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Date(s) Skied: Monday, January 24, 2005, 10:15 AM - 4:00 PM
Resort or Ski Area: Berkshire East, Charlemont, Massachusetts
Conditions: POWDER!, Packed powder, Crud, Some hardpack showing through. Sunny early, high clouds around midday. Temps in the teens with moderate winds after noon. Perfect conditions!
Trip Report: I've been waiting for some natural snow to make the trip up to Berkshire East. Today was the day. The ski report indicated the mountain received 18-24" of snow from the weekend storm, bringing open terrain from ~65% to 100% on Sunday. The conditions today were fabulous; possibly a top ten day for me, and certainly my best ever at the Beast!
I was disappointed to hear on the way up that thetrailboss couldn't get his car started to meet me at the mountain. I was looking forward to meeting and skiing with him. Another time, I guess. I got to the mountain around 10 AM. I was excited to see a lot of trails ungroomed and the conditions today included some of my favorite - natural ungroomed snow with powder, bumps and crud.
I started on Flying Coud which was a mistake as the run was completely ungroomed. Fun, but a little too challenging for my first run. Good form was not an element here. The snow was awesome though. I don't know about 2 feet, but there were certainly areas of 18"+ all over the mountain. I basically hit every diamond and enjoyed myself most on the ungroomed natural trails. I even hit some of the glades, but being somewhat new to tree skiing and being alone, I took it easy. Here are some trail highlights:
Liftline: My favorite run today, and the audience on the lift added some pressure to not look like a total fool. My last two runs were a top-to-bottom assault on this trail. I think I even heard some praise from the lift. Okay, maybe not...
Minnie Dole: Ungroomed and cruddy, but fun.
Flying Cloud: Some windblown hardpack on top, but there are some nice bumps setting up on skier's right. The lower portion is DEEP powder still.
Grizzly: Ungroomed and powdery but good coverage.
Umass: Ungroomed and thinner than Grizzly, but still very skiable.
Jug: Thin, and gnarley but FUN. I think I caused some base damage on this one, but it was worth it as I hit it twice.
Glades: I first hit the East Glades. The upper portion is pretty steep and very thin. I was a bit out of my comfort level here so I basically traversed my way down. The lower portion was in better shape and it's not as steep. Decent cover, but still stuff to break bones or skis. The intermediate glades off the quad (Blizzard Island) was much more my speed and was full of deep, deep snow. Very little scraping on that one.
I did hit Big Chief and Lower Comp for groomers. The packed powder here was absolutely pefect and a nice change from the challenge of the natural runs. Crowds were light, but there were a few busloads of kids. I never waited more than 3 or 4 chairs, but the Triple did stop and go a bit in the afternoon. In any event, I got in more than my fair share of skiing today.
I find more and more to like about Berkshire East each time I visit. The trail layout is great and the ungroomed terrain is unmatched outside of Northern New England. It's about a 2:15 drive fo me so I try to save visits for the area when there is natural snowfall. It's a basic skier's mountain and a fun one at that. With the cold weather and bit of snow in the forecast, the mountain should remain a blast through the weekend.
Click HERE for pics.
Resort or Ski Area: Berkshire East, Charlemont, Massachusetts
Conditions: POWDER!, Packed powder, Crud, Some hardpack showing through. Sunny early, high clouds around midday. Temps in the teens with moderate winds after noon. Perfect conditions!
Trip Report: I've been waiting for some natural snow to make the trip up to Berkshire East. Today was the day. The ski report indicated the mountain received 18-24" of snow from the weekend storm, bringing open terrain from ~65% to 100% on Sunday. The conditions today were fabulous; possibly a top ten day for me, and certainly my best ever at the Beast!
I was disappointed to hear on the way up that thetrailboss couldn't get his car started to meet me at the mountain. I was looking forward to meeting and skiing with him. Another time, I guess. I got to the mountain around 10 AM. I was excited to see a lot of trails ungroomed and the conditions today included some of my favorite - natural ungroomed snow with powder, bumps and crud.
I started on Flying Coud which was a mistake as the run was completely ungroomed. Fun, but a little too challenging for my first run. Good form was not an element here. The snow was awesome though. I don't know about 2 feet, but there were certainly areas of 18"+ all over the mountain. I basically hit every diamond and enjoyed myself most on the ungroomed natural trails. I even hit some of the glades, but being somewhat new to tree skiing and being alone, I took it easy. Here are some trail highlights:
Liftline: My favorite run today, and the audience on the lift added some pressure to not look like a total fool. My last two runs were a top-to-bottom assault on this trail. I think I even heard some praise from the lift. Okay, maybe not...
Minnie Dole: Ungroomed and cruddy, but fun.
Flying Cloud: Some windblown hardpack on top, but there are some nice bumps setting up on skier's right. The lower portion is DEEP powder still.
Grizzly: Ungroomed and powdery but good coverage.
Umass: Ungroomed and thinner than Grizzly, but still very skiable.
Jug: Thin, and gnarley but FUN. I think I caused some base damage on this one, but it was worth it as I hit it twice.
Glades: I first hit the East Glades. The upper portion is pretty steep and very thin. I was a bit out of my comfort level here so I basically traversed my way down. The lower portion was in better shape and it's not as steep. Decent cover, but still stuff to break bones or skis. The intermediate glades off the quad (Blizzard Island) was much more my speed and was full of deep, deep snow. Very little scraping on that one.
I did hit Big Chief and Lower Comp for groomers. The packed powder here was absolutely pefect and a nice change from the challenge of the natural runs. Crowds were light, but there were a few busloads of kids. I never waited more than 3 or 4 chairs, but the Triple did stop and go a bit in the afternoon. In any event, I got in more than my fair share of skiing today.
I find more and more to like about Berkshire East each time I visit. The trail layout is great and the ungroomed terrain is unmatched outside of Northern New England. It's about a 2:15 drive fo me so I try to save visits for the area when there is natural snowfall. It's a basic skier's mountain and a fun one at that. With the cold weather and bit of snow in the forecast, the mountain should remain a blast through the weekend.
Click HERE for pics.
