The Scoop

No rain! No Rain! No Rain?

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 11:04:00 GMT

New snow and the weather map is clear!

Check the continuous loop on NOAA.gov.

What it is showing is what I was expecting when it starting snowing at about 7:30 pm last night, meaning that the storm had arrived faster than expected. Driving home the exterior thermometer on the truck was reading 5-6 degrees below the forecasted temp. The speeding storm combined with the cooler than expected temps has evidently allowed the 'forecasted' rain to solidify into an unexpected snow.

So, does that mean we are completely out of the woods. Statistically no, but if you check the weather map, pretty much all but the tiniest of showers are a hundred miles to the east.

30% of Berkshire East's 2012 snowfall arrived on February 29. Hereafter, it shall be known as the Leap Day Storm of '12. The skiing was fabulous, I took three runs with my uncle John at about 12pm. The only turns I remember are about four on the pitch on upper chief where there was about three inches of new snow on top of the groomed snow. Perfect. We have had great skiing all winter, but there 'is' something about new snow that is incomparable.

Yesterday, I skied a little more and loved it, the snow was a little grippy for my sharp slalom skis, but the air was completely still and the sugar snow had stuck to the trees with low clouds in the valley. The lodge had an air of contentment and smiling faces were seen in an excess.

With the rain passing us by and a little snow last night, hopefully we capture a little more of that magic today!

Snow Storm!

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:06:00 GMT

What the predicted total snowfall?

A baker's dozen!

Over the next 36 hours more snow will fall than fell (from Mother Nature) in the last 36 days.

To be more specific, more snow will fall in the next 36 minutes than in the last 36 days.

Or, about 50% of our total YTD snow total will fall in the next 12 hours.

Even in a good year, the storm that is passing over us would be great one, in a poor snow year its manna from heaven.

So enjoy the snow. Drive safe and see you at the mountain.

Snow Storm!

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:06:00 GMT

What the predicted total snowfall?

A baker's dozen!

Over the next 36 hours more snow will fall than fell (from Mother Nature) in the last 36 days.

To be more specific, more snow will fall in the next 36 minutes than in the last 36 days.

Or, about 50% of our total YTD snow total will fall in the next 12 hours.

Even in a good year, the storm that is passing over us would be great one, in a poor snow year its manna from heaven.

So enjoy the snow. Drive safe and see you at the mountain.

Presidents Week

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 11:52:00 GMT

The skiing remains good...

So compared the dynamic 2010-2011 ski season, the 2011-2012 winter has been pretty uneventful. Berkshire East (and the rest of New England ski areas) opened a little late, we made a lot of snow, it warmed up, cooled off, warmed up again, but by mid January, the ski area was in great shape.

Late January, and the first half of February have been dominated by a high pressure system that have kept the temps steady at about a midday high of 38 deg F, and a night cool of 20 deg. F. Its generally been sunny. We continued to make snow and freshen up the hill when temps and conditions dictated.

As a result, the skiing was awesome (outside of a couple stormy days) every, single, day.

So for somebody trying to gin up excitement on the blogs and social media sites, this has not been easy. I am starting to get push back from folks online saying that "OK, the skiing can't be that good."

But think about it, folks, for pretty much for the last month its been sunny, with a high of 38-40 deg. F, and the skiing IS fantastic. I am completely incapable of putting any other spin on this story.

Yet, for some reason, people haven't been skiing and its not just Berkshire East, its everywhere... Business is down at every resort in New England.

Lots of people have had theories why, the economy (skiing numbers where up the past three winters when the economy was worse), the warm weather (most mountains are close to 100% open), the decline of the sport (skiing numbers have been high the past three years).

I've got my own idea. New Englanders are suckers for punishment. In a way its tied to the warm winter theory, but its different. The warm winter guy would say that people are consciously deciding not to ski because its too warm and that the warmth is keeping people away. The sucker for punishment guy (me) says that people ski because of the cold, and this season people haven't been going out because its not cold and or stormy and that as hardy people, our juices for the slopes don't get flowing until its nasty out.

Either way, the seasons running and there is no better time to have a great day on the slopes than this weekend.

Oh yeah, whats the weather this weekend at the B-east?

Today: High of 40 deg. F, sunny, a little snow this evening (approx 1 inch).

Tomorrow: High of 33 deg. F, sunny.

Monday: Sunny High of 34.

Trust me folks, stop waiting for winters ugly side, it may not show up this year. The mountain is primed, the weather IS great, so come get it while the gettin's good.

Oobla di Oobla da.

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:30:00 GMT

Today is the first day of the rest of your ski season.

On Tuesday I wrote an excellent blog post. However, because I am a boring PC guy, and not used to my wife's MacBook Pro Keyboard, I deleted my treatise before I could post it.

Probably a good thing.

For me its been an more up than down ten days, but the down was waaayyy down (thank you Mario Manningham....) Ups included, Ob/Gyn appts (do they make baby on board orange warning vests for ski coats?) a house closing, extreme home makeovering (sp?). The down was, of course, a soul crushing, stomach eviscerating, mind numbing, body pulverizing, horse trampling, cow stampeding Patriot defeat (w infinite media coverage) to the the Giants.

