# MA skiing



## skef (Jan 9, 2021)

I live in eastern MA, inside 128, 50-some minutes to WaWa when traffic is light. If I’m going to be a good boy this year, following all the rules, that probably means all my skiing will be in-state. (Confession: I broke the rules once for a special day-trip to Sunapee with my daughter last month; I had not skied with her in multiple years, and a friend of hers made those plans. Did not feel great about rule-breaking, but it was an awesome day.)

How would you rate the places out in western MA, relative to each other and to WaWa? I have never been to Berkshire East, Bosquet, or Jiminy Peak. I’m pretty sure I’ll go crazy if WaWa is my only mountain.

I’m assuming Catmount is out because the way in is via NY — is that right?

Anyplace else I should be looking at?


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## skimagic (Jan 9, 2021)

Both Jimney and Berk East are worth a trip over, not so sure on Bosquet since was only there once years ago for a night ski.  
Jimney is steeper with more straight wide trails down the fall line.  Berkshire East is fun when there is snow for glades and a few natural runs.  Runs are wide to narrow so good variety.  Semi steep pitch up top that mellow s  as  you go down .  

Both are better than Wawa iimho.  Not sure on crowds at Jimney, its a bit more VT like than Berk east.


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## Razor (Jan 9, 2021)

You can go to New Hampshire from Mass. without breaking any laws.  As far as I know, NH is open to all the New England states.


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## foofy (Jan 9, 2021)

Been skiing Berkshire East a bunch this season for the same reasons, rather than my usual VT.  Very pleasantly surprised so far.  Even with limited trails open, I like the terrain and am impressed with the quality of their snowmaking.  Friendly place, limited crowds, and great parking situation for car as day lodge.

Beats WaWa by a long mile...


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## Zand (Jan 9, 2021)

Razor said:


> You can go to New Hampshire from Mass. without breaking any laws.  As far as I know, NH is open to all the New England states.


Yes but MA currently "requires" a quarantine coming from out of state from anywhere.

While I intend on respecting the Vermont and Maine quarantine rules, MA can take a hike. I'm no worse off going to NH to ski than I am going to my local freaking Walmart.


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## Newpylong (Jan 10, 2021)

I get bored just looking at Wachusett. Give Jiminy and Berkshire East a shot, both have superior terrain. Bouquet has some great runs but on a far smaller scale, likely not worth a trip.


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## urungus (Jan 10, 2021)

foofy said:


> Been skiing Berkshire East a bunch this season for the same reasons, rather than my usual VT.  Very pleasantly surprised so far.  Even with limited trails open, I like the terrain and am impressed with the quality of their snowmaking.  Friendly place, limited crowds, and great parking situation for car as day lodge.
> 
> Beats WaWa by a long mile...



Berkshire East dropped the ropes on Upper Comp today, so they have finally gotten one of the steeps re-opened after the Christmas washout.   Ungroomed with pretty big moguls at the very top.  Of course, it is not listed as open on today’s trail report 

I prefer Berkshire East over Jiminy Peak because it has more interesting terrain (Jiminy has nothing like twisty old school natural trails like Jug or Roy’s Way) and I like the vibe better.   Parking is also more convenient.  Jiminy Peak has slope side condos and more of a resort-y feel.  More noobs in matching outfits.  Jiminy’s high speed main lift does allow you to crank out laps faster if there is no line.  However because it is a six-pack, you are more likely to be asked to ride with strangers.  I hate the ownership of Jiminy for what they did to Brodie: bought them out, shut down the resort, and then resold it with the stipulation that the ski area could not be reopened.

Bousquet finally opened this weekend, but with extremely limited terrain and for season pass holders only.   It has less vertical and fewer trails than Berkshire East or Jiminy, but does have a rich history and some interesting trails.   It was getting a bit run down IMO but the new owners have already carried out a number of improvements.


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## urungus (Jan 10, 2021)

If you travel from Mass to Vermont, do you have to quarantine for 28 days ?  14 for Vermont, and then another 14 when returning to Mass ?


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## Smellytele (Jan 10, 2021)

urungus said:


> If you travel from Mass to Vermont, do you have to quarantine for 28 days ?  14 for Vermont, and then another 14 when returning to Mass ?


