Catamount Ski Area

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Catamount Ski Area
Image:Catamount.jpg
Location:	Hillsdale, New York, US
Nearest city:	Great Barrington, Massachusetts (7.5 Miles), Poughkeepsie, New York (53 Miles), New York, New York (129 Miles), New Haven, Connecticut (83 Miles)
Top elevation:	2000 ft
Skiable area:	119 acres
Runs:	32
Longest run:	2.5 mi (7 km)
Lift system:	4 chairs, 2 surface lifts, 1 Quad, 1 Triple, 2 Doubles
Snowfall:	75"
Web site:	Catamount Ski Area

Catamount Ski Area is a ski resort located in the Berkshire Mountains in Hillsdale, New York and South Egremont, Massachusetts. It is one of the few remaining family-owned ski areas. While in comparison to "big" mountains in the Northeast, it is small, but it provides some of the best skiing close to New York City (a mere two hours away). While many families tend to prefer nearby Butternut, Catamount has a more diverse and challenging range of trails, including Catapult, one of the steepest trails in the Northeast. In addition, because Butternut now has multiple High-Speed Quad Chairlifts, it is often too crowded. Catamount lifts have short lines and the trails have less people, which means more skiing.

1 History
2 Mountain statistics
3 Plans for the Future
4 Skiing the Mountain
- 4.1 Trail Reviews
5 Costs
6 Nearby Mountains
7 Related Links
8 References

[edit] History

Catamount first open for business in 1939 with three rope tows. But the mountain remained relatively unpopular for a good amount of time. In the 1950s, Jiminy Peak and Butternut Ski areas opened, the other two mountains in the Berkshires and skiing in the area began to become more popular.

Bill Gilbert and Don Edwards took over management and bought Catamount in 1974 and made it what it is today. Both men had a lot of experience managing mountains. Since they have taken over, a lot of new terrain has been added, including Catapult, Sidewinder, and Promenade, and new chairlifts. When they bought the mountain, less than 25% of the mountain was covered by snowmaking and now more than 98% is covered.^[1]

[edit] Mountain statistics

[edit] Elevation

Vertical drop: 1000 ft

[edit] Trails

Skiable area: 119 acres
32

10 novice - 40%
10 intermediate - 27%
12 advanced and expert - 33%

Longest trail - 2.5 miles Ridge Run to Upper and Lower Promenade

98% of the acrerage of the trails are covered by snowmaking.

Trail Map


Easiest	More Difficult	Most Difficult and Terrain Parks	Expert (Use Extreme Caution)
Ali's Alley (n)	Catamount	Lower Alley Cat	Catapult (m)
Cat's Meow (n)	Chute	Upper Alley Cat
Colonel's Caper (n)	Mountain View	Expressway
Esplanade	On Stage	Lower Glade (m)
Holiday	Race Slope	Sunrise (t)
Kelli's Run	Walter's Way	Terrain Park Training Area (t)
Kid Cats	Ridge Run	Upper Glade
Lower Promenade	Lower Sidewinder	Off Stage (m)
Upper Promenade	Upper Sidewinder	Terrain Park (t)
SnowSports Learning Area	Turnpike (n)	Halfpipe (t)
	Upper Turnpike (n)	Junior Jib Park (t)

(m) - trail with moguls most of the time when conditions provide
(t) - terrain park with various jumps and features including rails and halfpipes
(n) - no snowmaking

[edit] Lifts

6 total

1 quad chairs
1 triple chairs
2 double chairs
2 surface lifts


Surface Lifts	Fixed Grip Triples	Fixed Grip Quads	Fixed Grip Doubles
Wonder Carpet	Meadows Triple	Ridge Quad	Catamount Double
Kid Cats Tow			Glade Double

[edit] Lodges

Main Base Lodge: located at the base.
Taconic Lodge: temporary lodge located at the bottom of the mountain near the Ridge Quad. It will be moved when the incoming condos are built.

[edit] Gift Shops

Cat's Paw Retail Shop - discount for season pass holders. Has some Catamount logo stuff and basic ski clothing. Nothing too special.

[edit] Plans for the Future

Catamount has begun its renovation project to compete with neighboring Butternut. In Summer 2006, the Summit Quad Chairlift was completed. In coming years, an 126 Condo Complex will be built around a lake at the base with ski in/out access. The new condos will also include a retail shopping, dining, a spa, and parking. It will operate year round. The renovations are somewhat similar to Jiminy Peak's recent upgrades.

[edit] Skiing the Mountain

A few years ago, many would choose Butternut over Catamount because of its draw for families. Butternut has a lot of easier trails. But Catamount has recently dedicated an entire area to beginners called the Meadows and it is serviced by its own triple chair lift. The triple offers to places to get off. One is halfway up the mountain where you can take Ali's Alley or Kelli's Run to various other greens.

The mountain offers an incredible variety of terrain for a small mountain. It has difficult trails such as Catapult, one of the steepest trails in the Northeast. It has black diamond cruisers such as Alley Cat and a favorite intermediate cruiser in Sidewinder. If one should desire a nice, long trail, one could take Ridge Run to Promenade for a 2.5 mile easy run.

