Catamount: straddling Massachusetts and New York since a likely 1940 opening

Wikipedia's Catamount Ski Area article states the resort "opened for business in 1939, with three rope tows, run by a car engine with a bull wheel attached." New England Ski History gives a different, more hedged account: it states that Catamount's "lift served ski history likely dates back to 1940, when John \"Jack\" Fisher and George Earling entered into a 10 year lease for 160 acres of farmland on the side of Mt. Fray," that construction "accelerated in the fall of 1940," and that "Catamount likely opened in December 1940." New England Ski History's own page disagrees with itself on top of that: its infobox lists "First Season: 1939-40," agreeing with Wikipedia's 1939 date, while its body text describes a 1940 lease and construction and hedges toward a December 1940 opening -- a source contradicting itself, not simply Wikipedia against New England Ski History.

New England Ski History states that in late January 1973 Catamount's stockholders voted to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing $80,000 more in debt than assets, and that "Catamount was acquired in the fall of 1973 by Bill Gilbert, Sandy Gilbert, and Don Edwards," a trio who had previously managed the Fahnestock and Silvermine ski areas and created the Sterling Forest ski area; SAM Magazine independently corroborates the 1973 date, describing Catamount in a 2018 article as a "79-year-old ski area" whose management team had owned it "since 1973." SAM Magazine reported on May 7, 2018 that the owners of Berkshire East Mountain Resort had reached an agreement to acquire Catamount from president Tom Gilbert and vice president Rich Edwards, with the deal "expected to close in the next two weeks" -- an announced agreement, not yet a completed sale. SAM Magazine reported the completed closing on May 25, 2018: "Berkshire East owners Jon, Jim, and Roy Schaefer have closed on their acquisition of nearby Catamount Ski Area," at a total purchase price of $2.3 million, including $1.66 million in outstanding debt, with the main lodge to be renovated and a new base lodge constructed that summer, "according to reports." The Greenfield Recorder reported on March 24, 2026 that the Schaefer family had announced, the day before, that they were transitioning ownership of Berkshire East and Catamount to Bear Den Partners LLC, a mountain-ownership company founded by Jon Schaefer and Ken Graham that already owned Burke Mountain Resort and Smugglers' Notch Resort in Vermont; Jon Schaefer, Bear Den Partners' CEO, called it "an evolution for my family, not an exit," with Berkshire East's and Catamount's leadership remaining the same. That report describes an announced ownership transition, not a closed sale. Per New England Ski History, the base lodge was rebuilt and snowmaking was improved for the 1977-78 season.

The South Egremont Village Historic District, per Wikipedia's article on the district, "encompasses most of the village of South Egremont, Massachusetts, a well-preserved village whose architecture has seen relatively little alteration since the 1840s," and runs along Massachusetts Route 23; it covers 375 acres and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 31, 1984. French Park, per the Town of Egremont's own Parks page, is "the Town's most notable recreation area," covering 144 acres in North Egremont, with tennis courts, a Little League field and softball field, a children's playground, a dog park, a horse riding ring, and a roughly 2.5-mile trail network. Jug End State Reservation and Wildlife Management Area, per Wikipedia, "is a public recreation area located in the towns of Egremont and Mount Washington, Massachusetts," spanning about 1,191 acres, established in 1994 and administered by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation; the Town of Egremont's own Parks page separately lists it as a 1,158-acre reservation offering hiking, horseback riding, and Appalachian Trail access.