This Saturday night is the best party on the hill. It’s the ski patrol BBQ, and it goes entirely to support Plattekill’s Patrollers. They’re all volunteer and they pay for all their equipment. So, this is the day to show them the love. (Actually you should do that every day).

Their members are made up of volunteer firefighters, doctors, neighbors, friends, fathers and daughters (check out that picture of the Blackwells here father Tom and daughter Hannah with the hand-slap after sweep one evening this season).

There’s even a patroller who’s a medic on movies and works full-time, Monday through Friday, as a patroller at another hill, but then chooses to spend his weekends (his time off, that would be) patrolling at Plattekill. That’s how special the mountain is – and their ski patrol.

They’ll retrieve a beginner’s pole off the edge of a run (see below) and run the sleds.

They’re the heroes on the hill, and they are here because of Plattekill, because of the skiing, because of the vibe, because the mountain keeps it real, fiercely independent. And all these pictures come from PlattekillMtnSkiPatrol’s Instagram feed. I love it. You should follow them. And support your ski patrol. The festivities begin at 4:30…