By Using Images of Families Skiing and People Using the Terrain Park, Ski Butternut Is Forming an:
"There are no coincidences." –Master Oegui (Kung Fu Panda)
For two months, I'd been trying to find a Butternut ski mom.
My quest started in the fall, when I got a really overnice electronic mail from Ski Butternut in Massachusetts. The email told me that Ski Butternut was a "True Family Mountain" and a "Family Gem" according to SKI Magazine.
I was intrigued. But I wanted to confirm this with a Butternut ski mom.
I posted requests on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. "Anyone out there ski Butternut?" I asked.
The just responses I got were from several dads who grew upwardly skiing Butternut.
And then I visited Squaw Valley.
Chairlift Kismet
My son and I were boarding the Shirley Express Elevator at Squaw when a friendly looking woman joined us. I asked her if she was having fun, and yes she was. She, likewise, was at Squaw skiing with her family and enjoying Spring Break.
I asked where she was from. "New York," she answered. And so I asked "Do you ever ski at Butternut?"
Her smile grew larger. She is a Butternut Ski Mom.
It was no coincidence.
Ski Butternut: The Real Deal for Northeast Families
When June Sidwell Fenniman and I spoke over again by phone in April, I asked her why her family skis Butternut.
"Butternut is ideally situated for us for weekend. We live just due north of New York Metropolis and Butternut is only 2 hours from New York and 2 hours from Boston."
She told me virtually the nearby villages of South Egremount, Swell Barrington and Stockbridge. It turns out that this office of Massachusetts is a cute, historic year-round tourist destination.
Great Barrington has been ranked the #1 Town in America by Smithsonian Magazine and one of the Top 10 Resort Communities in the Globe by Forbes.
Tanglewood is nearby for summertime concerts. Norman Rockwell had his studio in Stockbridge. And in the winter, many people have ski homes, which makes for a fun, vibrant ski community.
But generally we talked near the skiing.
"Butternut is an fantabulous family mountain," June told me. "The resort has a slap-up acquire-to-ski programme and can teach kids from an early on age to be skilled and safe skiers."
Butternut is a small mount, with about one thousand feet of vertical. In that location are 110 acres of skiing, with a full of 22 trails. Butternut makes no pretension toward being something it isn't.
"No one is coming here to bash bumps," explained Matt Sawyer the resort's Director of Marketing and a ski dad himself. "Some skiers won't be overly challenged, but they will have a great feel. Butternut is a great place to learn, and anybody leaves feeling proficient."
That Skilful Community Feeling
As June and I continued talking, I realized that "feeling good" as Matt put it, is important to the Ski Butternut experience.
"Because Butternut is small, picayune kids tin ski effectually with their pack of friends. Yous don't have to picket them every second of every day," she explained.
Everyone knows anybody at Butternut.
Kids love the freedom and so do the parents. In fact, when I asked June if there was anything at Butternut that she would change or improve she laughed and told me that the resort needs a bar.
"Right now, nosotros can't accept a party at the terminate of the day. Merely other than the lack of après ski, it'south perfect!"
Now this is not necessarily the complaint of a 1- or ii-fourth dimension per twelvemonth skier. To exist concerned about where to party, means you have a lot of friends. You lot take to exist a part of the Butternut community.
Racer Ready?
Youth ski racing is the glue that holds this community. Butternut has a strong tradition of racing, and currently almost 100 kids compete on their ski squad. As part of this program, kids learn to race on Saturdays and interclub competitions at other mountains in the Berkshires on Sundays.
The competition level steps upwardly as the kids get older and join the Tri-Country squad, with racers from resorts in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. At the highest levels, Butternut racers compete against the very best youth skiers from across New England.
Parents provide all the support and labor and go on the race club going. They've even created their own adult league. Spending this much time together at a modest mountain, traveling together for competitions, all the while searching for a place to party; it's no wonder they've become friends.
June's Advice
Finally, I asked June what advice she would requite other families visiting Ski Butternut.
Plan on having a nice friendly fourth dimension and don't worry virtually letting your kids get off on their own. Only tell them to meet at the pine trees if you tin't find each other. And, definitely put children in lessons. Butternut is a smashing larn to ski identify – become for it!
Equally for the lack of après ski, June and her friends accept found a way around this.
"Nosotros have a bang-up group of friends and we started our own informal ski and wine group!"
It's all part of being a community.
When You lot Get…
Ski Butternut is located near the village of Great Barrington in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. A family owned resort, it's known for being friendly, low-fundamental and affordable.
Midweek lift tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for juniors, while non-vacation weekends are $55 and $45. An adult season pass is $300. As Matt Sawyer put it, " We don't want skiing to be expensive. It is such a smashing sport that we want to share it with the masses. Nosotros encourage people to play hookey."
The ski school is extensive with over 350 instructors and as June explained, Ski Butternut is a larn-to-ski destination. Again, at that place is an emphasis on affordability. Kickoff time lessons are $75 and include a elevator ticket, equipment rental and didactics. This price is good whatsoever 24-hour interval of the season.
And, considering Ski Butternut has extensive snowmaking, you tin can bank on the snow beingness practiced any solar day of the season, equally well. "We don't have to rely on snow, just cold atmospheric condition," explains Sawyer. "Ski Butternut is usually the kickoff resort in this surface area to open, with a larger percentage of open trails than other mountains."
Training is another Ski Butternut specialty.
"Preparation makes our skiers feel better, so we groom everything every night into miles of corduroy. Our guests constantly tell us they savor the adept snow quality and that our grooming is spot on," according to Sawyer.
For more than information on Ski Butternut including lodging, dining, terrain parks and tubing, please visit SkiButternut.com.
Thank you to June Sidwell Fenniman for chatting with me on a chairlift and so spending a very enjoyable half-hour chatting over the telephone. June is a lot of fun and I merely wish we could ski together!
In add-on to being a ski mom to two boys, June is a talented graphic designer.
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Source: https://braveskimom.com/ski-butternut-the-real-deal-for-northeast-families
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