Berkshire East & Catamount: 3 New Lifts, Terrain Expansions

[Newpylong]

When montage in PA was sold and rebranded as sno mountain, they clear cut a huge area for a superpipe in the middle of the mountain which caused major snow retention issues. Thankfully sno mountain didnt last, and the current owners renamed it montage again and they have been replanting trees each summer. Hopefully catamount and bosquet do the same.

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Wow that's really bad too.

 

[SkiingInABlueDream]

I've never skied BE but I'm guessing the triple chair is very underutilized. over maybe 15 days at the bike park over the past 3 years, one mind boggling thing I've noticed is that, when the there's a long line at the quad and the triple is running, the vast majority of people STILL choose to wait in the line for the quad and the triple will be basically, ride-on.
If most people can't be bothered to ride a friggin bike an extra couple hundred feet to get to an alternate lift, then Im sure they wouldn't make the same shlep in ski gear. My main point being that I don't think the triple would be a good location for a fancy new lift.

 

[SkiNewEngland.net]

An issue with the Mountain Top Triple base terminal location is that it's extremely tight. When the Black Chair was there, the base terminal was where the Mountain Coaster is now located (Mohawk went under the lift). The Mountain Top Triple was an ideal fit because the compact terminal design from Poma that year fit between Mohawk and the first rise (adjacent to the original Thunder lodge). It would be very difficult to fit a high speed quad terminal there, nevermind have room for a queue.

 

[WoodCore]

......love fan guns (and recommended Bousquet rip out their air plant)

Have heard crazy stories about the air plants at both Bousquet (of old) and Otis Ridge. Crazy talk of marine parts and submarines. Any truth?

 

[ss20]

Owner's comments on Liftblog (scroll...Jon talks in the comments)-

Berkshire East Plans Two New Lifts in Two Years

A public hearing is scheduled for next month regarding a proposal by Berkshire East Mountain Resort to install a base-to-summit high speed quad this summer and another new lift next year. The first…

liftblog.com

 

[urungus]

Owner's comments on Liftblog (scroll...Jon talks in the comments)-

Berkshire East Plans Two New Lifts in Two Years

A public hearing is scheduled for next month regarding a proposal by Berkshire East Mountain Resort to install a base-to-summit high speed quad this summer and another new lift next year. The first…

liftblog.com

Thanks for the link, some interesting comments by John Schaeffer, I do like what he is saying about a more direct flow down into trails like UMass and Grizzly. But sad for what that means for Horaces Grove. Wish he would have responded to the comments about clear cutting of trees - has he ever gone on record about the rationale for that, are there any plans to reforest Catamount or Bousquet, etc ?

 

[IceEidolon]

Have heard crazy stories about the air plants at both Bousquet (of old) and Otis Ridge. Crazy talk of marine parts and submarines. Any truth?

Hunter had some Ex-Navy iron. Not sure on the exact details. Several places had reciprocating compressors running until fairly recently - at least for machines with patents on the nameplate over 100 years old.

 

[Newpylong]

Hunter has one working reciprocating Westinghouse compressor left the rest are spiked (ie electrial removed) to appease the electrical company.

Bousquet had a compressor that indeed came off a submarine and when it was due for replacement last year instead they ripped out the air plant and put in 3PH power on the hill and SMIs everywhere. It is a move that while I don't have access to the ROI projections is something I could never support. Removing a functioning air plant and the operational flexibility that gives you is a no go in my book (unless the hill is absolutely miniscule). Of course, if you knock down damn near every tree facing Dan Fox drive it's easier to get away without it.

Don't want to buy new Centacs? Fine. Pour an outdoor pad and manifold and lease any number of outdoor rated Rotary Screws like Ragged does.

 

[skimagic]

Thanks for the link, some interesting comments by John Schaeffer, I do like what he is saying about a more direct flow down into trails like UMass and Grizzly. But sad for what that means for Horaces Grove. Wish he would have responded to the comments about clear cutting of trees - has he ever gone on record about the rationale for that, are there any plans to reforest Catamount or Bousquet, etc ?

They will have to go past the patrol shack and the cell tower behind it. From there, the eastern trails are accessible. For the frontside trails, it sounds like a new trail would be cut to the right to get to the elbow on mine dole to serve as the improved, direct access to Comp, etc. I haven't seen a narrow cut for a HSQ so I also agree the trees along lift line and the tree island at the top of Comp most likely will be cut. At least The Jug is safe.

 

[ne_skier]

Maybe they'll just cut the trees at the top? The graphic shows that the lift will climb up Competition not hugging the looker's left side but rather climbing up diagonally from right to left, sort of like Black at Magic or Raceway at Camelback. Then again the graphic also shows the expansion lift unloading on what appears to be a separate peak, so I'll take it with a grain of salt until more details come out

 

[Newpylong]

That won't likely happen because of the homologation of competition. Towers are avoided. I would say it will go up exactly where the old T-Bar was and then the trees above there to the top cut back. It will get mighty thin between Lift line and Upper Comp.

 

[SkiNewEngland.net]

That won't likely happen because of the homologation of competition. Towers are avoided. I would say it will go up exactly where the old T-Bar was and then the trees above there to the top cut back. It will get mighty thin between Lift line and Upper Comp.

The tree islands between Lift Line and Lower Competition and Upper Competition are nearly the same width. The taper of Upper Competition is on the Minnie Dole side (more pronounced since Slalom Chute was merged).

 

[Newpylong]

There are two very clear tapers. Skiers left tapers out until around Deer Run (the one you're depicting). Skiers right begins tapering out around Little Mohawk towards the old TBar location. The new quad is depicted towards skiers right so that's where we have been talking.

Any way the cookie crumbles trees are coming out and more than a couple.

 

[SkiNewEngland.net]

There are two very clear tapers. Skiers left tapers out until around Deer Run (the one you're depicting). Skiers right begins tapering out around Little Mohawk towards the old TBar location. The new quad is depicted towards skiers right so that's where we have been talking.

The tree islands between Lift Line and Lower Competition and Upper Competition are each about 40 feet wide. If the final route of the new chair is parallel to the SkyTrac (as indicated in the December engineering), the impact to Lower and Upper Competition tree islands will likely be the same.

 

[Newpylong]

I don't see how the topology will make that possible but I guess time will tell.

 

[urungus]

Public service announcement: Go to Berkshire East some time during next week or so (currently 100% open except for Beast and Tomahawk, with more snow coming Friday), and ski these trails one last time before they are forever altered by the installation of the new high speed lift: Horace’s Grove, the very upper portion of Minnie Dole between the summit chairlift unload and the ski patrol shack, and Upper & Lower Liftline. Upper Comp too. Also explore the rest of the woods around the summit, the orange highlighted route along Sugar Line / Blue Pulaski bike trail is a good place to start, entrance on right side of first turn in Outback is pretty obvious, there will be a (hopefully open) rope, and tracks going in… For reference, I’ve also drawn a yellow line along the Outback ski trail in the bike map below. Horace’s Grove ski trail corresponds roughly to Back of the Shack / Rocky Road.

 

[urungus]

Pretty busy for a weekday today at Berkshire East

 

[urungus]

Went into Horace’s Grove and tried to soak it in before the axes come this summer

 

[Newpylong]

Yep, those tents are just about where the new lift will start aren't they? lol

 

[tumbler]

It was the Mass HS state skiing championships.