Berkshire East Ski Area

No lines. Quiet runs. Awesome ski resort located in Western Massachusetts near the Vermont border. I’m assuming it is so quiet because most folks go to Vermont. Berkshire East has one big green run that goes around the outside of the ski area. It’s long and good for beginners. The blues are a bit steeper than I was used to but I got the hang of it. Steep one right in front of the lodge is fun if you’re up for it.
Great spot! I will be back for sure.

What a day of skiing at Berkshire East!!! We skied on Thursday, February 18. It was 50 degrees and raining 2 days prior. Despite that, conditions were great. Varied terrain was open and they made a TON of snow. We also spent some time in the Crazy Horse bar. Service from the 2 women behind the bar was fast and super friendly. Prices were reasonable too. This place is a bit remote too. A 10 mile, winding country road brings you to Berkshire East. Overall, we had a fantastic day! We can’t wait to go back.

Amazing prices! Even when it doesn’t snow Berkshire East can make it on tons of their trails. The restaurant is so delicious lots of menu items to select from
Great family atmosphere. Why drive 5 hours and pay more!?! This place is the best. Day and night skiing, they even let you upgrade your day ticket for 5 dollars
So you can ski into the night.

Ate at the Crazy Horse in the new portion of the lodge. Horrible. Took 15 minutes to get service. 45 minute wait for food once ordered…1 burger ordered medium, the other medium rare… BOTH came out well done. My bourbon bourbon burger was dry (no sauce). I asked for a side of bourbon. 5 minutes later, a waitress came to me and said we can’t give out extra sauce!
Chicken wings I ordered I sent back. They looked like they were backed for 20hrs! That movie Christmas Vacation when they cut into the turkey and everyone has to knaw on the meat… Well that was this chicken! Sent it back.
I hate to complain, but this was bad! 3 people at our table will get the food from the lower lodge food service for now on. Disappointing because the atmosopher is great.
At here last year and had pretty good food. Not sure what happened?

A long overdue endorsement for some of the best spent money in a long time!
I had read about the Mountain Coaster and decided to bring my kids when they visited. As I was making reservations I discovered the Whitewater and Ziplines.
Not only were all fun, exciting, well run and cheerfully staffed they were each a good value and better than advertised. If you find your self in NE and don’t take advantage of this hidden gem then I’ll be happy to take advantage of the lack of lines and waits.
An all around excellent experience from the phone reservation through our excellent raft guide, canopy tour guides and coaster team.
For less than $ 1000 I stayed in a great rustic cabin at Mohawk Trail St. Forest, spent a day rafting and Coasteering and a ½ day on the canopy tour. Cant wait to return next summer so that my, hopefully heavier, kids and I can take the ½ mile long zipline between the two mountains.
Im aware that there are other options in the area for this sort of activity but after the customer service, hospitality and clean, new, well-​run facilities I can’t imagine going any where else!
I made new friends and bonded with my kids in ways we’ll all remember forever.
Thanks for a truly extraordinary good time!!!

This review is for our experience with the white water rafting on the Monroe Bridge. We came here with 12 of our cousins, which was the perfect amount of people to do an all boys and all girls raft (about 6 – 7 people fit on a raft). Our guides were outstanding, Dom took the ladies and Jer took the guys. From the second we all stumbled sleepily into the basement of ski area, to the cookout provided by the guides after, we all had an amazing time.
You get there, check in, and the guides explain what to expect out of the trip. This was the third time we have made a white water rafting trip this big and let me just say it was my favorite river so far on the east coast. While rivers like the Kennebec are more mellow all the way down, the Monroe Bridge has more than a few 3 – 4 class rapids all the way down! Our guide was impeccable, we hit every single rapid like he told us we would, even though or paddling technique was mediocre at times… There’s a few surprises the company provides along the way down, (like riding the bull) that you will have to experience for yourselves.
We stopped for a snack along the river and then had a cookout at the Ski Area when we got back, which was delicious. The guides make everything right there for you and it was just another reason why this company does it right. We got to chill and watch the mountain bikers and zipliners comes down the mountain. There’s also a bar. You could probably just hang out there for the rest of the day!
Even when I was making the reservation for a party this big (the numbers fluctuated week to week, we had 15 coming at one point) I was met with genuine hospitality over the phone. It made planning for a trip this big less stressful and more fun. The people who work here are honest and just want you to have a great time.
The guides really went above and beyond. I’d highly recommend this newer company over the competitors in the area! Can’t wait to come back!

