Stratton, Vermont, Thursday 12/22/05

[billski]

What a day. It was a good day, albeit pricey, $59 for a weekday lift ticket. Oh well, that's what I get for being a migrant.

I traveled up from Mass, getting off at Rte 91/30 in Bennington, opting for the scenic route. I got behind a UPS truck, which went almost the whole way. No way to pass him. I figured it wasn't a good time to mess with Santa's helper three days before Christmas, so I elected to be a good boy and enjoy the scenery.

I had never been to Stratton before, and had no preconceived notions other than the price. It was a very non-Vermont experience and the resort was unlike any other I've encountered in the Northeast. It was quite a large development - not a scattered one, more integral, a real "resort" regardless of what others call themselves.

On driving up the access road, you come into a literal built-village - a three lane, paved access road with buildings, condos, hotels surrounding you as you enter. It felt corporate. You are routed to a parking lot a bit down the road, where a fairly frequent shuttle takes you right to the base. I like that, just as I like offsite parking at the airport - it really minimizes the amount of lugging equipment you have to do. Could be a challenge with little kids though.

After the shuttle dropped me off and I walked toward the lifts, it felt like the Arlberg (Austria), where the ski villages are an integral part of the lift/lodge system. The Tyrolean theme was suggestive, with the clock tower, the pseudo-coats-of-arms and the white stucco and mountain-lodge-styles.

Clearly the MBAs have been optimizing this area. The logistics were quite efficient, in all operations from tickets, to lifts, to shops, rentals, storage facilities, amount of table space and pathways. It was probably one of the few areas I've been to where they really worked to minimize the hassle factor of skiing.

The place was busy, with many collegiate types escaping early and a suprising number of families.

As I walked to the lifts, I was stricken by the amount of high-end gear I saw. Nearly everyone had new ski duds on and a lot of expensive skis. The other thing that struck me was that most everyone already knew how to ski and did it moderately well. By the end of the day, I had fairly well concluded that most of the clientele were pretty good skiers, but unlike the crowd I hand with, have enough discretionary income not to worry about how much a room costs.

I was alerted to a report of clientele "snooty-ness" prior to arrival, so I kept an eye out for it. It was however, a typical NY-er mentality; Do not speak unless spoken to. (I can say this having been born and raised 20 years in NY). I always made it a point to strike up a conversation with people, partly to see what would happen. In general, it was a pretty friendly lot, fairly engaging conversation. But it was clear when you spoke to them about skiing other areas it was a monied crowd; they mostly talked of Vail, Aspen, etc. etc. Nobody ever mentioned Burke

Another interesting thing is you can tell this place is run by a real full-blown resort corporation. Every worker I met wasn't from around there. And most had only worked there a few years. I never met a "stakeholder" (someone who has worked there for many years or was a part-owner, etc.) the way I do at other areas.

Clearly this was a NY'er's playground, an informal survey of license plates revealed. Most people I talked to were quite conversant regarding the NY transit strike. One fellow was suprised I'd never heard of the former NYC transportation commissioner by name. I told him I was "from away" and left it at that

There was never a lift line. 6-packs to myself, never a line for the gondola. I got so spoiled by the gondola (almost all day - a 7 minute ride) that the time I went to a chair , I took my skis off and was stopped by the attendant before I came to my senses

The view from the top was wonderful. The view of Bromley was the most picturesque and commanding. I found just seeing other ski areas was inspiring. I expect the view of Stratton from Bromley was equally inspiring.

Now to the skiing.

It was a sunny day, temps in the teens - perfect ski day. by noontime clouds had overcome the summit for a couple of hours. It was windy on the Sunbowl side in the am, but by the afternoon it died down, and the surface conditions improved considerably.

Coverage was spectacular for December. (I've never skied in December, but I was impressed.) Pretty much fully open, almost no rocks to be seen. It was pretty windy and windswept on the sunny side of the Mt. in the AM, so I stuck to the Snobowl side. Surprisingly, the blacks were in better shape than the blues. Much more loose powder; draw your own conclusions. An upper-intermediate would have no problem on the blacks. Lots of room to move, only moderate sized bumps, but not brutally groomed. I spent almost all day on the blacks. Black trails I enjoyed the most included upper/lower liftline, upper/lower slalom, upper standard, north American. Stowe has tougher blacks, but you sure can have fun on these Blacks at Stratton - I will take nothing away here.

Kidderbrook - top to bottom was desolate - I never passed a person the whole 2 miles, but it was a tad bit scratchy, not bumped, but great for cruising. A fussy intermediate would not have liked it, by my Superspeeds and I just loved it. It was a GS-er's dream trail.

Best blue trail was Black Bear, which made for a great late in the day cruiser when I was burning out.