If rules were followed yes


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## chuckstah (Jan 10, 2021)

urungus said:


> Berkshire East finally dropped the ropes on Upper Comp today, so they have finally gotten one of the steeps re-opened after the Christmas washout.   Ungroomed with pretty big moguls at the very top.  Of course, it is not listed as open on today’s trail report
> 
> I prefer Berkshire East over Jiminy Peak because it has more interesting terrain (Jiminy has nothing like twisty old school natural trails like Jug or Roy’s Way) and I like the vibe better.   Parking is also more convenient.  Jiminy Peak has slope side condos and more of a resort-y feel.  More noobs in matching outfits.  Jiminy’s high speed main lift does allow you to crank out laps faster if there is no line.  I hate the ownership of Jiminy for what they did to Brodie: bought them out, shut down the resort, and then resold it with the stipulation that the ski area could not be reopened.
> 
> Bousquet finally opened this weekend, but with extremely limited terrain and for season pass holders only.   It has less vertical and fewer trails than Berkshire East or Jiminy, but does have a rich history and some interesting trails.   It was getting a bit run down IMO but the new owners have already carried out a number of improvements.


Comp was fun today under the guns!


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## foofy (Jan 10, 2021)

Upper Comp was open yesterday too.  Lapped it most of my day, and part of today.  They blew a ton of snow on Exhibition as well and opened the chair today.  No lift lines.  It's a green but some good skiers were having an absolute blast on it.


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## prsboogie (Jan 11, 2021)

You can absolutely do Catamount,  it is half in Massachusetts!


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## skef (Jan 11, 2021)

prsboogie said:


> You can absolutely do Catamount,  it is half in Massachusetts!


According to https://catamountski.com/covid-19 it looks like they're trying to be both in NY and in MA. Hmm.


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## xlr8r (Jan 11, 2021)

thetrailboss said:


> So for fun--let's say Vail did want to spin off Wildcat, Attitash, and Crotched.  Who would be in the market?  Boyne?  Fairbanks?  Someone else?





skef said:


> According to https://catamountski.com/covid-19 it looks like they're trying to be both in NY and in MA. Hmm


Catamount is the prime example of how these travel restrictions have gotten completely out of hand.  By definition it is impossible to ski Catamount without quarantining.  If you come from MA you need to quarantine when returning from any other state, therefore you have to quarantine after skiing.  If you come from NY you need to quarantine before skiing as again MA requires quarantine if you come from any other state.

Why follow the rules when the rules make no sense whatsoever


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## MG Skier (Jan 13, 2021)

Thanks for the info on Berkshire and Jiminy! I skied Wachusett 4-7 PM last night. It was good, but I also can really only ski a few hours there before I get bored, unfortunately. Steeps were a bit scraped off, skied the edges and it was fine. The triple was open so I came down what looked like a freshly opened trail that I have never skied, Piece of Cake, a short trail that was really quick and firm. I have never been on that triple lift since it was repurposed, I'm sure I rode it when it was one of the other lifts previously.


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## xlr8r (Jan 13, 2021)

MG Skier said:


> Thanks for the info on Berkshire and Jiminy! I skied Wachusett 4-7 PM last night. It was good, but I also can really only ski a few hours there before I get bored, unfortunately. Steeps were a bit scraped off, skied the edges and it was fine. The triple was open so I came down what looked like a freshly opened trail that I have never skied, Piece of Cake, a short trail that was really quick and firm. I have never been on that triple lift since it was repurposed, I'm sure I rode it when it was one of the other lifts previously.


Back when I was a season pass holder at Wachusett and would ski nights I would often do the quick schlep up to Piece of Cake from Frannies when they were not running the triple.  They would always groom Piece of Cake even if the triple was not running, made for a nice 30 seconds of ripping cord.  And on nights when it was snowing, Piece of Cake and the Triple lift line were private powder runs.  There are some other short fun unofficial runs at Wachusett as long as Patrol does not see you.


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## MG Skier (Jan 13, 2021)

I saw that line under the triple chair, looked like a nice mellow narrowish run! The woods on either side could be thinned out for a nice tree run but I am not holding my breath. Looks like I need to be on the other side of I-91 for that!


