Adams, MA: Thunderbolt Ski Race Goes Rando

New England backcountry skiers have plenty to be thankful for this year. Winter Storm Cato bullseyed on the Berkshires over Thanksgiving, gracing the Thunderbolt Ski Trail with its first significant cover ahead of the run’s 80th anniversary race on February 28, 2015.

Plunging nearly 2,500 vertical feet down Mt. Greylock, the tallest mountain in Massachusetts, the Bolt has undergone a remarkable revival in the five years since local skiers revived the storied trail with a vertical to rival that of the major northeastern ski resorts.

Mt. Greylock looms over the town of Adams, and is home base for the Thunderbolt Ski Runners, who maintain the Bolt with state permission. Following some busy fall work days, they hosted a season kickoff and membership drive on November 21. They also gathered to make a big announcement about the 2015 race: it’s going rando.

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Whiteface, NY: Early Season Rewards

Slowly but surely, ski resorts have been coming online this week like lightbulbs on an aerial map of the northeast. First a flash from central Vermont as Killington kicked off the region’s ski season, then a flicker from Maine as lifts began cranking at Sunday River.

Whiteface-NY-Summit

Even Governor Cuomo got into the act, announcing last Friday that Whiteface and Gore were opening for the season. In other words, it was time to get skiing.

The rain blanketing the Hudson Valley on Monday held the promise of snow further north, though with a warming trend that was likely pushing the rain-snow line at least as high as the Killington summit and possibly a good ways up Whiteface as well.

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