Cheetah440
Active member
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- Feb 13, 2013
- Messages
- 141
- Points
- 28
Model meyhem. It’s a good thing.
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Stratton Thread
- Thread starter ghughes20
- Start date
ghughes20
Active member
They've turned the guns on Upper Standard. They probably want a deeper base so they can consistently groom 1/2 the trail. Once that's done, they'll likely move to Supertrail.
Lift Line hasn't seen the snow guns for years. Natural and ungroomed only for the last few years. Rumor is that a water line broke over there and they can't make snow on Lifeline. The same can't be said for World Cup. Huge whales were piling up there on Sunday.
drjeff
Well-known member
They need a bunch of snow on Worldcup as they're hosting a Nor Am Mogul event on it in late February. And with the amount of snow they need to build the jump pads, the judging pads as well as to properly form and shape the course, a good 10 feet or so is likey needed
Newpylong
Well-known member
The word from the boots on the ground is they just don't want/like to make snow in close proximity to the lift now that it's a detach. If it was a water line it would have been fixed.
Shredmonkey254
Active member
I hope they keep it natural. It is attracting me to this place. They need even more natural, ungroomed stuff in my mind!
Kleetus
Member
Agree! It was great left natural this past weekend. More would be better.
Zand
Well-known member
Agreed. This was my biggest struggle against Stratton. They have some really good glades, but it can be very tough to find good natural trails even in comparison to Mt Snow and Okemo. Oftentimes it's just Ursa Liftline and Snowbowl Liftline and that's really it for ungroomed natural on the whole mountain. If Stratton left even just a handful of trails ungroomed and natural it would be so much better.
NYDB
Well-known member
Stratton shines when it had a week like last week. 2-4'' refills each day. They can leave more terrain ungroomed since you aren't knee deep struggling to get past the flat areas on fun terrain.
When it dumps big (12-18"+) they have to groom everything (80 out of 99 trails) or people get mad. Not people on this forum, but their main clientele. It just is what it is. They know who butters their bread.
They usually groom less around the sunbowl and kidderbrook areas fwiw. and of course snowbowl area they leave a few there as well.
Lotta times they let lower spruce bump up.
Agree new GM is making a huge difference.
also, they should always open terrain on less snow then say sugarbush or any steeper rockier mountain. If you hike there in the summer or have seen the place without snow there are very few areas that have real jagged rocks. Most of it is smooth rocks and grass. There are a few exceptions of course, but it lends itself to open with very little base....like its little buddy across the valley. I've seen more thin cover / experts only type signs at Stratton these past 2 years then I can ever recall.
When it dumps big (12-18"+) they have to groom everything (80 out of 99 trails) or people get mad. Not people on this forum, but their main clientele. It just is what it is. They know who butters their bread.
They usually groom less around the sunbowl and kidderbrook areas fwiw. and of course snowbowl area they leave a few there as well.
Lotta times they let lower spruce bump up.
Agree new GM is making a huge difference.
also, they should always open terrain on less snow then say sugarbush or any steeper rockier mountain. If you hike there in the summer or have seen the place without snow there are very few areas that have real jagged rocks. Most of it is smooth rocks and grass. There are a few exceptions of course, but it lends itself to open with very little base....like its little buddy across the valley. I've seen more thin cover / experts only type signs at Stratton these past 2 years then I can ever recall.
Shredmonkey254
Active member
this is good to know, hope it continues to improve. From the few days I have there so far, it is my impression that it's not real rocky underfoot. Nothing like I'm used to at the bush. The Lynx was commenting as we rode up the lift in the sun bowl this past Sunday that it looks a lot like lower birdland at the bush under the chair, just not as rocky and a bit flatter.
ghughes20
Active member
The consistently ungroomed runs are...
Liftline, Dino's Drop, 1/2 Upper Standard, Rick's Catch 22, Rising Star & Sun Beam (not 100% sure about this one). Also, left side of Super Trail isn't groomed.
