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ski butternut in MA
- Thread starter tmcc71
- Start date
zinger3000
New member
Butternut is good for groomed cruisers. Not a good mountain for experts. (I'm an intermediate skier, but can ski the few "blacks" they have there.) Butternut can get crazy busy on weekends, probably due to their super-cheap season passes. If you go during the week, you'll be fine.
If you are near WA and want to drive that far head north to NH for many more options. Ragged, Gunstock, Sunapee , Pats, etc ...
zinger3000
New member
Have you ever checked out Berkshire East. I hear it doesn't get too crowded on weekends. Great variety of terrain, 1000 ft vertical.
love b east
yes, tried B east, loved it. I just need to find other options as well as my girlfriend likes to mix it up more than me. If it were up to me I would go to Ragged, Magic and B east every weekend. I work up at wachusett on patrol and crave a less crowded mountain on weekends. I love wachusett and think they run a very good mountain. Their grooming is second to none. I ski there six days a week. each Sunday the girlfriend and I seek out a lesser known, less crowded mountain as a change of pace. Last year we tried 13 new mountains within our day trip limit 2.5 hours each way. We really liked B east, ragged, and a couple others than closed (Tenney and ascutney). This year we are going to try Crotched, catamount and Black mountain I think, but I am always looking for a good hidden gem.
yes, tried B east, loved it. I just need to find other options as well as my girlfriend likes to mix it up more than me. If it were up to me I would go to Ragged, Magic and B east every weekend. I work up at wachusett on patrol and crave a less crowded mountain on weekends. I love wachusett and think they run a very good mountain. Their grooming is second to none. I ski there six days a week. each Sunday the girlfriend and I seek out a lesser known, less crowded mountain as a change of pace. Last year we tried 13 new mountains within our day trip limit 2.5 hours each way. We really liked B east, ragged, and a couple others than closed (Tenney and ascutney). This year we are going to try Crotched, catamount and Black mountain I think, but I am always looking for a good hidden gem.
Liv 2 Ski
New member
Ski Butternut may surprise you. If you are looking for cruisers and abundant corduroy it is certainly worth a trip / test!
The grooming and snowmaking are excellent!
Crowds are a relative thing. Ski Butternut is not as commercial as many mountains, nor is it close to a major metro area. It's about 2.5 hours from NYC and Boston.
Ski Butternut can get crowded over holiday periods and early season as terrain starts to open. This is certainly due to the areas season passes which are truly affordable.
But it is not always crowded. HINT - visit the week after any holiday as many of the non regulars are too tapped to visit again. Suggestions: Shoot for Jan 9th., 22nd, 29th. or Feb 5, 12, or March 5, 12. Later in March is even better.
Great opportunity to ski there in mid to late March. No crowds then, weekend lift tickets are reduced from $55 weekend / $60 holidays to just $25 every day starting March 14 to end of season.
The mountain regularly has all trails open till the last week in March and regularly skis to the first weekend in April. Often closing because people have just stopped coming.
This late season is by far the best time to catch Ski Butternut.
If you are skiing on a Sunday the so-called crowds are not what you may be experiencing at your home mountain of Wachusetts. Attendance is down about 20% on Sundays compared to Saturdays and guests arrive later in the morning.
No real challenging expert terrain here, but for cruising it's great, especially the first 2-3 hours of the day. Mountain opens at 8:15 on weekends and closes at 4:00. No night skiing means the trails get a breather and good grooming yields abundant corduroy.
Be booted up and ready and you'll find plenty of corduroy on a late season Sunday morning.
I work at the mountain - but I ski around NE a lot - I feel this is an honest assesment.
Look forward to your post visit post if you visit.
The grooming and snowmaking are excellent!
Crowds are a relative thing. Ski Butternut is not as commercial as many mountains, nor is it close to a major metro area. It's about 2.5 hours from NYC and Boston.
Ski Butternut can get crowded over holiday periods and early season as terrain starts to open. This is certainly due to the areas season passes which are truly affordable.
But it is not always crowded. HINT - visit the week after any holiday as many of the non regulars are too tapped to visit again. Suggestions: Shoot for Jan 9th., 22nd, 29th. or Feb 5, 12, or March 5, 12. Later in March is even better.
Great opportunity to ski there in mid to late March. No crowds then, weekend lift tickets are reduced from $55 weekend / $60 holidays to just $25 every day starting March 14 to end of season.
The mountain regularly has all trails open till the last week in March and regularly skis to the first weekend in April. Often closing because people have just stopped coming.
