Another bucket list item to check off

[Phil]

Despite my optimism in 2024, it took another two winters to get Beartown checked off the bucket list. Went there today with Lynn A. and enjoyed it tremendously. Very challenging terrain. Way beyond what I was expecting for a circa 1930s network of ski trails. I should have read the description in Skiing in the East more carefully. (Grades of 40 deg. are reported. Yikes!!) 

Kudos to WMBA for doing the work to make this a destination. Rick, a regular at B.t. from Stockbridge, was our source of spot info. We met him in the parking lot. Following his suggestion we warmed up on Polar and, before bottoming out on the collecting trail, reascended to examine the middle of Lower Tow Line. That would have been a challenging descent though it still had some soft, untracked snow along the margins (Polar was pretty well skied out). Instead we continued traversing in the area between Polar and Lower Tow and enjoyed a more controlled, untracked, descent through the trees. There are many openings on the margins of the maintained trails to make similar forays.

I've definitely become a fan of the area and humbly admit being guilty of underestimating the impact that it can make on you, standing at the lip of one of the trails and staring it down waiting to see who blinks first. It was very reminiscent of the Steeple Trail on Stowe. Best map I found is on Backtrack: https://www.backtrackmaps.com/explore/map/6BNs2GMFEmnqAUSdqTjvN/fu4n97YyS9pAnunfVwLgz

Thanks Andy and all the others,

Phil 

[Phil]

Actually 2023 when I made that list.

[Andy Mathey]

Thanks Phil!!

So glad that you made it to Beartown.  What a gem of an area, right?

If it was located 100 miles north, it would be a premier backcountry spot.  Luckily for us, a few of these winter storms tracked directly across South Lee and left a ton of snow (and the consistent cold temps kept the snow there).  

I've got to give props to a lot of local skiers, including a fellow named Jeb, who did a lot of work keeping those trail open before we arrived at the scene.  And to Adam Morris, the Field Ops Team Leader for the the Beartown Complex.  He has been nothing but hugely supportive of our work on-site.  

It's great to see the area get so well used by the community this season.