I still can't read the news ( and I am a up at 4:30, read the NYTimes, cnn.com, espn.com, msnbc.com, wallstreetjournal.com, scientificamerican.com, etc.etc type of guy... Its' been all Steve Jobs biography for me this week...)

What I learned is that success is a razors edge. Luck and perception are a huge factor in any outcome.

Take the Pats for example.

In 2001, the Pats make the Super Bowl on the Tuck Rule. Vinateri makes a last second kick. Both could have gone either way.

In 2003, the Panthers, lose in a wild finish (Rodney plays the last few minutes with a broken arm, but the secondary gets torched. If not for a final Panthers kickoff out of bounds, giving the Pats the ball on the 40, there's a good chance the Pats lose that game.

In 2004, its probably the most clearcut Pats victory, but the Eagles have a chance at the end, but Mcnabb runs out of steam and reportedly pukes in the huddle due to being out of shape.

In 2006, AFC Championship game in Indy, the Pats blow a 21 point half time lead to the Colts.

In 2007, David Tyreee.

Last week, Mario Manningham, Brady's shoulder, and Wes Welker.

In all of these scenarios... Pats could be 0-5, or 5-0, instead we are a heady 3-2.

(No offense to our Giants fans customers... I write about what I experience and I am what I am and that's a Pats fan...)

Now lets look at Berkshire East. Last season, the east, particularly Ct, eastern MA, and the cities were dumped on by snow. Every storm was on a Thurs or Friday, and our weekends were extremely busy.

Two years ago. Similar, not as snowy. We made more snow two years ago than this... (which means we lost more snow along the way...Cold and dry through January, snow in the spring.

Three years ago. Similar.

This season. Warm and rainy in December, then a little more seasonable. As we discussed, ad infinitum here, there were a couple of cold, icy, snowy, rainy, days that could have gone either way in the cities and been snow... that they are taking away from the main event, which is that the skiing has been fantastic because the ski area hasn't been all the effected from the warmer temps!

As those of you who have been skiing regularly know, Berkshire East had a great snowmaking push in early January that opened a lot of terrain and put Berkshire East into tip top shape. Yet, no snow in the cities, Ct, central MA etc, has led folks to the perception that the skiing isn't all that good.

Perception versus reality and luck, where a couple of border line storms that turned to rain in the cities, and valleys, but stayed icy in the hills, have many regular customers to believe that the skiing just couldn't be all that good!

Yet, our web reviews and facebook reviews (i.e. customer satisfaction) have been off the charts (see below).

Ok, so we haven't been skiing the woods too much this winter, but on piste the skiing has been enhanced by warmer weather that is way more comfortable for skiing. Bluebird anyone? Its been warm and sunny for the past two weeks and the snow has held up beautifully. (isn't this why everyone goes to Tahoe (or is it the Casino's, Sierra's, blue water, juniper and fir trees, and 10' ft snow storms? oh yeah... nevermind...))

Humbly, we return to Berkshire East...

Here is a note from Feb. 9, 2012 on our online submission page.

"Hi, Just a quick note to say that my cousin and I went skiing yesterday and were both astonished at how good the snow was. It was pretty damn near "perfect" if there is such a thing. I'd been reading the condition reports for the last few days, and every time I read "packed powder" I thought- yeah, well they always exaggerate. . Well, now I'm happily eating crow."

This isn't the only email like this, its just the most recent.

Yet, with weather reporters, skiing reporters, news reporters and common sense telling most folks that the skiing should be terrible because of the 'lack of winter' there is a perception with a large part of the skiing public across the United States that its not worth the trip to the mountain.

In reality, the skiing has been fantastic, at least at Berkshire East, and I ( and a many more of you) have been taking full advantage of the slopes. On Monday, I wandered (in a foggy, post super bowl defeated haze (watch to the end)) and scraped the mucus off my brain with five great runs of skiing.

The sun was warm, 34 deg. F. with a touch of corn developing in the late afternoon sun. I skied, in succession, Minnie Dole, Upper / Lower Comp, Flying Cloud (right under lift up top), Big Chief, and one fast run against Gery B. down Mohawk (some strategy showing here with me falling behind early, but using shade and an inside line to catch up by the bottom.

The great thing about skiing is that 'it' can take you out of whatever is going on and about three turns into my first run, the punishing loss, new home distress, work issues, home issues, whatever is going on can be eliminated with the quickness of a single edge set.

Looking forward, Sugaring season is here (more stress), just joking, but not really. On the hill, new snowmaking this week has prepped the slopes for some great skiing this weekend. Some new (the Mother Nature version) snow Saturday night should set up a perfect day of riding Sunday.

Next week looks similar, and there is a long range storm developing that could bring us some snow for the following weekend (start of President's week).

The ski shop will be going to 25% off. Get your helmets goggles, etc, at the B-east and save.

Back to my deleted blog post. I think I had it titled, zen and the art of skiing Berkshire East. It touched on some of themes here, but was probably best off in the garbage bin. Sometimes I get bogged down in front of the computer screen, and I don't have time for this... Winter's too short, go skiing.

PS For the rest of you skeptics, here is our Facebook Page, with lots of guest posts about conditions. (Friend us if you haven't).

Sunny today

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:01:00 GMT

Blogs that I read...

So, a couple of you have told me that you read this blog.