Yes there were glades but no go with my equipment.

Guess my naive lack of December skiing caught me by surprise when the upper Mt. lifts closed at 3:30pm. I know, I know, shortest day of the year, etc. That kinda ended my day since the lower half was pretty much greens.

For the beginner, there is plenty of terrain and trails, to keep the days interesting while you learn. I would definitely bring beginners here for multi-days - they could really enjoy themselves. They had a couple greens closed for grooming for the next week's madness. It looked like any brutal grooming they do is saved for the greens.

I was a bit surprised at the low number of intermediate trails. The claim is 31%, but I just didn't see it. Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough and the blacks were entertaining.

I stayed away from double-blacks, as I was skiing with my cruisers - Superspeeds. I took on Lower slalom glade though and this old man was pretty pooped by the end.

I can't say enough good things about the Superspeed skis - they were just awesome. I never lost control once.

The snow coverage was great- when I went to complain about this or that, I reminded myself it was only December. If these areas can hang onto their base, we are going to have a great, long season this year.

So the acid test - would I go back? Absolutely. Very challenging terrain enough to keep even a wanderer/explorer like me entertained. And I'd bring the family too. But I'm gonna have to wait for Santa to bring me the winning lottery ticket first.

Some people wondered why I would go there rather than north. Simply put, there are many very good areas worth exploring. I get itchy, I tried Burke last year and really like it. Believe it or not, while I'll be back at BV and Burke with the family this year, I've also plans to visit Magic(VT) and Jiminy(mass) and another place I've never been to - MRG (yes, it's true, even after 36 pins on my hat)


Some pictures are here: http://www.iabsi.com/public/strat/

Postscript
Having a few extra minutes with the lifts closing early, I sauntered down the road to Magic, since I have a $10 bulk ticket in my pocket. I got there at 5pm and it was deserted. Not a soul other than the cleaning crew. It looked like a fun mountain from afar. Snow conditions there were excellent and coverage looked nearly complete. It was pretty cool to see Stratton 8 miles down the road. so much to ski, so little time.

[RISkier]

I think your description of the village as "corporate" is very accurate. It's efficient and convenient but all the buildings have the same look and feel.

[andyzee]

Damn you got time on your hands! Just kidding, loved your report, very imformative and a big change from what I'm used to hearing about Stratton. It's nice to hear a different point of view. I've got free lift tix that they offered some time ago, guess I'll have to use them.

[billski]

Originally Posted by andyzee

Damn you got time on your hands! Just kidding, loved your report, very imformative and a big change from what I'm used to hearing about Stratton. It's nice to hear a different point of view. I've got free lift tix that they offered some time ago, guess I'll have to use them.

Yeah, time, but I paid my dues with many a year not skiing much at all. I am finally where I want to be - able to midweek daytrip northeast ski when I want to (without owning a pass or a slopeside condo).

I'm pretty ignorant of the reports on Stratton - other than it's "the mountain people love to hate". What's the low-down, seriously? I usually don't follow the banter.

I also am interested in watching how a mountain operates, so I tend to comment a lot about off-slope stuff. I am also raising 3 young daughters, so a lot of the "family" things strike me as well - I'm kinda all over the place on my observations, so I believe varying reports with varying perspective.


If you could take everything away and just leave the mt. and it's runs, it's a great hill.

[andyzee]

Originally Posted by billski

Yeah, time, but I paid my dues with many a year not skiing much at all. I am finally where I want to be - able to midweek daytrip northeast ski when I want to (without owning a pass or a slopeside condo).

I'm pretty ignorant of the reports on Stratton - other than it's "the mountain people love to hate". What's the low-down, seriously? I usually don't follow the banter.

I also am interested in watching how a mountain operates, so I tend to comment a lot about off-slope stuff. I am also raising 3 young daughters, so a lot of the "family" things strike me as well - I'm kinda all over the place on my observations, so I believe varying reports with varying perspective.


If you could take everything away and just leave the mt. and it's runs, it's a great hill.

With regards to the time on your hands remark, I meant writing the review, not the skiing. Never been to Stratton, with the exception of checking out the village one day on the way home. Lowdown on what people say about it, expensive, overgroomed, no much challenging terrain, snotty, etc....

[billski]

Originally Posted by andyzee

With regards to the time on your hands remark, I meant writing the review, not the skiing. Never been to Stratton, with the exception of checking out the village one day on the way home. Lowdown on what people say about it, expensive, overgroomed, no much challenging terrain, snotty, etc....

I'm a pretty fast typer and do a lot of writing, so it comes quite quickly - not a lot of time spent writing.

