Why Does Berkshire East Use False Elevation Stats?

[Zand]

This has always perplexed me so I went poking around on Google Earth tonight to see what the actual elevation and vertical are.

They claim their vertical is 1180'. In actuality the summit chair vertical is 920'. Maybe if you ski to the bottom of the carpet? No, that only adds 25 feet. Maybe if you ski all the way down the access road and go for a swim in the river? Nope, still not even breaking 1000'.

There's plenty of ski areas that have verticals in the 900'+ range and claim 1000' which is understandable. Close enough and the extra digit looks good on your advertising. But why blatantly add ~230 feet that you absolutely don't have?

The worst part is that their website claims the summit elevation is 1840'. The top of the summit lift is 1530'. If you mill around in the woods behind the patrol shack you might get to 1540'. Theres a mountain about 2 miles away in Hawley that has a summit of 1840'. This stat is more incorrect than the sign in Jay's tram telling you that you'll be going to elevation 4000'.

I think Jiminy is the only ski area in MA with legitimately over 1000' vertical (like 1120' or so) so if Berkshire East is trying to pretend that they have the largest vert in MA, that's kind of lame. Sorry about my weird nerdy rant, but I've always been curious about how much they overstate their vertical and I never would've imagined they do it by as much as they do.

 

[doublediamond]

Everyone lies on vertical.

 

[drjeff]

This has always perplexed me so I went poking around on Google Earth tonight to see what the actual elevation and vertical are.

They claim their vertical is 1180'. In actuality the summit chair vertical is 920'. Maybe if you ski to the bottom of the carpet? No, that only adds 25 feet. Maybe if you ski all the way down the access road and go for a swim in the river? Nope, still not even breaking 1000'.

There's plenty of ski areas that have verticals in the 900'+ range and claim 1000' which is understandable. Close enough and the extra digit looks good on your advertising. But why blatantly add ~230 feet that you absolutely don't have?

The worst part is that their website claims the summit elevation is 1840'. The top of the summit lift is 1530'. If you mill around in the woods behind the patrol shack you might get to 1540'. Theres a mountain about 2 miles away in Hawley that has a summit of 1840'. This stat is more incorrect than the sign in Jay's tram telling you that you'll be going to elevation 4000'.

I think Jiminy is the only ski area in MA with legitimately over 1000' vertical (like 1120' or so) so if Berkshire East is trying to pretend that they have the largest vert in MA, that's kind of lame. Sorry about my weird nerdy rant, but I've always been curious about how much they overstate their vertical and I never would've imagined they do it by as much as they do.

They must be measuring their summit elevation from the top of one of the blades of the wind turbine when it is fully vertical!

 

[MidnightJester]

This has always perplexed me so I went poking around on Google Earth tonight to see what the actual elevation and vertical are.

They claim their vertical is 1180'. In actuality the summit chair vertical is 920'. Maybe if you ski to the bottom of the carpet? No, that only adds 25 feet. Maybe if you ski all the way down the access road and go for a swim in the river? Nope, still not even breaking 1000'.

There's plenty of ski areas that have verticals in the 900'+ range and claim 1000' which is understandable. Close enough and the extra digit looks good on your advertising. But why blatantly add ~230 feet that you absolutely don't have?

The worst part is that their website claims the summit elevation is 1840'. The top of the summit lift is 1530'. If you mill around in the woods behind the patrol shack you might get to 1540'. Theres a mountain about 2 miles away in Hawley that has a summit of 1840'. This stat is more incorrect than the sign in Jay's tram telling you that you'll be going to elevation 4000'.

I think Jiminy is the only ski area in MA with legitimately over 1000' vertical (like 1120' or so) so if Berkshire East is trying to pretend that they have the largest vert in MA, that's kind of lame. Sorry about my weird nerdy rant, but I've always been curious about how much they overstate their vertical and I never would've imagined they do it by as much as they do.

Maybe the question should be where would the BASE be due to elevation from the numbers they give?? Maybe they have a hidden lodge in a town that is like a Ski & Board speakeasy.

Mountains and Mountain tops used to be much higher in the earths history. Maybe they just started their calculations further back in time.
The area just across the GW bridge in NJ used to be the height of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado many many million's of years ago.

 

[RH29]

They exaggerated it even more? They used to call it a 1700' summit and a 520 base, from what I remember. And 520 base would be like if the summit quad had its base terminal at the bottom of the deerfield river.

