Date(s) Skied: March 26, 2006
Resort or Ski Area: Stratton Mountain Resort
Conditions: VC/SC. Firm and perfect up top, soft and slushy at base. Weather: Partly Cloudy, Snow showers in PM, breaks of sun, some light wind. Temps in 40’s at the base and upper 30’s at the Summit.
Trip Report: Stratton has acquired a reputation as being one of the most expensive resorts in Vermont. A quick look at AZ Trip Reports finds that there are not too many. In response to some grumbling, Stratton offered an invitation to Ski for Free this season. We accepted the invite and were impressed.
The “Oh My Gosh” Turn on Route 11 Ms. Trailboss was less than impressed to be getting up early, but I convinced her that it would be worth it. There was no snow on the sides of the road and Magic was bare. Then we rounded the corner in Londonderry. “There’s Stratton,” I said.
We were impressed. Stratton looms in the distance from Sunapee and it appears to be large. I drove by in 2000 and was taken back by the village and the tall mountain. Today, however, from a closed Magic, Stratton was HUGE. The size (583 acres) is the same as both Sugarbush areas and it has a whooping 29,550 pph lift capacity with four six-packs. One can see Kidderbrook to the Snowbowl. Ms. Trailboss was excited.
Getting There and to the Lifts The access road is very quiet. The woods come to the roads and one would not expect a ski resort until the golf course appeared on the left and the mountain, very tall, appears in front of you. We pulled in at 8:30am or so and scored a great spot in Lot 1. The shuttle was there waiting for us as well…perfect timing! It brought us up to the main lodge. The interior of the lodge was clean and large. Fresh paint and friendly faces. Free bag check was nice. Bathrooms were clean. We stepped out to get our tickets and handed the agents our ‘Snow Day’ passes.
“Let me give that back to you. Today is Vermonter day, so you can come back on that free ticket if you want,” the agent said while handing me my ticket and a receipt for $0.00. I have NEVER had someone tell me to come back AGAIN for another free day! Great service…he could have just as well have taken my ticket and left it at that. They did the same for Ms. Trailboss as well. So we may return before they close!
The base area, unlike other ski areas, was more like a city than the country, but that was to be expected. In hindsight, the set up was excellent. It was perfect for vacationers who did not want to drive and Ms. Trailboss seriously considered milling through the shops when she was done. So all in all, the “village” grew on me.
The SkiingFirst run was up the gondola. We were able to get right on. Now I know why it is a 12-person lift…only a narrow bench around the inside of the cabs and no seats. We never had more than six people in our cabs. The ride was smooth and the views of the trails were impressive. I was drooling.
At the top, we decided to work the mountain from the Eastern perimeter westward. First run was down an untracked Kidderbrook all the way down to the Sunbowl Base. A nice, long warm up. About an inch of pow on a soft groomed base. It was a ghost-town back there. The run out at the bottom was very thin…probably done today. We picked up the six pack up to mid-mountain. The VT Open was taking place on this side…impressive parks. We then hit Shooting Star Six Pack. Odd unload with the uphill climb to the carrol and then the gate.
We hit Black Bear to Bowl Express and then Middlebrook. The latter was a favorite of the day—nice pitch, rolls, cover, and views. Not a real difficult trail. Bear Down, on the other hand, was bumped up with “edgeable ice bumps.” Not too fun. We did a couple more spins off of Shooting Star before heading down Standard to the base to delayer. Standard was nice—soft and edgeable. I liked the view and the pitch. The runout was a mess though…too soft at 10 am and too crowded. Ms. Trailboss did not appreciate :x We got to the base at a little bit after 10am. We had done quite a few runs in the first hour and had skied a lot of ground!
American Express got us up the mountain and we took Ursa Access to the super-fast Ursa Six Pack (she FLEW!). Ms. TB found some ruts and biffed it hard. It really shook her up. After a breather, we hit in quick order Tamarack (nice narrow feel), Middlebrook, Black Bear to Upper Downeaster, Polar Bear, and then North American to Yodler. North American was sweet—great pitch, views, and snow.
We quit for lunch at 11:30am. The snow conditions were either soft corn/slush on the lower half (below a line from Shooting Star Base to Ursa Base and over to Snow Bowl 4 Base) and firmer spring LG above that. Our game plan had been to stay above the “freeze line” for Ms. Trailboss’ legs.
