Berkshire East Glades 1-3-2010

[LiftlineRedcoat]

January 3, 2010
Berkshire East
Groomed hard snow with about 4" of windblown fresh

I arrived early Sunday morning at the BEast hoping to find more snow than was there. The storm that brought well over a foot of snow to the east, west, north and south of us seemed to split apart over the central Berkshires of Massachusetts and only dropped about 4 inches in Charlemont. The wind was strong enough that the main lift was delayed about 45 minutes because of 40mph + gusts at the summit. Most of the snow that fell was blown off the groomed trails into the trees, and that's where I spent much of my time during the day. While the groomed trails were still in nice shape, the little pockets of snow in the trees made for some fun exploring.

The ski patrol (of which I'm a member) spent a lot of time this fall working on some new glades. Two are in between Exhibition and Wilderness, and East Glades was improved along the eastern edge of Big Chief. If we get one storm of a foot or more, the whole mountain will be wide open.

Feel free to rate and or comment on the video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQBOIRInBgg

Liftlineredcoat

 

[snoseek]

Despite the thin base those trees look good!

 

[TheBEast]

Too much fun had without me!!!

 

[marcski]

I've skied in a lot worse cover than that in the woods! Looks great.

 

[bvibert]

Looks like fun. I <3 BEast!

Were those glades open to the public on Sunday, or were you guys just testing them out?

 

[reefer]

Very nice! Thanks for the update. Looking good over there. Can't wait to hit the Beast again. It's been too long...............

 

[Greg]

Best natural snow skiing in SNE without question. It does look pretty shallow, but I love the tree areas at the BEast - just my speed.

 

[polski]

Looks like fun. I <3 BEast!

Were those glades open to the public on Sunday, or were you guys just testing them out?

Judging by that rope at 2:45, I suspect the latter ;-)

Tough job you had there LLRedcoat but somebody had to do it :lol:

Great vid, definitely puts the BEast on my radar.

 

[bvibert]

Judging by that rope at 2:45, I suspect the latter ;-)

I saw that and chuckled, but that could have just been for the trail that goes across the entrance of that glade.. Plus they were skiing in other areas too...

 

[LiftlineRedcoat]

Looks like fun. I <3 BEast!

Were those glades open to the public on Sunday, or were you guys just testing them out?

Unfortunately all of it was closed. However the BEast is a pretty laid back place. I skied that last section in the video (East Glades) just after lunch and it was completely skied off. Don't take this as an invitation to ski closed trails, but if it's a powder day and you're skiing smart with at least one partner (preferably groups of three) most on the patrol won't give you a hard time.

 

[madskier6]

Sounds real promising for some good tree skiing. I also really enjoy the trees at Berkshire East.

I skied at BEast last week on 12/30, 1/1 & 1/2. I'm a season pass holder this year & my 11-yr old son is in the Berkshire East race program as well on weekends & holidays. I'm looking forward to a great season!

I'm sure I'll run into you this season Liftline Redcoat. You guys do a good job up there.

 

[LiftlineRedcoat]

Sounds real promising for some good tree skiing. I also really enjoy the trees at Berkshire East.

I skied at BEast last week on 12/30, 1/1 & 1/2. I'm a season pass holder this year & my 11-yr old son is in the Berkshire East race program as well on weekends & holidays. I'm looking forward to a great season!

I'm sure I'll run into you this season Liftline Redcoat. You guys do a good job up there.

Thanks for the kind words Jeff. Good luck to your son racing. The Berkshire East race program turns out some really fast skiers!

I'll be easy enough to spot with the camera on my head..

 

[skidmarks]

looks sweet