Best of southern N.E. skiing
Looking for a few inside tips? The Globe has surveyed the scene from top to bottom and taken notes:
Best higher ground
OK, so the lower trio of New England states is "elevationally challenged" compared with its northern neighbors, but you can still experience the high life on free-heel skis or snowshoes, at least out in the Berkshires. Mt. Greylock in Adams is the highest peak in Massachusetts (3,491 feet), and the shortest way up its eastern face is also the steepest: The Thunderbolt Trail was a Civilian Conservation Corps project during the Great Depression, but it eventually hosted the United States Eastern Alpine Ski Championships in 1936. Experienced winter hikers are in for some of the best backcountry skiing or boarding in the region, featuring a broad and panoramic slope that turns twisty and challenging over the course of its tree-lined, 2-mile descent.- T.D. THORNTON
Best bet for originality
The eclectic Woodbury Ski Area in the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut was snowboard-friendly years before bigger mountains caught on to the trend, and the joint is known as a big-air mecca for southern New England riders. Owner Rod Taylor - a member of the United States Olympic Ski Team from 1967-71 and winner of the 1970 national downhill championship - is a hands-on, throwback mountain operator unafraid to bet big on offbeat ideas, such as world-record snow tubing attempts (30 tubers linking hands down the course together) or offering free Wi-Fi access to guests. Woodbury often beats mega-mountains to the punch in terms of earliest opening of the season, and in the summer the property hosts a popular annual reggae festival in its outdoor amphitheater.
- T.D. THORNTON
Best way to experience local ski history outdoors
Did you know there are 171 "lost" ski areas in Massachusetts? The New England Lost Ski Areas Project (nelsap.org) provides an informative and entertaining peek at the region's snowsports past by chronicling small ski runs and family-operated rope tows that were once the backbone of community skiing in the Northeast. Using photos, maps, and blast-from-the-past anecdotal writeups sent in by volunteers, some of the historical entries depict ghostly reminders of a bygone era - T-bars and skeletal remains of chairlifts on overgrown, abandoned hillsides. The best part is that many of these areas are still accessible (by foot) to the public, and the site gives hiking hints and details such as whether it's permissible to park nearby so you can trek up on snowshoes to ski or sled down.- T.D. THORNTON
Best geographic quirk
Catamount Ski Area, smack atop the Massachusetts-New York border near South Egremont, offers skiers and boarders the neat geographic trick of being able to cross between two states while cruising one mountain. Catamount, which opened in 1939, is one of the oldest original ski areas still operating in New England, and its connection of Ridge Run to Upper to Lower Promenade makes up a 2½-mile top-to-bottom trail, billed as the longest run in the Berkshires.- T.D. THORNTON
Just knowing the best trout are nearby
Berkshire East, one of the best ski areas in Massachusetts, looks down on the countryside of the fabled Deerfield River. With a 1,200-foot drop, 30 trails, and almost total snowmaking coverage, this area packs in a huge amount of skiing into the Charlemont region. And in spring, take along your fly rod.- TONY CHAMBERLAIN
Best throwback mountain
There aren't any high-speed lifts at Pittsfield's Bousquet. In a sense, the Berkshire ski area is what New England skiing used to be before wide Alpine highways became the norm. The 21-trail hill is where first turns and memories are made. There is terrain for all abilities, including a few steeper pitches off the summit. Bousquet is affordable. The highest-priced lift ticket is $37 on weekends and holidays, while Monday to Thursday prices are $20. Now that's how skiing used to be.- MARTY BASCH
If you don't want to learn to ski or ride
The Amesbury Sports Park is the biggest in the state devoted exclusively to the quasi-sport of sliding down a fast track on slick snow. It's fun and easy, and this park was founded by former Bruins defenseman Brad Park. After a frost day (or night) of tubing, grab a frosty at the Cornerkick Pub at the park.- TONY CHAMBERLAIN
Best test of your skills
Here's a twist. Before entering Ski Butternut's Twisted Terrain Park, skiers and riders have to pass a test. Plus, they need a pass - in addition to a lift ticket - that costs $10 for the season or $3 for the day. The Great Barrington mountain uses terrain park school for three reasons: as a deterrent for those who shouldn't be there, as a way to get skiers and riders to follow the rules, and to generate revenue for park improvements.- MARTY BASCH
Best for sheer novelty
If you're one of those skiers or boarders who likes to accumulate offbeat mountain experiences, Yawgoo Valley in Exeter, R.I., will cross a few quirky items off your list. For starters, it's the only Alpine ski area in the Ocean State. It's also one of the most southern in New England, and given the hill's proximity to Narragansett Bay, it's probably the only resort in the region where you're likely to spy seagulls as you ride the chairlift. With a peak elevation of 310 feet and a vertical drop of 245 feet, Yawgoo knows its niche isn't the same as bigger mountains, so it serves a loyal base of locals well and continues to defy the odds long after the state's four other ski areas have gone out of business.- T.D. THORNTON
Best helping hand to Mother Nature
