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Stratton Mountain Ski & Summer Resort
Rating Details »
11 reviews for Stratton Mountain Ski & Summer Resort
Stratton! How could I forget to review you? Aaah, well all those ads in the subway reminded me.
Seems like I'm in the minority on Yelp as an expert skiier reviewing this place. Not going to lie, cost didn't factor into my review because I always skied here for free because of races.
I would describe Stratton as a good family mountain: there's a lot for all levels. Nice grooming for the less experienced skiiers, and plenty of steeper stuff for the more aggressive skiiers, at least for one full day's worth. The only problem is that since Stratton is further south, they tend to get a little more rain than the mountains in central and northern VT. Thus, the more challenging trails get shut down first =(
The mountain amenities are fantastic, and the village is nothing short of charming.
Oh Stratton, I adore you. You will always have a special place in my heart as the mountain that I grew up skiing on. While you are not the most challenging mountain in New England (by far.. I regret having to deduct a star for this), your trails are always well groomed, your powder is always nicely packed, and your lift lines go fast. Your food is overpriced, but I can forgive you for that. I bring my lunch. You do have an overabundance of beginner skiers which can get a little old, so I tend to spend my days on your upper slopes. I did make the mistake once of thinking I could conquer one of your double black glades.. "Why Not"? Because it's freakin' hard, that's why!! Maybe one day. Overall, you have something for everyone and that is what makes you a great mountain. Counting the days til ski season.
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Vermont doesn't mess around! From the trails, cafeteria and the village, I was truly impressed! I knew I wasn't in "Kansas" (aka Camelback, PA and Hunter Mountain, NY) anymore when I got so scared to go down one hill I considered taking my skiis off! But after a lot of deep breaths I managed to make it! And to top it all off, a firepit was lit and the Stratton employees handed out free hot chocolate and marshmallows to roast! How cool is that? I can't recall the original price of the lift tickets but I got mine through Working Advantage for $51.95 (w/o shipping).
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I'm an intermediate skiier and I'll be the first to say that Stratton is the best option in Southern VT. The trails are well groomed, not terribly crowded and the lines are never that bad. In short, it's a well run operation. That's all I can ask for.
It's probably not the greatest place for hardcore gnarly shredding. That's ok by me.
The food at the base is overpriced, which I'm sure will come as a shock to some. These same will probably be surprised that the ocean is wet. I can't help you with the ocean quandary, but for the ski resort, use an age old trick beloved by overworked entry-level employees and third graders: pack your lunch.
When you've tired of Stratton's rollers, head over to Magic (or, north to Mad Riv) and flirt with danger.
I am an average/intermediate skier. I don't like to go fast, I just enjoy a nice moderate pace so Stratton is good spot for me. The conditions are always pretty good, and while the regular priced lift ticket is a bit expensive, they offer a discount pass (x2 I think it's called) for about 50 bucks that pays for itself quickly if you are a regular skier.
I like the upstairs restaurant right at the base, the food is good, the service is quick even when it's crowded, and they have a great beer selection.
I'm not the best person to ask if a mountain is great, but I've been to ski resorts that suck, and Stratton is far from a one star sucky ski area.
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Stratton is not worth the most expensive lift ticket pricetag in VT. Sure, it makes you feel all fancy driving in, with the beautiful luxury ski condos dotting its snowy slopes, and the 5 star restaurants right at the base...snow bunnies covered in snowflake-shaped bling...wealthy 14 year-old boys with ski-boners...
But you know what? All you get for your almost $80 lift ticket is the mountain itself...not the condos or the fancy dinners or the snowbunnies...just the lifts, the snow, and gravity's effect...and that leaves a bit to be desired.
Stratton is not that big...it's only 400' higher in elevation than Mt. Snow (which is much cheaper!), and has fewer trails. The trails are very nicely groomed, but not especially challenging, exciting, or steep. You can cover the whole mountain fairly quickly. The lift lines are pretty long, especially the one for the gondola, which we didn't even bother with. And there is a whole hell of a lot of traversing. Not fun for a snowboarder.
