Remembering the ski jumps of South County

By John HitchcockPrint Story | Email Story
South Berkshire’s first major ski attraction back in the 1930s was a giant ski jump on aptly named Suicide Hill in the New Boston hamlet in the town of Sandisfield. The 1932 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, N.Y., featured ski jumping, and there were no Alpine events. As a result, jumps were opened throughout the Northeast, and thousands of spectators were attracted to the competitions. Seven businessmen from nearby Winsted, Conn., invested about $7,000 to build the monster jump just off present Route 8, south of New Boston. The first exhibition jumps by nine Scandinavians, including one female, Johanne Kolstad, failed to see the predicted flights of up to 275 feet, and falls were frequent. Soft snow and too short a takeoff were the excuses, but a huge crowd witnessed the professional exhibition in late January 1936. Total length of the jump and landing hill was more than 1,000 feet, and there was parking space for thousands of automobiles. Within five years, the project was abandoned, and only old-time residents can point out the exact location. Meanwhile better-designed jumps flourished in Salisbury, Norfolk, Canaan and Winsted, all in Connecticut. I had never heard of the Sandisfield promotion until reading a story by Great Barrington historian Bernard Drew, who recently sent me additional information. In those days, the $7,000 investment in possible big returns was a sizable chunk. Flash ahead some 65 years to the present day problems of American Skiing Co. and its chain of resorts, including Mount Snow, Haystack and Killington/Pico in Vermont. An Associated Press reporter last week said ASC lost $41.3 million in the first quarter of its current fiscal year. And the last fiscal year loss came to $82 million, bringing the total indebtedness to a whopping $655 million. But ASC spokesman Erik Preusse was quoted as saying the company and its seven resorts “are making progress in getting their financial house in order.” ASC was founded some 10 years ago by Les Otten, then owner of flourishing Sunday River in Maine, who went on to buy three Vermont resorts, competitor Sugarloaf next door in Maine, Attitash in New Hampshire, Sugarbush in Vermont, The Canyons in Utah, Steamboat Springs in Colorado and Heavenly Valley in California. Heavenly Valley was sold to Vail Resorts, giving ASC somewhat of a breather, and three Mad River Glen skiers bought Sugarbush. Otten stepped down as president but continues on the board of directors. His home at Sunday River has been transformed into a 350-seat restaurant. Otten, who spent millions in upgrading most of the resorts, is now a part owner of the Boston Red Sox, and he said he helped put together the team of buyers paying more than $600 million for the Sox. While the ASC management attempts to stay afloat, great skiing and snow boarding is offered at all of its resorts, along with huge time-share hotels at several. Channel 13’s Skiing Weatherman Herb Stevens issued his Thursday and Friday TV reports from The Canyons and showed fantastic snow. He said The Canyons, home of Today Show’s Katie Couric and Matt Laurer during the 2002 Olympics, had the most open terrain in the West for the early season. Mount Snow, which was expanded substantially by Otten a few years ago, has been open for a couple of weeks, and Killington again was the first resort in the East to open and has skiing on nearly 100 trails. Season ticket sales were reported up at both Vermont areas, and the present winter operations should not be affected by the bottom line at ASC. Returning to the past, when a ski area could open with one rope tow for a few hundred bucks and Jiminy Peak in Hancock got in business in the late 40’s with two rope tows and a T-bar for a grand total of $80,000, jumps were replaced by downhill ski areas in South Berkshire and throughout the ski world. This winter, there are only the Olympic jumps at Lake Placid and major jumps at Salisbury and Brattleboro, Vt. Otherwise, there are only a few training jumps. Jumping has been eliminated from high school and intercollegiate meets. During the days of the Berkshire Interscholastics, there was a jump designed and built by the late George (Doc) Maynard, a state highway engineer. Williams College jumpers used a hill at the Mount Greylock Ski Club’s Goodell Hollow facility. In the fall of 1948, I helped then Williams coach, Jim Parker, construct a jump on Sheep Hill, which collapsed during a rainstorm at the end of December before it was ever used, In the late ’30s and until World War II, skiers were happy with a short trail or a steep slope and climbed up for the quick thrill down. The late Clarence Bousquet let skiers use his farm slopes for free and then installed one of the first rope tows in the nation. By 1935, ski trains from New York would bring hundreds to this rapidly growing ski center, eventually boasting 10 tows. The winter of 1936-37 saw two trails cut by Civilian Conservation Corps workers on Warner Mountain in the Great Barrington State Forest. That small ski center gradually evolved into the present Butternut Basin, one of the best-regarded ski resorts in the East. Lifts were put in place at Jug End Barn Resort in Egremont, where Jack Fisher opened the nearby and large Catamount Ski Area in 1940. Dave Judson, a recently discharged 10th Mountain Division veteran, opened still tiny Otis Ridge in 1946, with the help of his wife, Hooker. Eastover Resort in Lenox offered skiing on a short chairlift soon afterwards, and, for a few winters, Beartown State Forest in East Lee and the adjacent Oak ’n Spruce Resort both operated rope tows. And not too far south of the Suicide Hill Ski Jump, Walter Schoenkneht developed Mohawk Mountain Resort near Cornwall, and then went on to build Mount Snow in West Dover, Vt. Now only Mohawk Mountain, Catamount, Butternut and Otis Ridge remain, all with chairlifts and the missing element of the early days, machine-made snow. From Bousquet in Pittsfield and all the way to Canada, snow sports resorts are bigger and bigger, with more facilities and attractions. More about them at a later date. Ski equipment has more than outdistanced ski areas in advanced technology. So much so that most skis and bindings can only be understood and enjoyed by trying them out. Many resorts offer “demo days” with manufacturers proudly offering their wares to skiers and snow boarders for tryouts — at no cost! Jiminy Peak’s first demo day of the season is Sunday, Dec. 21, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The latest products of several top companies will be available upon presentation of a driver’s license or credit card. You will be dumbfounded! The Jiminy program is made possible through Potter Brothers Ski Shops, with a large shop in the new Burbank Children’s Center Building. John Hitchcock of Williamstown writes frequently about the area sports scene.
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Lanesborough Fifth-Graders Win Snowplow Name Contest

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — One of the snowplows for Highway District 1 has a new name: "The Blizzard Boss."
 
The name comes from teacher Gina Wagner's fifth-grade class at Lanesborough Elementary School. 
 
The state Department of Transportation announced the winners of the fourth annual "Name A Snowplow" contest on Monday. 
 
The department received entries from public elementary and middle school classrooms across the commonwealth to name the 12 MassDOT snowplows that will be in service during the 2025/2026 winter season. 
 
The purpose of the contest is to celebrate the snow and ice season and to recognize the hard work and dedication shown by public works employees and contractors during winter operations. 
 
"Thank you to all of the students who participated. Your creativity allows us to highlight to all, the importance of the work performed by our workforce," said  interim MassDOT Secretary Phil Eng.  
 
"Our workforce takes pride as they clear snow and ice, keeping our roads safe during adverse weather events for all that need to travel. ?To our contest winners and participants, know that you have added some fun to the serious take of operating plows. ?I'm proud of the skill and dedication from our crews and thank the public of the shared responsibility to slow down, give plows space and put safety first every time there is a winter weather event."
 
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