Skiing Berkshire East
Sunday. December 28th, 2025
Runs: 11
Distance: 10.08 miles
Elevation: 10,171 feet
Max Speed: 33.9 mph
Avg. Speed: 16.6 mph
Moving Time: 36 minutes, 31 seconds
Total Time: 1 hour, 53 minutes, 55 seconds
And just like that, Christmas was over! I was up at 4:30am to get to Berkshire East, which was a bit further away than I had wanted, but I wanted to ski there more than I wanted to hit Catamount again or lap the few runs Bousquet had open, so I rallied! The drive was cold and dark, with temperatures dropping from the teens in New Jersey to the low single-digits in upstate New York and the Berkshires. The drive got very pretty once the sun was up and I was in Massachusetts, and before I knew it, I was there! The only rough part of the drive was along West Hawley Road (MA-8A), which was a bit slushy. I was in the parking lot just after 8:00am, and there were probably 30ish other cars already there. I booted up at the car (slowly), got my Indy, and headed into the lodge to use the bathroom and let the "first chair" line dissipate.
Mountain Conditions
Sunday, December 28th
Weather & Snowmaking:
Sunday: The 4-5 inches of powder we received Friday night combined with several days of aggressive snowmaking continues to deliver great conditions across open terrain - everything is freshly groomed!
Temperatures are expected to warm into the mid-30s today, which will help soften snow surfaces as the day goes on. Expect a mostly cloudy day with occassional peeks of sun.
Snowmaking efforts are ongoing on Roundabout this morning and will continue as conditions allow. It's shaping up to be a solid day at Berkshire East - come out and enjoy it!
Please note for the Christmas/New Year holiday week - The Wilderness Quad will open at 10am.
Runs 1-4
Run 1: T Bar Express Quad - Ralicki's Run - Competition
[0.76 mi; 2:53; 1,020 ft; 29.6 mph max; 15.7 mph avg]
Run 2: T Bar Express Quad - Riva Ridge - Competition
[0.75 mi; 2:49; 1,010 ft; 28.0 mph max; 15.9 mph avg]
Run 3: T Bar Express Quad - Outback - Deer Run - War Dance
[1.23 mi; 3:57; 1,014 ft; 26.3 mph max; 18.8 mph avg]
Run 4: T Bar Express Quad - Ralicki's Run - Riva Ridge - Outback - Deer Run - Lower Mohawk
[1.38 mi; 4:46; 1,007 ft; 32.6 mph max; 17.3 mph avg]
I always find myself loving the vibe of Berkshire East - it feels tucked away and nestled into the Berkshire hills and there's always a little buzz in the morning as folks are getting ready - it has a nice character! The T Bar Express Quad was the first chair running this morning, and I got on it just after 8:30am and did not have to share it, which was a win! My loose goal for the day was to ski everything that's open, sans some connector trails. I turned right off the chair for my first run, which brought down my Ralicki's Run onto Competition - the main downhill trail. I figured I'd get it over with early on before it gets skied off, and I made a good call! I did a mediocre job turning on the steeper portion uphill, but I was able to dig my edges in much better once it mellowed out. Run #2 was more of the same, but I turned left off the chair and hit the very top of the "headwall," which was pretty scrapey.
Run #3 brought me down Outback, which is a wonderful green run, to Deer Run (flat) and War Dance, which has consistently been my favorite run all three times I've skied here! It has just enough pitch to get some speed and it's fun and windy! The snow has been consistently decent all three times, too, which says something!
Run #4 went down Ralicki's Run and then followed the easiest way down - Outback to Deer Run to Lower Mohawk. Crossing Competition took a while due to the ski race team, but Lower Mohawk was super fun! Easy and windy - the dream!
Runs 5-8
Run 5: T Bar Express Quad - Riva Ridge - Big Chief
[0.76 mi; 2:24; 1,007 ft; 30.7 mph max; 19.0 mph avg]
Run 6: T Bar Express Quad - Riva Ridge - Big Chief - Lower Mohawk
[0.87 mi; 2:45; 945 ft; 33.9 mph max; 19.0 mph avg]
Run 7: T Bar Express Quad - Riva Ridge - Flying Cloud - Big Chief
[0.76 mi; 4:38; 1,007 ft; 30.5 mph max; 9.9 mph avg]
Run 8: T Bar Express Quad - Riva Ridge - Deer Run - War Dance
[1.19 mi; 3:50; 915 ft; 31.1 mph max; 18.6 mph avg]
My next pod of runs brought me down skier's right side of the mountain. Run #5 was Riva Ridge to Big Chief, which was steeper than I expected! Skied well though, but I wasn't really digging my edges in like I wanted to be. I entered Big Chief from the second entrance for the next run and finished out the lap on Lower Mohawk again, and Run #7 TESTED me. Flying Cloud was signed "experts only," and looked like bumps on whales - something that is 100% in my skillset. Only issue was that it wasn't soft bumps, it was an absolute glacier. Matted snow with 0 grip. I basically skidded form bump to bump and took two falls - it was NOT glamorous! I did have a little breakthrough, though. I was focusing so hard on putting weight onto my outside ski that I was heavily neglecting the inside one, which could have saved me from a fall. Also, while I was getting an edge angle on the snow, I was also leaning toward the hill (because I was spooked!), which caused me to slide, too. Always getting better!
After that fiasco, I rewarded myself with another lap down War Dance, which felt MUCH better!
Run 9-11
Run 9: T Bar Express Quad - Outback - Exhibition
[1.19 mi; 4:00; 994 ft; 26.3 mph max; 17.9 mph avg]
Run 10: Wilderness Quad - Exhibition
[0.54 mi; 2:06; 623 ft; 25.1 mph max; 15.6 mph avg]
Run 11: Wilderness Quad - Exhibition - Danny's Run
[0.65 mi; 2:23; 627 ft; 27.1 mph max; 16.2 mph avg]
Now it was in the 10 o'clock hour and the mountain was starting to fill up. They were running the other summit chair and the Wilderness Quad, so I figured I'd head over to the Wilderness side for a few more runs before driving back to Boston. I took the express quad up and followed Outback to Exhibition, wihch had really nice snow! It was FULL of people, but I made some good turns and was starting to feel like I was actually carving, which was nice!
The Wilderness Quad was slow, but in the sun and it was about 20 degrees warmer than I started, so no complaints! There was a lot of carnage with kids acting insane on Exhibition, but the snow was still good so I got another lap in!
Run #11 wasn't intended to be my last, but I had another great run down Exhibition and the line for both summit lifts were long (and not moving), so I decided to pack it up and head back to Boston! I feel like this was a good day for me in terms of skill-building and making mind-body connections, so I'm looking forward to the next ski day to see what I can apply!
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