Calendar of Events

The Inaugural Berkshire Highlands Pentathlon produced by Berkshire East Ski Resort and Zoar Outdoor will be held on March 31st in mud or snow, clouds or glow, through rivers, hills, & dells, while fans for miles ring assorted bells! Oh my!

Organizers will be prepared for anything and everything that ole’ mother nature has to offer, and truthfully, they hope to experience the whole spring weather gamut! “Bring it on” they beckon. “After all, it is mud season as well as maple sugar season” in the highlands late in March. “Let’s celebrate instead of groan” they proudly note “while we raise some serious support for The Franklin Land Trust and the Highlands Communities Initiative project of the Trustees of Reservations.”

It is sure to be a fine and glorious day, indeed, in the  aptly moniker-ed (People-Powered) Adventure Capital of New England which lies within the most northern towns of the human-scaled  Massachusetts Berkshire Highlands. After all, the Charlemont, Massachusetts area, with the Deerfield River meandering through the lowlands, is the home to two canopy tour zip line operators, a Nordic Ski-Touring Center, three Whitewater rafting companies, an alpine ski resort, and miles and miles of barely broken in hiking and biking trails too numerous to name (as yet!). While poets and painters have spun glory upon these wending pathways for generations, and fishers and hunters communed with it’s wilds, only recently have four season people-powered outdoor sports enthusiasts found their inspiration in significant numbers.

This pentathlon, presented by Steve Lewis Subaru, has five elements and is for “Tartan-Teams-of-Five”, Tam O’ Shanter-Teams-of-Two” or “Highlander Brave Heart lads & Lassies” who will muscle, hoot, and grimace it all by themselves.The competition starts with a  steep road run up to the Warfield House Inn & Restaurant, where race registration and packet pick up is held the night before, and continues on woods roads and trails for five or so, miles emerging from the canopied part of the day at the Zoar Outdoor Headquarters where the transition to the road cycling is held in their parking lot. The cyclist member of the team rides all the way up, up, up into Rowe and then seriously down into Monroe, across the bridge and south along the Deerfield to Zoar Gap, where the transition to the kayaker is staged. The cyclist will be keeping the rubber to the road for 22, or so, miles. The paddler then battles the spring freshets for 5 miles going downriver to the 8A bridge in Charlemont village where the penultimate team member commences on foot to the of Berkshire East Ski area base lodge and must decide what foot gear to don next when they arrive there. They can choose the most, or least, direct route to ascend the majority of the mountain they see before themselves and may elect snow shoes, backcounrty skis and skins, Nordic skis,  or boots and crampons in their assault of the summit where the transition to the down hill and final alpine portion of the event begins. The descent, with a few uphill gates thrown in for good measure, will be in plain view of the, sure to be massive, cow-bell-waiving, crowd of frenetic fans at the base lodge finish line.? Other “somewhat-kilted” events will complete the days activities with the skirl of the bagpipes echoing in the valley.For more details and registration  go to www.berkshirehighlandsevents.com