Stratton 3/25/07

[Newpylong]

Date(s) Skied: 3/25

Resort or Ski Area: Stratton

Conditions: Corn, Packed Water Cloudy/Fog in the AM, Clear in the PM

Trip Report:

Decided to use my free Stratton ticket before the year ended... Got up there around 9am. Wow things have developed. The last time I was at Stratton was in 1994!

Crowds were fairly minimal around the base and we got on the American Express 6-Pack shortly after 9. Warm-up run was right under the lift. Things must have been very wet overnight from the fog, the mountain was like packed water in most places, but plenty of snow. As I got off Am-Ex for the second time, I took a left and wondered where the heck the North American Quad went??? Gone I guess... we found Ursa Express, roughly in place of the Bear Double that I last rode. Took some runs off of it over to the Shooting Star, and down to the Sun Bowl.. Skied the Snow Bowl in the PM.

Bear Down had decent bumps, Black Bear was pretty good. Grizzly Bear/Bear Bottom not bad. The run down to Sun Bowl sucked, Sunrise Supertrail? I wouldn't bother skiing down there ever. North American and Tamarack was good. Standard was suprisingly one of my favorites. Some nice soft bumps skier's left... Sadly, the last run of the day was Upper to Lower Spruce, which I wish I had enough energy to keep doing it as it was completely awesome. Wish my home mountain (Mt. Snow) had a similar run. The top had a fair pitch, had plenty of rolls, and the bottom was soft bumps forever. Awesome.

That's about it really... we hit a bunch of other runs but nothing notable.

General observations:
-It doesn't get anymore McMountain than this place. They have a customer base they look for and they make sure they cater to them. Besides a few pleasant people on the gondola and in the bumps with me I have never seen so many rude folks and people with a sour puss face. Lots of nice outfits, good gear, and talking the talk, but no one I saw could walk the walk.

-Mountain Ambassadors at bases of lifts in groups of 6 telling you to slow down if you're in anything but a wedge. I felt like I was at Okemo, but worse. I will be the judge of whether Iam in control or not, thanks. I saw one of them walking after one border who said, "I will ski where I want, as fast as I want". Amen. You ski out of control, you pay the consquences.

-While the lifts were top notch, their arrangement sucks. Ursa placement in the middle of nowhere, should have put it where North American was. Should have put American Express lift where South American 4 is. Shooting Star is another useless lift. Only 3 trails you could take to get to it. I can't stand the fact that you need to take two lifts to get the summit besides the gondola. Snow Bowl was not running. While the crowds certainly didn't warrant it, the slog down to the Gondola to hit those good trails isn't worth it.

- What happened to the Kidderbrook area? No snow was made over there. According to a guy I rode up, it hasn't been in 2-3 years. That's too bad, Kidderbook and Free Fall last I was there was the best around.

Overall it isn't a bad mountain by any shape of the imagination. There certainly are some great trails, but besides Standard, the 1700 vertical (which I think might be in Meters) is really only skiable in portions.

Stratton is just not what I am used to and I just couldn't get comfortable there. Driving past Mount Snow on the way home made me miss it. Totally different experience.

 

[marcski]

Were any of the glades open. Shredwood and Moon dance and the others? I'm debating making my way up there with some buddies next weekend....

 

[Angus]

couple quick comments about your report. note that I was there last weekend for the first time in 27 years.

layout of lifts - I liked it given that you had 3 lifts servicing the top 1/2 of mtn which is really what you want to ski. and they are fast except the shooting star one I think.

people - the folks are well-heeled for sure but I found them to be nice enough & I was watching for the "my stuff don't stink" attitude. we did ride the gondola up with some total poser though - my 10 year old was even laughing at him by the time we got off the lift! but that's kind of the fun of skiing, right?

the kidderbrook area - lift wasn't running and I was told that all the snow they'd made had been washed away early in the season and they just abandoned it to concentrate other places. we skied down under the lift for a bit and then went left down a bump trail that was a hoot except for a too many tree saplings sticking out.

 

[Newpylong]

Thanks for the comments.... good to see more points of view.

I did not check out the trees so I couldn't tell you marc, sorry.

 

[trusty]

Date(s) Skied: 3/25

General observations:
-It doesn't get anymore McMountain than this place. They have a customer base they look for and they make sure they cater to them. Besides a few pleasant people on the gondola and in the bumps with me I have never seen so many rude folks and people with a sour puss face. Lots of nice outfits, good gear, and talking the talk, but no one I saw could walk the walk.

Driving past Mount Snow on the way home made me miss it. Totally different experience.

How so?

Am new to VT skiing. I would like to try Mt Snow but had not read anything spectacular about it thus far.

& why is Stratton a McMountain? Everyone seems to roll their eyes at Stratton - what is the deal with this place that makes everyone detest it!?

