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Berkshire East & Catamount: 3 New Lifts, Terrain Expansions

ne_skier

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I haven't skied either of these, but I came across some plans. Looks very interesting. For Catamount, new Glade lift (Already planned, likely a triple) and a second lift which will likely go on an unspecified terrain expansion, all happening this summer. Berkshire East is also looking at a terrain expansion and a new lift following a previously permitted line from the Deerfield River up to the top of Mohawk. Both mountains are also receiving energy and snowmaking upgrades
 

urungus

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Fantastic news!! I had become convinced that the terrain expansion at Berkshire East had been put on indefinite hold because their attention had been diverted to Catamount and Bousquet.
 

ne_skier

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Looks like it'll be a massive step forward for them, and considering part (if not all) of this is already permitted, it should hopefully speed up the process. Being a lift nerd I am confined to the thought of "what will the lift be", and as a Liftblog commenter suggested, the Green Ridge Triple at Okemo which is coming down this summer in favor of a HSQ happens to be about the right length for the new B-East line. If it's too short they could always use it at Catamount for their expansion.
 

Newpylong

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It is crazy to see now because both of these places were on borrowed time / life support in the early 90s when I skied in Western MA.
 

Zand

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a mile east of current base, at the river, going to top of mohawk, would look like this (potential area of terrain expansion also circled). pretty cool.

View attachment 50841
I hope they don't bike trail the shit out of the terrain over there. Can be tough skiing the woods with the often thin cover because there's loose rocks everywhere and birms to screw up any good lines.

This is an awesome update though!
 

ne_skier

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It is crazy to see now because both of these places were on borrowed time / life support in the early 90s when I skied in Western MA.
All across the east resorts like these seem to be getting more popular just due to their convenience for families that aren't able to go to mountains further away, don't need extreme terrain, or don't ski often. Coronavirus really helped out too, as more people want to stay local and these types of resorts provide them with a good option. As someone who learned at a small resort and became a pretty good skier (or so I think), I can definitely testify that they are great places to get into skiing for the first time as well.
 

machski

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All across the east resorts like these seem to be getting more popular just due to their convenience for families that aren't able to go to mountains further away, don't need extreme terrain, or don't ski often. Coronavirus really helped out too, as more people want to stay local and these types of resorts provide them with a good option. As someone who learned at a small resort and became a pretty good skier (or so I think), I can definitely testify that they are great places to get into skiing for the first time as well.
For now. The last thing any resort operator would want to do is over-react to perceived increased visitation this year. Maybe it sticks around when other activities normalize, maybe it doesn't. These plans have been in the works for some time, I doubt they are moving forward just from this season's #'s.
 

skimagic

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I haven't skied either of these, but I came across some plans. Looks very interesting. For Catamount, new Glade lift (Already planned, likely a triple) and a second lift which will likely go on an unspecified terrain expansion, all happening this summer. Berkshire East is also looking at a terrain expansion and a new lift following a previously permitted line from the Deerfield River up to the top of Mohawk. Both mountains are also receiving energy and snowmaking upgrades
The catamount expansion looks to be extending a few trails down the fall line below sidewinder. So potentially 3 lifts serving the NY side.
 

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ne_skier

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If the lift is accessible from that overflow lot I wonder if they'd build a small warming hut there with a ticket booth, I'm not sure how much they need another base area but it could help further popularize the expansion
 

Killingtime

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I'd rather see Catamount get their snowmaking up to speed so that they can open some diamond trails earlier in the season, but any expansion is great news. Glad both are making enough money to fund these improvements, especially Catamount which was beaten down and neglected IMO. It's amazing what good ski resort operators can do with a place.
 

ne_skier

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Got some intel about Catamount's new lifts. Looks like the Glades Triple will be a used triple chair from Purgatory, CO (The former Legends lift, 1985 Poma triple). It doesn't have bars so it will likely need new ones before reinstallation. It may also use a similar model drive from the old Valley House lift at Sugarbush.
The expansion lift, however, will be the Yodeler Quad at Holiday Valley, a 2001 Garaventa-CTEC fixed-grip quad being replaced this summer. It's the same manufacturer as the Ridge Quad but 2 years newer, and although the designs may be different there should be a lot of parts commonality between them.
The Berkshire East lift is still unknown
 

ne_skier

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Where did you hear that? It wouldn’t shock me as their newest lift (summit quad, 2014 Skytrac) is brand new
 

ne_skier

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New info regarding lifts (From Storm Skiing Journal): Both of Catamount's new lifts (Glades, Expansion lift) will be fixed quads, with one of them being the former Yodeler quad from Holiday Valley, NY. Berkshire East's "new" lift will be a refurbished triple from a lost ski area in Canada, perhaps from Talisman Mountain Resort.
 

skimagic

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Catamount began the glades replacement, with a quad, today.
it looks like the second chair to be installed this summer is for the old catamount chair rather than an expansion on the NY side.


1623114207428.png
 

ne_skier

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Will look into this
With Catamount's removal, there will be only two center pole chairlifts left in the northeast: Hunt Hollow, NY and Bousquet, MA. With Bryce, VA also likely removing their SLI this year, there will be no SLI lifts in the east come this ski season.
 

zyk

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Will look into this
With Catamount's removal, there will be only two center pole chairlifts left in the northeast: Hunt Hollow, NY and Bousquet, MA. With Bryce, VA also likely removing their SLI this year, there will be no SLI lifts in the east come this ski season.
Does Jiminy Peak still have their last center pole Riblet or was it removed? Haven't been in awhile but grew up on those chairs.
 
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