After lunch, we hit the Gondola and headed back up. Ms. TB had a looonggg morning and was a bit blue. We took a nice long run down Mike’s Way (for the views) to Upper Drifter. Nice run. Next run was down Liftline which was in good shape (but got skied out). The Snowbowl was nice! Sunshine and soft snow. No crowds and loooonnngggg runs.
We did a great run down Upper and Lower Spruce…soft bumps galore! Ms. Trailboss came for the ride and did very well—her first bona fide double black bump run and in good form! She had so much fun we did it again. Definitely the run of the day. Nice pitch, feel, and width. Didn’t think a great run like this existed at a “mega resort.” The bumps were perfectly spaced and there was lots of soft snow.
After two runs, Ms. Trailboss was wiped, so we headed down Upper Standard to Switchback (Upper and Lower) which blended into Flukey’s and the Old Log Road that ended at the base. Things were dead now (about 2pm) and I wanted to nail down the remaining Black Diamond runs that we had missed. So I got on the American Express and then Ursa. First run was down Grizzly Bear, which was narrow, steep, and had some nice twists in it. There was still some good snow on it and Bear Bottom. Second run was the “hail mary”—Kidderbrook to Free Fall and back up to the summit. Free Fall was like skiing on the side of a giant snowcone—soft and edgeable. I did come across a tele skier on this run who had broken his binding and was hiking down What a bummer. Lower Kidderbrook was nasty—slush and rocks.
Again illustrating the layout and lifts, I was able to get back to the summit quickly and head down the Snowbowl on the opposite side of the mountain where I hit Get My Drift, Upper Drifter, and Slalom Glade to World Cup, the latter were again soft and bumpy. (I was kinda bummed to see that the World Cup Poma was not running…it is a self loading lift!)
Back at the summit, the closer was down Grizzly Bear to Lower Grizzly and then Beeline to the base. I did these four runs in an hour.
We left about 3:45 thanks to the help of the great parking lot shuttle.
Great place, huge mountain, great runs with character, friendly folks, and fast lifts. Did I mention great snow? We were impressed. Will certainly come back. :beer:
Resort or Ski Area: Stratton Mountain Resort
Conditions: VC/SC. Firm and perfect up top, soft and slushy at base. Weather: Partly Cloudy, Snow showers in PM, breaks of sun, some light wind. Temps in 40’s at the base and upper 30’s at the Summit.
Trip Report: Stratton has acquired a reputation as being one of the most expensive resorts in Vermont. A quick look at AZ Trip Reports finds that there are not too many. In response to some grumbling, Stratton offered an invitation to Ski for Free this season. We accepted the invite and were impressed.
The “Oh My Gosh” Turn on Route 11 Ms. Trailboss was less than impressed to be getting up early, but I convinced her that it would be worth it. There was no snow on the sides of the road and Magic was bare. Then we rounded the corner in Londonderry. “There’s Stratton,” I said.
We were impressed. Stratton looms in the distance from Sunapee and it appears to be large. I drove by in 2000 and was taken back by the village and the tall mountain. Today, however, from a closed Magic, Stratton was HUGE. The size (583 acres) is the same as both Sugarbush areas and it has a whooping 29,550 pph lift capacity with four six-packs. One can see Kidderbrook to the Snowbowl. Ms. Trailboss was excited. Getting There and to the Lifts The access road is very quiet. The woods come to the roads and one would not expect a ski resort until the golf course appeared on the left and the mountain, very tall, appears in front of you. We pulled in at 8:30am or so and scored a great spot in Lot 1. The shuttle was there waiting for us as well…perfect timing! It brought us up to the main lodge. The interior of the lodge was clean and large. Fresh paint and friendly faces. Free bag check was nice. Bathrooms were clean. We stepped out to get our tickets and handed the agents our ‘Snow Day’ passes.
“Let me give that back to you. Today is Vermonter day, so you can come back on that free ticket if you want,” the agent said while handing me my ticket and a receipt for $0.00.
I have NEVER had someone tell me to come back AGAIN for another free day! Great service…he could have just as well have taken my ticket and left it at that. They did the same for Ms. Trailboss as well. So we may return before they close! The base area, unlike other ski areas, was more like a city than the country, but that was to be expected. In hindsight, the set up was excellent. It was perfect for vacationers who did not want to drive and Ms. Trailboss seriously considered milling through the shops when she was done. So all in all, the “village” grew on me.