We love this place. It is great for the whole family year round. They’ve for children’s and adults ski lessons, reasonable prices, fun thing to do during the summer months like the mountain coaster and zip lining. We are planning to have a company outing here soon on the zip line tours. The have 3 different options for whatever your adventure style is. I definitely recommend!

Skiing, zip lining, whitewater rafting and now the largest Alpine Coaster in North America! What’s not to love about this place??? Charlemont really is becoming a vacation destination. Now they just need a real hotel.

Wrote this for the wrong company lol but am sure skiing is great too

As good as it gets in southern New England. It is like a little Magic Mt, steep and narrow trails and a classic New England feel. PLENTY of marked and unmarked glades/​tree skiing. The food in the lodge is the best around and cheap, nothing like a BBQ pulled pork sandwich the size of your plate for $ 7. The lifts are not high speed but they keep traffic low and there are never long lines. This place is one of the best kept secrets in skiing. The Liftline trail is one of my favorites in New England. Love the thin cover and ungroomed stuff on the sides of UMass, Minie, and Grizzly. Don’t waste time at Jiminy or Wachusett. Challenge yourself and ski the BEast.

Great skiing and snowboarding, but bring your own food and drink. Food is extremely overpriced and tastes like shit and the cashiers in the cafeteria are fucking bitches. The instructors are super chill, though. But the cafeteria workers are money hungry bitches.

I consider Berkshire East my home mountain as we would have season passes there when I was kid. We went religiously every weekend, so bear in mind I’m a bit biased. That said, last year was a historically bad year for skiing across the US and I still had the most fun all season at BE. Trails were well groomed, the staff friendly, and the mountain is mostly free of gappers during the reasonably priced weekdays. The mountain utilizes a wind turbine (think green) and the management seems to really put the snow sports experience first (keeping up with snow making upgrades) and best of all it’s a relatively well kept secret.
As for the terrain, its stature may not seem impressive on paper but I assure you there is no other resort in Massachusetts which delivers such a well rounded technical variety. Berkshire East prepared me for all of the terrain I have experienced since. I’ve been West a number of times and when Alta was a dome of ice last year who was ready for it? This guy! Seriously fun mountain with a little something for all skill levels great energy, and old school charm. An added bonus if your a train geek, there is a great view from the slopes when the train rolls through town. See you there.

Coming off a great trip to Killington, I was skeptical about Berkshire East. So cheap, so little lifts and trails, no Dew Tour stop. And I was right, Killington is obviously better. But still, I was really surprised by this medium sized resort.
First of all its not really as cheap as people make it out to be. At $ 60 (I rounded its $ 58) on weekends, its still pretty expensive. So I went on a Saturday where the more people in your party the less you pay. I gathered all my ski buddies, and we paid about $ 5 (yes five dollars) a person… not bad.
The snow conditions were really good, but the best part was how little people were on the mountain. On some runs, I didn’t encounter a single person. The layout of the mountain makes it look bigger then it is. Its very easy to lose your buddies and get separated because the lifts are all over the place and the trails aren’t really organized in a way that leads you to the same lift you started with.
There are no glade runs on Berkshire East, there are moguls thought, and really small terrain parks. If you plan to rent, be prepared to wait in line for a long time, the staff is slow. Overall a great ski experience, really nice resort, very mellow and laid back.

My favorite place for a quick day trip coming from CT. The staff is always so friendly, the trails are always well maintained and it is never that crowded. The slopes are by no means that challenging (compared to the slopes I am use to out in Utah) but still provide a decent variety if you are with a group of people of varying abilities. I take novice skiiers here all the time and they love it. The student rates are also fantastic. I highly recommend this ski resort.