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## urungus (Jan 16, 2021)

Why I love Berkshire East.  Here’s a photo of chairlift line Saturday afternoon of MLK weekend with 6” of fresh snow.  Many natural trails reopened.  Skiied Upper Liftline (including the very top by the unload terminal) and Horaces Grove, both of which were open despite trail report listing them as closed.  Very top of Minnie Dole was also open.  Jug was open (even the very top) and skiied pretty good.  Noticed an unusual amount of “yellow snow” on Jug and Horace’s Grove.


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## xlr8r (Jan 16, 2021)

urungus said:


> Why I love Berkshire East.  Here’s a photo of chairlift line Saturday afternoon of MLK weekend with 6” of fresh snow.  Many natural trails reopened.  Skiied Upper Liftline (including the very top by the unload terminal) and Horaces Grove, both of which were open despite trail report listing them as closed.  Very top of Minnie Dole was also open.  Jug was open (even the very top) and skiied pretty good.  Noticed an unusual amount of “yellow snow” on Jug and Horace’s Grove.
> 
> View attachment 50050



Nice, I'm headed there tomorrow


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## urungus (Jan 17, 2021)

rumored optimistic opening date for Bousquet Yellow summit lift is mid-February.  Until then only mid mountain Blue chair.



			Lift Construction Continues Mid-Season - NewEnglandSkiIndustry.com


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## urungus (Jan 17, 2021)

How to pronounce Bousquet, from http://www.snowjournal.com/discussion/225/the-worst-name-for-a-ski-area/p2


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## mlkrgr (Jan 18, 2021)

From my perspective, Wachusett isn't bad if you already have a season pass and intend to ski a minimum of 5 times there, and it provides the opportunity to ski while doing other things during the day, and still be back home given that you can really only take day trips into NH, given the hotel stay there will trigger a quarantine based on MA regulations.
Wa single day tickets are priced very high this season but they are getting the $$ as they sell out many sessions and I observed 10 minute lift lines even on nonholiday weekday day sessions, but have topped out at about 15 minutes on weekends and holidays so far in my observation. Some days/times have double sessions which can have decent pricing if you wanted a legit 6+ hours to ski. Otherwise, you'll be looking at 5-7 runs if you just go for a single session. The demand has been that high right until closing that they closed at 9:30 pm with about a 7 minute line tonight too (usually, even on busiest days, the lift lines get to nearly be ski on after 8:30 pm). They are grooming the trails well, granted the only trails with good steepness is Smith Walton, 10th, and Conifer; and then you have a few more trails that can open up during the day if natural snow is good. 

Wachusett is a far better mountain than Nashoba Valley which is the only other place I've skied in MA.


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## urungus (Jan 18, 2021)

mlkrgr said:


> From my perspective, Wachusett isn't bad if you already have a season pass and intend to ski a minimum of 5 times there, and it provides the opportunity to ski while doing other things during the day, and still be back home given that you can really only take day trips into NH, given the hotel stay there will trigger a quarantine based on MA regulations.



My understanding is that Massachusetts requires quarantine even for a day trip to NH (or any other state)




__





						COVID-19 Travel
					

If you are fully vaccinated, you can resume pre-pandemic activities including travel within the United States.




					www.mass.gov


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## urungus (Jan 21, 2021)

Berkshire East reports snowmaking in progress on Thunder, Bolt, Little John, Upper & Lower Flying Cloud, Upper & Lower Minnie Dole, UMass

Upper (not “Upper Upper”) Minnie Dole did not have any closed markers, so I got first tracks at 3:45 PM today, LOL

Looking down:


Looking up:


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## NYDB (Jan 23, 2021)

Looks fantastic


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## urungus (Jan 24, 2021)

Blue chair went down yesterday at Bousquet, so with Yellow still under reconstruction, they currently have no operational chairlifts.


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## foofy (Jan 25, 2021)

That would explain all the Bousquet jackets at Berkshire East yesterday!


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## Cobbold (Jan 25, 2021)

urungus said:


> Blue chair went down yesterday at Bousquet, so with Yellow still under reconstruction, they currently have no operational chairlifts.


is the blue chair back in action? What’s the deal with the new triple?