If you have, you have probably seen that I don't read 'the scoop' all that much because it really needs an editor. Instead of editing this when I am at a computer, I usually am reading one of the following blogs.

The Adventures of Pat Duran. I know Pat from ski racing. He is Vt raised and has ski raced his whole life. Pat is currently in the skier cross at the x games.

Joe Swensson. Another skier cross former ski racer. I coached Joey his PG year at GMVS. We travelled to a bunch of races all over the country together. I coached GMVS the winter of my senior year of college (I finished Middlebury early so had some free time) He and three other racers from GMVS followed me to Middlebury where I coached them with Forest Carey (currently a coach with the US Ski). It makes me nervous to see Joe launching these huge kickers because I have a clear memory etched in my mind of him face planting on a huge downhill jump in La Parva, Chile.

I am Ted King. In another life, I am 80 lbs lighter and way more motivated and am a bike racer. In this life, I beat the crap out of my mtn bike (with those 80lbs of extra weight) and read about Ted King. We overlapped at Middlebury, he hung out with the anarobicaly dedicated Nordic Skiers (not the overweight, out of control alpine skiers). Ted is now with Canondale-Liguigas and racing bikes professionally all over the world.

Warner Nickerson. Warner apparently leads a life we can all be jealous of... ski races all over the world, traveling, skiing. I don't know. Charlemont is nice!

1/27/12

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:37:00 GMT

What are your expectations?

So if you were like me, I bet you skied last weekend (or thought about it) and thought that the mountain was coming together after a nice snow storm last saturday. Old man winter had risen, the cold was coming down from the north and our little winter world had returned to normal.

Well, just like that it apparently washed away...

Apparently, I say that truthfully, because when my day started in North Adams, it was raining. And when my day took me Northampton, it was raining. I drove from North Adams to Northampton at about 8:30 am and came back through at may 1:30. Those 5 hours should have given mother nature to do what she was going to do with our lovely mountain, our great snow base and countless hours of my work and the folks who work with me.

Here is what I saw...

ICE

ICE and SNOW

And a 'snotty elk'

Oh yeah, a ski area that doesn't look a hell of a lot different than yesterday.

So, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and sometimes you break even. Today was a win. What I saw on my travels was a complete washout in North Adams, a complete washout from Greenfield mountain south to Northampton, and tucked away a little bit higher up in the hilltowns, a nicely glazed over mountain, that got a little snow, about three quarters of an inch of ice, and some rain that slid smoothly off the face.

What does that mean for you?

At about 2pm, the could should set in, our groomers will be out. The snow will set up, but tomorrow, the sun will be out and the skiing will corn out and the conditions should be fabulous. I predict an awesome day of skiing.

See you on the slopes.

Snow Sat Am

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 10:40:00 GMT

2-4 inches on the way...

Here is the NOAA weather report.

Buoyed by 3-4 inches of snow yesterday, there is a great base for this new 2-4 to lay on.

The groomed trails are in excellent shape and the new trails that we are opening up should be awesome as well.

New terrain. New Snow. Short Blog

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:53:00 GMT

A couple of inches of snow this morning...

5:44 am update.

Just started my wife's car so she could go to work and had to brush some snow off of the windshield, which reminded me that it was supposed to (and DID) snow list night. 2 inches.

So I came back in, checked www.noaa.gov and saw that there was 3-5 on tap for tomorrow (saturday).

Couple that new snow with a ferocious week of snow making, and Berkshire East should be looking pretty sharp.

New Trails on Tap:

Flying Cloud (all the way)

Minnie Dole (all the way)

Mohawk (all the way)

Lots of little natural snow connectors, Sundance, Wilderness Peak (all should be pretty close to dialed in after saturday as well.

Big Pats game on Sunday. I will be watching from the Crazy Horse. Needless to say, I am a pretty big fan of the 2011 Vintage of this Patriots team. So Go PATS.

Lots of snow

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:44:00 GMT

but, you probably wouldn't believe me if I told you how much...

Ok, sorry about the delay in writing. I have been doing snow angles for the last six hours and I was concerned that somehow what I was doing was directly linked to the unstoppable snow squall that 1) arrived hours early and 2) dumped an easy 6-8+ inches of new snow on top of the 4-6 inches we got yesterday.

That being said, I am at the computer now with some Jerry Band queued up, and a cup of... well... something, so let's see where this goes.

Here is a picture of Hunter. I took a trip to the top of the mountain to check out 'the next big thing' and it was when I saw Hunter's belly scrapping the snow in spots that I began to realize how much snow we were getting (the picture was at 1pm...

(We have thrown out measuring sticks... Just using Hunter this winter)

There is a dramatic difference between the top half of the mountain and the bottom, so don't shoot me when you get here. There is probably 5-6 inches in the base area.

Here is a shot from the lodge looking up the mountain.

You can see some branches that came down this morning in the background (lower left, near the coral). There were a lot of downed tree limbs today. I'd say our area dodged a bullet on this storm, had it been a little more icy rain, or wet snow, significant damage could have been done.

This is looking from our top road to Mohawk / Big Chief. Note that my dad's truck isn't yet scraping the snow. We were just at a neighbors house and their driveway wasn't plowed. He was pushing snow with the bumper of his truck when we got there.

Despite my uber preparedness to write tonight, I am going to have to wrap it up on this one folks.

