Hcor.net | Forums | Plattekill | 2007: Taking Plattekill to the next level?

c2g · Tagger

A lot of mention of some lesser-known features at platty towards the end of this thread:

http://hcor.net/postt27784.html&sid=bb849b851a62e65b5a7d060cab1f046b

Between meeting up with the guys I ride with and actually getting to the mountain, it's a combined 10 hrs of driving each of the 5x or so I hit platty per year, but it's worth it every time, and it would be even more worth it if I really knew my way around the mountain.

After hitting PK and Diablo an equal amount this year, I definitely appreciate the "rawness" of PK more than ever -- and I like finding something new each time I go. I understand PK doesn't have the $ muscle behind it like Diablo does, and that the riders have everything to do with the shape of the mountain. That said, I'm sure there's people on this forum who can organize something for the opening of next season, especially on one of those "buy Sat get Sun free" lift pass weekends.

Think about it -- the riders dedicating Saturday to clearing the trails from the winter, making sure any man-made stuff is sturdy, planning new stuff, and most importantly, marking the trails -- including the "hidden" stuff? If it's a spot that's to be kept "secret" for whatever reason, then at least those people who helped out on the trails that day would know where it was. Then camp out Saturday night and hit everything on Sunady and the rest of the season. I mean, you can look at riders maintaining the trails in a negative light, or you can look at it like, how many lift-accessed places are there that would actually let you go and build your own stunts???

I don't know... I just keep going through things like the image gallery at http://www.bushpilotbiking.com/gallery/ and other North Shore stuff like that, and tell me 75% of that stuff couldn't be built at plattekill if the collective riding community as a whole wanted to take it to the next level. Count my group in if someone can organize it!

Aceman · All-City

Word! I know a lot of people who dedicate one weekend day per week for strictly riding. Whether it's DH or road, or XC. Why is it impossible to dedicate one... ONE day per year to matenance??? IDK how many of you have ever built a trail in your life, but it's fun as hell to do. When you have 10 people describing what they want to do and you're all riders, you can feel the energy. Every time you go back you can say, 'Yeah, I did this!'. Instead of coming on here and asking a place if they can make a trail that has some feature on it or to put some dirt here-or-there... You can do it yourself! Laz has made his own personal investment into your playground! Build your dream trails, don't ask for someone else to do it for you and then get bitched at for making a recomendation!

Of course I'm not saying to go up to Platty on your own and alter things or build without their permission... But on a weekend where they organize a matenance weekend, I think we can make things happen.

c2g · Tagger

Yeah, we've built locally with 2-3 guys hike-a-bike'ing and using a chainsaw on fallen trees, and with not too many man hours we were able to put together a few nice, solid skinnies -- with very limited resources. Imagine 20-30 guys putting in the same effort for a full day -- you could have another freeride trail by Sunday! I'd love to have a skinny run there. That's a major aspect of riding that's missing on the east coast. We have one chainsaw we could bring, and if Laz could hook us up with the quad for a few supply runs, this could be really productive. A full offseason to plan, a full Saturday of working, a bash in the lot at night, and enjoying the fruits of labor on Sunday -- how can you go wrong?

HellBentDH · Burner

I'm in, I've been dying to build a top to bottom ripper at Pkill for a while now. Last year and the year before I spent a lot of time building race courses at Pkill with Steve when he was doing it, and have learned to enjoy building as much as riding. I've ridden lots of the Vancouvers Northshore trails and would love to build that type of a run. All it takes is hand tools, people and time. Half a dozen guys with a plan and a couple of weekends can get an amazing amount of work done.
Lets do it !!!

Bawitdaba · Tagger

I like it...

RTM · Burner

I'd enjoy building trails. It reminds me of being a little kid playing in the woods with my BMX bike.

To pull this off you need three or four guys who really know what they are doing to lead the effort. I've got no problem following orders, I stare at a mountain and see absolutely nothing. I have no idea where to begin. And I'd bet that most guys who think they know what they are doing are wrong. Throwing 30 of us out there with shovels and axes and no leadership will be a total disaster.

