Mount Institute

Mount Institute, a 1,536-foot peak in northwestern Massachusetts south of Charlemont, takes its name from educator Horace Mann, whose institute in the village overlooked the mountain, linking it to the area’s 19th-century educational history. In the 20th century it became a local center for downhill recreation. Arthur Parker opened the first Thunder Mountain ski area on the northwestern slope in 1953 with a rope tow, though it closed the next year. He reopened a much larger Thunder Mountain Ski Area in 1961 with a double chairlift, creating the foundation of the resort later renamed Berkshire East Ski Resort at the end of the 1960s.

Hawley, Massachusetts · United States