Lost ski areaMassachusettsBerkshire HillsNortheast
Eastover
A small ski hill with a double chairlift at the Eastover resort in Lenox, run from the late 1940s into at least the mid-1990s.
Overview
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Imagery: USGS The National Map · Terrain: Mapzen, USGS and others
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George Bisacca bought the Eastover property in Lenox in 1946 and opened it as a recreation center on May 27, 1947. A 600-foot rope tow opened to the public in January 1949.1,2
Read the whole historyTodayThe property is marketed as a holistic retreat center, with no plans to bring skiing back.1
Timeline
8 events · swipe
Memories
Skied Eastover, or worked there?
Tell us what you remember, or what this page has wrong. Memories show here, credited to you, after we read them; facts are checked against a source before they change a figure.
Lost near Eastover
The closest other lost ski areas, as the crow flies.
- 1935–1964 · 7 mi away · MassachusettsA state forest ski area above South Lee, cut by the CCC for snow trains in 1935, that ran with rope tows on and off until the 1960s.
- 1939–2002 · 15.4 mi away · MassachusettsA ski area on Brodie Mountain in New Ashford, Massachusetts, known for night skiing, whose modern era ran from 1964 to its last season in 2001–02.
- 1949–1989 · 16.9 mi away · MassachusettsA family-run ski area on Route 9 in West Cummington that operated from the 1949–50 winter until March 1989.
History
Written by aurora.ski from the 2 pages below, each sentence numbered to its sources.
George Bisacca bought the Eastover property in Lenox in 1946 and opened it as a recreation center on May 27, 1947. A 600-foot rope tow opened to the public in January 1949. Ski operations proper began with the 1954–55 winter, and a small snowmaking system followed for 1956–57. A 1,500-foot Hall double chairlift arrived for 1964–65. The hill was short: 165 feet of vertical by New England Ski History's figure, 100 to 200 feet by NELSAP's, with two trails off the chair and one by the rope tow.1,2
Skiing went on at least through 1994–95, likely on a smaller scale; that season the resort borrowed a snow gun from Bousquet to open. NELSAP points to the cost of replacing the chairlift's cable, and liability, as the reasons it stopped. Bisacca died in 1983 and his daughters ran the resort until it closed on November 1, 2009. New owners bought it in 2010 for $5.4 million and reopened it without skiing.1,2
TodayThe property is marketed as a holistic retreat center, with no plans to bring skiing back.1
Timeline
- 1947George Bisacca opens Eastover as a recreation center on May 271
- 1948First ski winter: a 600-foot rope tow opens in January 19491
- 1954Regular ski operations begin with the 1954–55 season1
- 1956A small snowmaking system debuts for 1956–571
- 1964A 1,500-foot Hall double chairlift is installed1,2
- 1994Skiing runs in 1994–95, the last season on record, with a borrowed snow gun1
- 2009The Eastover resort closes on November 11
- 2010Sold for $5.4 million and reopened as a retreat center1
Sources for this history (2)
- 1New England Ski History · Eastover Resort History
- 2New England Lost Ski Areas Project · Eastover Resort, Lenox
Photos
No photographs of Eastover we may republish yet
Its old photos and trail maps live on the sites that collected them, and Google finds the rest.
Memories
What skiers remember of Eastover, in their own words.
Facts
Location
42.3725° N · 73.2558° W · Massachusetts · Berkshire Hills
OpenSkiMap lists it as abandoned.
Years operated
from 1948 · the year it closed is not yet collected
Closed for good; the year it closed is not yet collected. It stays here as part of the record of U.S. ski areas.
Its numbers
all 2all 2, in one list
Terrain contours: USGS 3D Elevation Program, public domain