HellBentDH · Burner

JimM · Burner

I worked with the DEC up here in smalbany and built (and currently maintain) 8 miles of techy, rocky, sketchy xc trails in the Pittstown State Forest. I also have a pile of trail tools, so I could do a weekend of work at Platty - who wants to pick dates and work with Lazlo?

Jim

c2g · Tagger

We could bring a chainsaw for skinnies. I like the construction on Drednaught, whoever built that. Agreed, we'd probably need a small group of "foremen" with good vision who are really familiar with the mountain, and then divide up the rest of the volunteers to carry out the work with each of them.

ViciousDHer · All-City

Laz will allow building of trails/stunts as long as He knows about it and approves in advance. The best way to get things done is to work all day on a Friday (missing no riding) and a half or a little more on Saturday. The Team Plattekill concept was formed for this purpose but never really got off the ground. Platty doesn't need a lot of bridges/northshore stuff, mostly just a clearing to natural stunts and features. Big flat slate rocks do wonders. Seeing We won't be racing at Diablo next year that should give Us more time to help out. It's great to hear all Your suggestions and plans. If We all follow thru it would be a big plus. I think the clearing of some beginner trails We've been exploring would bode well for the future and could also be used for fast crusing runs. There needs to be some more easy trails to help this sport and mountain grow.

HellBentDH · Burner

bigron · All-City

i talked to lazlo several weeks ago about doing this. he said just let him know when. he said he will give us tools and run the lift. maybe if we get enough people we can have a barbeque. we talked about doing it a week or two before the mtn opens for riding. when we plan on doing it i will post when we are going up and anyone is welcome to join us. i ride platty all the time and love it. now it is time to give something back.

ford · All-City

going up a week or two before the mountain opens is a great idea. the past two years i have devoted one day during opening weekend to work on the trails and it was a lot of fun. for as long as i have been going to platty, opening weekend was always a work and ride weekend. the problem was people were to eager to start riding, no one ever worked and then everyone complained.

count me in once the season starts getting close!

cerberus · Tagger

I think one thing that would be of considerable use- as mentioned above - is some trail signs or markers. I haven't ridden that much up there and I know being able to put some names to the trails would be pretty nice. I tend to get a bit lost when it comes to finding trails a second time. I would be more than happy to spend a weekend or two before the season cutting some wood, painting some signs, and nailing them up if someone who knows their way around is willing to help. Of course that's if anyone is interested or thinks it would be helpfull.

Karpi · Burner

Ford is right,
we usually get about 15 to 20 people that say " Hell ya, I'll be there to help cleanup" but usually what happens is a select few of us (usually about 5 or 6) take Saturday and walk the trails, clear any trees or branches, the problem is, there are a ton of trails and not many people. I suggest anyone interested in helping clean up the weekend before opening weekend, send an e-mail to info@plattekill.com and submitt your name, then we can organize an effort and get a barbeque or something going.

BlackBox · Toy

I'm in a group of 3 or 4 people from PA that will definitely be there for it next year. I think starting on Friday is a good idea. We should start to seriously organize it around April 1st; pick a date, get a list of who will be there and what we all agree on accomplishing. I for one am not in favor of building up easy trails and I would really like to see some more North Shore style woodwork go up. I think its important to keep it natural though, no treated 2 x 4s like Diablo. With all the rock ledges at Platty there isn't much of a need for creating any drops like Road to Nowhere at Diablo that would warrant the need for 2 x 4s. I say we clear and mark all the existing trails 1st so we don't get ahead of ourselves. Then, once this is finsihed, we can start some new construction. Rock ledge drops are just a matter of making trails to them and clearing out nice transitions. Skinnies are relatively easy to build. Here's a pic of one that 3 of us built in PA in about 5 hours

Karpi · Burner

Sweet,
I will be at Platty this weekend adding two more drops to my "Freeride trail". So far that totals 9 drops, two kicker rock drops, & two bridge kickers and a 30'skinny. I will be adding more next year and can use all the help I can get. I am usually in the silver camper