Owners of Berkshire East upgrading Vermont’s Burke Mountain after spring purchase

This is a biweekly column about all things skiing and snowboarding in New England.

Longtime owners of Berkshire East are expanding again and at the same time saving another struggling independent ski area in New England.

In May the Schaefer family, owners of the popular Western Massachusetts ski area, joined with other partners to purchase Burke Mountain in Vermont for $11.5 million.

The new owners are hoping to give the overlooked area the stability needed to survive after decades of turmoil, including multiple owners and at least one bankruptcy. Most recently, it has operated under receivership for nine years after a scandal over the misuse of federal funds sent its owner and two others to jail.

Jon Schaefer sees great potential in the often-overlooked Vermont mountain located off Interstate 91 and has faith Bear Den Partners can overcome its chaotic past.

“There is a lot of mountain biking, it has incredible glades, it has a beautiful hotel,” said Schaefer, who is serving as chief operating officer at Bear Den Partners. “It is another great independent mountain. The superlatives keep coming.”

With a vertical drop of 2,000 feet and 53 trails, Burke is larger than Berkshire East and Catamount but the mountains have a lot of similarities, Schaefer said.

Burke Mountain is a spot Schaefer said he has watched for some time. His wife is from nearby St. Johnsbury and he raced at the mountain and it has a lot of similarities to Berkshire East.

Bear Den Partners — which includes principals Ken Graham and his family which briefly owned Burke two decades ago, owners of the renown ski racing school Burke Mountain Academy and other investors — were finally able to secure approvals to purchase the mountain following a court ruling.

Since then, the partners have been working overtime to get Burke ready for this season. Boosted by improved snowmaking and favorable weather they were able to open on Dec. 6, one of the earliest starts in years.

“The infrastructure was already in good shape. There are two high-speed quads and a lot of snowmaking, despite being in trouble for years,” Schaefer said.

Still, it needed attention and the partners short-term plan is to invest some $10 over the next two years and $20 million long-term in trail improvements, lift changes and operation upgrades, officials said.

“We have done two years of work in five months with tons of snowmaking, lots of new guns,” Schaefer said. “We have an incredible team working there and doing great things.”

The priority has been to enhance the snowmaking power and there has been a lot of behind-the-scenes work to improve the electrical workings of the lifts to ensure they are reliable. The J-bar in the learning area has also been completely overhauled and the mountain has a new groomer, he said.

At the same time the partners are also working with staff to modernize operating systems to make it more efficient.

This isn’t the first time Berkshire East has acquired a struggling ski area. In 2018 it purchased Catamount, in Egremont, joining together two independent mountains in the Berkshires. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic it has made dramatic overhauls, adding a new lodge, replacing chairlifts, cutting new trails and overhauling snowmaking.

It also expanded summer operations at Catamount with zip lining and other summer activities.

The existing popularity and infrastructure of mountain biking in and around Burke through the more than 100-mile Kingdom Trail network, was one of the many things that made Burke a good fit for his company since mountain biking has become a huge success at Berkshire East, Schaefer said.

“Kingdom Trails is one of the most important trail networks with 133,000 visits a year and it is an amazing resource for the resort,” he said, adding he hopes to work with the organization to expand the network and offerings at Burke.

Already, the Massachusetts mountain is transferring some of its recipe for success to Burke. Longtime Berkshire East manager Gabe Porter-Henry has been tapped as general manager of Burke to replace interim general manager Tom Day, who stepped in to help but is retiring.

Burke has also joined the Indy Pass as a full member this year. Berkshire East and Catamount were both original members of the multi-mountain pass that gives holders two tickets to resorts across the world and have had great success drawing new skiers and snowboarders through it.

Shortly after acquiring Catamount, the Schaefers also created the joint Summit Pass, that gives purchasers access to both mountains, and the Unlimited Summit Pass also allows the holder to ski any time at Bousquet Mountain under a partnership plan.

“We are still working on the tickets but there is expected to be some exchange between the resorts,” Schaefer said. “This year will be different from next year.

The location of Burke Mountain also made the connection attractive. While many of the best-known mountains in Vermont are found off Interstate 89 and Route 100, Burke is directly off Interstate 91 and an about three-hour drive from Greenfield, Schaefer said.

Berkshire East also acquired the whitewater rafting, zip lining and other adventuring company Zoar Outdoors, also located in Charlemont, in 2020. Previously the two businesses had worked together.

It also owns Big Red Cats in Rossland, British Columbia, that brings skiers and riders into the backcountry via snowcats.