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Best in MA
- Thread starter canobie#1
- Start date
Tin
Active member
Busiest I've seen it was 6-7 people deep. The new quad should eliminate mechanical issues that caused long lines during vacation weeks. Wish they just kept the high speed double instead of the other slow chair.
catsup948
New member
Berkshire East when they have snow has some very fine skiing. Trees, steeps, cliffs, sidecountry. The place doesn't get much snow though. Groomers have improved a ton since I was a kid. They have better snowmaking and groom very well.
bdfreetuna
New member
Berkshire East hands down.
Now that they have a new Quad chair it should be possible to pull even more laps on this mountain.
Great woods, challenging trails, cliff drops, very low-key place. I grew up skiing this mountain and I never get bored skiing there as long as the snow is good and trails are open.
Butternut I think is great for beginners and low intermediates. Very slow lifts, but it's a fun place to ski if you're not jonesing for black diamonds.
Jiminy Peak is overgroomed IMO and can get crowded. Expensive too. I appreciate that they are so dedicated to making snow though. Wish Berkshire East made as much snow.
Now that they have a new Quad chair it should be possible to pull even more laps on this mountain.
Great woods, challenging trails, cliff drops, very low-key place. I grew up skiing this mountain and I never get bored skiing there as long as the snow is good and trails are open.
Butternut I think is great for beginners and low intermediates. Very slow lifts, but it's a fun place to ski if you're not jonesing for black diamonds.
Jiminy Peak is overgroomed IMO and can get crowded. Expensive too. I appreciate that they are so dedicated to making snow though. Wish Berkshire East made as much snow.
VTKilarney
Well-known member
Is there much of a difference in the amount of natural snow that MA ski areas receive?
skiNEwhere
Active member
Hah yea right. There was a poll showing the most boring places in MA and Leominster was #1.
Too bad we can't include Brodie. R.I.P
MadMadWorld
Active member
I read that too! It was pretty damn funny.
darent
Active member
so you never noticed the extinct volcano bulge in the middle of the Island!!
Cannonball
New member
joshua segal
Well-known member
I haven't been to Butternut in a number of years. When I went, I always found the area to be pleasant, albeit short on steeps. My biggest complaint was that it was 100% groomed flat. I am told that in recent years, they have been letting a run or two mogul up, making it a far better destination for more advanced skiers.
I am sure there are many areas in the world of snowmaking and grooming that can change the entire affect of an area by small policy changes of this nature.
Tin
Active member
The fact Butternut is still alive after the big tornado amazes me. It is a great place for beginners.
Yeah, my main ski buddy from my ski bum days in Stowe lives in the Springfield area now. He takes his kids to Butternut a few times a winter and raves about the place for that reason.
hrstrat57
Member
B east
joshua segal
Well-known member
I saw it shortly after the tornado. It was commendable the way the industry helped them get back on their feet. If I remember right, they got volunteer help and equipment donations from Temple Mt., Brodie, Jiminy and a few others. I don't know Butternut had insurance to cover any of the damage.
Tin
Active member
They had cancelled it a year or two prior to save money.
C-Rex
New member
Pretty much agree with the above posts. Berkshire east in the #1 spot with Jiminy right behind it. Jiminy's downfalls are pricing and crowds. They are far too expensive for what they offer and it gets super jammed on weekends and holidays with tons of NYers. Catamount > Butternut but Butternut does usually have a decent park if you're into that kind of thing. I've only been to BEast twice and both were in situations where I couldn't really explore like I normally would (both were dates). I know Jiminy fairly well since I've snowboarded and mountain biked there a fair amount. If you can find the bike trails after a good snow you'll find some great lines through the trees, and most of the usual crowd don't go for that sort of thing so you'll practically be alone. Also, they do have a short trail called Mogul Thing that's usually bumped up, but as stated earlier, that's usually it. Catamount also has some old bike trails that are great after a good snow. However, they shut down their bike park operation a couple years ago so that stuff my be overgrown by now. It's too bad, too, they had some great bike trails with berms, jumps, and ladder drops that were a ton of fun on a board or skis.
gmcunni
Active member
i skied BE for the first time ever and butternut for first time in 25 years last season. enjoyed both and will be back to them this year.
joshua segal
Well-known member
Well that saved them a fortune
Do you happen to know how much damage was done? Based on what I saw, I would have estimated that it was only in the $200K range. If I remember right, they lost a few towers, but not an entire lift. They lost a lot of trees, but that's more of a "chainsaw cleanup". They probably lost a few chairs and had to replace the haul rope. I don't remember the lodges taking any damage.
Tin
Active member
No idea. I just remember skiing there and asking my dad if we were above the tree line because there were no trees.
marcski
Active member
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2005
- Messages
- 4,576
- Points
- 36
That was crazy!! We rented a house that summer in Otis (Wait 'till Otis sees us, He loves us!!). Anyway, if I recall correctly, that storm rolled in at the end of a weekend in the afternoon/evening about 20 minutes after we went through Great Barrington on our way home back to the NYC area. The devastation we saw the next weekend was unbelievable.
