Today is the first day of the rest of your ski season. 

On Tuesday I wrote an excellent blog post. However, because I am a boring PC guy, and not used to my wife's MacBook Pro Keyboard, I deleted my treatise before I could post it. 

Probably a good thing. 

For me its been an more up than down ten days, but the down was waaayyy down (thank you Mario Manningham....) Ups included, Ob/Gyn appts (do they make baby on board orange warning vests for ski coats?) a house closing, extreme home makeovering (sp?). The down was, of course, a soul crushing, stomach eviscerating, mind numbing, body pulverizing, horse trampling, cow stampeding Patriot defeat (w infinite media coverage) to the the Giants. 

I still can't read the news ( and I am a up at 4:30, read the NYTimes, cnn.com, espn.com, msnbc.com, wallstreetjournal.com, scientificamerican.com, etc.etc type of guy... Its' been all Steve Jobs biography for me this week...) 

What I learned is that success is a razors edge. Luck and perception are a huge factor in any outcome. 

Take the Pats for example. 

In 2001, the Pats make the Super Bowl on the Tuck Rule. Vinateri makes a last second kick. Both could have gone either way. 

In 2003, the Panthers, lose in a wild finish (Rodney plays the last few minutes with a broken arm, but the secondary gets torched. If not for a final Panthers kickoff out of bounds, giving the Pats the ball on the 40, there's a good chance the Pats lose that game. 

In 2004, its probably the most clearcut Pats victory, but the Eagles have a chance at the end, but Mcnabb runs out of steam and reportedly pukes in the huddle due to being out of shape. 

In 2006, AFC Championship game in Indy, the Pats blow a 21 point half time lead to the Colts. 

In 2007, David Tyreee. 

Last week, Mario Manningham, Brady's shoulder, and Wes Welker. 

In all of these scenarios... Pats could be 0-5, or 5-0, instead we are a heady 3-2.

(No offense to our Giants fans customers... I write about what I experience and I am what I am and that's a Pats fan...)

Now lets look at Berkshire East. Last season, the east, particularly Ct, eastern MA, and the cities were dumped on by snow. Every storm was on a Thurs or Friday, and our weekends were extremely busy. 

Two years ago. Similar, not as snowy. We made more snow two years ago than this... (which means we lost more snow along the way...Cold and dry through January, snow in the spring. 

Three years ago. Similar. 

This season. Warm and rainy in December, then a little more seasonable. As we discussed, ad infinitum here, there were a couple of cold, icy, snowy, rainy, days that could have gone either way in the cities and been snow... that they are taking away from the main event, which is that the skiing has been fantastic because the ski area hasn't been all the effected from the warmer temps!

As those of you who have been skiing regularly know, Berkshire East had a great snowmaking push in early January that opened a lot of terrain and put Berkshire East into tip top shape. Yet, no snow in the cities, Ct, central MA etc, has led folks to the perception that the skiing isn't all that good. 

Perception versus reality and luck, where a couple of border line storms that turned to rain in the cities, and valleys, but stayed icy in the hills, have many regular customers to believe that the skiing just couldn't be all that good!

Yet, our web reviews and facebook reviews (i.e. customer satisfaction) have been off the charts (see below). 

Ok, so we haven't been skiing the woods too much this winter, but on piste the skiing has been enhanced by warmer weather that is way more comfortable for skiing. Bluebird anyone? Its been warm and sunny for the past two weeks and the snow has held up beautifully. (isn't this why everyone goes to Tahoe (or is it the Casino's, Sierra's, blue water, juniper and fir trees, and 10' ft snow storms? oh yeah... nevermind...))

Humbly, we return to Berkshire East...

Here is a note from Feb. 9, 2012 on our online submission page. 

"Hi, Just a quick note to say that my cousin and I went skiing yesterday and were both astonished at how good the snow was. It was pretty damn near "perfect" if there is such a thing. I'd been reading the condition reports for the last few days, and every time I read "packed powder" I thought- yeah, well they always exaggerate. . Well, now I'm happily eating crow."

This isn't the only email like this, its just the most recent. 

Yet, with weather reporters, skiing reporters, news reporters and common sense telling most folks that the skiing should be terrible because of the 'lack of winter' there is a perception with a large part of the skiing public across the United States that its not worth the trip to the mountain. 

In reality, the skiing has been fantastic, at least at Berkshire East, and I ( and a many more of you) have been taking full advantage of the slopes. On Monday, I wandered (in a foggy, post super bowl defeated haze (watch to the end)) and scraped the mucus off my brain with five great runs of skiing. 

The sun was warm, 34 deg. F. with a touch of corn developing in the late afternoon sun. I skied, in succession, Minnie Dole, Upper / Lower Comp, Flying Cloud (right under lift up top), Big Chief, and one fast run against Gery B. down Mohawk (some strategy showing here with me falling behind early, but using shade and an inside line to catch up by the bottom. 

The great thing about skiing is that 'it' can take you out of whatever is going on and about three turns into my first run, the punishing loss, new home distress, work issues, home issues, whatever is going on can be eliminated with the quickness of a single edge set. 

Looking forward, Sugaring season is here (more stress), just joking, but not really. On the hill, new snowmaking this week has prepped the slopes for some great skiing this weekend. Some new (the Mother Nature version) snow Saturday night should set up a perfect day of riding Sunday. 

Next week looks similar, and there is a long range storm developing that could bring us some snow for the following weekend (start of President's week). 

The ski shop will be going to 25% off. Get your helmets goggles, etc, at the B-east and save.  

Back to my deleted blog post. I think I had it titled, zen and the art of skiing Berkshire East. It touched on some of themes here, but was probably best off in the garbage bin. Sometimes I get bogged down in front of the computer screen, and I don't have time for this... Winter's too short, go skiing. 

PS For the rest of you skeptics, here is our Facebook Page, with lots of guest posts about conditions. (Friend us if you haven't).