Yea, not much. Also, they don't make snow on any of them except for Upper Standard. So, if there isn't enough natural snow, these are closed.
Bear Down is occasionally groomed. Far less frequently than Middlebrook - its neighbor.
ColdRain&Snow
Active member
Sunny and wind died down a bit today, skied sun bowl side of gondola, made runs through west pilot when the snow bowl lift opened. Upper kidder/middle, bear down, grizzly, polar all really fast frozen groomers, some boilerplate, some wind blown powder in places. Not sure what went on at the main base but didn’t see a lot of people. Ski on at ursa most of the day. Looks like the wind will be minimal tomorrow.
ColdRain&Snow
Active member
Pretty tracked up, some wind blown spots were nice. There’s a ton of snow in the trees in the summit glades.
x10003q
Active member
The problem with Stratton 'keeping more natural' is Stratton has too much traffic and lift capacity.
Upper Tamarack is now low on the snowmaking list and only just opened yesterday. North American is closed for training more often than not. Upper Standard is still not open. The natural state of Liftline is a great thing, but it discourages usage without a little base. These are 4 major trails from the top that help spread the crowd. Stratton has been pushing all blue and green traffic at the top onto about 3 or 4 trails and those trails get crowded and scraped pretty quickly.
The Supertrail has not seen any snowmaking and this is also major acreage that is out of circulation. That leaves basically Lower Down Easter as the only blue run in the Sun Bowl as Sun Beam and Gentle Ben are not open.
In recent years, the skiers right of the Supertrail would have had snowmaking by now. It is unclear why they have not turned on the snowmaking on the skiers right yet.
Snow conditions have been decent this week, but weekends can be insane without all this terrain in circulation. Going to more natural trails would make the crowding even worse than it is currently.
Upper Tamarack is now low on the snowmaking list and only just opened yesterday. North American is closed for training more often than not. Upper Standard is still not open. The natural state of Liftline is a great thing, but it discourages usage without a little base. These are 4 major trails from the top that help spread the crowd. Stratton has been pushing all blue and green traffic at the top onto about 3 or 4 trails and those trails get crowded and scraped pretty quickly.
The Supertrail has not seen any snowmaking and this is also major acreage that is out of circulation. That leaves basically Lower Down Easter as the only blue run in the Sun Bowl as Sun Beam and Gentle Ben are not open.
In recent years, the skiers right of the Supertrail would have had snowmaking by now. It is unclear why they have not turned on the snowmaking on the skiers right yet.
Snow conditions have been decent this week, but weekends can be insane without all this terrain in circulation. Going to more natural trails would make the crowding even worse than it is currently.
slatham
Well-known member
I would think with Upper Standard and LSG/World Cup done and open, that Sunbowl would get hammered this week with continuing cold.
ColdRain&Snow
Active member
Everything frozen yesterday started out hard today, by lunchtime really softened. Stayed away from Amex/gondola/main base after shuttle drop/first run, ursa and snow bowl were busy am, ski on pm, shooting star wasn’t crowded am, ski on pm. Following some people “in the know” into the unmarked glade between franks and tamarack, short and sweet, in and out, and pretty nice. Snow furries, no wind, pretty great day.
ColdRain&Snow
Active member
Kinda same today, with the sun out from the start. Super crowded am, lift lines down significantly after lunch. Got into west pilot a few times this morning, much softer than the other day. Cruised listening to music most of the time.
Our shuttle bus driver said all the lots filled sat and sun. Cars parked on sunbowl road and mountain road.
Our shuttle bus driver said all the lots filled sat and sun. Cars parked on sunbowl road and mountain road.
LuckyStrike
Active member
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2021
- Messages
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The crowds were a bit much for me around 10:15. I ended up taking and extended lunch and had sushi in an Irish pub (it wasn't too bad). I found myself really enjoying the bougie stores instead of standing in the lift lines. Shame about the wind up mtn as the afternoon sun felt amazing at the base (and on the old triple lift).