A little to the side of your remark, not directed at you, but it got me going:

The only thing I have to say about "challenging terrain" is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There's a proclivity for young, single males to predominate these forums, which then tends you to the most challenging terrain. What about the other 90% of the market? If all we do on these forums is talk about double black bump runs and glades skiing, we alienate the majority of skiers from engaging in discussion. I don't see alpinezone in particular doing that, but I can think of at least four other forums that do.

[andyzee]

Originally Posted by billski

I'm a pretty fast typer and do a lot of writing, so it comes quite quickly - not a lot of time spent writing.

A little to the side of your remark, not directed at you, but it got me going:

The only thing I have to say about "challenging terrain" is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There's a proclivity for young, single males to predominate these forums, which then tends you to the most challenging terrain. What about the other 90% of the market? If all we do on these forums is talk about double black bump runs and glades skiing, we alienate the majority of skiers from engaging in discussion. I don't see alpinezone in particular doing that, but I can think of at least four other forums that do.

Agree with you 100%. I'll be checking out Stratton, thanks

[thetrailboss]

Whoa! Nice report! WE ALMOST came down to Stratton on Thursday with our free tix, but Ms. Trailboss and I opted for an easy few hours at Sunapee instead. Kinda hoping for more trails including their expert stuff to open.

Your report and pics were nice. It's good to hear and read about trips to resorts that we don't talk much about in here.

As for Burke, another good day. PM me when you're up if you want to take a few spins. You'll love the new HSQ.

[riverc0il]

If all we do on these forums is talk about double black bump runs and glades skiing, we alienate the majority of skiers from engaging in discussion. I don't see alpinezone in particular doing that, but I can think of at least four other forums that do.

i think most forums out there have most participants being of intermediate to advanced level. even forums with a lean on expert skiers tend to be welcoming of non-experts. to be quite frank, i post all my trip reports to FTO and i LOVE seeing folks post over there who ski nothing but groomers (mentioning FTO specifically because i inferred that may be one of the forums you were thinking about) and try to be welcoming to them. suffice to say, different strokes for different folks and i rarely see an attitude suggesting that if you are not an expert skier, you are not worthy of participating (maybe TRG would fit that bill). ANY WAYS, to the point:

i think by definition, very challenging terrain is anything except groomed (within reason, some flatter natural snow trails are not challenging), stressing the steep aspects. are there steep groomed runs that offer challenge? yes, but the only folks they are challenging are folks below an advanced level (i.e. people who prefer greens and blues and/or lower pitched blacks). even if you look at challenging groomers, how would folks compare stratton tom, say cannon, in terms of challenging groomers? how does stratton line up to avalanche, zoomer, bypass, profile, skylight etc. and the turny on your toes nature of upper cannon and upper ravine? not trying to turn the thread into a "stratton doesn't have challenge" thread or a comparison between cannon and stratton, but i have never heard stratton's terrain defined as challenging. different trails are challenging to different people. but for folks on an advanced level or below, you can find 'challenge' at nearly every mountain. and speaking from an expert's perspective, i can enjoy mountains without challenge but certainly look for it.

[billski]

Originally Posted by riverc0il

i think most forums out there have most participants being of intermediate to advanced level. even forums with a lean on expert skiers tend to be welcoming of non-experts. to be quite frank, i post all my trip reports to FTO and i LOVE seeing folks post over there who ski nothing but groomers (mentioning FTO specifically because i inferred that may be one of the forums you were thinking about) and try to be welcoming to them. suffice to say, different strokes for different folks and i rarely see an attitude suggesting that if you are not an expert skier, you are not worthy of participating (maybe TRG would fit that bill). ANY WAYS, to the point:

i think by definition, very challenging terrain is anything except groomed (within reason, some flatter natural snow trails are not challenging), stressing the steep aspects. are there steep groomed runs that offer challenge? yes, but the only folks they are challenging are folks below an advanced level (i.e. people who prefer greens and blues and/or lower pitched blacks). even if you look at challenging groomers, how would folks compare stratton tom, say cannon, in terms of challenging groomers? how does stratton line up to avalanche, zoomer, bypass, profile, skylight etc. and the turny on your toes nature of upper cannon and upper ravine? not trying to turn the thread into a "stratton doesn't have challenge" thread or a comparison between cannon and stratton, but i have never heard stratton's terrain defined as challenging. different trails are challenging to different people. but for folks on an advanced level or below, you can find 'challenge' at nearly every mountain. and speaking from an expert's perspective, i can enjoy mountains without challenge but certainly look for it.

In my book, money and distance aside, I can get just as much "challenge" at Stratton as I can at Cannon. This is coming from someone who spent more time at Cannon over the past 7 years than anywhere else. So now you've heard it