Zand
Well-known member
Date(s) Skied: 2/22/07
Resort or Ski Area: Berkshire East, MA
Conditions: PP on snowmaking trails, thin and variable on natural... sunny and warm early (30s) then snow in the afternoon
Trip Report:
After my first trip to Berkshire East 3 years ago left a lot to be desired, I gave them a second chance today and this time things clicked. I had a great time there today and it definitely made me feel like I was back at MRG at some points. Crowds were very light (although the regulars must've found it very crowded lol) which made the day better. The longest wait for the triple all day was about 10 chairs max and both times I was over at the quad, it was a ski on.
Big Chief: Nice blue cruiser with some bumps on the right side. Reminded me of Conifer at Wachusett... complete with "SLOW" signs every 1/3rd of the trail or so. Conditions were good both times I skied it (once early and once late).
Flying Cloud: Steep cruiser at the top with bumps on the right. I had some of the first tracks on it in the morning which was nice. The bottom half was ungroomed and had some decent bumps but was low on cover. Later in the day, the groomed part was a bit scraped, but still do-able, especially on the left.
Liftline: Had a blast on this trail today. Felt like being back on Gazelle. Rocks and bare spots galore to play tag with and some good snow on skiers left. When the snow came down, it covered the hazards which made things kinda dangerous but I knew where most of the bad parts were. Watch out on the bottom part... theres one part where rocks cover almost the entire width of the trail.
Competition: They were practicing slalom on it almost all day, but they always left a part open for people to ski down. It skied much like Flying Cloud on the upper half and the lower half had great packed powder to fly down.
Minnie Dole: Some bare spots and rocks, but much of the trail was covered in deep, DENSE snow. If you like making short, snappy turns on a dime, this ones for you. If you didn't make short turns, it was nearly impossible to turn in. Only saw 3 other people on it the entire day, 2 of them ski patrollers putting some bamboo on a water bar. This and Liftline were my picks of the day.
UMass/War Dance: UMass wasn't groomed over night so it started out the day very scraped off. After the snow started, it was a nice run. War Dance was similar to Lower Competition, fast and fun.
Outback/Roundabout: Fun green trails off the backside. Besides the very beginning of Outback and the first couple hundred feet of Roundabout, theres no poling required. A very light pitch and fun twists and turns made this a very good beginner trail.
Exhibition: Started off in the ungroomed left side in which the snow was pretty much too dense to do anything with, so I got on the groomed part and made sone nice turns down in the perfect packed powder.
Well, that about sums it up. To those of you headed there tomorrow: it should be nice with the new snow... just watch out for the covered rocks on the natural trails. As for me, I'll be at Wachusett tomorrow from 4 PM till 8 AM Saturday for the 24 hour ski-a-thon.
Resort or Ski Area: Berkshire East, MA
Conditions: PP on snowmaking trails, thin and variable on natural... sunny and warm early (30s) then snow in the afternoon
Trip Report:
After my first trip to Berkshire East 3 years ago left a lot to be desired, I gave them a second chance today and this time things clicked. I had a great time there today and it definitely made me feel like I was back at MRG at some points. Crowds were very light (although the regulars must've found it very crowded lol) which made the day better. The longest wait for the triple all day was about 10 chairs max and both times I was over at the quad, it was a ski on.
Big Chief: Nice blue cruiser with some bumps on the right side. Reminded me of Conifer at Wachusett... complete with "SLOW" signs every 1/3rd of the trail or so. Conditions were good both times I skied it (once early and once late).
Flying Cloud: Steep cruiser at the top with bumps on the right. I had some of the first tracks on it in the morning which was nice. The bottom half was ungroomed and had some decent bumps but was low on cover. Later in the day, the groomed part was a bit scraped, but still do-able, especially on the left.
Liftline: Had a blast on this trail today. Felt like being back on Gazelle. Rocks and bare spots galore to play tag with and some good snow on skiers left. When the snow came down, it covered the hazards which made things kinda dangerous but I knew where most of the bad parts were. Watch out on the bottom part... theres one part where rocks cover almost the entire width of the trail.
Competition: They were practicing slalom on it almost all day, but they always left a part open for people to ski down. It skied much like Flying Cloud on the upper half and the lower half had great packed powder to fly down.
Minnie Dole: Some bare spots and rocks, but much of the trail was covered in deep, DENSE snow. If you like making short, snappy turns on a dime, this ones for you. If you didn't make short turns, it was nearly impossible to turn in. Only saw 3 other people on it the entire day, 2 of them ski patrollers putting some bamboo on a water bar. This and Liftline were my picks of the day.
UMass/War Dance: UMass wasn't groomed over night so it started out the day very scraped off. After the snow started, it was a nice run. War Dance was similar to Lower Competition, fast and fun.
Outback/Roundabout: Fun green trails off the backside. Besides the very beginning of Outback and the first couple hundred feet of Roundabout, theres no poling required. A very light pitch and fun twists and turns made this a very good beginner trail.
Exhibition: Started off in the ungroomed left side in which the snow was pretty much too dense to do anything with, so I got on the groomed part and made sone nice turns down in the perfect packed powder.
Well, that about sums it up. To those of you headed there tomorrow: it should be nice with the new snow... just watch out for the covered rocks on the natural trails. As for me, I'll be at Wachusett tomorrow from 4 PM till 8 AM Saturday for the 24 hour ski-a-thon.