OppositeGeorge
Member
Stratton - 12/30/2007
Date(s) Skied: 12/30/2007
Resort or Ski Area: Stratton Mountain Resort, Bondville VT
Conditions: Elbow-to-elbow gapers over loose granular over ice.
Trip Report: Stayed with friends with kids up in Jamaica VT for New Years weekend festivities so they were calling the shots. Things were so horrible, largely due to the preceding week's weather, that taking what follows as a general indictment of the resort might be a bit strong. Also keep in mind this was on a busy holiday Sunday. Still, I've pasted in Monday morning's fresh diary comments, mostly unedited, to give a feeling for the day's frustration. These reflect feelings at the time -- maybe mellowed since by the soft focus of memory. Names have been edited to protect the innocent. Explanatory comments in square brackets:
----Diary entry starts here----
Ice, ice, ice… Crowds, crowds, crowds… Skiing with I_ and J_ [my friends -- wife and husband] and C_ and M_ [their 6 y.o. son and 4 y.o. daughter] and J_F_ [J_'s buddy]. MGG over solid -- slurpee city by day's end -- low-mid 30's -- Got maybe 8 runs in; didn’t get a good turn in until late mid-day, then only on one run.
I_ and M_ terrified and miserable [I_ is a beginner adult -- maybe her 4th/5th time out, and M_ usually skis on a leash held by her dad.] Scratch that -- everybody miserable.
Parked in Lot 2 and bus was fast and efficient. Lines up to > 30 min on Ursa Express, Gondola. World Cup looked nicely bumped-up, and others said entire Snow Bowl area had best conditions, but only got to do one run in that area, on Liftline, and it was solid ice (the kind your poles don't dent.) What little snow there was on the mountain got scraped down and off very quickly by the incredible crowd. Lots of reckless behavior on display; too many getting too close, too fast to others, out of control. Consideration for others at a premium; too many instances where I felt the kids [that is, the sweet innocent angels I was skiing with] were threatened by gapers [that is, not explicitly but by their irresponsible skiing -- what a bunch of douches.]
The only thing to do was keep them [the kids] close by -- this doesn't help them improve their skiing.
I feel sorry for the people who feel this this the ultimate, premium SNE skiing experience -- they are seriously misinformed and sadly deluded.
----End of diary entry----
Okay, so we get home and everybody had a lousy day. I_ is seriously considering never getting on skis again. I tactfully* suggest Bromley for tomorrow, and J_, who'd been considering Bromley as well says what the hey. J_F is also tactful but grumbles a bit under his breath -- I'm no mind reader but my feeling is he doesn't and can't see Bromley as a real mountain or at least nothing near the caliber of Stratton. For better or worse, in the end he's overruled and the next morning off to Bromley we go for New Years Eve. Tune in next thread to see how that went.
----
*Okay, not really. I was pimping Bromley pretty hard since kids always seem to have a good time there, and spending lots of overnights in nearby Weston means I've seen that ridge get hammered with great snow when neighboring locales get half as much. And snow, lots of good snow, was blowing through the area. I made this reccommendation even though I'd have to pay full fare at Bromley ($63) whereas my Stratton lift ticket was already paid for and only $44 (CSC pre-season bulk purchase.)
Date(s) Skied: 12/30/2007
Resort or Ski Area: Stratton Mountain Resort, Bondville VT
Conditions: Elbow-to-elbow gapers over loose granular over ice.
Trip Report: Stayed with friends with kids up in Jamaica VT for New Years weekend festivities so they were calling the shots. Things were so horrible, largely due to the preceding week's weather, that taking what follows as a general indictment of the resort might be a bit strong. Also keep in mind this was on a busy holiday Sunday. Still, I've pasted in Monday morning's fresh diary comments, mostly unedited, to give a feeling for the day's frustration. These reflect feelings at the time -- maybe mellowed since by the soft focus of memory. Names have been edited to protect the innocent. Explanatory comments in square brackets:
----Diary entry starts here----
Ice, ice, ice… Crowds, crowds, crowds… Skiing with I_ and J_ [my friends -- wife and husband] and C_ and M_ [their 6 y.o. son and 4 y.o. daughter] and J_F_ [J_'s buddy]. MGG over solid -- slurpee city by day's end -- low-mid 30's -- Got maybe 8 runs in; didn’t get a good turn in until late mid-day, then only on one run.
I_ and M_ terrified and miserable [I_ is a beginner adult -- maybe her 4th/5th time out, and M_ usually skis on a leash held by her dad.] Scratch that -- everybody miserable.
Parked in Lot 2 and bus was fast and efficient. Lines up to > 30 min on Ursa Express, Gondola. World Cup looked nicely bumped-up, and others said entire Snow Bowl area had best conditions, but only got to do one run in that area, on Liftline, and it was solid ice (the kind your poles don't dent.) What little snow there was on the mountain got scraped down and off very quickly by the incredible crowd. Lots of reckless behavior on display; too many getting too close, too fast to others, out of control. Consideration for others at a premium; too many instances where I felt the kids [that is, the sweet innocent angels I was skiing with] were threatened by gapers [that is, not explicitly but by their irresponsible skiing -- what a bunch of douches.]
The only thing to do was keep them [the kids] close by -- this doesn't help them improve their skiing.
I feel sorry for the people who feel this this the ultimate, premium SNE skiing experience -- they are seriously misinformed and sadly deluded.
----End of diary entry----
Okay, so we get home and everybody had a lousy day. I_ is seriously considering never getting on skis again. I tactfully* suggest Bromley for tomorrow, and J_, who'd been considering Bromley as well says what the hey. J_F is also tactful but grumbles a bit under his breath -- I'm no mind reader but my feeling is he doesn't and can't see Bromley as a real mountain or at least nothing near the caliber of Stratton. For better or worse, in the end he's overruled and the next morning off to Bromley we go for New Years Eve. Tune in next thread to see how that went.
----
*Okay, not really. I was pimping Bromley pretty hard since kids always seem to have a good time there, and spending lots of overnights in nearby Weston means I've seen that ridge get hammered with great snow when neighboring locales get half as much. And snow, lots of good snow, was blowing through the area. I made this reccommendation even though I'd have to pay full fare at Bromley ($63) whereas my Stratton lift ticket was already paid for and only $44 (CSC pre-season bulk purchase.)
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