Berkshire East Mountain Resort on Sunday, January 21, 2024

		Berkshire East Mountain Resort Sunday, January 21, 2024
		Submitted on January 21, 2024 by indyskier29 (127)
	Session	Full Day
	Ticket Type	Indy Pass
	Lift Lines	6 to 10 minutes
	Trail Conditions	90% open; Packed Powder, Wind Blown Snow
	Glades	Coverage remains thin enough that they were mostly closed, but people (myself included) were definitely poking around a little. I skied the trees between Grizzly and UMass and part of East Glade off Big Chief, both of which were doable on account of nearby snowmaking blowing in on top of the natural.
	Moguls	Skiers right of Big Chief had some pretty big moguls. Smaller and softer ones here and there, particularly on Upper Comp and Upper Liftline.
	Terrain Park(s)	Not open yet. Huge whales where the Upper Exhibition park usually is. Jumps and side hits abound.
	Run of the Day	Competition
	Food and Beverage	Had a pulled pork sandwich in the lodge. Not super expensive by ski area standards ($12) and a generous portion. Also noticed the LL Bean-sponsored free Smores Shack near the base. Nice to see promotions like that and while I did not partake, seemed like lots of kids were enjoying it.
	Comments	It was a bit of a dicey start operations wise at Berkshire today, but the conditions were solid and the weather was more than tolerable. Temps were in the teens with single digit wind chills all day, but the sun was shining and the wind died down as the day went on. Almost all trails were open today, with the exceptions of Thunder, Hemlock (snowmaking started up there in the afternoon), and Lower Liftline. Wasn't in a hurry to get up to the mountain on account of the cold, and I arrived a bit after 10 to find the T-Bar Express closed and a huge line for the Summit Quad (no singles line!), which was the only operating summit lift. The triple opened at about 10:45, and I spent the next hour or so lapping that until the HSQ reopened around noon. It was mostly packed powder today, with some wind-scoured areas and a bit of ice here and there (Ralicki's Run/Upper Minnie Dole and Grizzly). Competition under the gun was my run of the day. Super dry manmade snow that skied great and was blown pretty evenly across the trail by the wind, keeping things fresh all day. Flying Cloud came in second, with wind blowing straight up the fall line and sending snow kicked up by skiers back onto the upper part of the trail. Lower part got firm and fast later on as a result, but very much carveable. UMass had giant whales with some big drop offs, definitely a fun one as well. Big Chief was harder packed but not icy. Grizzly got skied off pretty bad, I went down it late in the day and could barely catch an edge. Outback, Exhibition, Mohawk, and anything else on the flatter side stayed pretty consistently soft throughout the day. Upper Liftline was open on natural snow. I skied it twice, once before lunch and once after. It got skied down as the day went on, not icy and nothing exposed yet but definitely quite thin in spots, I'm surprised my bases didn't get anything more than a scratch or two. The entrance from Riva Ridge got very sketchy in the afternoon. Roy's Way was closed, probably because of the waterbar at the bottom, but I skied down it and it had decent natural coverage with pockets of untracked snow on the side in places. Somehow missed Bear Run. Everything else on natural was closed.
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	Report Rating	4