The views while skiing are incredible. Some of the notable views include when you ski on the New York side from the Summit right before you get on Glade. When you reach the bottom of Lower Glade or Upper Alleycat, there is a fabulous view of the rest of the mountain. Likewise, when coming down Mountain View on the Massachusetts side, you can see the rest of the mountain.

Overall, the mountain is great for what it is. It is small but will keep you busy all day. It is uncrowded and family friendly.

Tips for a Great Day

Stay away from the Catamount Double Chairlift. It is always crowded and does not take you high enough to make it worth the wait. Just go to the top.
Ski during lunch time. Everyone goes inside the lodges then and the lines are very short.
If you can't ski all day. Get there early so you can get the good snow and short lines. If not, you gotta wait til the end of the day for short lines and by then, the snow is no good.

[edit] Trail Reviews

Easiest (Green Circle)

Ali's Alley - Has no snowmaking and therefore is rarely open. Nice easy Green.
Kelli's Run - Perfect green run for beginners. Not steep but steep enough to get going if you want.
Cat's Meow - Flat trail that takes you from the middle of the mounatin over to the meadows. At times you must "skate" so you can move because the trail is so flat.
Colonel's Caper - A surprisingly fun green that can take you from one side of the triple chair to the other.
Esplanade - A great, wide green trail. Excellent for all abilities and easy to learn techniques, etc. Makes Walter's Way worth taking.
Holiday - Great, wide, expansive green trail. Steep at the end.
Upper and Lower Promenade - Great, flat trail, with some surprisingly decent pitches at times. Fun trail for beginners, giving them a long option from to top of the meadows. Beautiful views at the beginning.

More Difficult (Blue Square)

Catamount - great wide trail with decent pitch. An excellent way to finish Chute and Glade although not entiely worth it if you only take the Catamount Doublt to the middle.
Chute - Great way to zip down from Alley Cat to the middle of the mountain. Steep pitch. You can really get some speed and finish off with an array of blue and black trails at the bottom, including Catamount.
Ridge Run - beginning of the longest run on the mountain. It starts off slow and flat but you soon encounter a number of good pitches. The run always has a good amount of snow on it. Gives you options when you get to the meadows.
Mountain View - one of two blue options when you finish Ridge Run. Has fabulous views of the mountain and is a wide trail with decent pitch. Great snow grooming and one of the most underrated trails on the mountain. You meet Holiday at the bottom.
Walter's Way - The other of the two blue options in the meadows. It's okay and has a decent pitch but is often very icy. What makes the trail worth it is after when you get to Esplanade, which is arguably better than Holiday.
Race Slope - small trail from middle of the mountain. It's okay. usually closed for Race Training.
Upper and Lower Sidewinder - Since it's addition it has been one of the most popular trails on the mountain. It is a great long cruiser with steep pitches and not as steep pitches, making it truly enjoyable. It is filled with twists and turns including great views as you pass through the trees and weave through the mountain. One downside is , because of it's popularity, by the end of the day it is icy, especially Upper Sidewinder.

Most Difficult (Black Diamond)

Upper and Lower Glade - A great, wide black trail with nice pitch, especially right before you get to the middle of the mountain. Can be icy at times.
Upper and Lower Alley Cat - Simply the best trail on the mountain for good skiers. It has fabulous twists and turns, great snowmaking, and rarely has people on it. Great, steep pitches allowing for great speed.

Expert (Double Black Diamond)

Catapult - One of the steepest trails in the Northeast. Enough said. very difficult, especially with moguls.

[edit] Costs

Season Passes

A season pass purchase at Catamount is one of the best values in skiing. If you buy in the spring or summer before the season, you can get a great deal of $200 for adults, $150 for juniors and seniors, $100 for kids. Also, if you buy in March, you can ski free that march. If you buy at the right time, it pays in four visits. Not to mention the discount at the Cat's Paw Retail Shop and discounts at other mountains.

Lift Tickets


Ticket	Weekend/Holiday	Friday	Mid-Week (Monday - Thursday)
One Day 8-hour
Adult	$50	$36	$15
Junior	$40	$28	$15
Senior	$40	$28	$15
Child	$20	$10	$10
Child (Wonder Carpet Only)	$15	$5	$5
75 years or older	$25	$15	$15
Two Day 8 Hour
Adult	$92
Junior	$72
Senior	$72
Child	$35
Child (Wonder Carpet Only)	$25
70 years or older	$40

Night Skiing


Ticket	Wednesday & Thursday (5-9pm)	Friday & Saturday (5-10pm)
Adult	$20	$28
Junior	$20	$28
Senior	$20	$28
Child	$10	$10
Child Wonder Carpet Only	$5	$5
70 or older	$15	$15

Twighlight


Ticket	Wednesday & Thursday (3-9pm)	Friday & Saturday (3-10pm)
Adult	$25	$33
Junior	$25	$33
Senior	$25	$33
Child	$15	$15
Child Wonder Carpet Only	$10	$10
70 or older	$20	$20