The SkiingFirst run was up the gondola. We were able to get right on. Now I know why it is a 12-person lift…only a narrow bench around the inside of the cabs and no seats. We never had more than six people in our cabs. The ride was smooth and the views of the trails were impressive. I was drooling.
At the top, we decided to work the mountain from the Eastern perimeter westward. First run was down an untracked Kidderbrook all the way down to the Sunbowl Base. A nice, long warm up. About an inch of pow on a soft groomed base. It was a ghost-town back there. The run out at the bottom was very thin…probably done today. We picked up the six pack up to mid-mountain. The VT Open was taking place on this side…impressive parks. We then hit Shooting Star Six Pack. Odd unload with the uphill climb to the carrol and then the gate.
We hit Black Bear to Bowl Express and then Middlebrook. The latter was a favorite of the day—nice pitch, rolls, cover, and views. Not a real difficult trail. Bear Down, on the other hand, was bumped up with “edgeable ice bumps.” Not too fun. We did a couple more spins off of Shooting Star before heading down Standard to the base to delayer. Standard was nice—soft and edgeable. I liked the view and the pitch. The runout was a mess though…too soft at 10 am and too crowded. Ms. Trailboss did not appreciate :x We got to the base at a little bit after 10am. We had done quite a few runs in the first hour and had skied a lot of ground!
American Express got us up the mountain and we took Ursa Access to the super-fast Ursa Six Pack (she FLEW!). Ms. TB found some ruts and biffed it hard. It really shook her up.
After a breather, we hit in quick order Tamarack (nice narrow feel), Middlebrook, Black Bear to Upper Downeaster, Polar Bear, and then North American to Yodler. North American was sweet—great pitch, views, and snow. We quit for lunch at 11:30am. The snow conditions were either soft corn/slush on the lower half (below a line from Shooting Star Base to Ursa Base and over to Snow Bowl 4 Base) and firmer spring LG above that. Our game plan had been to stay above the “freeze line” for Ms. Trailboss’ legs.
After lunch, we hit the Gondola and headed back up. Ms. TB had a looonggg morning and was a bit blue. We took a nice long run down Mike’s Way (for the views) to Upper Drifter. Nice run. Next run was down Liftline which was in good shape (but got skied out). The Snowbowl was nice! Sunshine and soft snow. No crowds and loooonnngggg runs.
We did a great run down Upper and Lower Spruce…soft bumps galore! Ms. Trailboss came for the ride and did very well—her first bona fide double black bump run and in good form! She had so much fun we did it again. Definitely the run of the day. Nice pitch, feel, and width. Didn’t think a great run like this existed at a “mega resort.” The bumps were perfectly spaced and there was lots of soft snow.
After two runs, Ms. Trailboss was wiped, so we headed down Upper Standard to Switchback (Upper and Lower) which blended into Flukey’s and the Old Log Road that ended at the base. Things were dead now (about 2pm) and I wanted to nail down the remaining Black Diamond runs that we had missed. So I got on the American Express and then Ursa. First run was down Grizzly Bear, which was narrow, steep, and had some nice twists in it. There was still some good snow on it and Bear Bottom.
Second run was the “hail mary”—Kidderbrook to Free Fall and back up to the summit. Free Fall was like skiing on the side of a giant snowcone—soft and edgeable. I did come across a tele skier on this run who had broken his binding and was hiking down What a bummer. Lower Kidderbrook was nasty—slush and rocks. Again illustrating the layout and lifts, I was able to get back to the summit quickly and head down the Snowbowl on the opposite side of the mountain where I hit Get My Drift, Upper Drifter, and Slalom Glade to World Cup, the latter were again soft and bumpy. (I was kinda bummed to see that the World Cup Poma was not running…it is a self loading lift!)
Back at the summit, the closer was down Grizzly Bear to Lower Grizzly and then Beeline to the base. I did these four runs in an hour.
We left about 3:45 thanks to the help of the great parking lot shuttle.
Great place, huge mountain, great runs with character, friendly folks, and fast lifts. Did I mention great snow? We were impressed. Will certainly come back. :beer:
