
Catamount
133 acres, 38 runs spanning New York and Massachusetts. Historic Berkshires resort, extensive night skiing.
Catamount's summit reaches 2,001 feet, dropping roughly 1,000 vertical feet to a base at 1,001 feet across 38 runs spread over 133 acres straddling the New York-Massachusetts border in the Berkshires. Terrain splits 40 per cent beginner, 35 per cent intermediate, 15 per cent advanced and 10 per cent expert, with average annual snowfall of roughly 100 inches. Eight lifts, including two double chairs and one quad chair, serve the mountain alongside two triple chairs and three surface lifts.
Catamount's genuine claim to fame is its two-state footprint, with terrain spanning Hillsdale, New York and South Egremont, Massachusetts on Mount Fray in the Taconic Mountains. This border-straddling geography, combined with the resort's status as one of the oldest ski areas in the country, gives Catamount a distinctive place in Northeast skiing history.
John Falconer Fisher discovered the mountain's potential as a ski area in 1937 and 1938, camping at its base with friends through the summer to cut trails and shape a vision for what would become one of the first organised ski areas in the United States. Catamount opened for business in 1939 with three rope tows powered by a car engine, and early skiers frequently arrived from New York City by train to Hillsdale before being ferried to the mountain by truck.
Brothers Bill and Sandy Gilbert, together with business partner Don Edwards, purchased Catamount in 1974, expanding trails and substantially increasing snowmaking coverage. In May 2018, the Schaefer family, longtime owners of Berkshire East Mountain Resort in Massachusetts, purchased Catamount, bringing it under common ownership with that neighbouring resort. Adult daily tickets run from 69 to 89 US dollars, with free access for seniors aged 80 and over.
Catamount straddles the New York and Massachusetts border near Hillsdale, covering 133 acres (54 hectares) of terrain with 38 runs. The summit tops out at 2,000 ft (610 m), dropping about 1,000 ft (305 m) to the base at 1,000 ft (305 m). Beginners hold the largest share at 40%, followed by 35% intermediate, 15% advanced and 10% expert, so the mix leans friendlier than most Berkshires areas. Eight lifts, made up of a quad, two triples, two doubles and three surface lifts, give the compact footprint plenty of uphill capacity.
Catapult is billed as the steepest run in the Berkshires, and Sidewinder, Cat's Meow and Lynx are among the other named trails. The longest descent is Ridge Run into Upper and Lower Promenade, about 2.5 miles end to end. Panther Park is one of several terrain parks for freestyle riders. Catamount suits families, learners and weekend visitors from New York City and the Hudson Valley looking for a mellow, varied mountain, while stronger skiers can lap the steeper pitches on a smaller scale than the bigger Catskills or Adirondack mountains.
The 2025-26 season at Catamount ran from 13 December 2025 to 5 April 2026, a roughly sixteen-week season supported by average annual snowfall of around 100 inches. Extensive snowmaking supplements natural snowfall to maintain consistent conditions throughout the season across the resort's beginner-weighted terrain.
Midwinter, from December through February, typically brings the most consistent conditions to the mountain's varied terrain spanning the New York-Massachusetts border. Catamount's extensive night-skiing programme extends the useful ski day for visitors from the surrounding Berkshires and Hudson Valley regions well beyond daylight hours.
As a resort under common Schaefer family ownership with neighbouring Berkshire East Mountain Resort, Catamount's visitor base draws from both the New York and Massachusetts sides of the Berkshires, alongside day-trippers from the broader tri-state region. School holiday periods bring increased family visitation given the resort's substantial beginner and intermediate terrain. Free access for seniors aged 80 and over reflects the resort's broadly welcoming pricing philosophy.
Specific event programming beyond standard operations and night skiing is not confirmed in available resort information. Since the Schaefer family's 2018 purchase, Catamount has continued building on more than eight decades of operation dating to its 1939 opening. The resort's distinctive two-state footprint remains a defining seasonal talking point for visitors throughout the winter.
Catamount sits on Mount Fray in the Taconic Mountains, straddling the border between Hillsdale, New York and South Egremont, Massachusetts, with a base elevation of 1,001 feet and a summit at 2,001 feet over 133 acres. This setting places the resort within the southern Berkshires alongside nearby Butternut and Otis Ridge.
Hillsdale, New York and the broader Berkshires region on both sides of the state line offer lodging, dining and additional recreation for visitors. The Hudson Valley and Housatonic Valley regions surround the resort, with both New York City and Boston-area visitors historically drawn to the mountain given its relatively central Northeast location.
New York State Route 23 provides direct access to the resort from Hillsdale, connecting through to Massachusetts on the eastern side of the mountain. Winter driving conditions on regional roads can include snow and ice, though the well-travelled routes through the Berkshires are regularly maintained. There is no direct public transport service to the resort, though the area was historically served by train from New York City.
Specific nearest commercial airport details are not confirmed in available resort information, though the resort's position within the Berkshires keeps it within a reasonable drive of both the greater New York City and Boston metropolitan areas.
Hotels and lodges near Catamount, powered by Stay22.