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## skef (Feb 1, 2021)

Made it to Berkshire East for the first time yesterday. It's quite a nice little mountain -- has a Burke-like vibe to it. Enjoyed the steeps, which beat WaWa hands down. The trees were mostly skied out, unfortunately, although I was able to hit a couple of those bike trails...

On the downside, the triple was down until about 1:00, making for long lines/waits on the quad. After they got it running, though, no complaints.

Also got a lot of face time with this barred owl, who was just chilling at the summit, lap after lap...


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## NYDB (Feb 1, 2021)

Should be sweet at B east from tues on.  $40 tickets.


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## urungus (Feb 1, 2021)

skef said:


> Also got a lot of face time with this barred owl, who was just chilling at the summit, lap after lap...
> View attachment 50227



Awesome!


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## urungus (Feb 1, 2021)

Cobbold said:


> is the blue chair back in action? What’s the deal with the new triple?



The blue chair is back in action.  Last I heard they encountered some “engineering issues” on the replacement yellow chair and are shooting for mid-February


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## urungus (Feb 14, 2021)

New yellow chair at Bousquet will finally be spinning tomorrow, as per Facebook








						Bousquet
					

Bousquet, Pittsfield, MA. 10,620 likes · 411 talking about this · 10,647 were here. Bousquet Mountain is a 200-acre ski area in Pittsfield, MA, within the Berkshires cultural region. The resort...




					www.facebook.com


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## urungus (Mar 1, 2021)

Berkshire East will be closed Tuesday March 2 due to wind


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## Ski2LiveLive2Ski (Mar 3, 2021)

I have never skied MA (other than the closest - Catamount) as - when driving from NJ - it always seems worth driving a little further to S.VT (Snow, Okemo, Stratton, Magic, Bromley) and I don't have the impression any of the W.MA resorts would be more appealing than closer NY options (Hunter, Windham, Belleayre, Plattekill).

Any places in W.MA folks believe would give me cause to rethink this analysis - barring nature giving us a rare "Berkshire Only" powder day?

Not considering Covid travel rules here which will likely be gone by next season.


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## Killingtime (Mar 3, 2021)

Ski2LiveLive2Ski said:


> I have never skied MA (other than the closest - Catamount) as - when driving from NJ - it always seems worth driving a little further to S.VT (Snow, Okemo, Stratton, Magic, Bromley) and I don't have the impression any of the W.MA resorts would be more appealing than closer NY options (Hunter, Windham, Belleayre, Plattekill).
> 
> Any places in W.MA folks believe would give me cause to rethink this analysis - barring nature giving us a rare "Berkshire Only" powder day?
> 
> Not considering Covid travel rules here which will likely be gone by next season.


I've been to pretty much all the larger MA resorts over the years. My impression is that they definitely feel smaller than the Cats and lack the vertical but are still worthy of a trip if you want to break up the routine. I've had very good experiences at both Jiminy and Berkshire East with light crowds and surprisingly decent terrain. Even had a blast at Butternut which seems to get almost no publicity. Most of my ski friends didn't even know it existed. I found it to be a well run operation with some fun terrain and a low-key family vibe. But yeah, everything being the same, stick with the Cats or Southern VT IMO.


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## ss20 (Mar 4, 2021)

Ski2LiveLive2Ski said:


> I have never skied MA (other than the closest - Catamount) as - when driving from NJ - it always seems worth driving a little further to S.VT (Snow, Okemo, Stratton, Magic, Bromley) and I don't have the impression any of the W.MA resorts would be more appealing than closer NY options (Hunter, Windham, Belleayre, Plattekill).
> 
> Any places in W.MA folks believe would give me cause to rethink this analysis - barring nature giving us a rare "Berkshire Only" powder day?
> 
> Not considering Covid travel rules here which will likely be gone by next season.



If you're coming from NJ the Cats are closer/better than anything in Mass, imo.  Mass is great for the people in Westchester, western CT, and locals....pretty much anyone in between 87 and 91.  If you're west of 87/east of 91 it doesn't make sense to ski western Massachusetts when you can just keep going north on those corridors and get to much better skiing.