What do you get when you cross the friendliness of «Cheers», the comfort of your own kitchen and the laughter of children? Well add in a bunch of snow and non-​existent lift lines and you have Berkshire East!
My two daughters and my best friend decided to ski for a few days over the February school vacation and we went to BE. I have to say I expected typical school week crowds and all the jostling and general bustle that comes with it. Instead we found a hidden gem in Charlemont, MA and had a several days days of great skiing and a wellspring of fond memories.
The skiiing itself was great — and while surely the result of the snowy winter — there was plenty of evidence of top notch snowmaking equipment. My oldest had a 2 hour lesson on the first day and Heather her instructor was very nice, skilled and helped my advanced-​beginner take another step to being a solid intermediate skier. The bunny slope helped my 9 yr old get her ski legs back and soon we were taking the quad chair up together and loving the «Roundabout» trail. This was definitely family week and the other skiers were all friendly, polite and it felt like the whole mountain was there and just having a great time. There was almost never a lift line — and when there was it was short and moved quickly.
The lodge was plenty big to handle the lunch crowd (we brought ours each day but the menu had items ranging from a $ 3.00 grilled cheese to a $ 5.50 cheeseburger) and had a great view of the main trail as most lodges do. It was the sort of place where you leave your stuff on the table, go ski, and never think twice about it because it will all be there when you come back for lunch.
There is tubing — $ 20 for 2 hours — and night skiing and clearly there were folks coming for the afternoon/​night combo which is something that I am planning for the next visit!
This is not your VT/​NH/​Maine resort type place. This is a family mountain and it gets 5 stars from me for being exactly what it is — a great place for a fun day or several days for the family with great skiing, a good crowd, unpretentious, and the stuff of which great memories are made.
PS — rumor has it that the wind driven turbine on the top is powering the whole place, and that fact just fit perfectly with the whole feel of BE!

Berkshire East, or BEast as those in the know call it, is hands down the only true skiers mountain in Massachusetts, and has the most challenging terrain south of Magic Mountain VT.
If you are a casual, recreational skier or snowboarder and prefer velvety soft ‘corduroy’ groomers and a plethora of high speed chairlifts, stay on 91 and go to Okemo, Stratton, or Mt Snow (or head west to Jiminy Peak, a sort of half-​size Stratton).
However, if you want steeps, bumps, glades, ungroomed terrain, and a liberal open/​closed trail policy, along with a friendly, old school vibe, Berkshire East is a fine choice.
Berkshire East claims 1180 vertical ft, and though others claim it does not feel that big, we verified it as around 1140 using a smartphone app. It might seem a little short because unlike Wachusett and co, there are no long flat runouts on the front face blue and black trails.
I’ve been skiing for over 20 years, and BEast is high on my list after a big storm. You know there will be plenty of fresh tracks and little to no lift lines.
If you consider yourself a hardcore skier or snowboarder, you will almost certainly love this place.
Caveats: Used to be nicknamed Berkshire Ice. Trails (groomers) can be scratchy if there’s no recent snow. If you want gourmet dining and apres ski, you won’t find it here. If you are driving from the boston or providence metro area, you might find the idea of hitting a day trip ski area a hard sell over driving another 20 minutes to an alleged destination resort.

Berkshire East is a great place to enjoy your favorite winter activity.
Super cheap, its $ 30 during the week, $ 55 on the weekends. They offer discount deals almost everyday, you just have to check their website and look on the deals calendar.
The staff here are super nice and you almost feel like family. Carol who works in the rentals area is great. She kept our rental out for us since we were going to be returning the next day. This beats the hassle of them having to gather it and wastes no time on the slopes!
The rental equipment is really good, the boots for the snowboard were excellent, the best I have wore all season. They ere Rossinols and were super cute too! None of those ugly black ones you often see at some mountains. These were great with a touch of pink!
The mountains are pretty well groomed, no icy parts.
The parking lot however is a different story. Its all muddy and gross!
The food here is ok, your basic burgers, chicken finger, soups, etc. reasonably price, maybe a bit cheaper than other bigger mountain resorts.
They offer lockers for you stuff or you can place them under the bench tables up in the lodge area.
On the weekends, they offer tubing.
Overall, Berkshire East is pretty sweet.

I live 1.5 hours away but I consider it my home mountain. Any weekend, I know the family owned Berkshire East will be my most satisfying ski experience because of the steep terrain and lack of crowds.
The Diamond Express double was replaced with a used triple that might be operating as of the time of this review. They were working on it on Sunday Jan. 17, 2010. The new chair goes to the true summit, even a bit closer to Outback than the current triple.
Other improvements include a zip line for the off season and a small gear shop in the lodge.