[Jamenstall]

hello folks...

I was hoping some of you might be able to help me out. I'm try'n to get some trail information for a mountain bike vacation for some friends who are not really into climbing. If we lived on the west cost or the rockies this wouldn't be a problem, but don't, I was hoping to find some thing within a 6 or 8 hour drive with a ski lift. Plattekill seems like the most logical place but I do want them to have a good time. From what I've read it seems as if they are mostly geared towards the downhill/freeride type of riding and is VERY technical.

Again all of them are fairly newbies, but they did ok at Snowshoe in West Virgina a couple of years ago...I just don't know what the trail system is like compared to West Virgina.

any information you have will be greatly appriecated...

 

[Adirondack Blues]

hello folks...

I was hoping some of you might be able to help me out. I'm try'n to get some trail information for a mountain bike vacation for some friends who are not really into climbing. If we lived on the west cost or the rockies this wouldn't be a problem, but don't, I was hoping to find some thing within a 6 or 8 hour drive with a ski lift. Plattekill seems like the most logical place but I do want them to have a good time. From what I've read it seems as if they are mostly geared towards the downhill/freeride type of riding and is VERY technical.

Again all of them are fairly newbies, but they did ok at Snowshoe in West Virgina a couple of years ago...I just don't know what the trail system is like compared to West Virgina.

any information you have will be greatly appriecated...

Per a friend who rides there often, Plattekill is very steep and bone-braking technical- geared towards big bikes with a whole bunch of squish. Pretty scary stuff for beginners. I have never ridden there, but I have skied there. A better bet might be Mt. Snow in southern VT, which is more geared towards lift-serviced XC, although that may be far for you.

 

[Managuense]

Mt Snow is definately within your 6-8 hour drive. It's good but last few times I went there (about 4 years ago) they limited you taking the summit chair to 1 per rider per day for erosion reasons. There was another lift that was like 2/3 to the summit and was good. A little further north is Killington, which in my opinion, is alot more impressive. Plenty for all levels.

 

[sunnyracegirl]

thought about Mountain Creek?

I was hoping to find some thing within a 6 or 8 hour drive with a ski lift. ...

within 6-8 hours of... where?

Plattekill seems like the most logical place but I do want them to have a good time. From what I've read it seems as if they are mostly geared towards the downhill/freeride type of riding and is VERY technical.

Again all of them are fairly newbies, but they did ok at Snowshoe in West Virgina a couple of years ago...I just don't know what the trail system is like compared to West Virgina.

any information you have will be greatly appriecated...

I raced at Plattekill and Snowshoe in June. I rode Mountain Creek (Vernon, NJ) as well. If I had two days, I'd go to Mountain Creek. If I had five days... I think I might still go to Mountain Creek, because I think I'd learn more there and be able to relax and enjoy myself.

I am also a fairly new rider. I've been mtn biking for a little over a year and racing downhill since April.

Plattekill was so huge, I had a hard time relaxing and having fun. I was just trying to get through it without serious bodily injury. It's really steep in a lot of places, with loose shale that moves underneath you when you roll over it and tight turns through trees and over steep rocky patches. A blast if you're a really good rider, which I'm not. I was so bruised up by the time I finished racing Plattekill, it looked like someone took me out back and beat me with a stick. On the plus side, the scenery is amazing, Betty in the gift shop is great to visit with, and the little nearby towns offer plenty of places to stay.

In comparing Snowshoe to Plattekill, I can only compare my race course (sport) and the Super D course to the sport course and few trails I rode at Plattekill. Snowshoe had all the tight technical sections, the roots and rocks and mud that Plattekill did. BUT it was not so steep that I was overwhelmed by it. The Suped D course at Snowshoe took us over a flat 75-yd stretch of rock garden with stream running across. I loved that part (had it been on a 10% grade, though, I would not be so enamored of it). Snowshoe was fun for me. Plattekill was just scary.

At Mountain Creek (Diablo Freeride Park) I was not racing, so I could do any trail I wanted. Perhaps that's why I liked the riding there the best- I saw more of the mountain than the other two places, where I was concentrating on the race courses. It's rocky and technical, but not so steep as Plattekill. Unlike Snowshoe, there's more rock bed to deal with and a lot less mud. They have black and double black diamond trails as well as blue trails. When coached, I could get through the blacks, but on my own, I had fun and was challenged on the blues. I didn't attempt the double blacks. MC has a really fast lift too. For more info, see http://mcecom.intrawest.com/mountain_biking.html

There's also Spring Mountain, PA, but I've never been there.

