Bousquet Ski Area

Bousquet Ski Area is a 200acre ski area located in on a northern summit of Yokun Ridge in Pittsfield, Massachusetts within the Berkshires cultural region. The resort features a vertical drop of 750ft, a lift-top elevation of 1818ft, twenty-four trails, five lifts, one terrain park, and 75% snowmaking capacity.HistoryCreated in 1932, the resort is the oldest existing ski area in The Berkshires. Prior to its use as a ski area the property was a mink farm belonging to Clarence J. "Clare" Bousquet. After his mink farming operation failed during the Great Depression, Bousquet, responding to the interest of the Mount Greylock Ski Club who had been using a steep pasture on his property as a practice run, allowed the club to cut a 750ft ski slope to the northern summit of Mahanna Cobble (part of Yokun Ridge) in 1933. The ski area was successful. Bousquet sold the ski area in 1956; it has changed hands twice since then.Bousquet was also the inventor of the rope tow gripper which protected the arms and hands of skiers using rope tow lifts. Bousquet marketed and subsequently sold 500,000 of his grippers. They were first to have night skiing.