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## Zand (Mar 4, 2021)

ss20 said:


> If you're coming from NJ the Cats are closer/better than anything in Mass, imo.  Mass is great for the people in Westchester, western CT, and locals....pretty much anyone in between 87 and 91.  If you're west of 87/east of 91 it doesn't make sense to ski western Massachusetts when you can just keep going north on those corridors and get to much better skiing.


Agreed...

Coming from the Worcester area, only Berkshire East is closer than southern VT. Going out to Jiminy is a waste. Been meaning to check out Catamount on the Indy Pass this year but it's no quicker than Loon.

And as you said, theres much better stuff in the Catskills if youre coming from NYC/NJ, so no reason for them to stop in WMA either. I guess Jiminy gets some Albany traffic, but even that doesn't make sense to me given their proximity to southern VT.


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## Newpylong (Mar 5, 2021)

Jiminy is half the distance from Albany to the closest Southern VT area, has a dependable snowmaking system, long season, good infrastructure, and has lights. It's quite obvious why it is so busy.

It's the same reason people from Eastern MA go to Wachusett in droves over going North.


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## prsboogie (Mar 14, 2021)

Zand said:


> Agreed...
> 
> Coming from the Worcester area, only Berkshire East is closer than southern VT. Going out to Jiminy is a waste. Been meaning to check out Catamount on the Indy Pass this year but it's no quicker than Loon.
> 
> And as you said, theres much better stuff in the Catskills if youre coming from NYC/NJ, so no reason for them to stop in WMA either. I guess Jiminy gets some Albany traffic, but even that doesn't make sense to me given their proximity to southern VT.


I went to Catamount on my Indy pass this year and I will say I was pleasantly surprised.  We stayed on the hill overnight and had fun. The terrain was sufficient to appeal to everyone in my family and steep enough (though short) to push it when I wanted to. 

Indy has taught me to slow down and enjoy sliding on snow without the aggravation of the jackass masses at the majority of the So. VT and N.H. resorts/ski areas. I have had a great season with my family, better than a few more recent years when I've skied close to three times as many days.


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## KustyTheKlown (Mar 14, 2021)

Zand said:


> Agreed...
> 
> Coming from the Worcester area, only Berkshire East is closer than southern VT. Going out to Jiminy is a waste. Been meaning to check out Catamount on the Indy Pass this year but it's no quicker than Loon.
> 
> And as you said, theres much better stuff in the Catskills if youre coming from NYC/NJ, so no reason for them to stop in WMA either. I guess Jiminy gets some Albany traffic, but even that doesn't make sense to me given their proximity to southern VT.



skied berkshire east for the first time this year, and with decent snow and everything open i'd much rather ski berkshire east than windham or hunter. indy pass free-ness helps for sure.


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## Killingtime (Mar 14, 2021)

KustyTheKlown said:


> skied berkshire east for the first time this year, and with decent snow and everything open i'd much rather ski berkshire east than windham or hunter. indy pass free-ness helps for sure.


Was at Windham yesterday. I think it will be a few years before I go back. Plattekill today on the other hand was ski-on with some really good conditions. They lost snow in the recent warm up but it was still great.


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## Zand (Mar 14, 2021)

Biggest problem with Berkshire East is the low elevation. If they were like 10 miles further west they'd probably get almost double the snow. So unfortunately they can have some long stretches when the natural stuff is closed and the rest of the mountain isn't any better than anything else in the area.

But when it's good, it's a special place this far south.


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## urungus (Mar 31, 2021)

Last chair of the MA season looks to be at 4pm Sunday at both Wachusett and Berkshire East.  Both will be closed Thursday, then reopening Fri-Sun.  Pretty impressive they made it to April with no snow since February.   Everyone else done for the season I believe.


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## mlkrgr (Mar 31, 2021)

urungus said:


> Last chair of the MA season looks to be at 4pm Sunday at both Wachusett and Berkshire East.  Both will be closed Thursday, then reopening Fri-Sun.  Pretty impressive they made it to April with no snow since February.   Everyone else done for the season I believe.


Yes, Wawa was pretty shot Thursday of last week. 10th mountain was the pick of the day but had very thin cover leading on the lower half. They'll probably get it together for one last weekend on limited trails by pushing out the terrain parks.


