Ziiiiiiiiiiiipppping in to Berkshire East! Charlemont ski area opens series of new zip line rides

 BY MACKENZIE ISSLER RECORDER STAFF

Published: Friday, June 19, 2009

Berkshire East Canopy Tours Head Guide Kate Carcio and Mackenzie Issler zip past the lodge on the Lower Mountain course (during a media event in the rain.

CHARLEMONT -- I was connected to the alpha line.

Berkshire East Canopy Tours' head tour guide Kate Carcio was hooked up to the beta line next to me.

Then, I heard the classic 'on your mark, get set, go!'

So I stepped off the wooden platform and zoomed across to the next platform -- just less than 600 feet away.

Berkshire East had decided to host a media day on Thursday to let reporter types try out their new zip line ride, and I was the lucky one who got to go.

Rain sprayed in my face and I was freezing cold and soaking wet, but all I could think about was one thing -- I wanted to win.

The rest of the participants had paired off to race after our first ride on the zip line, and Carcio said that since there was an odd number of people, someone would have to race her.

I jumped on that.

Yes, I admit it, I'm extremely competitive.

Even though I was a novice on Berkshire East's new canopy zip line, I was going to be racing Carcio -- who's been trained on all of the mountain's many lines.

Carcio, 27, of Shelburne Falls, was sympathetic about my lack of experience and shared a few of the secrets she's learned about going fast. She told me to do the 'bullet,' which involves trying to keep your legs together and pointing them toward the line so they are almost parallel & it cuts down wind resistance. And she also taught me how to steer.

As we flew down the mountain, it was neck and neck for a while, and then she pulled ahead and I thought I was toast. But, at the very end, I edged by her, and captured the win.

Yes!

The weather wasn't exactly ideal for trying out the new zip lines -- it was raining hard for most of the time, but even though my jeans and fleece jacket were soaked by the end, it was definitely worth it.

For about an hour, I was outside, freed from my desk, and got to zip along the new lines that span the tree-covered mountainside just south of Charlemont center.

Berkshire East will be opening its new canopy zip line tours to the public this Saturday, running multiple tours daily. The lines will operate from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the summer and throughout the fall.

Before we went out, we put on the necessary safety equipment and were given a few rules to follow -- no flipping upside down, for example.

And, of course, we were ordered to have fun.

Currently, Berkshire East has completed 16 zip lines, spread out on two separate tours, and are ready to begin construction on a third, the Valley Jumping Tour, which is currently awaiting approval from the town of Hawley.

The first tour, the Base Area Tour, has two dual racing zip lines, one which is 350 feet and the other 570 feet. This is the tour that we got to try out, due to the heavy rain; but we will be back to try out the other tours, which include more lines and more zipping through wooded areas.

The second tour, the Mountain Top Tour, starts from the top of the mountain ski area and offers views of the Deerfield River Valley. This tour has seven lines ranging in length from 300 to 8,500 feet.

The third tour will literally jump a valley twice, over and back, and reach 2,200 feet to another mountain peak, suspended up to 250 feet off the ground.

The Base Tour costs $25 for adults and $20 for children. The Mountain Top Tour costs $85 for adults, $75 for children. Participants must be a minimum of 8 years old and weigh between 70 and 275 pounds.

As we discovered, the zip lines run rain or shine.

Zoar Outdoor, just up the Deerfield from Charlemont, also has a network of treetop zip lines, the Deerfield Valley Canopy Tours, which it opened to the public on June 1.

One difference between the two is that on Zoar's zip lines, your brakes are your gloved hands. You use one hand to apply gentle friction to slow down.

On Berkshire East's lines, you employ a passive gravity braking system, slowing down as you come close to the platform, where a guide is ready to help with your landing.

For more information on Berkshire East, call (413) 339-6618 or visit:

www.berkshirezip.com

From the Greenfield Recorder, March 19, 2009.

CHARLEMONT -- ''Canopy tours'' for spectators riding zip lines that glide above scenic vistas have become major attractions in other nations and in other parts of the United States.

But Charlemont could easily become the zip line center of New England, now that the Berkshire East Ski Resort has announced plans to build its own series of zip line canopy tours around the ski trails on its 950 acres in Charlemont and Hawley.

By the end of March, the ski resort will begin construction on its first zip lines, said Jonathan Schaefer, assistant general manager of Berkshire East. If all goes as planned, the ski resort's new beginner and intermediate zip lines will be ready for sightseers sometime between mid-May and Memorial Day, Schaefer said.

Berkshire East is the second recreational business in Charlemont to announce plans to build and open zip line canopy tours in this rural part of Franklin County.

In January, Zoar Outdoor announced it was building Massachusetts' first zip line on its 80-acre property, with an opening date set for June 1.

According to Schaefer, the ski resort has been looking at zip lines for the past 1½ years, as a way to expand the business and take advantage of the ski resort's scenic beauty beyond ski season. Schaefer said he and his brother took their first zip line ride in Costa Rica and realized what an asset it would be to have a zip line as a warm-weather attraction for Berkshire East.

''We will have 270-degree views of the Deerfield River Valley and of the western Massachusetts mountains, south toward Hawley,'' he said. ''I think it's going to be gorgeous. We're planning on running deep into foliage season.''

Schaefer said he believes both businesses will benefit by their close proximity. ''I see (Zoar's) as complementary to us, because they have their own network of marketing, which is a summer business, and we have a winter clientele,'' said Schaefer. ''I would hope that people would try both. They've proven to be very popular in other parts of the country and the world,'' he said of zip lines, ''and they will employ more people here.''

Schaefer estimates that Berkshire East will train and employ between eight to 10 people to work as zip line guides this summer -- possibly more as the popularity of the zip lines grow.

The first zip line will be a beginner's line, built close to the base area of the ski mountain. He said it is designed to accommodate both children and adults, with appropriately sized harnesses for children. ''It will provide basic indoctrination, so people can get used to the concept, if you're nervous about heights,'' he said. ''No skill is involved.''

For the intermediate line, participants will ride to the top of the ski mountain on Berkshire East's triple-chair lift, then set off on the zip line from a ground-launch platform, working their way down from the ridge line, to the top of the four-chair ski lift.

Eventually a third zip line would be built, called the Extreme Line, which would traverse two mountain peaks on the Berkshire East property.

Schaefer said the beginner's course, which is briefer, would cost under $40, and that the intermediate course would be comparable to the price charged by Zoar; however, exact prices haven't been determined yet.

The lines will be installed by Experience Based Learning of Rockford, Ill.