Zand
Well-known member
Date(s) Skied: 12/28/06
Resort or Ski Area: Stratton Mountain, VT
Conditions: Some PP, but mainly scraped and windblown
Trip Report:
Well, I decided to head to Stratton today as they had quite a bit open compared to Sunapee which I usually hit on a vacation day. Headed up the access road... parking garage was full, lot 1 was full, lot 2 was full, so we had to park at the closed Sun Bowl base and take a tram all the way back to the zoo that was the Stratton base area.
Booted up in the extremely crowded base lodge and got in line for the American Express around 11:00 since it has a much shorter line than the Gondola. Needless to say, the singles line moved very fast and I was on in less than 5 minutes. At the top of that, I headed down Grizzly Access to the Urse Express line. It was very long, but again, the singles line flew and I was on pretty quick. Damn is that lift fast. At the top, I heeaded over and skiied Spruce for first run. Rated double black, this trail would really be a tough blue at resorts further north, but it was a fun trail with plenty of bends and steep sections. Once you hit Lower Spruce, traffic was funneled in from Liftline and things were nasty from that point on. Old Log Road to the bottom was a trip. Tons of people snowplowing all over the place.
Next, I waited about 15 minutes for the dumb gondola. The seats in this thing are very uncomfortable as they are only about 4" long and its more like sitting on a windowsill. I also don't understand where they get 12 man gondola from, it was VERY tight with 9 people in there. Well, it was a quick ride to the top and I decided to tour the summit trails from skiers left to skiers right. These were North American, Tamarack, Grizzly Bear, Polar Bear, and Black Bear. North American was the best of the bunch in terms of conditions, with everything getting more and more scaraped as you headed right with Polar Bear being the worsr. Black Bear was OK besides the steeps which all the beginners scraped off. There were tons of people skiing the blacks off the summit that shouldn't have been there.
Next up was a run down Liftline. It was pretty decent with a few scrapes, but it was closed at the Interstate intersection which meant merging with Spruce. Like I said above, it was a disaster after that.
It was about 1:30, so I headed in for lunch. I got a not-so-good burger, decent fries, and a coke for $13. Not as expensive as Mount Snow, but still way too much.
At 2, I headed out for a run down the one that goes from American Express and under the Gondola to Old Log Road. It was pretty thin on cover, but not many people. Next up was Suntanner, which was crowded as hell with a few boxes at the bottom.
I headed up to Ursa next and got 3 or 4 runs on North American. It was still in decent shape, especially on the lower half. They were already telling people last run at 3:25, so I took one last ride up Ursa and ended my day on a run down Spruce. Again, upper was decent, lower was terrible.
Well, that was my $63 day at Stratton. I'd like to return midweek sometime to check out the trails that weren't open, but today definitely wasn't worth $63 and I'll probably never go there on a vacation day again. IDK whats happening now, maybe Wachusett Monday night, aka the last night before school groups start.
Resort or Ski Area: Stratton Mountain, VT
Conditions: Some PP, but mainly scraped and windblown
Trip Report:
Well, I decided to head to Stratton today as they had quite a bit open compared to Sunapee which I usually hit on a vacation day. Headed up the access road... parking garage was full, lot 1 was full, lot 2 was full, so we had to park at the closed Sun Bowl base and take a tram all the way back to the zoo that was the Stratton base area.
Booted up in the extremely crowded base lodge and got in line for the American Express around 11:00 since it has a much shorter line than the Gondola. Needless to say, the singles line moved very fast and I was on in less than 5 minutes. At the top of that, I headed down Grizzly Access to the Urse Express line. It was very long, but again, the singles line flew and I was on pretty quick. Damn is that lift fast. At the top, I heeaded over and skiied Spruce for first run. Rated double black, this trail would really be a tough blue at resorts further north, but it was a fun trail with plenty of bends and steep sections. Once you hit Lower Spruce, traffic was funneled in from Liftline and things were nasty from that point on. Old Log Road to the bottom was a trip. Tons of people snowplowing all over the place.
Next, I waited about 15 minutes for the dumb gondola. The seats in this thing are very uncomfortable as they are only about 4" long and its more like sitting on a windowsill. I also don't understand where they get 12 man gondola from, it was VERY tight with 9 people in there. Well, it was a quick ride to the top and I decided to tour the summit trails from skiers left to skiers right. These were North American, Tamarack, Grizzly Bear, Polar Bear, and Black Bear. North American was the best of the bunch in terms of conditions, with everything getting more and more scaraped as you headed right with Polar Bear being the worsr. Black Bear was OK besides the steeps which all the beginners scraped off. There were tons of people skiing the blacks off the summit that shouldn't have been there.
Next up was a run down Liftline. It was pretty decent with a few scrapes, but it was closed at the Interstate intersection which meant merging with Spruce. Like I said above, it was a disaster after that.
It was about 1:30, so I headed in for lunch. I got a not-so-good burger, decent fries, and a coke for $13. Not as expensive as Mount Snow, but still way too much.
At 2, I headed out for a run down the one that goes from American Express and under the Gondola to Old Log Road. It was pretty thin on cover, but not many people. Next up was Suntanner, which was crowded as hell with a few boxes at the bottom.
I headed up to Ursa next and got 3 or 4 runs on North American. It was still in decent shape, especially on the lower half. They were already telling people last run at 3:25, so I took one last ride up Ursa and ended my day on a run down Spruce. Again, upper was decent, lower was terrible.
Well, that was my $63 day at Stratton. I'd like to return midweek sometime to check out the trails that weren't open, but today definitely wasn't worth $63 and I'll probably never go there on a vacation day again. IDK whats happening now, maybe Wachusett Monday night, aka the last night before school groups start.
