Stratton 1-11
Date: 1-11-15
Area: Stratton
Conditions: Machine made packed powder with isolated areas of hard pack, cold (-6 as I was driving past the Sun Bowl entrance at 7:30AM, only 12 degrees when I left at 3PM. Winds were generally light, with some moderate gusts from the South, mainly felt over the top 1/4 of the mountain
My daughter had a Southern VT Council skills competition at Stratton, so it was off to Stratton for the day.
I will admit that my job as a racer parent had my terrain for the day limited to just some laps off the gondola and the AMEX pack, but from what I heard from a few other parents I spoke with, the conditions I enjoyed on the limited terrain I was on was pretty much what was covering the rest of the mountain.
A nice surface of machine groomed packed powder was what I encountered as the primary surface. As the day went on, some small bits of higher traffic areas were getting scraped down to the frozen remnants that the 40-50 degree temps and rain from a week ago left. These scratchy areas though were a distant secondary surface condtion, and the skiing that I did was quite enjoyable with a generally light on hill skier/rider density.
I will say that the new gondola cabins Stratton installed last summer area a BIG step up from the 25 or so year old cabins they replaced. While the new cabins are listed as being for 10 people, the reality is that for "average" sized adults, only 8 can sit. I will also admit that it being Stratton, I was expecting a comfier seat than just the indutrail grade carpet over a plastic bench. I will admit that I was anticipating something at least as comfy to sit on as a modern chairlift pad, but overall that's a minor thing given what an upgrade the new cabins are.
All in all a decent mid winter day on the hill
Area: Stratton
Conditions: Machine made packed powder with isolated areas of hard pack, cold (-6 as I was driving past the Sun Bowl entrance at 7:30AM, only 12 degrees when I left at 3PM. Winds were generally light, with some moderate gusts from the South, mainly felt over the top 1/4 of the mountain
My daughter had a Southern VT Council skills competition at Stratton, so it was off to Stratton for the day.
I will admit that my job as a racer parent had my terrain for the day limited to just some laps off the gondola and the AMEX pack, but from what I heard from a few other parents I spoke with, the conditions I enjoyed on the limited terrain I was on was pretty much what was covering the rest of the mountain.
A nice surface of machine groomed packed powder was what I encountered as the primary surface. As the day went on, some small bits of higher traffic areas were getting scraped down to the frozen remnants that the 40-50 degree temps and rain from a week ago left. These scratchy areas though were a distant secondary surface condtion, and the skiing that I did was quite enjoyable with a generally light on hill skier/rider density.
I will say that the new gondola cabins Stratton installed last summer area a BIG step up from the 25 or so year old cabins they replaced. While the new cabins are listed as being for 10 people, the reality is that for "average" sized adults, only 8 can sit. I will also admit that it being Stratton, I was expecting a comfier seat than just the indutrail grade carpet over a plastic bench. I will admit that I was anticipating something at least as comfy to sit on as a modern chairlift pad, but overall that's a minor thing given what an upgrade the new cabins are.
All in all a decent mid winter day on the hill