Berkshire East - February 10 2015 - pain & powder!

[C-Rex]

Man, it's been quite a while since the anywhere in the Berkshires looked that good. I'm glad they are having a killer year after putting a bunch of money into the place. They are supposed to open a bike park this summer so next year we'll have bike trails to ski/ride on. Fun stuff.

Suck to hear about the back. Take it easy for a bit and next time do a warm up and some stretching. I've learned that lesson recently as well. Ageing sucks.

 

[bdfreetuna]

I'm going to pick up a back brace at Home Depot that'll hopefully straighten out the back before the weekend and I'll wear it while skiing from now on.

The mountain bike park @ Berkshire East should be sweet! Jiminy Peak has a terrible MTB trail network IMO. You need to be a pro downhiller to take on a lot of Jiminy's trails. If Berkshire East has some nice intermediate trails with berms and a nice surface it would be a huge advantage for a rider like me (half-assed rider on an aging Spec Enduro)

 

[dlague]

Nice glades - nicely spaced. Though your back was bugging you, it looked like you found some nice lines!

 

[C-Rex]

I'm going to pick up a back brace at Home Depot that'll hopefully straighten out the back before the weekend and I'll wear it while skiing from now on.

The mountain bike park @ Berkshire East should be sweet! Jiminy Peak has a terrible MTB trail network IMO. You need to be a pro downhiller to take on a lot of Jiminy's trails. If Berkshire East has some nice intermediate trails with berms and a nice surface it would be a huge advantage for a rider like me (half-assed rider on an aging Spec Enduro)

Yeah, Jiminy doesn't really maintain the trails and they don't support the biking part of things at all. No pro shop, nothing. You can't even get a spare tube there. I wonder if they'll change that once BEast opens their park.

 

[The Sneak]

The unmarked next to Beast, with the cliffs n stuff..a bit too gnarly for me. I wimped out last time I went in there, took a look around and said 'nope'.

If we get a storm this wknd...I will be there Monday.
Gray helmet, ugly grey pants, blue jacket, beat up Prophet 90s, white Oakleys.
Holla 'n I will buy you a beer*


















*Schaefer

 

[catsup948]

That area to the left of Beast is very steep and tight. Nice chute further down the line and a couple extremely steep shots, also a big 30 foot cliff in there too. There are some killer long routes off the outback which end up down at the road. I have also cut some glades that end up down at the road as well which I have tried out yet. Also there are some really nice glades off the backside from Mohawk down towards River Road, nothing overly steep but nice moderate hardwoods. I haven't been able to really explore yet as I was away for 3 nights at the summit and the wife wouldn't let me ski alone without my 6 year old monday! Now I have to work all week! HA! If anyone wants a tour sometime this weekend PM me!

 

[mishka]

B-East great place.
yesterday definitely day to remember. Best untracked, truly bottomless skiing I had this season....ammm ever

skiing on the side of the road priceless

Tin I need some of those pictures

 

[catsup948]

That's like 20 feet of blower pow by Berkshire East standards lol. Looks like you did find you way into those woods. I recognize that spot -- if you keep going a bit further left you end up where my photos are taken. Yep, similar steepness and spacing the Magic red chair woods, exactly my thoughts on that one.

I wonder if you're the 1 guy I happened to speak to in there who followed me in!

Edit: BTW my map needs to be updated. I ended up making some turns with another guy from Northampton and he showed me a few spots I was unawares and I showed him a few of my favorites. I'm sure there's a couple more zones I still don't even know about. They are constantly adding woods but not adding them to the map.

If the map properly reflected all the woods skiing areas on that mountain probably a lot more expert / tree skiers would seriously consider it just based on the sheer number and variety. I mean, for western Massachusetts it's pretty impressive.

A lot of the unmarked woods have been cut by locals and likely won't make it on the map. There are so many options still yet to be thinned as well. With skins you can access much more terrain using existing bike and zip line trails. I have to get out and ski again soon I'm losing my mind reading this thread!

 

[C-Rex]

The mountain bike park @ Berkshire East should be sweet! Jiminy Peak has a terrible MTB trail network IMO. You need to be a pro downhiller to take on a lot of Jiminy's trails. If Berkshire East has some nice intermediate trails with berms and a nice surface it would be a huge advantage for a rider like me (half-assed rider on an aging Spec Enduro)

I didn't notice before, but I ride an aging Enduro too. Wanna be friends? Haha! I also have an older BigHit that was down for a year while I put together funds to rebuild the fork and shock. I'm kinda hoping to upgrade this year but it'll depend on said funds.

Did you ever ride at Catamount when they had their bike park? It was super fun. Very intermediate compared to places like Mountain Creek and Highland. The trail builders did a great job making the trails flowing and peppering in features that us mortals would attempt. Unfortunately, Catamount's management didn't support it beyond hiring a couple lifties. The builders had to use all their own resources and time to get it done. Eventually, they shut it down due to lack of attendance. If they had just advertised it would have taken off. I asked around at bike shops in CT and none of them even knew they allowed biking. Now BEast is going to swoop in and take that business. I don't blame them and I'm happy they're doing it, but Catamount really missed the boat. Jiminy will most likely lose their bike income to BEast too unless they really step their game up.

 

[bdfreetuna]

Sure dude I def could use someone to intermediately ride some trails this summer. I don't get pumped for biking like I do for skiing -- but hey we all need something to do when there's no snow!

Never did ride Catamount. Only been to Jiminy, Mt Snow, and Plattekill. Of those I think Mt Snow had the best easier trails and Platty overall had the best trails and clearly they take biking seriously there in the summer.

 

[legalskier]

Gorgeous.

 

[C-Rex]

Sure dude I def could use someone to intermediately ride some trails this summer. I don't get pumped for biking like I do for skiing -- but hey we all need something to do when there's no snow!

Never did ride Catamount. Only been to Jiminy, Mt Snow, and Plattekill. Of those I think Mt Snow had the best easier trails and Platty overall had the best trails and clearly they take biking seriously there in the summer.

I'm the same way, biking takes a distant second place to snowboarding for me, but I do love downhilling. Killington has some sweet trails too and I hear they're going to be expanding their bike park quite a bit this year. Plans to do some cool stuff on Ramshead. I've never been to Platty but I heard it's good. Highland and Mountain Creek (Diablo) are also a lot of fun, even though I stick to the easier stuff. Highland has a trail called Cat's Paw that nothing but berms and small jumps/drops. It's like a roller coaster ride. I usually lap that for most of the day.