• Welcome to AlpineZone, the largest online community of skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast!

    You may have to REGISTER before you can post. Registering is FREE, gets rid of the majority of advertisements, and lets you participate in giveaways and other AlpineZone events!

Berkshire East 3/24/2014

otisshirley

New member
Joined
Jan 18, 2014
Messages
22
Points
3
Location
Western Massachusetts
Date(s) Skied: March 24, 2014

Resort or Ski Area: Berkshire East

Conditions: Packed frozen granular

Trip Report:

Today was a great example of why a cold day in March can be a wonderful thing. The skies were clear and blue most of the day and the temperature stayed in the 20s. The cold weather and the fact that it was a Monday late in March meant that the mountain was virtually empty: there were about 15 cars when I pulled in at 10:15, and on most runs I didn't see a single other skier. This is Competition, from the top, around 1 pm:

attachment.php


The natural snow trails (Jug, Liftline, etc.) were all closed, but all of the trails that they usually groom were open. I was expecting hard pack, but almost everything was packed "powder" (meaning frozen granular). It was dry, hard, and fast, but it didn't get scraped off. There were a couple of icy patches on skier's right on Competition (none that I saw on Flying Cloud), but in general what little ice there was was easy to avoid. (If you wanted it, you could go off to the ungroomed edges of the wider trails, like Exhibition, or skier's right on Flying Cloud, under the lift). Conditions were pretty uniform all over the mountain, with no bare patches (again, except on the edges). I only glanced in the trees, which looked thin and crusty.

I talked to an employee who said they didn't know how late they would stay open this year. I would say it depends entirely on demand, which will run out before the snow does.
 

hrstrat57

Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2006
Messages
548
Points
18
Location
Yawgoo Valley RI
Oh man, I love days like the one you had! Good call! Looks amazing, hard and ffast just like I like it - cruise city!

Thanks for the report, jealous!
 

SkiMangoJazz

Member
Joined
May 2, 2006
Messages
84
Points
6
Location
Central Massachusetts
They will close on Sunday if not sooner. They are never open in April, end of March is great for the B-East. Even this weekend the trails were thinly populated at most. I'm thinking of heading up on Wednesday if anyone wants to meet to make a few turns.
 
Last edited:

Tin

Active member
Joined
Oct 14, 2009
Messages
2,996
Points
38
Location
ZooMass Slamherst
I really wish they would let Umass or Flying Cloud bump up. Could be a signature run for the Berkshires and draw bumpers until April.
 

Superbman

New member
Joined
Feb 13, 2008
Messages
53
Points
0
Location
Western, MA-
I really wish they would let Umass or Flying Cloud bump up. Could be a signature run for the Berkshires and draw bumpers until April.


You need to start a write in campaign for moguls on their Facebook page and send it also to the customer service email.

(Starting one here would help as well).

They don't think people want moguls at all…really. B'East is wonderful, and one good snow-making based mogul run (after feb 15 to close) would make it even better. But, you need to make that heard. UMass and Upper Minnie could both suffice (UMASS moreso).
 

Tin

Active member
Joined
Oct 14, 2009
Messages
2,996
Points
38
Location
ZooMass Slamherst
I understand keeping a trail or two (out of the front 5....hey there is a marketing thing) for racing and cruising but there is no reason to groom them all out. They have beautiful steep terrain. Turning UMASS into a bump run would make it the "Gunbarrel" or "Superstar" of the Berkshires. Have a mogul comp. in late March, place would be wild and bring in lots of cash. If I hit the lottery I'm buying it, bumping it, and replacing the old triple on the left with the old Diamond Express Double lol.
 
Top