The last couple of days we have taken a little bit of heat for not opening, that discussion has been beat to death. I just want to you know how physced I am that that wet snow has had the time to dry out, a bunch of new snow has fallen on top, and cold, dry air is moving on top of us all.

Folks, winter is here. Come on out and enjoy it.

PS The Pats play tomorrow night, so that's now excuse to stay home...

Living to fight another day

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:13:00 GMT

Big net gain

Berkshire East is closed today.

The decision goes as follows, we had heavy freezing rain this am that took a lot of major branches down in the base area and on the mountain. The trees are bent, the conditions marginal (more on that in a bit) and it is a downright nasty day.

How does this apply to the weekend?

Actually quite well.

Today will turn out cold, windy and perfect for drying the snow (the storm has switched back to snow).

We have taken the heat for closing, but we have avoided so really nasty, unsafe conditions, and preserved the mountain for what should be a very busy, and great weekend of skiing.

What are your takeaways?

Berkshire East received 6 inches of snow yesterday, we got some mixed precip this morning, that combined with warmer air turned the new snow into a heavy glob. The heavy winds and the snow that is falling now should dry yesterdays out, and once we groom tonight, the mountain should be immaculate.

Had we groomed last night, as did most mountains that are open today, the heavy wet snow would have been an ice rink and would have been pretty terrible to ski. (think about it, wet, new snow, compacted with a 16,000 pound machine and then sub 15 deg Farenheit temps!)

Hoping for 16-20 trails tomorrow, some of those are dependent on this new stuff setting up well, so we will see how it goes.

We should also have had 6-9 inches of new snowfall in the last two days.

See you on the slopes.

5-6 inches of new snow at the B-east

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:53:00 GMT

We get an over performing snow system

Whew...

What a day, lots of new snow, lots of intrigue.

Berkshire East was closed today, due to the threat ice and rain (that never came).

Here is a shot of the base area, should be sweet tomorrow and the holiday weekend!

Time to recap

We made the decision (a poor one in hindsight) to close due to impending freezing rain. The decision was made at about 6:30 am, and revolved around a freezing rain and rain line that was pretty near Berkshire East.

The bad news was also the good news.

The snow never stopped, except for some passing showers, this borderline storm was all snow.

Unfortunately, our decision to close did kick up a little controversy on the internet. All that I can say is that we do our best to make judgement calls on the side of safety. We have a lot of people, a lot of groups, a lot of kids, and a lot of employees travel to the mountain each day.

When our weatherman called at 6, he said a nasty freezing rain and ice event was imminent. Boom, right there its an easy call and my dad made it.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, the storm continued to dump. Here is analysis from Mike Knight, a weather afficiando.

"I was following this threat for the past week or so, and originally it was slated to be too warm, as typically happens with an upper level low sliding to our west. ...The strength of the high to our north was very poorly modeled until about 48 hours ago, and just about every model (save for the GFS/NAM) trended much colder. With cold high pressure to our North that had a piece of the polar airmass associated with it, cold air drained down from the north, and prevented the warm layer in the mid-levels of the atmosphere from reaching our area. Originally it was slated to rain all the way up to the Canadian border, and later models indicated that it would be pretty much at the MA/VT/NH border. Of course, the cold air over-performed, and the rest is history.It was a very, very difficult forecast, which really could have gone either way. Obviously this is a much better solution."

So there you go.

Over performing cold, maybe things are turning in our direction in this crazy winter.

Snow

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:47:00 GMT

Finally!

Just in time for Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend!

One week ago Berkshire East Ski Area was waking up to -6 deg Fahrenheit temps, plus a windchill who knows how far below...

We made snow until Friday morning, opened five new trails, and watched the temps climb up to the the mid to upper forties on Saturday. We groomed starting at 10pm that night (at 42 deg F), the temp fell to 32 deg F at 6am the following morning.

All the while, we new we had 2 nights of snow making (this last Monday and Tuesday nights), a border line night last night (temp never got below 29!) and what was projected to be a one inch plus rainfall this coming Thursday.

It was looking like a slow motion disaster.

However, like Ben Hogan said, "A perfectly hit shot with a golf club is a fluke!"

True to form, the weatherman's early call of a dead center, rainy smack down on Berkshire East, has changed. That dreary report has been replaced with a distinctly, more wintery mix of snow and ice and the forecast is improving by the minute.

Just like Ben Hogan, a perfect prediction from a weatherman is a fluke.

So, where are we? Right now, Berkshire East is expecting a minimum of 2-4 inches of snow and as much as 8.

The National Weather Service Winter Warning shows 1-4 four inches of snow and ice for our area.

I am more optimistic, because the protagonist in this event is a cold air mass that has been trending southeastward into the approaching storm from the south. For the last two days, the average predicted temp for Thursday has fallen by nearly 10 degrees F and is right at freezing. Since I am a follower of trends, my belief is that it continues and we will get something north of 4 inches of snow.

Globally, the weather pattern that has given us such a crappy start to the winter is finally morphing into a little more palatable. The Arctic Oscillation (AO) is trending to a more favorable negative. This means a high pressure system is developing over the arctic. Having high pressure in arctic allows the arctic cold to slip into our region, enabling a low pressure system to develop around the mid latitudes (45th parrallel). The subsequent instability allows storms to form that take advantage of the cold, moisture from the south, causing snow at Berkshire East. The past two barnstorming ski seasons have been a result of an extremely long, and negative AO.

