STRATTON MOUNTAIN, Vt. — The boxy gondola at Stratton Mountain Ski Resort is a snug ride. When you shuffle in you’ll invariably rub elbows with others. Although the trip up 2,003 feet to the summit is quick, savor it, as the views are stunning and you’ll be gliding over some of the best terrain in New England. And those elbows you’re nudging just might belong to a future Olympic gold medalist.
Stratton is a legendary race hill. The renowned Stratton Mountain School, or SMS, sits at its base, where a blend of academics and intensive ski instruction have, for three decades, generated a legacy of Olympic and national athletes. Skiers like Caitlin Zeliff, 18, a postgraduate skier who is honing her skills before taking them into national competition, spend almost every day training here. The nation’s 16th-fastest slalom racer in her class as of the time of this writing, Zeliff will be attending the University of Denver this fall, hoping to go big with her sport. She has high aspirations, saying that “the Olympics are on my radar. It’s in the back of every racer’s mind.”
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My wife and I skied Stratton for a week back in the mid-90s if memory serves. Great mountain but the operations were messed up. The main lift from the base goes up to mid mountain and then there are lifts on either side going higher up, one of which takes you to the back bowls. The lift taking skiers to the back bowls was shut down, so, no back bowls even though the cover was ample. We rode up a lift with a local and we were talking about how illogical the operations were, and he gave us the rest of the story. Apparently Stratton was operating in bankruptcy at the time, and they couldn't staff the resort appropriately because the receiver wouldn't let them spend the money. Why did the mountain go bankrupt? Stratton had expanded and upgraded, and to raise the capital, they sold $1,000 par bonds. To make the bonds attractive to buyers, every bond came with a season pass. So, do the math, you buy a bond for $1,000 and you get a nice interest rate plus a season pass worth $600 or so. If it took Stratton two years to go bankrupt and your bond became worthless, you still came out way ahead. So, naturally, the bonds sold very well and lift ticket and season pass revenues plunged because everybody who bought a bond had a season pass, and everybody who liked to ski Stratton bought a bond or two. I guess somebody bought it out of bankruptcy, and while we had a somewhat unpleasant experience there, the article is quite correct, it's a great mountain and as long as it isn't in receivership, you'll probably have a great experience there.
There is little resemblance between Stratton and an Austrian village. Like most ski areas, especially in Vermont to attract New York money, the place is astonishingly over-built and expensive. The friendliness and charm of Austrian shop keepers won't be found at Stratton. This piece should be tagged "advertisement".
Those friendly charming Austrian shopkeepers were all Nazis during WWII.