Artificial snow can make or break ski resorts in the southern tier of New England, and Mohawk Mountain in Cornwall, Conn., boasts on its website, "We invented snow." Although that's a huge claim to back up, it's rooted in truth, because in 1948, founder Walt Schoenknecht - after experimenting with crushing 500 tons of ice - began to fine-tune his technique for combining water and cold air under pressure to become a pioneer in the art of man-made snow. As the state's oldest and largest ski area, Mohawk provides 107 skiable acres (650 feet vertical) of Alpine action, adjacent to a separate set of cross-country and snowshoeing trails within Mohawk State Forest.- T.D. THORNTON
Best option for the Merrimack Valley
If you grew up skiing in the Merrimack Valley, chances are you spent many an evening under the lights at Ski Bradford. The gritty little hill in Haverhill still keeps grinding out an existence, and its big selling point has always been a diverse selection of learn-to-ski and snowboard programs. Some of the package rates for lift tickets aren't bad, either, such as the six-pack of night passes for $120 (vs. an individual ticket price of $28).- T.D. THORNTON
Best blast from the past
Bousquet Ski Area in Pittsfield lays claim to being the first hill in the world to offer night skiing. The trails were initially lit on Christmas Eve in 1936 when owner Clarence Bousquet was looking for an innovative way to attract attention and keep his fledging operation afloat in the aftermath of the Great Depression. The previous year, Bousquet had installed the nation's second rope tow on the sloping pastures of his mink farm after converting his garage into a warming hut. Bousquet was one of the first "destination" ski areas that brought thousands of skiers from the first New York ski trains, although Bousquet himself later made far more money by inventing, patenting, and selling at least a half-million rope tow grippers that enabled skiers to hold on to a tow more safely.- T.D. THORNTON
Best blast from the past, II
The Bay State is no slouch when it comes to ski history, thanks to the Thunderbolt Trail. Drafted by Charlie Parker and cut by the Civilian Conservation Corps, the once-famous 1930s and '40s race course down Mt. Greylock is linked to ski legends such as Dartmouth's Dick Durrance, who won the first race down the trail in 1935. Now it attracts backcountry skiers and boarders down its 1.6-mile length and 1,800-foot vertical drop.- MARTY BASCH
Best little-known fact
The Woodbury Ski Area is the little ski area that could. Run by former US Ski Team member and 1970 national downhill champ Rod Taylor, the Litchfield Hills ski hill frequently boasts that it is one of the first ski areas in the Northeast to open, though its voice is frequently muted by the roar of northern New England's big guns. Not bad for a Connecticut hill with 300 feet of vertical and a longest run of a half-mile.- MARTY BASCH
Best learning experience
Boston learns to ski at Nashoba Valley. It's small, popular, and the vertical isn't much, but Westford is a whole lot closer than the northern New England mega-resorts. Snowmaking lays down blankets of white when Mother Nature ignores the Interstate 495 perimeter. The learn-to-ski programs and adult race league nights must be working because 1988 Olympian Pam Fletcher is a Nashoba product.- MARTY BASCH
Best place to get a taste of the business
For a behind-the-scenes look at that favorite Wachusett Brewing Company frothy creation, pop in for an aprés-ski tour at the Westminster brewery. No Clydesdales here, walk among the stainless steel tanks and take in that fragrant malt aroma. The brewery is the result of a business plan designed by three Worcester Polytechnic Institute students: Ned LaFortune, Kevin Buckler, and Peter Quinn. Taste samples are available, but they're limited.- MARTY BASCH
Some of the biggest bumps in the south
Ski Sundown in New Hartford, Conn., is well known for its teaching programs - SKIwee - and prepares many new skiers and riders for those trips up Route 91 to Vermont. At 625 vertical, Sundown packs lots of skiing on one hill, and its steep pitches are as well known as the terrific base bar and dining room.- TONY CHAMBERLAIN
Best beer can skiing league
At Wachusett in Princeton, join the has-beens and never-weres who join owner Jeff Crowley in an after-hours racing league. You can tell the ringers who show up by their faded speed suits, and even if you don't win a prize, the aftermath party is well worth the take.- TONY CHAMBERLAIN
Biggest in the Bay State
Jiminy Peak has a terrific lineup of trails, including the black diamonds down the front face such as Wild Turkey and Jericho. Mellower and scenic is the long loop of Panorama that comes alive in natural snowfall.- TONY CHAMBERLAIN
Best old-school spirit of bartering
Here's something you'd never see on a website for one of the corporate-owned McMountains: Blandford Ski Area - operated by the oldest continuously operating community ski club in North America - is offering a trade of "fair-market value in season passes or lift tickets" in exchange for a snowmobile or all-terrain quad vehicle "in good working order." Donations and membership contributions make this nonprofit, family-oriented organization tick, not to mention an old-fashioned Yankee attitude that wastes nothing and still embraces the concept of bartering for goods and services.- T.D. THORNTON
Best cross-country trek
Cross-country skiers can take the Green Line to Weston's Ski Track. Located on the MDC's Leo J. Martin Golf Course in Weston along the Charles River, the 15 kilometers of groomed trails attract both the athletic and recreational skier. The 2-kilometer lit loop is anchored by snowmaking from five snow guns. The Tuesday Night Sprint Series in January and February is an open time trial while Winter Trails Day slated for Jan. 12 introduces new Nordic skiers and snowshoers to the joys associated with a free heel.- MARTY BASCH