I have only been to Stratton once, last week, 3/20, and thought it was fine. In VT, I can only compare it to Stowe, which has better, longer and prettier trails but is a bit far from Brooklyn. Stratton seemed OK, very average, people generally nice, save for a few wealthy people with Boston accents on the gondola bragging about their house "facing the mountain" or the non-stop yapper going on and on about Aspen. But found everyone else pretty normal: a mix of scraggly VT hippies, yuppies, regular folks, older folks in their 70s, families, and the predictable cluster of grungy male packs of teens being jerky and yelling "awesome!" every five seconds.

If seeing no one 'walking the walk', you mean no expert skiers who impressed you, that serves no purpose for me, personally.

 

[RISkier]

Can’t speak to Mt. Snow since I’ve never visited. The two places my wife and I have visited that we’ve enjoyed the least are Stratton and Okemo. And perhaps we’ve not spent sufficient time at either to give them a fair shake. We got an inexpensive weekend at Stratton last year. Neither of us was impressed with the purpose built base village. All of the buildings looked the same and felt the same. IMO, the village almost completely lacks alpine charm. The restaurants we tried were fine but none made us really want to return and all were very expensive. Folks on the lodges and on the lifts didn’t seem to be having a very good time. The skiing was fine but didn’t seem especially interesting. To me the experience was sort of like going to a good chain restaurant; there wasn’t anything especially bad but there was nothing interesting or unique that would make me really want to go back. Our biggest gripe about Okemo was the horrific crowds but it too impressed me as having a bit of that cookie cutter feel you find in almost every mall in America.

 

[trusty]

To me the experience was sort of like going to a good chain restaurant; there wasn’t anything especially bad but there was nothing interesting or unique that would make me really want to go back. Our biggest gripe about Okemo was the horrific crowds but it too impressed me as having a bit of that cookie cutter feel you find in almost every mall in America.

Okemo seems like one I will not be trying anytime soon.

RISkier: have you been to Jay Peak, Killington or Sugarbush? Have heard that Jay has great snow late in season, but other say it's hyped, dated and not worth the far drive.
[Hoping to get one last ski day in after the rains subside!]

 

[RISkier]

trusty,

I've not been to Jay, Killington, or Sugarbush. There are lots of AZ participants who really seem to like Sugarbush and it's a place I'd really like to try. From everything I've read I think my wife and I would really like Sugarbush and Mad River Valley area. Others can speak with much more authority regarding Jay or Killington. My wife and I seem to keep going back to Stowe. In part because we've made some friends in the area. So we get kind of a Stowe insiders experience. There are lots of things to criticize about Stowe but the mountain has character and the village is very interesting. I'm hoping the Spruce Peak development doesn't completely change the feel of Stowe, but I have my fears. The other area we've really gotten to like is the Mt. Washington Valley -- we've stayed in Jackson and Glen a few times and you have access to a range of ski areas. Lots of dining and drinking options and the place feels real rather than purpose built. And if you're looking for shopping or more urban off-slope opportunities you can shoot down to North Conway.

 

[Newpylong]

There really is nothing spectacular about Mount Snow really... it just is a cool mountain with a friendly and diverse crowd. There is some development there, but nothing obscene. I usually ski solo, and I can honestly say I would ride up the chair again with any one person that I rode with there this year. The same cannot be said for places like Killington where I can't wait to get off the lift.

Stratton: I don't think people hate it as much as they just don't care for it. Like I said, and the person above here, it just has a cookie cutter feel, and that's what the people who ski there like. The mountain police, the gondola terminal which looks more like a Tramway in the Alps than something in Vermont, the gates which keep you from entering the lift until the chair has passed, etc. and so on... its just not for me.

The walk the walk comment was regarding the flashy outfits and nice equipment all around, it was just to build on my point. I'm not judging anyone's skiing ability, I could care less.

To each his own I guess...

How so?

Am new to VT skiing. I would like to try Mt Snow but had not read anything spectacular about it thus far.

& why is Stratton a McMountain? Everyone seems to roll their eyes at Stratton - what is the deal with this place that makes everyone detest it!?

I have only been to Stratton once, last week, 3/20, and thought it was fine. In VT, I can only compare it to Stowe, which has better, longer and prettier trails but is a bit far from Brooklyn. Stratton seemed OK, very average, people generally nice, save for a few wealthy people with Boston accents on the gondola bragging about their house "facing the mountain" or the non-stop yapper going on and on about Aspen. But found everyone else pretty normal: a mix of scraggly VT hippies, yuppies, regular folks, older folks in their 70s, families, and the predictable cluster of grungy male packs of teens being jerky and yelling "awesome!" every five seconds.

If seeing no one 'walking the walk', you mean no expert skiers who impressed you, that serves no purpose for me, personally.

 

[trusty]

There really is nothing spectacular about Mount Snow really... it just is a cool mountain with a friendly and diverse crowd. There is some development there, but nothing obscene. ...

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