A look at the badass and unpredictable Thunderbolt Ski Race

The Winter Olympics are peak time for badasses doing bad-ass things.

Whether its Kyle Mack throwing down a 1440 Bloody Dracula off the snowboard Big Air Friday night, Jessie Diggins finding the ends of her stamina to take Nordic gold or the American curling squad celebrating a trip to the gold medal match with McFlurries, badasses come in all shapes and sizes this time of year.

These people aren't just national stars, like Jamie Anderson taking gold on a wind-riddled slopestyle course that would've had me in need of new snowpants. There are local badasses here in the Berkshires as well.

Take figure skaters Daniella Santamarina and Aimee Boulais. Boulais overcame a myriad of injuries, including a strained MCL to earn a bronze medal at the Bay State Games. Santamarina's story is remarkable and heart-breaking. The teenage skater overcame the grief of losing her father, Rodrigo Santamarina, in October to lay down a gold medal performance in Williamstown two weeks ago.

Winter sports test endurance, drive and fortitude just as much as actual skill and ability. Nothing portrays that better than the Thunderbolt Ski Race, so I tracked down local badass and former president of the Thunderbolt Ski Runners, Blair Mahar, to chat about the unfortunate cancellation/transition of the race and what it takes to actually compete.

This column can be read in its entirety on The Berkshire Eagle website, or reach out to me for a complete copy.

Hunting down fresh pow and apres action in the Berkshires

Our compatriots over at the Boston Globe published a story back in December titled All about the apres (ski). It was a largely sponsored post for some of the bigger mountain resorts up north and what do do in the evenings after a day of laying down some fine tracks.

The question was never quite answered, though. Is it really all about the apres? 

I've been told I use a lot of words in this space every other week that people don't understand. Well, apres simply means after, so what happens after you shread the gnar, cut some cords, stomp out a crunchy melon grab or two and hope not to beef it. Got it? Good.

I endeavored this week to find out what your favorite apres spots are in the Berkshires and beyond. As I've tried to explain to my quickly-developing urchin fiance: snowboarding and skiing are about 25 percent work and skill, 50 percent looking steezy and 25 percent apres.

This column can be read in its entirety on The Berkshire Eagle website, or reach out to me for a full copy.

Locals remember Legend of warren miller after his passing

"He said he never wanted a real job," Pam Macy-Williamson told me about Warren Miller, who passed away earlier this week.

The legendary outdoorsman filmmaker, known especially for his work producing hundreds of skiing films, died at age 93. We ran his obituary on the front page of this sports section because I had heard tangentially about how he had spent some time locally and I know I've seen his films showing at various venues around the Berkshires in recent years.

I wanted more information about this man, whom Macy-Williamson said "was like the original ski bum."

Obviously, as you can tell by the mere existence of this column, I'm fascinated by and immersed in ski culture. It's something I've been thinking a lot about lately. My brothers and I are very different people. Both of them live in Boston and I don't see them as often as I'd like. One is an accountant and the other works in criminal intelligence. Me, I'm a sportswriter with a ski column living out in the Berkshires. However, as different as our lives are, one thing we've always had in common is skiing and snowboarding. My older brother and I learned to ski at a tiny spot called Jericho Hill that doesn't exist anymore. Through five years of high school, every winter Thursday night was spent at Wachusett for Ski Club and every Martin Luther King Weekend was spent at Waterville Valley. We owe our parents, neither of whom ski but spent countless hours in lodges waiting with hot cocoa, a debt of gratitude. It bonded us in a way I'm not sure anything else ever really did or could.

This story can be read in its entirety on The Berkshire Eagle website, or you can reach out to me for a full copy.

Teaching a newbie how to hit the slopes

Full disclosure, I'm not actually sure I know how to ski or snowboard. 

Don't get me wrong, I can ski and snowboard. I do the latter quite well, actually. However, knowing how to do something and actually doing it, when it comes to riding a piece of fiberglass down a slick surfaced hill can be quite different things.

I bring this up this week because for the second consecutive year I've taken on the role of instructor in my personal relationship. In my younger years, I was repulsed by the idea of dropping all that coin on a lift ticket to hang around and spend 30 minutes a run on the bunny slope. However, now that there's a diamond sitting on her finger and the venue deposit has been cashed, I figure I can devote a day or two of shredding to get my fiance back on the hill.

This story can be read in its entirety on The Berkshire Eagle website, or reach out to me for a full copy.

Haust shreds at Killington's Rails 2 Riches event

Bless me, shredfather, for I have sinned. It has been more than a week since I last hit a mountain to ride.

Given the average temperature sitting in single-digits all week and a Christmas excursion to the flatter part of the state, I haven't been able to get on a mountain this week, or at the very least wasn't willing to risk the frostbite. So, when I'm unable to hunt down the cords, here at the Powder Report we turn to the pros.

In this week's case, I was able to speak with Richmond-native and proud veteran of the Bousquet slopes, Nate Haust. Earlier in December, Haust took first place in Killington's Rails 2 Riches event. Riding in the male snowboard division, Haust beat out 11 other finalists, including Vermont-locals Storm Rowe, Max Lyons and Tim Major. The prize: a sweet $5,000 chunk of the $25K awarded on the day.

You can reach this story in its entirety on The Berkshire Eagle website, or reach out and ask me for a complete copy.

Riding Main Street again and again worth it for opening day at Ski Butternut

Only the most desperate of us shred-hungry urchins could enjoy the repetitiveness of double-digit runs on one trail.

However, that's just what this particular gnar junkie did on Thursday.

It was opening day for Ski Butternut in Great Barrington, and given an early-week mishap trying to drive my tiny hatchback into a Vermont snow storm, I was craving some time on the hill.

Now, opening day meant discounted prices, but it also meant that beyond the instructional bunny area, Butternut was offering mostly just Main Street as shreddable terrain.

So, like my neighbor's daughter with the soundtrack to Frozen, I hammered that slope into the ground.

You can read this column in its entirety on The Berkshire Eagle website, or reach out and as me for a full copy.