Berkshire ski areas run events through the year, and they matter to a visitor in two opposite ways. An event can be the reason to come, or it can be the reason a particular weekend is crowded and the parking is full.
Either way, checking the calendar before travelling is worth the two minutes, and very few people do it.
Wind turbine tours
The most distinctive thing on offer at a Berkshire mountain is not a ride. Jiminy Peak installed a 1.5 megawatt wind turbine on its ridge in 2007, and it was the first ski area in the United States to power a substantial share of its operations from an on-site turbine.
The machine is visible from a considerable distance and has become the signature of the skyline here. Guided tours run on scheduled dates through the warm months, typically on weekend afternoons, with a modest charge and advance booking required.
The tour is genuinely interesting rather than a promotional exercise, because the economics of a ski area are unusual — enormous electricity demand for snowmaking, concentrated in exactly the cold, windy months when a turbine performs best. It is a rare case of a business whose load profile and whose generation profile match.
Numbers are limited and dates are announced seasonally, so this is one to check rather than turn up for.
The summer calendar
Beyond the tours, the warm season brings the usual mix: seasonal festivals, live music at the base areas on weekend afternoons, holiday weekends built around the Fourth of July and Labor Day, and occasional charity events using the mountain.
Mountain biking supports its own calendar of races and organised rides through the summer, which are worth knowing about in both directions — as an event to enter, or as a reason the trails will be busy. That side is covered on mountain biking.
The rest of the summer operation, and the three-phase season it runs on, is set out on summer.
The winter calendar
Winter events cluster into four kinds.
Demo days, where manufacturers bring next season's skis and boards for visitors to try free or nearly free. For anyone considering buying equipment, this is the single most useful day of the year — trying six pairs of skis on the same slope in an afternoon is not otherwise possible. Details on when buying beats renting are on rentals.
Races and competitions, from club racing to freestyle events. These close terrain, which is the practical consequence for everyone else.
Holiday programming over Christmas, New Year and the February school break — torchlight descents, fireworks, children's activities. These weekends are the busiest of the year, and the operating hours differ from the ordinary pattern, as set out on when the hills run.
St Patrick's Day, which in these hills carries more history than it does elsewhere. Brodie Mountain, the ski area this site is named for, was owned by the Kelly family and marketed itself for decades as Kelly's Irish Alps. Its St Patrick's celebrations were the largest event of the Berkshire ski calendar, complete with green-dyed snow. Brodie closed to public skiing in 2002, but mid-March in these hills still carries a trace of it.
Checking before travelling
Event calendars are published seasonally and change. Dates listed months ahead move, and tours in particular are often marked as to be announced well into the spring.
Three practical rules.
Confirm the date directly before making a long drive for a specific event, rather than relying on a listing found through a search.
Assume that any event weekend means full parking and long queues at the rental counter, and arrive earlier than usual.
Check whether an event closes terrain. A race weekend can take a substantial part of a small mountain out of use, which matters more here than at a large resort.
Events as a reason to come, or not
For a passholder or a local, events are a bonus. For a family driving three hours, they are a mixed proposition — a festival weekend is livelier and also considerably more crowded, and on a small hill the crowding is felt.
Anyone whose priority is skiing rather than atmosphere should look at the calendar and choose the weekend that has nothing on it. Anyone whose priority is a day out with children should do the opposite. The wider range of what the county offers on any given weekend is on more things to do and family fun.