Any plans at Stratton?

[canobie#1]

It doesn't seem like they have anything in the works right now or in the future at this point in time. The last big thing I can recall was the removal of the Kidderbrook quad. I noticed that the base terminal is still there.. A new high speed quad for the area would be cool. Maybe some new trails to the left if they come up with an agreement with the fire tower controversy.
A new express quad at snow bowl was also talked about on ski forums long ago. It seems like Stratton could do some more work soon, anything new that hasn't been shared yet?

 

[steamboat1]

New gondi cars next season.

 

[canobie#1]

Was that just a rumor or was it confirmed?

 

[xlr8r]

There is a new example cabin in the village. They will be 8 passenger Sigma Cabins (Very nice looking). The Snowbowl upgrade is planned to happen after that.

 

[steamboat1]

Woodcore posted a pic awhile back.

 

[canobie#1]

wow that looks nice. Will there be more cabins than the original? The line is always awful.

 

[xlr8r]

See this link for an explanation of their plans (In Comments)

http://blog.stratton.com/2013/07/22...e-mountain-and-resort-experience-for-2013-14/

 

[canobie#1]

Great link! I am happy to hear that plans for the snow bowl are going strong. I am also happy that they aren't purchasing a high speed six pack.

 

[ss20]

'Bout time with those cabins! Seriously, Stratton has got to be the most unchanged major mountain in the East. And nothing major in the works either.

 

[canobie#1]

I think the late 90's early 2000's were the peak of stratton. I think we may see some new things soon, stratton makes one hell of a business.

 

[steamboat1]

I think the late 90's early 2000's were the peak of stratton. I think we may see some new things soon, stratton makes one hell of a business.

Yeh I guess that's why the Japs sold it.

 

[xlr8r]

'Bout time with those cabins! Seriously, Stratton has got to be the most unchanged major mountain in the East. And nothing major in the works either.

IMO Stratton does not need to upgrade much. Most of the infrastructure they have is top of the line as far as eastern skiing is concerned. They have one of the best snowmaking systems, 4 modern HS sixpacks, plenty of on mountain lodging, and the base village which no other mountain in New England has. Besides upgrading the Snowbowl and Gondola lifts, there aren't many improvements that need to be made.

But I would like to see the current base lodge expanded to have more seating. The Tamarack chair is getting old so it might need to be upgraded at some point. And a summit lodge/restaurant would be nice, especially with the upgraded gondola coming soon.

 

[mlkrgr]

IMO Stratton does not need to upgrade much. Most of the infrastructure they have is top of the line as far as eastern skiing is concerned. They have one of the best snowmaking systems, 4 modern HS sixpacks, plenty of on mountain lodging, and the base village which no other mountain in New England has. Besides upgrading the Snowbowl and Gondola lifts, there aren't many improvements that need to be made.

But I would like to see the current base lodge expanded to have more seating. The Tamarack chair is getting old so it might need to be upgraded at some point. And a summit lodge/restaurant would be nice, especially with the upgraded gondola coming soon.

+1; Shooting Star never has much people when it operates midweek (they end up closing it at 2 pm if they do operate it on many midweek days) and barely has a line on the weekend, and so that's why the Kidderbrook quad was mostly useless. Even on the busiest I've seen it at Stratton, Shooting Star goes up with its chairs mostly full. The only design flaw is that if you ski that trail, you have to go back to Sunbowl base, which means that you are skiing a sizable runout. The gondi cabins are the only real thing I'd replace as the infrastructure is otherwise pretty good. I wouldn't add much capacity other than to make Snow Bowl a HSQ to make the weekend people happy (it's not that much of an inconvenience midweek to ski to the base and take the gondi back up).

 

[x10003q]

+1; Shooting Star never has much people when it operates midweek (they end up closing it at 2 pm if they do operate it on many midweek days) and barely has a line on the weekend, and so that's why the Kidderbrook quad was mostly useless. Even on the busiest I've seen it at Stratton, Shooting Star goes up with its chairs mostly full. The only design flaw is that if you ski that trail, you have to go back to Sunbowl base, which means that you are skiing a sizable runout. The gondi cabins are the only real thing I'd replace as the infrastructure is otherwise pretty good. I wouldn't add much capacity other than to make Snow Bowl a HSQ to make the weekend people happy (it's not that much of an inconvenience midweek to ski to the base and take the gondi back up).

The Shooting Star placement was a big mistake if they knew they were going to remove the Kidderbrook quad. They should have started the Shoorting Star at the bottom of the Vertigo Glades. Then you would be able to enjoy a few more interesting trails and not have to do the hard left turn to get to the Shooting Star when skiing Bear Down and Upper Middlebrook. That runout below the Vertigo Glades is horrible.

You may think the runout from the base of the Snow Bowl quad is just an "inconvenience", at 7/10ths of a mile I find it a boring waste of time and energy. Stratton's good stuff is up top. Upgrading the Snow Bowl quad is great news.

 

[canobie#1]

Well if they get a high speed quad in kidder brook and add some more trails to the left of the mountain, then the shooting star could be over shadowed like the K quad when it was first introduced.

 

[Newpylong]

'Bout time with those cabins! Seriously, Stratton has got to be the most unchanged major mountain in the East. And nothing major in the works either.

Not much else to do at Stratton but collect money.

I will second other people's opinions that the 6 packs are in terrible locations. They are so just out of the way. Am Ex dumps in the middle of nowhere. Ursa starts in the middle of nowhere. Shooting Star IS in the middle of nowhere.

 

[canobie#1]

ursa is in a good location. You can access the majority of the trails on the left of the mountain. Plus it's nice to have lifts that aren't at the base. Spreads out the crowds. Kinda like sugar bush

 

[drjeff]

Not much else to do at Stratton but collect money.

And that's also their achilles heel! If someone was to buy Stratton, it won't be for cheap, and since it, maybe more so than any other major Eastern resort is very close to, if not at it's build-out point from a real estate perspective, and potential buyer won't be able to reap much in real estate profit to recoup the purchase costs.

 

[canobie#1]

^Not if they expand to a new bowl :flag: lol

 

[ss20]

^
Mount Snow-Stratton Interconnect!!!