Berkshire East, Massachusetts - New England Ski Area Expansions

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Berkshire East
Charlemont, Massachusetts

Overview

Berkshire East: West Area | 1972 Expansion | Little Beaver | Outback | Wilderness Peak

West Area - 1963 - Open

The proposed West Area as seen in the 1961-62 trail map

While the new Thunder Mountain had a lot of things going for it, such as being the largest ski area in southern New England, it was clearly lacking in novice terrain. During the 1961-62 season, novices had to jump from a small T-Bar area to the top to bottom "advanced novice" Thunder Tour - a trail that was more challenging than many other its size in Massachusetts. Fresh off initial construction and a truncated opening season, funding was limited. Plans were initially in place to build multiple novice trails, served by a T-Bar.

On August 10, 1962, Thunder Mountain accepted a $125,000 loan from the Massachusetts Business Development Corporation, after being turned down by other lenders.

That fall, the ski area installed a new 2,300 foot long Mueller double chairlift to the west of the existing ski area. In addition, the new slope featured significant snowmaking coverage for the area and the time. The double chairlift would become known as "Chair 2" and later "Chair 3," prior to being removed following the 2002-2003 season and replaced with a Borvig-Leitner fixed grip quad.

The newly relocated West Lodge (early 1970s)

The following season, the ski school T-bar was moved to a new slope, "Snow Flake Schuss," adjacent to the double chairlift. A rope tow would be moved and installed below the T-Bar and double chairlift, leading to the present day West Parking Lot.

Upon taking control of the mountain following the 1964-65 season, Richard Tambussi moved the T-Bar back to the original ski school slope and installed a J-Bar on the Snow Flake Schuss. This J-Bar would remain in use through the 2000-2001 season, while the T-Bar would eventually be once again moved, this time to Berkshire Snow Basin.

In the early 1970s, a lodge was moved from the main base area to the west area. Known as the West Lodge, it featured a cafeteria, bar, restrooms, and the snowmaking plant. A dedicated parking lot would be located downhill from it.

An early West Area proposal map (August 1961)

The 1964 Thunder Mountain trail map showing the West Area

The double chairlift, T-Bar, and below them, the rope tow of the West Area in the mid 1960s

The Top Notch J-Bar (1989)

The Exhibition Double (1993)

The remains of the Exhibition Double base terminal being covered over (2003)

1972 Expansion - Cancelled

1972 Berkshire East trail map

1972 Berkshire East development map

After taking control of Thunder Mountain in the mid 1960s and eventually changing the name of the ski area to Berkshire East, the ownership worked to develop real estate. In March 1972, 460 townhouse condominiums were planned for both the base and summit areas, as well as an expanded Main Lodge, a summit lodge, and a base area village.

To go with this real estate, three new lifts were planned. Initially, a small T-Bar was planned for the Tenderfoot slope, a second lift (a double chairlift) planned for the Competition trail, and a second double chairlift planned for the Exhibition trail. The short T-Bar would soon be replaced in the plans with a slightly longer double chairlift.

Two Thiokol double chairlifts were ordered in 1972 - the Exhibition one was to be 1,715 feet long over 410 vertical feet, while the Tenderfoot one was to be 500 feet long over 95 vertical feet. Base footings were poured for the Exhibition double, while tower footings and towers were put in place for the Tenderfoot lift.

The top footings of the Tenderfoot double chairlift (2006)

While the lifts were advertised by the ownership in ski publications, they were never completed. Financial issues resulted in the cancellation of the project and the bankruptcy of Berkshire East. The bottom terminal location of the planned Exhibition double was later used for the West Quad. The remains of the novice chairlift were removed and sold to Nashoba Valley ski area when the Diamond Express double chairlift was installed at Berkshire East in 1978.

The bottom terminal of the cancelled Exhibition double chairlift in 2002 - the door of the lift shack visible on the left

Little Beaver Complex - 1977 - Abandoned

Aerial shot of the Little Beaver complex from the 1980s

After repairing the infrastructure upon taking over Berkshire East in 1976, the new ownership opted to build a new novice area, as to better serve thousands of beginner skiers visiting via urban bus trips. While an open slope on the east side of the base area was considered (the Deerfield River Club condo development would later be built at the base of the slope), three trails were instead cut at the far western end.

A new-used SLI double chairlift was purchased from a defunct ski area on Mackinac Island in Michigan. Advertised as 1,000 feet long, the Little Beaver chairlift served three trails - Little Beaver, Snowdance, and Running Brook.

The last trail map to show the Little Beaver complex (1994-95)

By the time the early 1990s rolled around, the area was seldom used, as the urban bus trips seized. In addition, the relatively remote location of the area (the bottom terminal of the chairlift was below the West Lodge and a very long walk), as well as a lack of snowmaking led to the decline in use. The chairlift was sold to a mid-Atlantic ski area and the trails removed from the 1995-96 trail map.

The upper portion of the Running Brook trail would later become the bottom of the Roundabout ski trail. In addition, the lower portion of the Running Brook Trail would become the snow tubing area in 2007.

