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Berkshire East 1/10/2020 and recent experiences

bdfreetuna

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keep the faith
I'm a long time Berkshire East skier, well, 32+ years since I was a kid and probably first skied it. It took me a while to get used to not seeing double chairs there, and there being easy trails off the back. I digress.

I went to Berkshire East on Monday and also today (Friday), as well as another time a few weeks ago. This is a highly unusual pattern of skiing local for me. I also skied Wachusett this year but I was very bored and left after skiing all open runs once or twice.

Not Berkshire East. I will return again! In fact I will return again with complete confidence, even if we're in recovery mode after bad weather.

This is not the Berkshire East of yonder years, or as you may have heard it "Berkshire Iced".

I am frankly amazed, for how few people actually ski there on week days, how much perfection they are delivering.

$22.50 for a full day pass with Ride and Ski Card btw

So the last 2 days up there have been better than any times in history at Berkshire East except powder days. Now, it's only about 2/3 of the terrain. For blacks you have Upper Comp, Flying Cloud, Chute (a small section in Mohawk). For blues you have Big Chief, Mohawk, War Dance. For greens you have Outback, Exhibition and Bolt/Thunder.

But the inspirational work they've done to produce a silky consistent surface on all this terrain makes many of these trails easy "let's do that again!" prize winners.

Damn, Big Chief is a good trail!

The surface was 100% consistent across every inch of open terrain. The man-made snow they are pumping out is next-level quality. There are fan guns set up in many places piling it up. I could tell lots of snow was made last night and groomed in.

Jon Schaefer if you read this, please take my highest compliments and may you be blessed financially and with help from the weather.
 

reefer

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Nice write up Tuna. I concur on all points. Would like to add weekends aren't very busy either, (race weekends can make it a little tougher only in line or in the lodge),
Most of my lift rides today were alone. Also appreciate their non-closing trail policy. They did not have to open grizzly/minnie dole today but they did (ROTD). This keeps me coming back as much as anything. Still a great place to get a discount as tuna pointed out. Connecticut ski council members get an everyday discount, $30.00 weekdays, $50.00 weekends. $44.00 weekends for seniors 60 plus which I took advantage of. My first senior discount!
Bottom line, BEast has always delivered for me.
Pics from today, Flying Cloud, Grizzly/Minnie Dole series. Some nice soft whales that were very challenging and fun.
Lift ride at about 11:00.







Sent from my SM-G930V using AlpineZone mobile app
 

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Pez

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Mar 7, 2016
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I've had some really good days there over the last few years. I like the 4 hour pass too.

Was there last year presidents day weekend on Sunday. Good crowd but nothing close to a "why am i even bothering with this mess?"
 

PaulR

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Nov 13, 2018
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As above.
My kids home mountain, she's there with the ski club every Thursday.
They've put a TON of money into the mountain over the years, great to see.
I too remember the Berkshire Ice days.
If prevailing weather and conditions are halfway decent, the BEast is hard to bead on the fun/value scale, especially for a family.
Let just please keep the $19 Thursday nights our little secret eh?
 

bdfreetuna

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keep the faith
I was thinking Grizzly and Minnie Dole looked like they should be ready to open.

Looking at the webcam I think they weathered the blowtorch OK. Some edges creeping in on trails but still looks like a solid base. Everything open was snowmaking trails and I think they held in alright. Closed today to make as much snow as possible in a short cold window. Another cold window and looks like snow in the forecast, they'll bounce back quicker than some would imagine.
 
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