After a dismal start to the Northeast ski season, a storm blew in on Thursday and Friday to drastically improve the situation. Knowing that I was headed to Foxborough for the Patriots-Broncos playoff game on Saturday night, I sacrificed sleep for snow and awoke in 5am darkness to head North and find the fluff. Scouring weather reports and triangulating distances between Brooklyn and Foxborough, I settled on an area I knew little about, but that seemed intriguing: Berkshire East in Charlemont, Mass. was reporting 12-14″ of freshies, so I hopped in the car and rolled into the lot at 9:30am, popped on my gear and headed into the action. First impression: a giant wind turbine on top of the hill which I later learned completely offsets all electricity costs of the ski operations. Very cool. And while that feature is futuristic, the mountain itself and all its lifts and facilities are vintage. Twin triple chairs run up the 1100 vertical feet and serve some steep and gladed terrain that compares to some of my favorite New England ski mountains, Mad River Glen and Magic Mountain. The attitude is laid-back and as I became familiar with the hill, I felt comfortable ignoring the small closed signs (no ropes) and hitting the untracked powder on some of the trails and in the trees. It’s not the biggest mountain around, but it packs a punch and after every run I was ready to rest on the lift again. Although the locals told me that it was one of the busiest days they had ever seen, I never waited more than 5 minutes in line and the trails (even the open ones) were basically empty. This is my kind of ski mountain! Under $60/day, charming atmosphere and challenging terrain make this a great choice for Massachusetts skiing! I hope to return again when more snow covers the Berkshires.
And to top off the amazing day, the Patriots (I skied in my old-school Corey Dillon jersey) crushed the Broncos and moved within two victories of reclaiming the prize that has painfully eluded the team for the past seven years. Another few storms and a Super Bowl ring would make this a glorious winter!
