Brodie Mountain Lost Ski Resort Pictures

[Newpylong]

I grew up skiing at Brodie mountain.... always brings a tear to drive by now... Earlier this month my friend and I decided to take a hike. We took some pictures, enjoy:

http://s106.photobucket.com/albums/m248/newpylong/

 

[cbcbd]

I learned to ski on Brodie. I spent some good days there on my first seasons skiing. I too have great memories of it. Thanks for the pics!

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

A lot of people feel that way about Brodie. I’m sorry it closed, but the few times I skied there I found it to be boring.

 

[Greg]

I only skied Brodie once. I'm glad I did. It's the only "lost" ski area that I've been to. Well, unless Haystack counts as "lost". I guess it does.

The mountain was okay, but I really didn't care for it. Kind of a weird layout. Great views of Greylock though.

 

[2knees]

i skied it alot in high school. the night skiing went till 11:00 pm if i recall correctly. i always enjoyed the place. It had a weird, echowoods type stunted tree area near the top, again if i am remembering correctly.

 

[Greg]

It had a weird, echowoods type stunted tree area near the top, again if i am remembering correctly.

Yeah, that's what I meant by weird. I was going to mention that. It was kind of a big wide open area near the upper elevations.

 

[ctenidae]

When did Brodie close down? Doesn't look too long ago, judging from the vegetation on the trails.

 

[Greg]

When did Brodie close down? Doesn't look too long ago, judging from the vegetation on the trails.

The sale occured in August of 2004:

http://forums.alpinezone.com/1550-brodie-mountain-sold-timeshare-developer.html

They last offered skiing in 2001-02...

 

[Newpylong]

Glad you all enjoyed the pictures. That grooming sign is the only reminder I got to bring home. Everything else was long raped clean such as trail signs. My friend in Pittsfield has the old Blarney Room sign though from where you walked up the main stairs, "take your boots off, etc". Real cool.

It wasn't really all that great of a mountain, but others covete their own mountains that I don't consider that good as well.... Snowmaking was always lacking, not too many trails were lit, the lifts were slow and the one that went to the summit wasn't open that often (Dot's). But I guess its just where we grew up so that's what you learned to deal with. There were some great runs though: Mickey's, Shamrock, Kelly's Leap, Ryan's Express, Killarny, Tipperary, and some others. You could always count on early skiing on Harps Hump and then Shamrock. We had the slush jump, green beer, cruisers that next door Jiminy can't match.... it really was kinda sad making the hike though... A lot of money could have made quite the mountain. Jiminy always was one leg up though, Brodie never spent a dime for years... I forgot what legal implications were involved with the sale, but a lot of money would need to spent to re-open. It looks like they severed the snowmaking pipes in a few areas as well.

 

[jimme]

My personal Journal entries about Brodie

Brodie Mountain – March 11, 2001

The Short:
Powder/Packed Powder The day I discovered the Woods on the right side f the mountain. I have an entrance off Tippernay Trail. Snow was up to my pole in the woods! Skiing will never be the same. One of my best skiing days! (Still, and I've skied Pow at JH.)


The Long:
Couldn’t make the powder day Brodie had on Saturday which left about 10 – 12” of fresh stuff, and the powder hounds were there as Kelly’s Glades had no fresh powder left. But, it’s really only a difference between dream-like conditions and absolutely fantastic so I was more than happy! KG was somewhat bumped up making it an ideal practice run for me.

The snow was lighter than I expected, and riding the chair I noticed quite a few tracks in the woods. It was tempting, but was also beyond my skill level. . .especially while alone. I have noticed that there are a lot of markings in the trees that one can follow. This is awesome, but it’s too bad they can’t find a better way to mark these as it is a little bit destructive. . .but natural so I’m not downing anyone.

As I was skiing one of the green runs- Tipperany, I stopped in the woods and discovered a good 16 – 24” of very skiable powder! I almost fell just standing in it! Then I noticed that the grade was not steep at all and there were areas where the trees were a good 10’ and more apart. “A practice wood run?” I thought. “Hmmm. . .I have time to play today”, so into the woods I went and created a decent EZ tree run. Since there were none of the usual markings designating an off-map run, I have to guess that I was in completely uncharted territory! I am only now realizing that the “brush” at the end of my wooded run is really the tops of some small saplings! I measured the snow depth to be over 46”! I also hit one of the unmapped runs that was really awesome in that it was more of a very tight trail than a tree run. I think I shook up some kids I met on this trail with my green jacket. (Same color as Brodie Ski Patrol) When I told them the impression I got from the Ski Patrol was that the “closed” trails were more to keep out the general public they seemed surprised and said that I was mistaken—that they’d be real PO’d if we got “caught”. Hmmm. . .guess I’ll have to ask point-blank some day.

Ryan’s express was bumped up enough for more skill development, and I found myself starting to really enjoy it. Maybe I’m somewhat masochistic because I kinda’ like the burning sensation left in my legs after a run through bumps.

It began in the early afternoon, then the snow started falling heavy around 2:00 and there was at least an inch on the ground by 3:00. Reluctantly, I took my last chair at 4:00 to finish the day on some of the bumps and it was just about raining (ugh) at the base by that time.

Shortly after arriving home my daughter Morgan asked “Daddy it looks like you have a cut on your nose. How did that happen?” I looked in the mirror and saw a dried clot of blood on the side of my nose. Not wanting to scare the Mrs. who doesn’t ski, I pulled Morgan aside an proudly whispered “Oh, I cut myself on a branch that I hit while skiing in the woods today!” But also added “I’ll be getting a helmet and maybe even safety glasses real soon!”

Now these past few weeks beg the question. “If you had to take memories of only one “best” ski day in your life to a deserted mountain, which day from this year would it be?”

 

[cbcbd]

And let's not forget the green snow. Great report, jimme