Home     Past     Present     Links     Photo Galleries     Feedback Pre-Opening     1953     1960     Early 60s     Early 70s     Late 70s     1980s     Early 90s     1995     1998     2000     2002     2004 The Past Thunder Mountain, Part 2 - Construction Despite having the original Thunder Mountain fail due to weather and theft, Arthur Parker still kept his vision of skiing in Charlemont alive. On July 30, 1960, the lease for the original Thunder Mountain was formally terminated. A new 15 year lease was enacted starting on August 1, 1960, for initial cost of $1,000 for each of the first 5 years. Initial trail cutting was done mostly with the help of horses. The present-day Liftline and Competition trails were the first to be cut and graded. Mt. Institute before the main Thunder Mountain trails were cut Work being done on the present day Competition trail Two new Mueller lifts were slated to be installed once the trails were ready - a double chairlift to the summit and a t-bar serving the Thunder Bowl slope. A new base lodge was also being constructed - the small lodge (still standing today near the end of Lower Mohawk) would not be enough to handle the new scale of operations. Thunder Mountain was on its way to becoming one of the largest ski areas in Southern New England. Installing a Chairlift... Copyright 1997-2011 SkiBerkshireEast.com, All Rights Reserved This is not an official Berkshire East Ski Area web site