Winter is on it's way. The Summer and Fall sure flew by. Most of my weekends these last few months where spent on the Thunderbolt. The trail is in unbelievably good shape. Every other week the Thunderbolt Ski Runners have had a trail day and every week we have had a good turn out of volunteers. For anyone who has skied the Bolt in the past, this season will be a great surprise to you. There has even been a bit of snow up there this year and there is still a good dusting on the ground right now.
Besides alot of trail work and regular " ole make a living work" I have still had a few good play days these last couple months. I've had a few days of camping, a bit of mountain biking, and a couple days of climbing in the Gunks with Powder hound Rich. It seems like there has been more work than play these past few months but when the snow starts falling that will all change. I normally have a few pictures to offer but every time I reach for the camera the batteries seem to be dead. But I do have two pictures to show. One is of Powder hound Rich rapping off a route in the Gunks. The other is of the brand new skis I just got for this season. Which I hope gets you excited for some snow. I know I get excited looking at new skis and as soon as I took the skis out of the gear room my dog came running thinking we were going skiing. I know my dog and I are excited and I hope you are to.

The weather for the next week is looking great. It might even be the best week that we have had all year. Over the past few days I have been real busy enjoying these beautiful days. On Sunday there was a Thunderbolt trail day which turned out to be another great success. On Monday Josh from the Berkshire Outfitters and I went for a good road bike ride up and over the Mount Greylock auto road. And today I got a little solo canoeing/fishing in. With the good forecast I can't wait to see what I get into tomorrow. I hope everyone gets to take advantage of this great weather and I will see you out there real soon.

Wow, I think that we all forgot about updating this blog or something. No, in reality the site was down for a long time and since no one here knows how to actually work a computer it took even longer to get it going than it should have. Some things are different though. We no longer have our main site running, now the Berkshire Backcountry address will bring you to the blog. This was the most viewed and updated part of our site although it hasn't seemed that way in a while. Besides all of our computer troubles and the non-stop rain we are still getting after it. I know Chris has been entering a few races this season and he is really pushing it. Just last weekend we went for a real good road bike ride and as soon as we got done he asked me to go for an eight mile run with him. I went home, he went running. So I can tell Chris has been busy. I've been pretty busy myself this summer. There has been alot going on with the upcoming ThunderBolt Ski race. Every month we have had a trail day, and every other week we have a board meeting to discuss all the important issues that come with holding this race. All in all the race is coming along great and the trail has never looked so good. Other than that it has been a well rounded summer with a bit of everything. The rain has only put a damper on my climbing, I have far fewer days in this year than in the past. But the routes that I got in this season have been some real classics. The trails have been a bit muddy but that hasn't stop any of us from putting a ton of miles on our mountain bikes. The next thing everyone has been enjoying is the fresh pavement on the Mount Greylock auto road. From my house in Adams it is a smooth and fast forty mile ride around, up, and over the mountain which we are all starting to get dialed. Besides riding and climbing we have been doing a lot of paddling. The water has been record high and I have finally got around to finishing the canoe I started to build a while ago. Hard to believe the Summer is almost over but that's fine with me because the Fall and the Winter is my favorite time to play anyways. Hope to see you all out there and I promise a more regular blog to be posted. Enjoy the rest of your Summer and I will leave you with a few pictures of my canoe and a recent climbing trip.

Well it's that time of the year again when things just don't work out. The snow is all gone, trails are nothing but mud, the rocks are seeping water and it won't stop raining. So now all you can do is wait for those nice days to come or just such it up and go get wet and muddy. If your not into that than it is time to find some alternative recreation. The climbing gyms are always dry and the rivers and lakes are always wet so a little rain won't hurt you. Either way we are always out in search of a good adventure. The best thing about the rainy weather is that it has convinced us to start our surfing a little early this year. the only place where you don't mind if it's cold and rainy out is in the ocean because you can't find to many places colder and wetter than the Atlantic. I love to leave photos of our latest adventures but I only have one. I really have no idea what is going on here but this is he only photo that I have taken lately. See you guys out there and don't let the weather get you down.

Berkshire Backcountry's Newest Edition

We would all like to welcome the newest edition to the Berkshire Backcountry team, Maple!

Last week I was beginning to believe that Spring was here but I was proven wrong. The winter is still going strong and it isn't over yet. The Thunderbolt has good snow and there still is time for a couple more runs. Even though it is still cold and the snow and ice are good the cold days of Winter are numbered. With this in mind we have been trying to get a few good days of ice climbing and skiing in. We spent last weekend in New Hampshire ice climbing knowing that it might be the last time we get up there for the season. By the way water was running up there Spring is coming fast. There is still time to play in the snow but soon it will be mud season. So tune up the bikes and get out the rock gear because the warm weather is on it's way.

Just when I thought we might get some Spring time weather I was wrong. We did get a warm up but now we're back to the cold and the snow. That's just fine with us. We haven't even thought about putting away the skis and ice gear. With this snow and cold it should refresh the climbs and trails making them in some of the best shape they have been in all year long. So like I always say, go and get after it. I have posted a couple photos of what the Dacks ice climbing looked like this weekend.