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Mt. Snow or Stratton?

GolfingOwl

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I know there aren't a lot of fans of Stratton here but their website says they are opening today with 17 trails with up to 20 this weekend. After spending Thanksgiving in Connecticut, I've convinced the family to take a long detour to Vermont to ski before heading back to Philly. We are going to hit Mt. Snow but I was wondering if Stratton would be a good alternative (or split the days). We want to stay in southern Vermont because we won't be able to get out of Connecticut until after breakfast Friday and we'll have to drive back Saturday night.

We've been to Stratton before but never Mt. Snow. Based on past experience, which will have better (less) crowds? I assume conditions should be similar at both.

Not expecting anything stellar just hoping for some cruisers with the wife and two young kids to kick-start the season. I'll get plenty of challenge when we head to Stowe over X-Mas.
 

tcharron

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I know there aren't a lot of fans of Stratton here but their website says they are opening today with 17 trails with up to 20 this weekend. After spending Thanksgiving in Connecticut, I've convinced the family to take a long detour to Vermont to ski before heading back to Philly. We are going to hit Mt. Snow but I was wondering if Stratton would be a good alternative (or split the days). We want to stay in southern Vermont because we won't be able to get out of Connecticut until after breakfast Friday and we'll have to drive back Saturday night.

We've been to Stratton before but never Mt. Snow. Based on past experience, which will have better (less) crowds? I assume conditions should be similar at both.

Not expecting anything stellar just hoping for some cruisers with the wife and two young kids to kick-start the season. I'll get plenty of challenge when we head to Stowe over X-Mas.

Mt Snow would be a good bet. IMHO Mt Snow is nice for good blue cruisers, so it'd be a good idea. Not sure on how crowded it's going to be, however. Still no idea how effecting their advertising is going to be.

You could always plan on splitting the days, and if Mt Snow ends up being the bomb, stay there for the second day. It's not like Stratton is all that far away from MT Snow.
 

Rushski

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Think Mt. Snow may have better conditions (early) and is easier to get to.

Yet there may be less crowds at Flatton.
 

GolfingOwl

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Mt Snow would be a good bet. IMHO Mt Snow is nice for good blue cruisers, so it'd be a good idea. Not sure on how crowded it's going to be, however. Still no idea how effecting their advertising is going to be.

You could always plan on splitting the days, and if Mt Snow ends up being the bomb, stay there for the second day. It's not like Stratton is all that far away from MT Snow.

Yeah, that's what I am thinking. We are going to stay near Snow and ski probably a half day Friday at Snow. I know Saturday will be worse for crowds than Friday but I guess we'll see what Snow is like and make the call for Saturday.

I was just wondering if anyone had experienced both mountains during this weekend in the past and might be able to comment on the crowds. From a terrain standpoint, both mountains are perfect for the wife and kids. I'm just happy to get the opportunity to get some rust off earlier than I've ever skied before.
 

FRITOLAYGUY

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Yeah, that's what I am thinking. We are going to stay near Snow and ski probably a half day Friday at Snow. I know Saturday will be worse for crowds than Friday but I guess we'll see what Snow is like and make the call for Saturday.

I was just wondering if anyone had experienced both mountains during this weekend in the past and might be able to comment on the crowds. From a terrain standpoint, both mountains are perfect for the wife and kids. I'm just happy to get the opportunity to get some rust off earlier than I've ever skied before.

I dont think friday will be bad at either one but saturday you will probably run into the same problem at both, crowded with limited terrain open= dangerous slopes and liftlines.
 

reefer

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Mt. Snow

I have skied Mt. Snow for the past six Thanksgiving Saturdays. Can't remeber any problem with crowds, even with only one trail open and downloading last year....................I will be there for my seventh in a row this Saturday! Can't wait!
 

GolfingOwl

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I dont think friday will be bad at either one but saturday you will probably run into the same problem at both, crowded with limited terrain open= dangerous slopes and liftlines.