Back to our storm tonight and tomorrow. The cold is arriving as a result of a shifted to negative AO and is the fore guard of a larger, arctic air mass that will stick around for the next couple of weeks and should help deliver a much more favorable and normal winter, i.e. snow and cold.

Snow making plan.

This week we built a beachhead around our current open trail network in order to mitigate the damage of the since discarded rain event. Friday night will be the next time we can make snow. We will start of Flying Cloud, the Upper Exhibition Terrain Park, Upper Mohawk, Umass, finish Katie's Run, and work towards a large group of new trails to open next week.

So, that's that.

Sorry about the lack of communication recently, I have been tapped out with work around the mountain. I hope to stay on the keyboard a little more diligently moving forward. I have also been planning the first ever mailbag and am considering changing the name of the blog.

More on this later, if things ever slow down.

One more thing.

A big thanks to Ski Patrol and Ski School folks for the help with the ski race this weekend. On Sunday morning, the snow hadn't set up because the temps never got below 32 deg F. Both of these departments helped out big by slipping, shoveling and maintaining the race course so that several hundred kids between 8-14 could have a great day of racing. Its really nice when a lot of people pull in the same direction to get things done and on Sunday, that is exactly what happened.

So thanks.

Outback / Roundabout open!

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:42:00 GMT

New Terrain 1/7/12

Outback, Wardance, Little Mohawk, Upper Competition, Roundabout, will open 1/7/12

We have had an interesting week of snow making (actually a short week, Monday night through Friday morning), but we added a good amount of terrain.

See you this weekend!

Hello Winter?!

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 19:16:00 GMT

Finally...

12/28/11 - 2:05 pm: 32 Degrees Fahrenheit and falling...

Though it rained and rained hard, Berkshire East weathered the rain well. We were thin in a couple of the spots I suspected we might be, but there wasn't near the amount of rain damage as I thought there would have been as I rushed over from North Adams this am.

The skiing today was the best of the year.

(When will people realize that the best skiing is either in the rain or right after a rain....?)

(Seriously)

As I right, Daryl is turning on the vacuum pumps that will prime our snow making lines and we should be making snow soon. We have some continuous snow making starting today through Friday and based on the following screen shot from weather.com (@5:51 am I might add!), there appears to be some cold air arriving for the first time all year!

So next week we should have more continuous snow making, which is nice.

To really lay down snow, we need to be able to run for a couple of days non stop, otherwise we spend more time starting up and shutting down than we do making snow (not really, but that is what it seems like).

Berkshire East is Open! et. al

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 21:06:00 GMT

The weekly rundown...

Berkshire East Ski Area opened for the season, today, December 26, 2011.

All in all, it has been a great start to the ski year. Lots of familiar faces and a lot of others who I haven't been able to meet, yet. The skiing was pretty good for a first day and for the poor start to the year weather-wise. Most of you have seen the P90x commercials on TV (90 day transformation). Berkshire East had a 1.5 day transformation for a pretty ugly, post rain, end to last week, to a very well endowed (base of snow) and decent skiing conditions for this mornings first turns.

So, we make snow tonight. We are hoping to add to our current base of snow, then we will start switching to the Outback, Round-a-bout, and other trails in the next cold snap, Wednesday into Friday. Hard to say how far we will get, but we are hoping to have those trails for the weekend.

Hope all is well, enjoy your families, and have fun.

See you at the B-east.

Monday Opening Day!

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:35:00 GMT

Our snow making crew has been working hard getting the mountain ready for some great skiing. It was a tough decision, but we have decided to remain closed through the holiday and open with a BANG on Monday.

We would rather open our doors with good skiing on lots of terrain than have a soggy start.

Here's hoping that Mother Nature is a little kinder in the New Year.....

Uncommon Sense

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 17:09:00 GMT

THESE are the times that try men's souls.

Berkshire East brutalizes an American classic.

These are the times that try skiers souls.

The fair weather skier and the snowfall seeker will, in this crisis of no snow, shrink from the awesomeness of the sport they love; but he / she who stands by it now, deserves the good turns, cold weather, and maybe just a little cold precipitation.

Warm weather, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that when the weather has turned cold (even for an instant), we have made glorious snow.

What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: Last year's amazing snow, was easy on us hardy New Englander's. It is want of snow / cold weather that gives every winter its value.

John Paine, five minutes ago...

In the summer of 2003, I took a Creative Writing class at UMass. This allowed me to graduate early from Middlebury. One of the homework assignments was to rewrite a classic with your own words.

So the good news is that for you, I dusted off my Thomas Paine, redone the writing exercise and hopefully spruced up my blog with a semi-interesting lead in.

The bad news is that I had the time to and the sense-of-place to, call in Thomas Paine for a simple blog about skiing. My hope is that in the same way T. Paine was the rallying cry for a wavering American public in pre-Declaration of Independence 1776 America, my own J.Paine rendition will be Gandalf's galloping white horses that saves the winter from marginality.

So, why draw T. Paine and not some other back woods crooner (Frost? Hmm?)?

