The 2014 Bay State Games begin Friday with hockey and figure skating at Lansing Chapman and Vietnam Veterans Memorial rinks.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Pittsfield's Joe Skutnik has been working with the Winter Bay State Games half a dozen years.

 

This weekend, he will get to enjoy some of the event as a spectator.

 

Skutnik has coordinated the alpine skiing competition for the winter sports festival since it moved to Bousquet Ski Area, where he is race coordinator.

 

This year, the Bay State Games are honoring Skutnik as one of the program's Berkshire Heroes, along with Bousquet ski instructor and coach Jill Johnson of Dalton and the Orchards Hotel in Williamstown.

 

Skutnik said he and Johnson are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to putting on a downhill event at Bousquet.

 

"They gave that award to me, but there's 20 other people who help run a ski race," he said. "They should have given out 20 of those things in my mind. It's not easy running a ski race.

 

"Week in and week out, year in and year out, it's the same people. We enjoy doing it. Really, we're just doing it for the kids."

 

The kids and adults who raced for Bay State Games glory this year did so back in February. The rest of the Bay State Games — hockey in North Adams and figure skating in Williamstown — will be contested this weekend starting at 8:30 a.m. Friday at Williams College's Lansing Chapman Rink.

 

Skutnik explained that the skating and hockey schedules were dictated by rink availability. The alpine event is dictated by Mother Nature.

 

"You don't want to run a ski race this far into March because you don't know if you're going to have the coverage," he said. "You know you're going to have some coverage in February, whether it's manmade or natural.

 

"In March ... granted it's been cooler this year, but we've had some St. Patty's Days when there's barely any snow left."

 

Back when conditions were more predictable, middle school, high school and masters division skiers competed at the Pittsfield hill, and eight Berkshire County residents were among the gold medal winners: Dalton's Louise Bryan and Drew Dunham, Lanesborough's Tom Carmen and Erich Maynard, Lenox's Eric McCormack and Pittsfield's Jean Jones, Scott Raaymaakkers and Stefan Ogle.

 

Dozens of skaters in all age groups will look to finish on top of their respective divisions from Friday to Sunday, when Ice Skating Institute- and U.S. Figure Skating- sanctioned competitions help determine place winners and berths on Massachusetts' team at the 2015 State Games of America in Omaha, Neb.

 

Meanwhile, down the road at the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Skating Rink in North Adams, 12 masters hockey teams — including the Berkshire Blizzard, the Shamrocks, the Teddy Bear Pools and the Nordiques — will compete in two age divisions starting at 3 p.m. on Friday and continuing all day Saturday with championship games on Sunday afternoon.

 

But the Bay State Games are not all about competition. They also include the annual figure skating show on Saturday evening, featuring the production team from the Christmas Brook Figure Skating Team, U.S. Figure Skating Juvenile Ladies National Champion Iris Zhao and recognition of the Berkshire Heroes.

 

There is no admission charge to attend the competition as a spectator. Tickets for the skating show are $10 and can be purchased at Lansing Chapman Rink on Friday or Saturday. The schedule for the games can be found here.