AlpineZone Ski Area Challenge: Stratton Mountain Resort

[Greg]

Casey Dougall from Stratton Mountain Resort also agreed to take the AlpineZone Ski Area Challenge! This is your chance to get official answers to your ski-related questions direct from a Northeast ski resort representative! Please post some suggested questions in this thread and I'll select ten to present for official responses.

As always, please be respectful of Casey and keep it civil. Also, please refrain from asking specifics about skier visit numbers, financials, demographic information, etc. Stratton needs to be discrete about certain information.

Ask away!

 

[Tin Woodsman]

Casey -

Thanks for agreeing to participate. Now, on to my questions.

1) Stratton has a clear commitment to cutting the time its customers have to wait in liftlines - you are increasing the quantity of skiing any single customer can achieve in a single day. While this is a laudable goal, I'd like to know if you think this can have a negative effect on the QUALITY of that skiing or riding experience. Stratton has added a tremendous amount of lift capacity over the years, with the gondola and four 6-packs complementing the existing quads. Yet there has been little expansion of terrain (outside of some expert glades) to compensate for this increased uphill capacity. Do you see this trend as a problem and, if so, is Stratton planning to do anything about it?

2) Can you give us any background on the at-one-time planned expansion of Stratton onto the backside of the mountain? If not, are there any plans, be they long-term or short, to expand the mountain beyond its currrent boarders and, if so, what are the chances we will see some narrower trails with character, like the New England trails of yore.

 

[Big Game]

(1) The Stratton/Okemo mid-week pass is an incredible deal. The terrain at Stratton is challenging the glades are plentiful and sweet. However, I notice a lot of the lifts are closed mid-week. On a snowboard, this often creates a looong traverses (which can be really a drag...even more so on powder days) This forces me to stick to the trails in the center of the hill. Are the lifts not running so as to reduce labor costs (or a labor shortage)?

(2) I've hit Stratton on two of the most spectacular days last year. The glades were insanely good. Perhaps I'm getting greedy but are there any more plans for cutting new glades? (Especially in easier to access areas for the reason described above)

Thanks for the great times!

 

[Greg]

Thanks for the questions, Big Game, and welcome to the forums!

 

[AricRacer]

Hi.
My question is about the poma surface lift located near lower Slalom Glade and World Cup.
The lift is marked as being "private"

I have a website: www.SaveTheT-Bar.com which is attempting to document all remaining surface lifts in the North East.

This lift seems to be in excellent shape, and I would love more info/stats on it for my site.

Is this poma ever still used?

Is there any chance for me and a freind or two to arrange a visit this winter to ride it and take some photos??

Also, if Stratton has any info/photos/stats on any other T-bars or Pomas that were once at the mountain, I have a section for "lost" surface lifts.

Thanks in for any info/help!
-Aric

 

[Greg]

Hi.
My question is about the poma surface lift located near lower Slalom Glade and World Cup.
The lift is marked as being "private"

I have a website: www.SaveTheT-Bar.com which is attempting to document all remaining surface lifts in the North East.

This lift seems to be in excellent shape, and I would love more info/stats on it for my site.

Is this poma ever still used?

Is there any chance for me and a freind or two to arrange a visit this winter to ride it and take some photos??

Also, if Stratton has any info/photos/stats on any other T-bars or Pomas that were once at the mountain, I have a section for "lost" surface lifts.

Thanks in for any info/help!
-Aric

Welcome the forums, Aric, but I wonder if it would be better to just ask some of these questions directly. I can still include the poma question. How about if I word it like this:

My question is about the poma surface lift located near lower Slalom Glade and World Cup. The lift is marked as being "private". Is this poma ever still used?

 

[AricRacer]

That's fine if you don't think it's a good question for this format.
Any suggestions on who i might contact directly?

 

[Greg]

Any suggestions on who i might contact directly?

I sent you a PM with Casey's Email address. Hope this helps.

 

[teachski]

How frequently does Stratton groom trails?

Does Stratton groom all trails or do they leave some trails with natural cover?

 

[sledhaulingmedic]

I realize that trail difficulty ratings are realtive to that specific resort, however, Stratton has a number of trails rated with black diamonds that would be high greens or blues at nearby resorts. Is there any consideration to adding any terrain that might actually be considered "Advanced" or "Expert"?

 

[Greg]

I've added these three questions and shipped them off to Casey:

1. Stratton is somewhat notorious for some of the highest holiday/weekend lift ticket prices in the country. With ASC currently offering the ASC Gold Pass (no blackout dates; good at six resorts) for $599, will Stratton be offering a competitive season pass price? What do you feel will be the effect of such aggressive season pass pricing on the Northeast ski industry as a whole?
2. Do you have any plans to open a forum or chat room on your website? Do you read web forums like AlpineZone.com? If so, do you ever want to reply to posts about Stratton or other ski areas?
3. Are there any infrastructure improvements/upgrades planned, e.g. lifts, snowmaking, base/summit facilities, etc.?

 

[Greg]

Well, it's been almost 4 1/2 months since I submitted these questions to Casey and even after numerous Emails, phone calls, and promises that I would receive responses, I still don't have any. So, I'm going to pull Stratton from the Ski Area Challenge page. I apologize to all that suggested questions, but it just doesn't look like it's going to happen. Pretty disappointing that the Stratton rep didn't consider this valuable enough to give it the time it deserved... :angry:

 

[bvibert]

That's dissapointing... I guess he just didn't care :roll:

 

[thetrailboss]

Well, don't consider it too much of a loss. The average person can no longer afford to ski there anyway.