Rain down low, snow up high, and a snow report full of zeros that mostly means ‘not updated yet’. Utah’s first proper storm of 2026-27 is rolling through the Wasatch, Snowbird’s snow stake is closing in on 10 inches, and Brian Head is five days from opening day. Early November snow rarely looks like much, but it is the layer every November opening date is built on. Here is where it stands.

Halloween weekend brings a wet, windy storm to the Sierra Nevada. Our five-day forecast has Dodge Ridge on top with 19 in, followed by Bear Valley at 15 in and Mammoth Mountain at 12 in, with most of it landing on Saturday. A winter weather advisory covers the Tahoe Basin and Mono County until 7 AM Sunday, gusts could reach 47 mph and the freezing level swings between 4,900 and 8,700 ft, so some bases will see rain. A dry spell follows from Monday.

The Rockies get their first lift-served turns of the season early. Lake Louise opens Sunday 1 November, five days ahead of schedule, after a cold October and round-the-clock work from the snowmaking and mountain crews. Terrain is limited to Juniper Express Chair and Easy Street, with two small terrain parks and the beginner area for lessons. Opening-day tickets are over 60% off, with prices rising as more lifts open. First chair is at 9:30 am under the resort’s new lift hours.

A Tyrolean summit lift that has been carrying guests up the Kitzbüheler Horn since 1955 is on borrowed time. Its licence runs to 2045, but a new inspection rule has made refurbishment uneconomic, so Bergbahn AG Kitzbühel will spend around €15 million on a replacement on the same line. It should hold roughly 100 people and keep running in winds that would stop today’s lift. Building starts in autumn 2027, which makes this winter and next summer the last chances to ride the old one.

Niseko Village is replacing a lift from the early 1980s with an eight-person gondola, Tsugaike gets a six-person chairlift, Madarao joins the Ikon Pass and Togari opens Asia’s first private ski resort. Here’s what is actually new in Japan skiing for 2026/27, plus what is still a year or two away.

Colorado’s early-season dominoes keep falling. Arapahoe Basin opened on Wednesday, Keystone follows on Friday, and now Wolf Creek is joining in on Saturday 31 October, just in time for Halloween. A storm on 23 and 24 October left 20 inches of natural snow in the San Juans, and three lifts will turn from 9:00 am, covering about 30% of the mountain. Expect rocks, unmarked obstacles and open water, but also Local Appreciation lift tickets at $73 for adults.

Keystone is next. After Arapahoe Basin claimed the first chairlift skiing of the season on Wednesday, Keystone opens on Friday 30 October at 9:00 am with more than two miles of snowmaking-built terrain on Schoolmarm and Silver Spoon, plus free donuts, coffee and a live DJ. Last year the order was reversed, when Keystone squeezed in a three-hour afternoon session to beat A-Basin by a day. Snowmaking has been running since 15 October.

Beaver Creek is getting ready for the biggest Birds of Prey ever, and this time it is not leaving the snow to chance. Crews started making snow on 27 October with 16 newly installed automated guns on the lower third of the course, after last December’s warm spell forced a downhill off the schedule. Seven races across two weekends run from 3 to 13 December, the most the course has hosted since its 1997 debut, and the guns start themselves whenever the weather allows.
Live open status isn’t available right now.
Scroll for the full outlook · Open-Meteo
Days 1–7
0.0"
Days 8–14
0.4"
Live snow from the resort feed; forecast from Open-Meteo, via Supabase.
Snow depth at Catamount is tracked at both the base and summit, since the two elevations often see different totals — roughly a 305m difference here. We report fresh snowfall over the last 24 hours and 7 days alongside the running season total, in both metric and imperial units.
Current weather conditions affect snow quality. Cold temperatures with low wind typically preserve snow quality, while warm temperatures or rain can impact conditions negatively — something worth watching closely at Catamount's 305m base elevation, where temperatures run milder than the summit.
We pull Catamount's conditions from on-the-ground mountain reporting, then layer in forecast data so you get a fuller picture than either source alone. The mountain is served by 8 lifts, including a quad chairlift.
Conditions can change overnight, so mornings and late afternoons are the best times to check back on Catamount.