Other than T. Paine being an awesome name for any modern athlete, I think that today's skiers need his rallying cry in the same way the 'sunshine Patriots' needed it 235 years ago. Needless to say, we skiers and snowboarders are nearing similar levels of angst as this season has spasmodically switched from winter in October, back to a fall that segwayed (sp?) into mud, rather than the more familiar fall-winter-mud-summer on a Tuesday and then back to fall.

So, relative to opening, where is Berkshire East?

This week I have predicted two opening days and Mother Nature has beat me for my audaciousness with an ugly left hook of warm air and an uppercut (downcut?) of rain. Mother Nature, along with a 10 pound falling piece of ice between the eyes, has left me a little groggy and a little out of my senses. So I am out of the predication game for at least one sentence.

Right now, we are pushing snow and readying ourselves for a Christmas Eve opening. Today's warm air should give way to cooler air this evening. The most up-to-date weather report (NOAA) is showing a low temp of 14 F. We will make up lost ground by being able to make snow through the day tomorrow, which will lead into another cold night on Xmas eve. Christmas day will feature just above freezing temps, which will necessitate a shutdown, but we should be back on the snow making horse before most Christmas dinners are finished Sunday night.

Moday will be an h-e-double-hockey stick of a lot better. I am really proud of our ability to make snow in short amounts of time and believe it or not, we have done a really good job of making snow this year, but we haven't had the cold air to take advantage of our system. I kind of feel like Kevin Millar after the Red Sox were down three - love to the Yankees in the 2004 playoffs. The same way he said, "Don't let us win game four... Cause anything can happen." Right now, Berkshire East (and every other ski area is down 3-0), but give us three nights of snow making and we'll knock the cover off the ball and bury this place.

When T.Paine published Common Sense, Jan. 9, 1776, Henry Knox was in the process of moving 50 cannon from Ticonderoga, down Lake George to Albany, across the Hudson, over the hills of WMass (I'd love to know the actual hill town route?!), and into Boston. You know what's wild? Knox did most of the moving over a frozen Hudson! The year ended with Washington sacking Trenton on Christmas on a brutally cold night.

The world has obviously changed.

Global warming aside, there are two identifiable villains of our current non-wintry ski season. This years minions of warmth are a positive Arctic Oscillation and a strong Pacific Jet. What we need is a negative Arctic Oscillation and an improved jet stream flow, to allow colder arctic air to travel further south.

What's your takeaway?

We are working our butts off to get the place in as good as place as possible. Right now it doesn't look great, but our guys have got some tricks up their sleeves and our vastly improved snow making system is poised to pummel the hill with snow when the temp drops tonight.

The lifts will hopefully be turning in the am, and the mountain will be in vastly better shape come Monday morning.

But, why wait till Monday. We'll know soon if we will be open tomorrow and if we are, I don't know what to promise you, other than the following.

1) Will the trails be white? Check

2) Will we have a couple of rails in place? Check (see Exhibition)

3) Will the Pats be on? Check. 1pm at the Crazy Horse. (Why not see them beat the Dolphins with your friends you haven't seen since April?)

4) Will we have 12 beers on tap at the aforementioned Crazy Horse? Check

5) What else are you going to do? Check (see you in the morning)

P.S. If you have made it this far in the Blog, come to the B-east next week and get some great post Xmas deals on brand new, 2012 Smith Helmets and Goggles, Kombi gloves and other great gear.

I'll send an email on that once I extract myself from this mess I've written...

Opening day delayed until later this week!

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 20:55:00 GMT

Football, weather and skiing.

In the winter of 2006, I was coming off two years of coaching ski racing in northern Vermont. I had just started building timber frames for the company created by myself and friends and was living in Middlebury building the sugar shack where I still make several hundred gallons of syrup per year.

That year we started the frame in December and got pretty far along before our Christmas break and returning from the Holidays we raised the rafters with a borrowed excavator.

The January day we raised the roof it was 60 F and sunny with no snow in sight. I know more people who went biking than went skiing that first week of January. Why? The 2006-2007 winter was a La Nina winter, which can play as much havoc with the weather as its more widely known Pacific weather pattern El Nino (If you were wondering El Nino is Spanish for "The Nino").

At the same time, the Patriots Reche Caldwell was scaring defensive backs with his beady eyes and not his hands as the team cruised to a 12-4 record and a place in the AFC Championship game against the Colts. That years Colts team had followed up a 14-2 season in 2005, achieving the same 12-4 record as the Pats. The only real difference from the 2005, 14-2 Colts team to the 2006, 12-4 Colts was an injury plagued Colts defense, which was as atrocious in that years regular season as the Pats D is this year. However?!? the 2006, Colts D evolved into a run stopping machine in the post season, which allowed the Colts to beat the Pats 38-34 (after the Pats blew a 21-3 halftime lead) and go on to win the Superbowl in Miami, on Feb. 4, 2007 in a rainstorm against the Bears.

So what does this have to do with anything?

This years Pats team has a terrible D that gives up yards and not points and is due to stiffen up because veteran leadership and coaching towards the playoffs, hopefully leading to a similarly long playoff run as the 2006-7 Colts.

More importantly, this seasons weather pattern also features a La Nina winter that is developing along the same lines as that 2006-2007 season i.e. its freakin warm and the snow making is non existent.

