Catamount

Catamount was the first lift-served skiing I did this year and proved to be a nice warmup.  I went early in January on a Monday and as a student my ticket ended up being $20.  It was money well spent.  

Catamount is not huge, but has a reasonable variety of terrain.  It has some groomers with reasonably steep sections that invite speed and the bumped up and fairly steep Catapult which served me as a good warmup for skiing bigger mountains in the weeks that followed.  I probably did the run five or six times during my one day there, which also hints at what I will discuss in the downside section.  One thing that I liked in particular was that unlike many places, Catamount left a few of the black trails ungroomed along the edges.  This allowed for more bump skiing than I would have expected.  It was much appreciated.

The downside is that this isn't an extremely large resort.  If you're a good skier, you'll likely be on the same 4-5 trails all day and the vertical isn't large, so you'll be very familiar with them soon.  I talked to a gentleman on the lift who skis it regularly and he told me that at some point during the year the steep woods to the left of Catapult (looking up the mountain) become rideable, but they weren't in play when I was there so I can't comment on them.  They looked like they had potential though.  I’ll likely go back for another midweek day trip this season, hopefully after a snowfall.

Catamount is an uncrowded mountain located on the border of Massachusetts and New York in the Berkshires. Here, you can find slow chairs and little snow. But here, you can find the best beginner area and the steepest run in the Berkshires with great snowmaking.

The beginner terrain is located in the Meadows Area. The Meadows Area is mostly beginner terrain with a few intermediate pitches (not runs! The intermediate runs just have a short and usually icy headwall before turning into a wide green run) at the top. It is serviced by the Meadows Triple Chair, in which you can get off halfway for easier terrain. IMO, it is the best beginner terrain in the Berkshires with wide, wide, wide and long, long, long runs.

The intermediate terrain can be found at mid mountain, the summit, and at the top of the Meadows Chair. Mountain Run, probably the easiest intermediate run, is a wide run that should be easier than the other runs for beginners to progress to intermediate located at the top of the Meadow's Chair. Walter's Way is also at the top of Meadows Chair and slightly harder with a short intermediate pitch that is usually covered in ice before mellowing out to an easy beginner run. From mid mountain, you can try Catamount run, Onstage, or the Terrain Park. The terrain park is medium size but has varying features, from rails to small jumps to big jumps! It shares the same pitch as Catamount as they run side by side and only seperated by a gate in the middle. What's awesome about the Terrain Park is it has music... NICE!!!! Onstage also runs side by side to Catamount, but has varying pitches with a double fall line. All three runs are extremely wide. From the summit, you can do Sidewinder, a long run twisting down the boundary of the mountain and Ridge Run, another long run that runs on the ridge to the Meadows Chair. In the middle of Sidewinder, you can do Chute, a steep intermediate groomer that is open for night skiing.

The advanced terrain is plenty, but it does not compare in steep groomers to Jiminy Peak (the king of steep groomers in the Berkshires). Glade is a very wide run that is groomed 50%, leaving the other side to bump up. Alley Cat is somewhat narrow compared to the other runs. The upper part is more like a hard blue before the lower part takes control and becomes the ultimate downhill course. For some reason, this run is not skied that much and is the perfect run for S-P-E-E-D, so yeah... you know where I'm going as it is one of my favorite runs. At the bottom of Glade and Chute, you can do Onstage or it's neighbor, Offstage. Offstage is a little less steep than Onstage but is bumped up. Turnpike has no snowmaking so it's rarely open but is an interesting and very narrow run.

But steepest terrain comes off Ridge Run. This is Catapult, the steepest run in the Berkshries. The only pitch that I can think of that comes close to Catapult is the last steep pitch of Jericho at Jiminy Peak, but this can be straightlined. Catapult is a good 500+ vertical feet of high 20s degree skiing. Rarely, it might be groomed, but you usually it is covered in soft bumps on the sides and icy bumps down the middle. Luckily, for those who end up on the Catapult when they shouldn't be there, there is two cat tracks to exit from Catapult. Lower Turnpike is located a quarter of the way down and Expressway is located halfway down. This run is another favorite of mine.

Overall, Catamount is a very family friendly ski hill. The night life seems to be pretty non existent, but everything is rather cheap and family oriented. The terrain parks are interesting and pretty big and the terrain is superb for the area. The snow lacks but the snowmaking is pretty good.

Recommended for a laid back day in the Berkshires.