Ski weekend at Butternut

Great Barrington > Hunter and Windham

Okay so growing up in NYC I only went to Hunter mountain a handful of times because its a real schlep to go to a mountain just for the day. The problem with Hunter and Windham is that I never see good rental houses around that area, so it doesn't bring a consistent community. By now you all know that Brendan is an ex pro skier and he grew up in Canada — in Ontario there are about 7 different private ski clubs right next to each other and it’s a whole thing to join the clubs and get the kids into racing. It’s great for parents because all the kids hang and ski and the parents apres and hang.

I say all this because I genuinely think that NY is missing this epic winter ski culture. So In hopes to find something that resembles Canadian ski clubs we went to Butternut mountain with our besties who found a cute house for the weekend just three mins away from the mountain. The house had a hot tub and a fireplace which was great because the first floor got a little cold in the mornings.

The town of Great Barrington is so charming, it feels a little more storybook-ish than let’s say Windham or Hunter. There’s more to do in the town and the inventory for rentals is a lot higher. So far it’s putting checks on the board. Food scene is also better as there’s lots of cute family-friendly restaurants. We had sushi on Friday night and it was one of those menus with photos and a zillion different maki rolls (to me that seemed like it might be a miss but it was a total hit and a nice reminder that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover). Then on Saturday we took all the kids out for Mexican food to a place called Agave. Amazing mezcalitas and delicious rice and beans, chicken quesadillas, steak tacos… everyone was happy which is rare when you are dining with 4 kids under the age of 4.

The actual mountain itself is small and overpriced tbh, like $150 for a ski lift ticket per day and rentals on top of that. I already have my own boots, which I highly recommend investing in if you’re a skier because it makes such a difference. (And pro tip even if you’re renting skis, having custom-molded insoles for rental boots can help a lot with comfort.) Might be cheaper to save up to go for one big 10-day ski weekend in France or something. The resorts in Europe tend to be more cost-effective ironically with better quality food and rentals but it’s something we’ll look into when the kids are a little older.

Brendan and I took turns going on skis and skiing with Preston because he was not so hyped on ski school despite our best efforts. We even got baby Claude up on skis for a hot sec, which was so cute.

The food on the mountain wasn't horrible but also not ideal. It's like any other kind of mountain lodge food, though they did have this new burrito station which was the talk of the mountain lol. Burritos, tacos, nachos and quesadillas galore.

I spoke to a few families who have committed to going there from January to March for the last five years and they all seem to know each other, so it’s a cool way for kids to make lasting friendships because it’s a lot of the same faces. A lot of kids signed up for ski racing and tubing too, I think that’s what I love so much about skiing weekends is the sense of community it fosters and it gives kids a chance to socialize with one another. There’s also competitions which I can see Brendan wanting to get the kids into eventually. Our niece who is only a year older than Preston is a part of the whole Canadian ski club scene and is already a racer.

Alo magnesium spray for the win

Random thought but I regret not bringing my own coffee beans for the weekend. Good caffeine is the one thing you do not want to sacrifice on days where you’re dealing with a tiring all-day activity with kids in tow lol. You underestimate how much energy it takes to ski in general, especially when your kids are in the beginning stages and don't know how to stand up on skis themselves. You are definitely dealing with the lower back situation, hamstrings, and hip flexors, the works, so when looking for rentals a hot tub does become a necessity.

That’s all for now but we’ll chat at the end of the week.

xo. Hannah