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New England Southern Vermont (Mount Snow and Stratton), 1/25/19-1/26/19

dbostedo

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I was again lucky enough to be in New Hampshire for work, and to get Friday off to ski!

This time I wanted to check out a couple of new places. I always like exploring different resorts, skiing new runs, and generally checking things out. So far over the last couple of seasons I'd hit Okemo, Sunapee, Sugarbush, and MRG. And earlier this season I got a day at Sunday River.

So this past weekend I decided to hit southern Vermont, and wound up skiing a day each at Mount Snow and Stratton. Most of New England got a lot of rain on Wednesday and Thursday, so I wasn't expecting too much in the way of conditions. Still, I like cruising and making big turns down groomers, so it's hard not to have good conditions for that.

Thursday night I drove from New Hampshire to Wilmington, Vermont, and headed to Mount Snow Friday morning....

I got a bit of a late start due to a work call, but arrived, got booted up, and headed out. The lifts actually started an hour late so the grooming crew could finish, so I didn't even miss any time.

Early Friday at Mount Snow, with some actual snow showers... they were brief though.
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The weather was pretty grey most of the day... later in the afternoon the sun would peek out occasionally. The temps all weekend peaked in the teens, so it was a chilly weekend, which kept everything "firm". Guns were running both days, but not as many or as much as I thought they would. Where they blew, it made for mixed conditions... and I'm not sure what Mount Snow was mixing into their snowmaking, but it was yellow-ish beige under most of the guns.
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Ice was prevalent on a lot of runs... I'm getting used to it. :cool: I definitely didn't pay enough attention to the forecast, and did not have my Stockli Laser SCs, and instead spent the weekend on my Atomic Vantage 90s... which are quite good all-around, so it was fine. But not as fun as the SCs would have been I think.

Here's a requisite PugSki sticker shot on some typical ice.
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And the view from where I was standing... it was, as they say, a loud snow day.
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Mount Snow has a bubble chair, which I mainly avoided since it usually had the only significant lift line on the mountain (which was still only a minute or two from the singles line). But the chair next to it without the bubble was ski-on, so I usually took that. Why wait? It wasn't a that cold.

View through the bubble
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View of the bubbles
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Here's where you wind up from either of the main base lifts... so no real reason to take the bubble if you're not cold.
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View from the top later in the day when the sun worked in and out of the clouds.
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The weather made for some nice snow crusted trees... makes things feel more wintry to me.
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Mount Snow has several runs... maybe 1/8 of the mountain... dedicated to parks of various sizes and features. I took a couple of runs through that area and it seemed cool and impressive, but I'm not much of a park person, except for some small jumps to play on. These kinds of things are too big for me to risk, especially skiing solo in icy conditions.

Vermont Skiing 012619 032 DC ACR Conv.jpg

Nice view of Somerset Reservoir from the North Face area. This is the main black diamond area, and had some very solid but skiable and mostly empty runs. Several weren't open, but the couple that were were lots of fun.
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Empty North Face runs
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There were ice patches like this in a several places. I made a note to avoid this one on the ride up, and of course went right over it on the way down. Much harder to see coming downhill than from the lift.
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Another view of the reservoir in some late day sun. Vermont Skiing 012619 048 ACR Conv.jpg
Panorama of the "Committed" run mid-afternoon... the Friday crowds are evident. :D
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Overall I liked Mount Snow... seemed like a very straightforward mountain - not too much too it, easy to get around. The groomers did a very good job recovering from all the rain, all things considered. I was surprised how much wasn't open though. And everything open had been groomed, which I expected.

I had lunch at the on-mountain restaurant... it wasn't crowded at all, which is always a plus. Typical food and prices IMO. I also paid for the close-in parking... Mount Snow loves me I guess. I did get the lift ticket for a pretty good price on Liftopia - $73 I think, which i about what places here in the Mid-A cost on a weekend.

The next day I was deciding between Stratton, Bromley, and Magic... and picked Stratton mainly based on conditions - snow-making and grooming capability. The next morning I headed out to Stratton, not in any huge rush to get there.

Stratton is much more of a resort with a bigger village, more close or slope-side lodging, and more remote parking. I parked in one of the auxiliary lots and took the shuttle to the village, and found the lockers and benches in the main lodge to boot up. (Quick tip, when you close a pay locker, make sure you don't leave a bag strap hanging down to get closed into someone else's pay locker. If you do it will mean finding the info desk and asking for a locker attendant to come help you, while you wait and feel embarrassed. :nono::D) Though the lift ticket was expensive - $123 dollars! That's more than every place I've been but Breck.

Stratton weather on Saturday was about the same as the day before... started grey with some later clearing. The top of the mountain was downright soupy to start the day, but cleared throughout the morning.
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First decent lift line.... Although the village was crowded, the mountain handled the crowds well, and the singles lines were typically just a few chairs wait, except for the Snow Bowl lift for some reason.... that one took a little while.
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Stratton, like Mount Snow, has a single peak that things rise too. The top was also "frosted" nicely...
Vermont Skiing 012619 059 DC ACR Conv.jpg Vermont Skiing 012619 065 DC ACR Conv.jpg
This is the view down, I think, East Meadow in the Snow Bowl area... note the uphiller on the left. I saw several folks going uphill at both resorts, most snow-shoeing or hiking... I think only one person skinning.
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After skiing around most of the mountain, and finding several meandering, rolling, fun runs I was really enjoying Stratton. Then mid-afternoon I started looking for more of the black runs that weren't just sheets of ice... and found Polar Bear. They had blown a TON of snow onto it. Enough that there was a couple inches of soft snow everywhere, and on all the steeper sections moderate bumps were forming. I skied it a couple of times and wore myself out, did one more cruising run and I was done. Hard to see here, but there are some soft bumps!
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Overall I liked Stratton more than Mount Snow... more variety, a bit bigger, though the North Face at Mount Snow was great too. The only issue with Stratton was that it was a Saturday. I tried to go in early for lunch just after 11:00, and both the mid-mountain restaurant and the base cafeteria were mobbed already. They stayed that way straight through until 2:30 or so when I left. I grabbed a snack and ate a late lunch, early dinner on the drive back to the hotel.

Overall for having low expectations, both mountains did a wonderful job with snow-making and grooming, and I got a lot of good ice practice. All in all, a great way to spend the weekend. And I'd be happy to ski either place when there is some good snow sometime.
 
Last edited:

KingGrump

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found the lockers and benches in the main lodge to boot up.

A more civilized way to boot up at Stratton is to do it in the comfort of the cafeteria. Off the back of the east wing is a hallway lined with cubbies and hooks. If you want your stuff to be more secured. There is a FREE bag check at the end of the hallway. You can take the bag out whenever you need something from it. I usually tip them a couple bucks per bag at the end of the day.
 

Phelmut

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Another great in depth review. I will be hitting Stratton on Sundays since it is an hour closer to home than Killington & SB and is on the Ikon pass.
 

Mike75

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At Stratton, park at the Sun Bowl and boot up in the lodge there. The main base area/village is a CF most weekends and holidays.
 

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