Mount Institute, 1,538 ft., is a peak located in Hawley

Hawley, Massachusetts

Hawley is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 337 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, just south of the village of Charlemont

Charlemont, Massachusetts

Charlemont is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,358 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...

.

History

Mount Institute was named by Horace Mann

Horace Mann

Horace Mann was an American education reformer, and a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1827 to 1833. He served in the Massachusetts Senate from 1834 to 1837. In 1848, after serving as Secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education since its creation, he was...

 when he had an educational institute in Charlemont that overlooked the mountain.

In 1953, Arthur Parker started a small ski area called Thunder Mountain on the northwestern slope. The rope tow served ski area would by closed by 1954.

Parker reopened a greatly expanded Thunder Mountain Ski Area in 1961, served by a double chairlift.

Recreation

Thunder Mountain Ski Area was renamed Berkshire East Ski Resort at the end of the 1960s. Berkshire East provides skiing

Skiing

Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....

, snowboarding

Snowboarding

Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a slope that is covered with snow on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet using a special boot set onto mounted binding. The development of snowboarding was inspired by skateboarding, sledding, surfing and skiing. It was developed in the U.S.A...

, and snow tubing on Mount Institute in the winter months.

External links

• Mt. Institute Before Skiing - SkiBerkshireEast.com