Stratton - 1/23/04

Date(s) Skied: Friday, January 23rd 2004

Resort or Ski Area: Stratton

Conditions: packed powder, man made and 4 inches of new snow

Trip Report:

Had a great day trip up to Stratton today. One of my ski partners has a Okemo/Stratton pass, so he wanted to do Stratton. My first time back there since early 70s.

Took Rt 119 out of Ashby to Rt 12 into Keene. Traffic into Keene at 7:30AM in the morning is actually heavy enough to have slowed us down a bit. Next time I'll take 119 through Ftizwiliams and Winchester. From Brattleboro we took Rt 30 to the Dam Diner just east of Jamaice. Great little place for breakfast.

We got to the mountain at 9:30 and entered at the Rt 30 entrance and proceeded past the main parking area over to the Sun Bowl area. You can walk 30 yards from parking to lodge to get tickets, get boots on and ski. Much less crowded and a good little "secret" to a good day of skiing at Stratton.

Cold. 0 at the base and there's a windchill.

The mountain has good cover. Most of the trails are open and they are making a lot of snow on others in prep for the weekend. Just a little scratchy in spots going down, we stayed on single diamonds most of the day, which I would prolly rate as blue squares. I noticed the trail map at Stratton shows lots of single diamond (more difficult) trails, but they are really just being conservative I think many of them could arguably be called a blue square.

Great skiing. Cold, but good snow and lots of good runs. Stayed out till 1:00PM , went in and had a coffee and a small snack and went back out till 2:30.. legs felt like they were going to fall off on last couple of runs. I know when to quit and call it a day.

Great time, despite the cold. Very little crowd.

Talked to a ski patrol guy on the way up one time and he said it was going to be way below 0' tonight and they might not open the mountain in the AM till it got above a certain temp. They didn't expect a big crowd due to the cold.

I've been so busy working I've got to get more ski days in!

No pics, my daughter ran off to college with my digi camera and I was too cold and lazy to be using my 35. next time.

[ChileMass]

Hippie -

Nice report - I ski Stratton about once a year because my father in law gets the senior discount (>70 = $0) so he's there every week. You're right about the Sun Bowl area being the place to start from. Typically much less crowded than the main lodge area, and in warmer weather, it is nice because the trails are East-facing and get lots of sun (wait till March for that). No wind on top? Ususally VERY windy almost all the time exiting the quad on top. My beef with Stratton is the cost - how much was a lift ticket? I think weekend/holiday day tickets are now over $70......

Oh! Did I forget to say there was wind at the top?

There was wind at the top.. it died down pretty good once you got a few hundred feet down, but there was a strong COLD wind at the top.

The price was $59 dollars, which is about the same price I paid at Okemo a few weeks ago. Stratton may be a bit more expensive on the weekends. I think their marketing target is to give multi-day discounts and attract that multi-day family.

All the ski areas are expensive these days. You gotta have some bucks to ski, and ESPECIALLY if you are doing multi-day overnights! ..and for a family!! Yikes! I'm just a poor upper middle class working slob that can barely afford the equipment, nevermind all the fancy amenities. I was coveting the million dollar condos on the side of the trails on the way down the mountain.. you know, the ones with the hot-tubs out front.

Oh well.. I got my health, and my skis and my good looks! (thats a joke) what more could I want?!

[CP]

Stratton can be expensive, but there are ways to cut costs. If you plan to ski there multiple times a season, a Frequent Skier Card will pay for itself after 4 days. It is linked to your credit card, and is usually logged into the system by an electronic scanner. It cuts the cost of tickets to $50 on weekends...and Thursdays (I believe) are free. I've got a condo by the Villager chair, and a pass, and I've had a few friends that come up with us alot buy the card. Sometimes you can avoid the cards being "read" by the lifties, which results in a free day on the hill. Friends have gotten a few of these this year ;^)

Good call on the Sun Bowl parking. It's alot less crowded than the village and you don't have to ride the bus from a parking area either. If you have to park in the village area, a trick is to drive through the drop-off area and then enter the garage area from the exit. There are people that only ski in the early morning, and when they leave, a parking spot is freed up. But the ropes stay up at the entrance all day long.

Another area where the mtn nails the wallet is food. So obviously bringing a bag lunch is the way to save there. Also, if you plan to stay for a night or two, do all your shopping off-mountain, as the store(s) at the base are very pricey...beer too. We usually hit the Hannafords in Brattleboro on the way up for food and beer.

There's also quite a bit of tree skiing not shown on the trailmap. Keep an eye out for tracks heading into the woods. Hope this helps.

[CP]

Need help for this weekend? ^^^^^^^^