Marshall Miles Interviews Rich Edwards: Catamount is OPEN FOR THE SEASON!

Catamount Ski Area, located on the Massachusetts / New York state line near South Egremont, Massachusetts and Hillsdale, NY, is one of the original Berkshire ski areas in the Northeast founded in 1939. The careers of its owners, the Gilbert and Edwards families, ski area management is extensive – going back more than 60 years. Catamount first opened in 1939 by John (Jack) Fisher. The mountain was served by three rope tows – two 1,000′ long, the third 800′ long. A 500-vertical-foot climb beyond the summit of the tows was required to reach the summit. Catamount has remained one of the top recreation draws in the Berkshires, thanks to philosophy of continually improving and expanding the ski area and its services.  Since acquisition, the team has added lifts – including two chairlifts and three Wonder Carpet lifts; greatly upgraded facilities for beginner skiers and riders; and nearly doubled the amount of skiable terrain at the mountain and continued to diversify the summer operations.

Trail expansions and improvements included such popular runs as Sidewinder (originally built in 1990, and re-cut and re-graded in 2001; Catapult, the steepest run in the Berkshires; Upper Promenade, which now gives beginners a mile-long run and affords more experienced skiers nearly a 2 mile route from the summit, and one of the Berkshire’s best snow terrain parks. In 2006, Catamount replaced the old Ridge Run Double Chair with a new Summit Quad Chair Lift. This increased uphill capacity to the summit tremendously. Also, the boardercross was moved to Sunrise and expanded for double the fun. The Fishers Fluke trail was added in 2014 as was glade skiing in the meadows area.

In 2009, Catamount opened the first self-guided Arial Adventure Park to operate at a ski resort.  Currently this park has in excess of 170 elements making it one of the largest in New England. Snowmaking has been continually expanded and improved upon over the years.  Today, more than 98 percent of terrain is covered with snowmaking- using updated versions of the snow guns Bill developed nearly 40 years ago.