The Running Brook trail during Wilderness Peak work in 1999

Looking up the Little Beaver trail at the new Wilderness Peak trail in 2002

Looking down the Wilderness Peak trail at Little Beaver in spring 2007

Looking down the Little Beaver in spring 2007

Looking down the Wilderness Peak trail at Little Beaver in 2007 during construction of the snow tubing area

Looking down the Snowdance trail in 2007 during construction of tubing area

Looking down the Snowdance trail in 2007 during construction of the snow tubing area

Looking down former Running Brook trail location at the new snow tubing area (2007)

Outback - 1994 - Open

1994-95 Berkshire East trail map

Thanks to the acquisition of hundreds of acres of land on the south and western side of Mt. Institute, Berkshire East was able to confront perhaps its biggest issue - a lack of novice terrain.

Work started following the 1993-1994 season. Some press accounts projected 5 new trails and two new lifts. Dynamite was used to blast the cliffs on the back side of the mountain, as to allow for a consistent, novice grade.

Opening in the 1994-1995 season, the Outback complex featured three new beginner trails - Ridge Run (now known as Outback), a connector from the Diamond Express chairlift called Riva Ridge (originally planned to be called Sun Dance), and a connector from Ridge Run to War Dance called Sun Dance (originally planned to be called Riva Ridge). A fourth trail was cut from near the bottom of Ridge Run to the bottom of Exhibition, however it would not be completed until about half a decade later.

Ridge Run during the 1994-95 season

While the terrain was well received, there were still issues to deal with - inaccessibility due to an aging summit lift (and a challenging-to-load sub-summit lift), inadequate snowmaking, difficulties in crossing back over to the summit chairlift, and no night use.

Perhaps as part of the speculated two new lifts, a Poma triple chairlift (from then-defunct Magic Mountain in Vermont) was installed to the summit, replacing a 32 year old Mueller double chairlift. It is possible that the second of the two reported lifts would have been a replacement for the Exhibition double, leading to just above the top of Sun Dance (uphill from the present day top terminal of the West Quad).

The lower portion of the Outback with the original proposed chairlift terminal location at right (2005)

In addition to the chairlift, the Main Lodge was dramatically expanded, and the snowmaking capacity increased.

In 1999 a fourth trail, Snowdance, was added to the Outback complex. Located between Sun Dance and the end of Outback, the trail allowed skiers to access the top of the Exhibition double chairlift, as well as the Katie's Run crossover to the main mountain. In addition, night skiing was added to Outback and Snowdance.

The Outback complex on the 2009 Berkshire East trail map

Wilderness Peak - 2001 - Open

2000 Wilderness Peak development map

The Wilderness Peak project dates back to 1964, when a novice trail named "Partridge Alley" was proposed to the west of the present day Exhibition trail. Though it was never cut, it continued to be proposed into the early 1970s as part of a larger real estate development. In this proposal, the trail would have been served by a new double chairlift to be installed on the western side of today's Exhibition (neither of which were completed). An access road was built to the far west of the mountain for the proposed real estate development.

The lower portion of Wilderness Peak was briefly realized in the late 1970s and 1980s with the construction of the Little Beaver area. Usage was minimal by the start of the 1990s, however.

Roundabout prior to being graded (1999)

In 1994, the first top to bottom trail of the Wilderness Peak area was cut in conjunction with the Outback complex. Originally labeled as an access road on trail maps, the Roundabout trail would later be graded for skiing in 2001. The trail would be vital to the Outback complex, as the Exhibition trail (at the end of the Outback complex) was often overly challenging for novice skiers.

The next portion of Wilderness Peak development started in 1999, when initial work was started on the Wilderness Peak trail. Clearing continued partway up the mountain, however the necessary equipment wasn't available to continue on a larger scale.

Looking up the proposed Wilderness Peak lift line (2002)

Significant work was commenced over the following off-season, as nearly all of the proposed Wilderness Peak trails were cleared. Another year later, five trails were graded and prepared for skiing - however, the 2001-2002 season featured little natural snowfall, resulting in the grand opening of Wilderness Peak being postponed until December 26, 2002.

While a chairlift was originally proposed for the Wilderness Peak trail, a Borvig-Leitner fixed grip was acquired from Berthod Pass, Colorado to replace the Exhibition Double chairlift in 2003. Running from the West Lodge to the top of the Sun Dance trail in the Outback complex, the new lift served all of the existing Wilderness Peak terrain. More notably, however, the lift's route resulted in the incomplete top and bottom portions of the complex remaining unserved by lift.

Roundabout (2005)

In addition to the new lift install, Roundabout saw its first season of night skiing in 2003-2004, resulting in the first legitimate top to bottom novice night trail from the summit in the history of Berkshire East.

As of 2010, the five original Wilderness Peak trails remain open for skiing. Additional trails cleared in 2000 have since grown in. An additional trail partially graded in 2001 (following the upper portion of the 1970s access road) also remains unopened.

Wilderness Peak on the 2002-2003 Berkshire East trail map

Wilderness Peak on the 2007-2008 Berkshire East trail map

Resources

Berkshire East - NewEnglandSkiHistory.com

SkiBerkshireEast.com

Berkshire East Ski Resort - official site

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