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## Zand (Apr 1, 2021)

Based on what I see on the webcam, I'd give Wachusett a 20% chance of reopening tomorrow and about 5% of making it to Sunday. They lost a lot overnight and it was already in ugly shape.


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## Pez (Apr 1, 2021)

looking at the b east webcams now... i don't see how thats going to be possible


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## Killingtime (Apr 1, 2021)

Pez said:


> looking at the b east webcams now... i don't see how thats going to be possible


They posted on their IG that its a wrap for the season. Time to start getting the biking legs ready.


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## urungus (Apr 1, 2021)




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## Zand (Apr 1, 2021)

Wachusett announced they are opening tomorrow...somehow. Theyre going to "patch together" piles. Not sure where these piles are especially closer to the base area, but kudos I guess lol.


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## RH29 (Dec 13, 2021)

Anyone been to WaWa lately? Debating whether to go or not this week, and conditions don't look great off the webcam (whales and trails not even close to wall to wall). Only one good night of snowmaking left this week. If anyone's been there lately and can give some insight into the conditions, speak up.


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## 2Planker (Dec 13, 2021)

skef said:


> I live in eastern MA, inside 128, 50-some minutes to WaWa when traffic is light. If I’m going to be a good boy this year, following all the rules, that probably means all my skiing will be in-state. (Confession: I broke the rules once for a special day-trip to Sunapee with my daughter last month; I had not skied with her in multiple years, and a friend of hers made those plans. Did not feel great about rule-breaking, but it was an awesome day.)
> 
> How would you rate the places out in western MA, relative to each other and to WaWa? I have never been to Berkshire East, Bosquet, or Jiminy Peak. I’m pretty sure I’ll go crazy if WaWa is my only mountain.
> 
> ...


No "rules" on travel in all of NE this season. Go where ever you want


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## drjeff (Dec 13, 2021)

RH29 said:


> Anyone been to WaWa lately? Debating whether to go or not this week, and conditions don't look great off the webcam (whales and trails not even close to wall to wall). Only one good night of snowmaking left this week. If anyone's been there lately and can give some insight into the conditions, speak up.


I skied there with my kids high-school ski team (I'm the assistant coach) during the 4-7PM session last night (Sunday).

It's thin (both trail width and base depth) off all 3 quads. Most of the terrain is 2-3 groomer widths wide currently, and base depths were generally a foot at best and SOLID last night. 

I know that it's been far from stellar weather for their impressive snowmaking system to do its thing this season so far, but it seems like they adopted an approach to get multiple routes off each quad open as quick as possible at the expense of taking the extra time to put down a bunch of depth on their trails knowing (or hoping) that they'll get more time soon to build the base depths.

Wouldn't shock me if they loose a couple of trails this week before the colder air hopefully arrives next weekend or so.

After skiing it last night, became any easy choice for myself and my head coach not to take our team back on Wednesday for the 4-7 session based on what the conditions were like last night. If you go, be aware of thin spots and have some edges on your equipment


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## Mum skier (Dec 13, 2021)

RH29 said:


> Anyone been to WaWa lately? Debating whether to go or not this week, and conditions don't look great off the webcam (whales and trails not even close to wall to wall). Only one good night of snowmaking left this week. If anyone's been there lately and can give some insight into the conditions, speak up.


I went with my daughter on Friday (she had a day off school and I wanted to get some runs in before the rain). They had 3 runs from the mid height lift and 2 runs from the summit down. Ralphs run was a bit icy/narrow but the other runs were good and no lines (contrast with weekdays last year).  We had a great morning. 
But not sure how the rain and warm impacted things.


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## Mt_Wawasee (Dec 14, 2021)

today (12/14) will be my 10th day at WAWA this year. trails are getting narrower and are a bit
crunchy in the morning. Warm temps in afternoon seem to make for the best conditions happening
after noon.


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## urungus (Dec 16, 2021)

Berkshire East posted on Facebook that they are aiming to open Wednesday


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## RH29 (Dec 20, 2021)

Forgot to reply here, but I ended up going to WaWa on that 60 degree December evening. Conditions were textbook spring skiing, but with fast lifts and no lines I didn't mind one bit.


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## MadPadraic (Jan 10, 2022)

Anyone hit up Blue Hills after the January 8th storm?


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