First in my series "Commute To Work." I've been wanting to place some caches around the area, but with little kids at home I wanted to make sure I was able to maintain them, so these are all park and grabs along my commute to work from Pittsfield to North Adams.
Located across the road from the cache used to be a popular skiing destination. The 2,608 foot Brodie Mountain dates back to the 1934-35 season, when the 1.1 mile, 930 vertical foot Brodie Mountain Trail debuted. Lift service on Brodie Mountain likely started when a 1,100 foot rope tow was installed by Gregory Makaroff for the 1940-41 season. A beginner rope tow was added for the 1941-42 season. The area continued to operate as the United States entered World War II.
Following the war, an up-and-coming ski entrepreneur named Walter Schoenknecht leased Brodie from Makaroff for the 1946-47 season before heading south to open Mohawk Mountain in 1947. The area may have operated for one final season thereafter. Dealing with health issues, Makaroff moved to Montana, refusing to sell his Brodie property for any less than $35,000. Makaroff died at the age of 58 at veterans' hospital in Oregon, leaving his estate in limbo. Reports of a will in a missing briefcase gave way to negotiations with the USSR to obtain power of attorney from Makaroff's siblings.
The land eventually ended up in the hands of the Kellys, a logging family. During early 1964, Jim Kelly scouted out locations for ski trails, seeking the counsel of regional ski experts such as John Hitchcock. Trail clearing commenced on April 28, 1964, followed by the installation of two Stadeli lifts and 360 lights for night skiing. After being closed for over a decade, Brodie reopened in 1964-65 with five trails and an 850 foot vertical drop. With the night skiing, the large Blarney Room pub quickly became a popular place. For the next season, a new trail called Ryan's Express was cut. Also, a massive snowmaking system was installed, covering 90 percent of the terrain. Two new trails debuted for the 1966-67 season, named JFK and Mickey's Chute. The intermediate JFK quickly became one of the most popular trails on the mountain. With 7 miles of trails open at night, Brodie now billed itself as the largest night skiing facility in the world.
The ski area expanded to the summit in 1967, giving it the largest vertical drop in Southern New England. Chairlift service extended to the summit for the 1968-69 season with the installation of Dot's Lift. Named after Jim Kelly's wife, the new 5,600 foot Borvig double was advertised as the longest and highest chairlift in the state. In addition to the chairlift, the famous Tipperary beginner trail was added. Meanwhile, a new cafeteria was added at the base of Dot's Lift's under the name "Snowy Owl." A new Stadeli double chairlift, stopping just short of the summit, debuted along with two new trails for the 1977-78 season. This would be the final chairlift installed at Brodie. Brodie opened a new cross country ski center near the mountain for the 1980-81 season.
It was about this time that nearby Jiminy Peak was rapidly growing, eventually surpassing Brodie in both lift infrastructure and snowmaking firepower. By the time the 1990s drew to a close, Brodie's facilities were aging, as was its dwindling skier base. Ready to focus on golf rather than skiing, Jim Kelly sold the ski area to longtime rivals Brian Fairbank and Joseph O'Donnell in 1999. Kelly opened his "dream golf course," Donnybrook Country Club, in 2008. Meanwhile, planning for a mountaintop wind farm began in the late 1990s, resulting in the commissioning of the Berkshire Wind Power Project in 2011. Jiminy Peak operated it for three seasons, initially with plans to install a high speed detachable chairlift. After investing in snowmaking improvements, the new ownership realized Brodie would require more investment than they could justify with the remaining skier-base. As a result, they shut down skiing operations after the 2001-2002 season, while keeping the tubing facility open.
In 2004, Fairbank and O'Donnell sold Brodie to Silverleaf Resorts for $2.6 million. As part of the deal, Silverleaf could not operate a commercial ski or snowboard area at Brodie. Silverleaf planned to build 326 timeshares at Brodie for a cost of $50 million under the name of "Snowy Owl." While the snow tubing operation continued through the 2006-2007 season and initial demolition of old lifts and buildings took place, it turns out the project was not meant to be. You can still see a lot of the core infrastructure when viewing from the gate.