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Ascent of Berlin Mountain on 2010-01-16

Climber: Dave Dunham

Others in Party:

Double-J

Date:

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Ascent Type:

Successful Summit Attained

Peak:

Berlin Mountain

Location:

USA-New York

Elevation:

2818 ft / 858 m

Ascent Trip Report

I decided to test out a shorter route to this high point. The other trip reports have the approach from the Taconic Crest Trail from Route 2. I decided to take a shot at the summit from Berlin Road in Williams. We headed up the road after doing a snowshoe race at Greylock Glen earlier in the day. The big question would be “Is Berlin Road plowed”. The answer was yes, up to a turn-out about ½ mile short of the end of the road. The remaining road portion had been driven and was do-able in 4-wheel drive, but with only about 6” of snow on the ground. I wouldn’t recommend it with more snow (or with no tracks already laid down). From the end of Berlin Road there is a great view of the mountain before you and most of the climb is visible. The remnants of the Williams College Ski Hill leave a great open hike for about ¾ of the climb. We hoofed it up the trail using Kahtoolah’s and carrying snowshoes for the downhill. I mixed running and power-walking and was at the top of the ski portion quickly. The snow was powdery with some harder stuff a few inches in. We decided that snowshoes would be best for the remaining less steep portion so we lost five minutes changing into our Dion shoes. Back to running/power-walking on we were on top in 31 minutes. We only spent 4 minutes on top taking pictures, which was somewhat disappointing due to the low clouds. Now for the fun part, we bombed back down the ski hill. It was a mix of running, sliding, and falling that brought us back to the bottom in 12 minutes. Total time for the round-trip was 47 minutes.

Summary Total Data

Elevation Gain:

1269 ft / 386 m

Distance:

2.5 mi / 4 km

Trailhead:

1549 ft / 472 m

Route Conditions:

Maintained Trail, Open Country, Snow on Ground

Gear Used:

Crampons, Snowshoes

Weather:

Cold, Calm, Low Clouds

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