Let me slide myself away from the dinner table and loosen this belt a notch before diving into this column. I gobbled up a bit too many cords on Friday at Berkshire East.
One of the weirdest weather weeks in my memory has led us to a new edition of the Powder Report
The deep freeze of MLK Weekend gave way to a 50-plus-degree overcast and rainy mid-week. The backyard view out my kitchen window was a river. So, when the temperature dipped back into the 20s Thursday night, I was a bit hesitant to trek up Route 8A and across West Hawley Road to Charlemont.
First off, kudos to the plows and sanders, because the drive was far safer than I imagined. But, the real heroes here are the overnight groomers at Berkshire East Mountain Resort. Liftys, lesson teachers, ski patrol and bartenders get a lot of shine this time of year, but it's the guys and gals working during the mountains' closed hours that make weekends like this one so surprisingly great.
I met up with Jon Schaefer, who runs Berkshire East, around 9:30 a.m. Friday in the main lodge, and while waiting for him to wrap up a quick meeting, a skier plopped down next to me and instantly raved about how great it was.
When I relayed that to Schaefer a few minutes later, he responded with the quote of the week.
"It's always good," he said while strapping up his ski boots and grabbing a pair of mis-matched ski poles.
And it was.
This column can be read in its entirety on The Berkshire Eagle website, or reach out to me directly for a complete copy.