Similarly, they list their trail count at 32 in some places and 45 in others. It's bizarre.

 

[thetrailboss]

Everyone lies on vertical.

If he's disappointed about this then don't tell him how Sunday River or Killington measure their vertical......

Looks like some folks are starting to get restless now that the season is winding down.

 

[Zand]

If he's disappointed about this then don't tell him how Sunday River or Killington measure their vertical......

Looks like some folks are starting to get restless now that the season is winding down.

At least at Killington you can ski from the top of the K1 to Rt 4 for the full vertical, and SR you can ski from Jordan to the bottom of White Cap in one run. Berkshire East you would need to ski from the top to...well...250 feet underground in the river to get the full vertical.

 

[The Sneak]

What was the true vert at Brodie? I know they claimed 1200 ft. Also, supposedly the new face going down to the river will add vertical. Who knows. You are not alone in feeling like this is a stupid, ahem hill for them to die on.

 

[SkiNewEngland.net]

Berkshire East's vertical drop figure predates the current ownership. Many other ski areas in New England also have fairly generous numbers.

Also important to note that Google Earth's elevations are incorrect when looking around Berkshire East.

 

[RH29]

Berkshire East's vertical drop figure predates the current ownership. Many other ski areas in New England also have fairly generous numbers.

Also important to note that Google Earth's elevations are incorrect when looking around Berkshire East.

580' base and 1538' summit is what I found online. The blueprints for the new lift, posted in BEasts main lodge, show a rise of 923 feet.

 

[deadheadskier]

Where's that True Up vertical nerd (or whatever he called his site) when you need him.

We need answers!

 

[Zand]

Berkshire East's vertical drop figure predates the current ownership. Many other ski areas in New England also have fairly generous numbers.

Also important to note that Google Earth's elevations are incorrect when looking around Berkshire East.

Topo has 1526' for the summit of Mt Institute. Same neighborhood as Google Earth.

 

[urungus]

Where's that True Up vertical nerd (or whatever he called his site) when you need him.

We need answers!

The mountainvertical site is no more, but it is still archived in the way back machine, and shows 923 vertical feet for Berkshire East, 1123 for Jiminy, and 945 for Wachusett (and notably 1645 for Killington).

Link:

Best Ski Resorts on the East Coast: Snowboarding/Skiing Stats

 

[Zand]

The other one that is complete bullshit is Stratton. They claim their vertical is an (oddly specific) 2003'. The biggest vertical drop is on the Sunbowl side, but it's about 1900' to the Sunbowl Lodge. If they just threw out "yeah we have 2k vert" then I would be like whatever, they rounded up. 2003' is oddly specific when it's completely made up. If they really want it to be 2003' vertical, then they need to cut a trail down to the golf course. I guess that's more likely than Berkshire East blowing a 200' deep hole into the ground for their stats to be accurate.

 

[SteezyRob]

The mountainvertical site is no more, but it is still archived in the way back machine, and shows 923 vertical feet for Berkshire East, 1123 for Jiminy, and 945 for Wachusett (and notably 1645 for Killington).

Link:

Best Ski Resorts on the East Coast: Snowboarding/Skiing Stats

View attachment 62766

best website ever, thanks for sharing!

 

[Newpylong]

What was the true vert at Brodie? I know they claimed 1200 ft. Also, supposedly the new face going down to the river will add vertical. Who knows. You are not alone in feeling like this is a stupid, ahem hill for them to die on.

Brodie was 1100 actual vertical, marketed as 1250 to be just ahead of Jiminy. Who was to argue in the days pre-Google Earth...

 

[xlr8r]

This is why I have always respected Pico's 1967vft and 3967ft summit elevation, they could stretch that to 2000vft and 4000ft summit, but don't.

 

[Zand]

This is why I have always respected Pico's 1967vft and 3967ft summit elevation, they could stretch that to 2000vft and 4000ft summit, but don't.

But at least that would be in the realm of rounding up and it would be understandable. Like Wachusett for example...they claim 1000' even though it's really 950 but it's within that realm and you'd only have to ski to the bottom of Mile Hill Rd to be at 1000. In Berkshire East 's case, not only is it 250 feet off (which is almost 25%), it would be physically impossible to ski what they claim is their vert.

 

[2Planker]

Its like the SR snow report....
They read it in centimeters BUT then report it in Inches

 

[thetrailboss]

Its like the SR snow report....
They read it in centimeters BUT then report it in Inches

That’s Jay Peak.