This late season is by far the best time to catch Ski Butternut.
If you are skiing on a Sunday the so-called crowds are not what you may be experiencing at your home mountain of Wachusetts. Attendance is down about 20% on Sundays compared to Saturdays and guests arrive later in the morning.
No real challenging expert terrain here, but for cruising it's great, especially the first 2-3 hours of the day. Mountain opens at 8:15 on weekends and closes at 4:00. No night skiing means the trails get a breather and good grooming yields abundant corduroy.
Be booted up and ready and you'll find plenty of corduroy on a late season Sunday morning.
I work at the mountain - but I ski around NE a lot - I feel this is an honest assesment.
Look forward to your post visit post if you visit.
Liv 2 Ski
New member
Sorry forgot to address the Lift Capacity side of the question for Ski Butternut. No high-speed lifts here. 3 fixed grip quads, 1 triple, 1 beginner double, 1 poma (serves the race hill slope), 4 carpets for the beginner area. Decent uphill capacity ~ 14,000 per hour given the the number of guests we get we keep them moving. Always guests asking for a high-speed quad, but the uphill capacity of a high-speed doesn't add all that much to the equation. The result is how many get off at the summit each hour. Faster lift ride to the summit is nice but because chairs are spaced 3 times farther apart fewer people are riding on the lift at any given time. The end result is about the same number of people get off at the summit in an hour regardless or high-speed or fixed grip.
No question I would prefer to ride a detach, easier to load and unload, but the cost alone is hard to justify for a mountain the size and scope of Ski Butternut. If the area decided to add a detach then the lift ticket prices would likely go up drastically, so would the cost of season passes. I personally don't think that majority of our guests would want that to happen. Currently 2010-11 a Ski Butternut season pass is priced at $275 for an adult with no blackout dates. Season Pass is valid every day of the season - which averages about 115 to 120 days long.
No question I would prefer to ride a detach, easier to load and unload, but the cost alone is hard to justify for a mountain the size and scope of Ski Butternut. If the area decided to add a detach then the lift ticket prices would likely go up drastically, so would the cost of season passes. I personally don't think that majority of our guests would want that to happen. Currently 2010-11 a Ski Butternut season pass is priced at $275 for an adult with no blackout dates. Season Pass is valid every day of the season - which averages about 115 to 120 days long.
thanks liv 2 ski
Thanks for taking the time and laying out such a detailed report. I think I will try it after all. It's under two hours for me to get there and it sounds like a lot of fun. Crowds are all relative but NOTHING compares to a Wachusett crowd mid season and holiday weekends! Great mountain, staff, grooming....but being so close to Worcester/Boston makes it a magnet. Maybe i'll see you there some time this season. Tim
Thanks for taking the time and laying out such a detailed report. I think I will try it after all. It's under two hours for me to get there and it sounds like a lot of fun. Crowds are all relative but NOTHING compares to a Wachusett crowd mid season and holiday weekends! Great mountain, staff, grooming....but being so close to Worcester/Boston makes it a magnet. Maybe i'll see you there some time this season. Tim
severine
New member
The only thing I'll add is that Butternut does not have night skiing. Whereas, I believe Catamount does and is not far from it.
Again, I've only been to Butternut once, but it was a Sunday in spring skiing and it was swamped. Much busier than Sundown ever has been while I've been there.
Again, I've only been to Butternut once, but it was a Sunday in spring skiing and it was swamped. Much busier than Sundown ever has been while I've been there.
marcski
Active member
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I have passes at Catamount with my girls. Catamount and Butternut are similarly priced. IMHO, I find that Catamount has more interesting, varied terrain. Some older school trails that follow the contours of the mountain make it more interesting to ski. I haven't been to B'nut in years, I assume they might put out a little more snow, but Catamount can hold its own. Catamount has a half pipe fwiw as well as a couple of terrain pipes.
Catamount is old school. One of the oldest ski areas in New England that is still around. And...you gotta love a place, where on a busy weekend, the owner is out in the parking lot, directing parking traffic!
Catamount is old school. One of the oldest ski areas in New England that is still around. And...you gotta love a place, where on a busy weekend, the owner is out in the parking lot, directing parking traffic!
gmcunni
Active member
i skied catamount for the first time last season, really liked it. lots of bumps the day we were there, decent pitch on the front side (catapult) and some intermediate woods too. the patroller pointed them out to us on a ride up and said as long as there was no rope they were open. we went there the weekend of the big storm that pounded the catskills. Catamount didn't get as much snow but i was happy with the crowds (lack of really).
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