However, in 2007, 10 days after the Colts beat the Bears and a month and a little more after that t-shirt barn raising day referenced above, I was destroying chest deep powder at Mad River Glen in that years famous Valentines Day Storm (Four feet of snow and a whole other blog), which was only an exclamation point on a phenomenal January, February, March and April for snowfall and general wintery-ness (if that's a word) and was 180 degree turnaround from 60 degree F days we all experienced in early January.

So hold out hope. There are good indicators ( a frozen Hudson's Bay and extensive Canadian snow cover ) that Mother Nature will get this good ship off the ground soon. Tonight we start what appears to be 48 hours of great snow making and we will piece something together before you know it.

P.S. Opening day looks like Thursday or Friday...

Upcoming Schedule

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:10:00 GMT

Open Friday Dec 23 & Saturday Dec 24

Closed X-Mas Day and then we plan to be open our regular hours for the season.

Snow making update

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:19:00 GMT

Opening update

We just finished our third strong night of snow making and should be able to operate for another 3 or 4 hours. Based on the poor weather, I am excited by our output, and quality of our crew, which should bode for good snow making and prompt trail opening, when the weather finally turns.

Turning to the weather, I am still encouraged by the long range forecast and by good old fashioned optimism, which is that the weather can't get much worse. We have a non snow event on Thursday, but beyond that, the weather should improve. This optimistic approach is buttressed by a running average of the weather web sites and the a couple of the weather blogs I trust (single chair weather blog) that show a consistent drop in temps. So we just have to sit out this next warm spell in order to get ready for some cold temps this weekend and colder temps+- xmas day, with a slight warm up in between.

I hiked the mountain this morning (I headed up before sunrise) and was greeted at the top by the sunrise, just behind the wind turbine, which was impressive. I should have had a camera and promise to in the future so that I can share some of the unique moments we see when you add an impressive array of snow making equipment and tools, 24 hour shifts, full moons, interesting ice accumulations on facial hair, trees and snow guns.

Since we work 12 + hour shifts as long as we make snow, saving "it" up is relevant. You can get tired out there. However, fatigue is certainly not an issue yet, because some of the crew will have "it" more this year as next, thanks to the propagation of P90x and other fitness efforts that are weaseling their way onto our premises. I look at my own fitness as a build up to winter, where I ski, rondo, and now, make snow, which is a great build up to mountain biking in the spring.

We are planning on opening Berkshire East this weekend. However, opening day will probably be Sunday, though call and check in to make sure (or just check back here).We are making snow on Exhibition, Big Chief, all of the base area, Competition, Upper Competition, all the appropriate cross overs, and believe it or not, War Dance and Upper Flying Cloud. We are throwing the proverbial 'everything we've got' at it this year, the only thing missing so far is the weather.

But that will certainly change.

Farming snow.

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 01:12:00 GMT

Think local. Ski local.

Weather Report.

Cold air has been building over British Columbia and Alaska. Ground snow coverage is up in Canada. It's a La Nina year. Bee hives are high in the trees, raccoons with bushey tails and caterpillars with large brown (or is it black?) stripes.

All signs of a hard winter, its just not here yet....

But, winter is just around the corner and the actual, short term weather (one week or less) shows snow making weather starting at some point at the end of this week.

Right now, we are planning on making snow on Big Chief, T-bar, Exhibition, War Dance, Upper Competition, through out the base area, and connector trails.

I wasn't joking with the title of this post, Farming Snow. What we do is disturbingly similar to farming. We offer a weather dependent product. Our business is at the whether and whim of the weather and so far this fall its been a little warm, but all that means at the B-east is that we are that much more prepared to hammer when things get a little colder.

So, though I have been tardy with my updates. Check back soon, I'll have more info on a wild summer here at the B-east, and other tidbits as we get going towards what should be, a great ski season to come.

Berkshire East in Powder Magazine Online!

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:48:00 GMT

Check out the press and photos from this falls monster storm.

Berkshire East got slammed by the big nor'easter that took out power for for many of you.

I wasn't at the mountain that day, but a lot of regulars were. Kudos to them for making the push to the B-east for 30 inches of foliage powder (snowliage).

Here is the link...

Ski Swap

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 19:03:00 GMT

Ski & Snowboard Swap and Sale

Sunday, November 13 ~ 9:00 am to 3:30 p.m.

Berkshire East Ski Area, Charlemont

OUR BIGGEST SALE EVER!

Merchandise from Ski Haus and Ski-In will be offered at substantial savings. This includes:

New skis and boots at unbelievable prices

New Snowboards w/ bindings: $200 - $250

Past seasons Skis 50% off

Past seasons ski boots 50 – 70% Off

Skiwear savings up to 75% off

Used boots starting at $15.00

Used Skis w/ bindings starting at $39.00

Used Snowboards w/ bindings: $100

And much more!

Bring in your used equipment for swap or sale. This swap is being run as a fundraiser for the Berkshire East Ski Patrol. A 20% commission will be taken on all sales.

Good condition used equipment may be dropped off on Saturday November 12^th from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. All unsold equipment must be picked up from the swap between 4:00 and 4:30 Sunday afternoon.

FREE SKI RECYCLING: Unwanted equipment cluttering the basement, garage or attic? Bring them to the SKI SALE for free, environmentaly responsible recycling.