I'm sure there are lots of guys who have ridden all these places. Ask for a comparison in the Freeride/DH forum. My perspective is that of a novice freerider. Good luck!
-sunny

 

[Jamenstall]

thanks for the information guys...as much as i would like to go to platekill i don't think everyone else will have a good time...even my bikes having second thoughts (i am not a freeride machine) but again i am looking for something along the lines of snowshoe but with an on going lift..."lazy dogs can't climb"...i will have to check out that mountain creek place and see what it's like...and i forgot about 7 springs in pa...

oh and i live smack dab in the middle of ohio...

 

[Roland]

Yeah check out Mountain Creek..

....I think they have xc trails as well as dh. They also have a web site and are closer than Vermont or upstate NY.

 

[bobmono]

Diablo at Mountain Creek

Is only open weekends, but if you plan on coming to Jersey longer than just a weekend there is plenty of other riding in the area.

-bob

 

[jerseychumba]

Diablo

I would vote for Diablo also...they have a ton of technical trails just like plattekill...but they also have a ton of stuff that plattekill does not have.....

like a new jump trail!
http://www.hcor.net/

Diablos trails are better maintained and there is much better flow....put it this way, since diablo opened up, most of the riders that used to ride plattekill now ride at diablo....

 

[Edward Peter]

plattekill rocks try it

Every mountain has its pros and cons, but jerseychumba seems to be a plattekill basher (if you read the threads) and diablo promoter - you gotta try em all to see for yourself, but plattekill has done alot for the sport and they are a small mom/pop style place compared to mtn creek which is corporate. gotta support the small guy - Plattekill has been in it for about 10 years now but without the riders consistant support they couldn't possibly be able to continue doing what is obviously being done out of a love for what they do - it definately isnt for the money.

 

[nycfreerider]

Every mountain has its pros and cons, but jerseychumba seems to be a plattekill basher (if you read the threads) and diablo promoter - you gotta try em all to see for yourself, but plattekill has done alot for the sport and they are a small mom/pop style place compared to mtn creek which is corporate. gotta support the small guy - Plattekill has been in it for about 10 years now but without the riders consistant support they couldn't possibly be able to continue doing what is obviously being done out of a love for what they do - it definately isnt for the money.

Lazlo doesnt do it for the money? then why doesnt he have a decent cash purse at his races? Paying $100 to the top pro male should be a crime!.....hint hint...The US Open paid out $5k to the winners and $20k total! Why doesn't lazlo do something like this if he is soooo interested in the "riders"......GREED is the only answer...i just speak the truth and the reality in the matter. Lazlo is probably the greediest person I know....at the last race my friend broke his bike before he could even take any runs, ZERO RUNS and it was 10:15 in the morning....Lazlo refused to reimburse his race fee or lift ticket. I can understand if my friend got to take a few runs but it was the first thing in the morning....He explained to lazlo that he was a regular customer and there was no way to fix his bike for the day and all lazlo could say was "no refunds" and turned his back to us. Yea, lazlo really cares about riders...tell me another joke!

 

[Edward Peter]

same stuff happens at US Open, i was there. I know someone who missed their start time by minutes, got no race, got no money back after Shawn said no way and had to pay an additional $28 to ride on top of the entry fee for the day.

 

[nycfreerider]

same stuff happens at US Open, i was there. I know someone who missed their start time by minutes, got no race, got no money back after Shawn said no way and had to pay an additional $28 to ride on top of the entry fee for the day.

Its the racers fault if you miss a start time, not the event promoters. If you miss your start time at any high level event (world cup, nationals) your **** out of luck. Why would the promoter reimburse your race fees when you got 2 free days of riding included with the registration? Your full of crap, when we registered we got 2 days of lift tickets for fre (friday & saturday)...what your saying is that diablo took one of those lift tickets away because you missed your start time? nooo way........

You miss your time, you watch from the sidelines....You cant even compare a platte race to the US Open.....platty races are small time.