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Saw they took out the other chair that used to go to the ridge as well.
Americans need to walk more. Some of these posts prove that.
lol.
For every 1 vertical foot you have to climb with your gear, a kid (or kids) in tow with their gear, that should count for about 50 vertical feet for an able bodied person with just their own gear!
If you've been through it, you get it! If you've never had that experience before, well you better accept that those of us who have been through it are just saying "wait until they get to themselves..."
Stowe was home for years and I never really gave the Mansfield stairs or hill climb much thought. "The climb ain't so bad, good exercise and warmup to start the day etc, etc."
I think it's because it's cheaper to build the toilet closer to the
Yep this. 50:1 is the ratio.
When I introduced my 4 year old to the mountain two seasons ago? Man did I think that the mountain has a challenging setup for families. All three options are poor. You're either trudging up the hill to the lift from the Mansfield lodge, trudging from car up the hill to Midway lodge or trudging from car to Over Easy Gondola to the Spruce lodge.
In terms of parental Sherpa degree of difficulty, Stowe rates high on the scale for Eastern ski resorts. Ease of egress from car to lodge and lodge to lift becomes oh so important when lugging a whiney child's stuff.
Thankfully it's fairly short lived. My six year old should be mostly self sufficient this season after 4 years of me being his Sherpa. But now along comes my 3 year old to the sport this year. So it starts all over. I actually held off on starting her until 3 vs age 2 like her brother because my wife doesn't ski and isn't with me to help. I wanted my son self sufficient prior to starting my daughter.
Being the Sherpa for two kids at a time just seemed like way too much. I simply couldn't figure out the calculus of 3 sets of skis, 1 set of poles, my boot bag and a shared boot bag for them with just two shoulders and one pair of hands. Granted no boot bags to a lodge last season due to Covid, but still seemed too daunting for my sanity. Lol
I have 3 sons. All ski well. When they were young 2 would go all day, the middle one not so much. He would always be pokey carrying his stuff. He could ski very fast but chose to usually ski behind and observe the rest of us. The other 2 always had to be the first ones down. He has better form but is way more cautious always taking the easier way down where the others (especially the youngest) will take the path less traveled.
My wife carries her own shit.
I think it was mostly an accommodation for Stowe locals with somewhat regular jobs. Lots of folks did a few runs before work. Especially on powder days. Vail isn't going to do that.
