Black Panther Lost Ski Resort 1937-1950 E. Massa
Construction started on January 15, 1937 at Burr’s Maple Grove Farm on Worthington Road in Huntington by Sid (Wendell), Joseph (father) and Russell Burr. They started with two ski jumps and a twenty-acre beginners’ area for downhill skiing. Wendell Burr was the physical education instructor at Technical High School in Springfield and both he and his brother were skiers so naturally they hosted competitive meets with students at AIC College in Springfield including downhill ski races, cross country ski runs and slalom downhill course and ski jumping. Silver cups were given to winners. In 1939 Burr improved the slopes of Black Panther by pulling rocks and grading ridges and improving bad curves and widening corners on the Dipsy Doodle expert trail which was wildly popular. Lights were installed along the tows and ski slopes; busses were provided from Springfield and Westfield enroute to Huntington as it was the largest tow ski slope in the Pioneer Valley and one of the largest in the Berkshires.

In 1940 the Knightville Dam was built to control water flows on the East Branch of the Westfield River and to prevent flooding downstream and it wiped out the original practice slope and sliced off the bottom half of the expert trail however, to make up for the change in layout the ski resort was improved by building a new 1200-foot ski tow, a new lodge and two new trails with the help of the Army Corps. When the dam was built the state highway was moved and a new road was built swinging sharply to the right and going up the hill to connect with the upper part of Black Panther. All this was promised by the engineers including grading the area for a new and larger parking lot. Some of that happened including an informal right of way was given for access.

In 1941 competing ski resorts were Blandford Ski Club, Mt. Greylock, Brodie Mountain, Cheshire, Pittsfield State Forest, Bousquet, Lenox, Beartown and Bar S Ranch in Great Barrington all depending on natural snow to operate.

In 1942 the Federal Government fenced off Black Panther at Knightville in the name of national security and Joseph Burr filed suit to petition a right of way to gain access to his property. The Joseph Burr also lived on the property and could not access it, the fence included a padlocked gate.

Shortly after the Army closed Black Panther entirely in the name of national defense and stated that it is an important Federal facility, a flood control project first of its kind in New England. It even had hydroelectric machinery installed for future electricity production so with all of this importance it was deemed a “no trespass” area and the right of way access was terminated, they even posted guards.

Joseph Burr was an airplane spotter who manned the observation tower on Goss Hill across the river from his home every Friday hiking three miles up the hill to his post. On this day across the path to his home was a stout fence with a padlocked gate, he said there was no advance notice of the action. Four days later he received a letter which stated the reservation around the dam was closed to the public and skiers would not be allowed to park there, so Black Panther was closed for the winter, if not longer. Knightville Dam was saved from a horrible fate, no doubt.

In 1946, the victorious Black Panther re-opened, World War II was over and the Burrs won the right to stay on their property and they were back in business. High School students paid just $1.00 to ski all day and free group instruction was offered. Black Panther was located only 25 miles from Springfield, 40 miles from Pittsfield and 50 miles from Hartford. It was the largest tow area reached from the Pioneer Valley, open to the public with free parking and plenty of refreshments and the oldest ski development in the four counties.

December 13, 1950 marked the end as the Burr’s were ready to retire and the competition was stiff with new resorts opening in the Berkshires with new technology including chair lifts. The Pioneer Valley Association posted notice that they were in charge of finding new management to take over….instead the ski resort was taken back by the woods with the tow wheels still perched high up in the trees, rope piles and remains of oil cans and tow shacks here and there if you know where to look. Special thanks to Dave Norton Huntington Historical Society

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