Pineridge Cross Country Ski Area
East Poestenkill, New York USA
E-mail: terbk@aol.com
518-283-3652

Mailing address:
1463 Plank Road
Petersburgh, NY 12138

Often, as in the case of Pineridge, it is enlightening to hear the comments of an unbiased customer. One such person enthused online, "You go out and try the trails for the first time and notice something special! Like the guy who cut these trails knows something. You just couldn't cut a better trail!" Pineridge is located in the foothills of the Berkshire and Taconic Mountains, so both Albany and Mt. Greylock can be seen. 43 km of XC (33 km groomed, 10 are "backcountry" and ideal for snowshoeing) cut through evergreen and hardwood forest and offer some unparalleled views of some the area's most significant natural landmarks.

Walter Kersch is the owner and the person at whom the above trail-cutting plaudits should be directed. He is an extremely gracious man, as befits a former school principal. In fact, this is how the ski area idea came to him; school was canceled due to snow and Mr. Kersch decided to take the stranded kids on "a little XC walk," and the rest is history. He purchased the rights to use an abandoned game club, which now serves as the lodge, and set up shop. Pineridge offers several unique experiences to skiers; one is night skiing, which is altogether different than during the day, on over 4 km of lighted trails. Friday nights feature group night skiing. Another neat feature is the extensive guided touring offered by Pineridge. According to Mr. Kersch, the old Troy-Hoosac road runs through their property and skiers can get some truly rare glimpses of artifacts of colonial life, old fences, mills, stone bridges and wells and the like from the 18th century (he notes that the Native peoples, the French and the British all left behind stone walls; policy forbids us to name whose walls remain intact).

Lessons and equipment are both available and there are many interesting programs planned for the winter of 1999. Among these are a number of events with free skiing, especially for the youngsters and December 19th is marked for "Hospice Donation Day." Contact their website, listed above, for specific dates for these programs and events.