BTW, being a guy who skis the Pocono mountains, my definition of crowds may be different than others here.
 

pepperdawg

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Rode Stratton today - What they did have open had great coverage - the top 1/2 pf the mountain was like mid-winter (ish). Nice soft (wetish but not too bad) snow.

No crowds - lapped the high speed 6 pack all day - didnt hit a line once. But today was the day before T-day, and it was foggy/drizzly, so I'm sure thats why the crowds were down.

As mentioend Mt Snow has been open for a week or two and Stratton opened today. To be honest the reson I went there today was I had a pass, and needed to get back to the flalands at an early time.... today was my opening day, so just wanted to get some runs in.....otherwise I would have probably made the run to Stowe.

I put a trip report with a weak cell phone picture in the trip reports section - too lazy to open another broswer tab to make a link.
 

Newpylong

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I'm not sure what Stratton has open but Mount Snow has some great runs open so far for all abilities. Chute on the North Face is being ungroomed and is challenging. Canyon/Standard and Snowdance are both the mother of cruisers on the front. Long John/Deer Run is a nice long easy run that wraps around. I can guarantee the snow will be good, and the crowds will not be that bad. Now that ASC is gone t hey have been running enough lifts to handle the crowds, which has always been the problem at Mount Snow, not the actually crowding on trails. I woudl go there first, and Stratton is literally only up the road.
 

GolfingOwl

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Ended up skiing Mt. Snow on Friday afternoon and Stratton on Saturday. Mt. Snow was pretty crowded and icy by Friday afternoon so we thought Stratton might be a better choice for Saturday.

Stratton was actually icier and pretty crowded Saturday though mostly off the Gondola. When we skied off off of the lower chair (American Express), which had several options to the bottom, the crowds and conditions were much better.

Snow's green run from the top (Long John, I think) was pretty scary due to crowds and icy conditions, but the blue from the summit (Canyon/Standard), which is a wider run, was much better and there was actually some real nice snow on the edges of the trails so we just stayed on that trail until the end of the day. Stratton was icy all around. I took one run down the black run that was open (Polar Bear) and it was a wall of ice.

Benefit of the trip was my 6 and 9 year old are more confident on ice so we are all prepared for our day trips to the Poconos this season. We actually did have fun and didn't expect much in terms of conditions/crowds but just goes to show, fan guns make good ice too.
 

GolfingOwl

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So how was the drive back?

And since you are saying day trips to the pokes, I'm assuming someplace in Jersey

I've long since ditched the pokes and Jersey for the skills

What's an extra hour?

Cost the same

Philly burbs. Drive back was great - 5.25 hours from Stratton.

Catskills is a little long for a day trip with a 6 and 9 year old but I did Windham for an overnight last year with just me and the two kids and plan on doing that again this year. What others would you suggest with two yuggins who can ski blues?

For day trips, we usually ski on Sundays and have had pretty good luck in the "pokes" in terms of crowds. If I drive an extra half hour to Elk, the crowds are really managable. Usually Camelback, Jack Frost or Blue when I do day trips. Kids like Camelback best. Because of its layout, you can find areas that aren't so crowded and it skis bigger than it's vert because trails are spread out and not all just straight down top to bottom.
 

Brettski

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Well, I think the kids get Friday and Monday of in Feb before Presidents day

We stay at Hunter Mountain Inn and take advatage of their $69.00/pp specail midweek

http://www.hunterinn.com/secondary/reservations/rates.htm

Dinner vouchers, room, lift ticket, free cocktail, 1 mile to the mountain

We drive up Thursday morning, pick up the lift tick vouchers on the way up, ski hunta all day thursday

Go back and chill, eat, place is very nice, large rec room, jacuzzi, most importantly a pub on site

Next day we pack up and head over to Bellearyre and take advatage of skiier appreciation day on Friday 2/15 for $15/lift

Then drive home

You could stay somplace on the truway...I think they had $39.00/night, forget the name, but it's away from the mountain and you can put some miles in

We do it every year, book now though

EDIT: Kids 16 and under stay free,and they give you a full breakfast
 
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