taking it back to those roots. For this season, we will be reducing our operating hours and instead plan to focus on key weekends of operation in an effort to support our local riders and offer a better experience for all of our guests.

Our 2017 operating schedule will be as follows:


- July 1-2: 9am-5pm

- July 8-9: 9am-5pm (in conjunction with ESC Races)

- August 5-6: 9am-5pm

- September 2-3: 9am-5pm

- October 7-8: 9am-5pm

In addition to the hours listed above, we will continue to offerPrivate Mountain Rentals for a unique experience of having exclusive use of the whole mountain for the day. If you are interested in hosting a private mountain biking event, please give us a call or check out our website for more details.



Also, we are currently considering other options for adding additional operating days to our schedule.

One idea we are exploring is the possibility of bringing back a local race series in conjunction with some of the other bike parks across our region. Stay tuned for updates.



This has not been an easy decision for us to make this change after so many years. We thank you for your continued support over this fantastic 24-year ride. Rest assured —we may be pumping the brakes a little, but our ride is far from over.



Hope to see you on the trails this summer!





- Laszlo & Danielle Vajtay & the entire Plattekill Staff