Sunday, November 13^th from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm

Berkshire East Ski Area, Route 2 in Charlemont

OPEN FOR ZIPPING! September 1st

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:42:00 GMT

After digging out from Irene Berkshire East will start zipping again September 1st!

Some roads in the area remain closed so please plan ahead on how you are getting here. The good news is....

FROM THE EAST

Route 2 from the EAST from Greenfield is open all the way to Berkshire East. There are signs indicating that the road is closed, but the closure happens AFTER you reach the B-East.

and the not so good news....

FROM THE WEST

Route 2 is closed. Route 8A is closed. (These road closures are not showing up on Masslive, and other websites) Our suggestion is to get to Northampton, and then to take 91 North up to Greenfield and then follow Route 2 West. Route 2 from the EAST is open all the way to Berkshire East. There are signs indicating that the road is closed, but the closure happens AFTER you reach the B-East.

Although we don't know all of the road closures or all of the back ways to get here we have some up to date information (from people who actually got here) and we will post that information here as quickly as possible. Also if you are running late due to an unforeseen road block and forced scenic drive through the hills, please let us know that you are running late by calling 413.339.6617!

TOURS CANCELED August 30-31

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 21:56:00 GMT

Due to the storm we are canceling tours for this Tuesday and Wednesday August 30th and 31st.

Contest

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:42:00 GMT

Graphic Design Contest! Win zip or ski passes!

Berkshire East is looking for your help in creating a new original graphic design. We want your fresh and unique ideas for designs we can use on our apparel, marketing materials, and other promotional or retail items. We are looking for designs that incorporate who we are and what we do (ski resort, zip-lines and/or wind power). Your entry must be your own unique design. Ideas and designs cannot be copied or reproduced from any other source.

Entries must be submitted electronically as a high quality PDF. If needed, you must be able to work with us, and the printer, if we need any further specifications or alterations for the artwork. Contestants should know that by entering this contest all artists agree to allow Berkshire East to use your design free of charge. Your design, regardless of it being chosen for the grand prize, will become the property of Berkshire East, which retains exclusive rights to its reproduction. Any proceeds from the sale of apparel and other retail items will go to Berkshire East. We will use the utmost care and caution to maintain designs in their original condition. We are not responsible in the event of damage or loss of the submitted design.

The Grand Prize winner of this contest will receive their choice of a Full Season Ski Pass (valued up to $519) or four free vouchers for Zip-Line Canopy Tours (valued up to $440). If you have already purchased your season pass for this upcoming season or have already paid for a zip-line reservation, the prize offer will be extended into next year. No refunds will be issued. In the event that we determine the submitted entries cannot be used, we reserve the right to not award prizes.

All entries must be submitted by August 31, 2011 via email to contest@berkshireeast.com.

DUE TO THE STORM WE ARE EXTENDING THE DEADLINE UNTIL SEPTEMBER 15TH!

Wind Turbine Event July 9th

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 18:29:00 GMT

This Saturday July 9th Berkshire East is hosting a special event for those interested in taking a tour of the new wind turbine.

Things kick off here at the base at 11:00. This is a free event, but guests will be required to check in at the base of the mountain before riding the chair lift to the top. From the top of the mountain there is a brief hike to the wind tower site. Please dress appropriately for being outdoors, hiking and riding the chair lift (sensible shoes!)

At the tower there will be remarks and a BBQ sponsored by Mass Energy Consumer Alliance and the Center for EcoTechnology. While the event may go on into the afternoon, it is important to be there between 11:00 and 11:30 in order to ride the chair lift and enjoy the BBQ.

When you arrive back at the base there will be a wine and beer tasting sponsored by the Shelburne Falls Wine Merchant from 2:00-4:00.

Due to overwhelming demand the discounted zip tours have SOLD OUT for this event.

If you have any questions please call Berkshire East at 413.339.6617.

Thanks for great winter!

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:54:00 GMT

What if we threw a ski season and nobody showed?

Answer: That wouldn't happen because our customers kick #$@!

Seriously, its been a great season, the weather cooperated and that really allowed us to really get the mountain dialed in early. Then we never had that devastating blow, where the rain came in and set up shop for a week or two.

All those great conditions tired me out to the point where I had to force myself to make runs this last weekend (even though the skiing was optimal).

So now on to summer and zip lines and the fact that like Neil Young (Rust Never Sleeps), the B-east has a ton of improvements to make and I probably won't be getting any rest all summer.

Soon, we are going to have some emails headed your way.

They will have to do with zip line specials for people who renew their seasons passes. We are picking a few weekends and on those weekends, season's pass holder will get a great deal on zip lining... on any tour!

Secondly, the email will have early season rates and info. Basically, if you buy early you get a steep discount.

So tell your friends and relatives. You guys are our best customers. If you have something nice to say, I'd appreciate a generous post to only rating agencies (trip adviser, yelp, google, etc etc.) If you have something else to say, why not track me down instead of throwing at the web. I am actually the guy who is here to address things, so why not send me an email and give a suggestion. We are working on this place for you, and with 9 months to go, maybe we can get some work done.

Thanks, stay in touch.

PS. I have a great time being a blogger and will keep going to keep my chops up. However, the summer tends to be a little less interesting than the winter and this space will trend more to the life and times of J. Schaefer, rather than goings ons and trail reports.