The 2 stars go to the awesome terrain park that I almost killed myself in...it was really fun learning how to do rail slides with my man. So we did have fun...
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The mountain is gloomed to hell, and the trails are groomed well.
It was pretty dark and cold, very gloomy atmosphere up there. You have a beautiful view looking down from the lifts at the valleys below. The Gondola is said to fit up to twelve people, but it's a tight fit putting eight people and their boards/skis.
The trails were groomed extremely well.
Like all other mountains they bring in workers for other countries. Food is pricey, and not very good, but I have come to expect that from ski resort food.
I suggest purchasing the X-2 pass for a dollar more than a one day lift ticket. You can go back later that season to ski for free one day, and you get a discount on lift tickets on other days of the year.
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I'm an intermediate/expert snowboarder and am working though all the hills on the East Coast since moving to NYC about 5 years ago.
After struggling with the decision last week I opted for a day trip at Stratton over Windham or Hunter as Stratton received about a foot more powder ahead of the weekend. So I spent a Saturday there from about 10am to 4pm.
The liftline at the gondola was completely absurd and took a half hour. I mean, seriously, there's a fundamental issue with the hill layout if people have to wait 30 minutes. So I took that once, and spent about 80% of the day on the upper part of the mountain anyway.
The upper part of the mountain is definitely more challenging than the lower half, and aside from a few spots to jump into the trees, the lower half was boring aside from the terrain parks. However, I found the challenging runs (black and double blacks) to be pretty decent (that is, if you like moguls, which I do). Additionally, there are far fewer people on the runs than at Killington/Stowe, and far fewer beginners and families than at Hunter.
Worth noting, there are several tree/glades runs that are actually marked, and I spent probably half the day racing through the woods in powder. So if that's your thing, I highly recommend it.
I probably won't hit Stratton again this winter unless it's another day trip. For a full weekend it's worth driving the additional time to Stowe. Killington is comparable with respect to the skill level, and much larger, but way too many kids there and families taking up the runs.
This resort suffers from 2 fundamental problems:
Firstly, the capacity of the main gondola to the top of the mountain is clearly insufficient - there's always a huge crowd in front of it. Admittedly you can avoid taking it more than 2-3 times a day by staying on the upper part of the mountain and taking the mid-mountain chair lifts up. You'll probably be doing this anyway, because of problem 2:
They don't nickname this place "flat-un" for nothing. While the upper part of the mountain has some interesting diamond and double-diamond runs, the lower half is pretty much all green. You end up pretty much looping through the upper half, making for pretty short runs.
On the positive side, they've done an excellent job of preparing the slopes given the utter lack of snow so far this season.
i've been to stratton, hunter, windham, camelback, mountain creek, killington, sunday river...
sunday river is still my favority followed by stratton. lifts aren't that filled. trails are spacious... snow is never icy... gondola is convenient and fast!... enough to keep everyone busy the whole day!
food could be better but what resort actually has really good food...
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My review is nearly identical to nate r.'s- great intermediate mountain, well maintained and groomed trails w/ good snowmaking. Wide groomed, easy flowing trails- upper Sun Bowl is my favorite. Overpriced food like any other ski resort- pack your lunch! Both the main base lodge and Sun Bowl's base lodge are small but I've never had any issue finding a seat, if you are willing to share a table, of course. I like their Stratton base village (Mulligans, the shops- Burton, Life is Good, Partridge deli and the wine bar), though the parking at the main base is an awful layout (small amount of spaces available, satellite lots otherwise...I won't reveal my secret spot though!) I visit each year to watch the US Open for snowboarding- great professional event, though the mountain is very crowded at this time. (The trick is to arrive early & stay in the upper mountain until you go to watch the events.) Lift ticket here is expensive but Stratton does offer discount card and lots of ski & stay packages, though I usually stay off-resort. Nearby towns, Manchester, Jamaica, Londonderry have great B&Bs, restaurants, shops so this is a nice area of Vermont to visit. Overall, I keep coming back...and though it's not exactly my favorite mountain, my familiarity with the resort and the area makes for a better experience.
