Mount Snow Resort — Attraction in Stratton

We went to Mount Snow for the first time on Monday. First thing we noticed when we got there was that they charge for parking. I don't know if this is a normal thing for Vermont, but we've never been charged for parking anywhere in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, or even out west. It felt tacky, like they were nickel-and-diming us. If times are that tough make the lift tickets a little more expensive! We're already paying $100+ for the tickets, it just feels silly to get there and be asked for $15 more. But whatever. We had no signal (T-mobile), so we had to walk in to the village to pay for the parking over their wifi (the only option is to pay online). When we paid, the app told us our parking would expire at 1:00. I checked with an employee and they said the app was wrong, we were actually good for the whole day, so be prepared for that. I've been snowboarding for decades and my wife is still learning. With that being said, I had a much better time than she did. The Carinthia area is awesome if you're looking for terrain - I love that they have a variety of small, medium, and large features on different runs. The lift over there got really busy, but it was a busy day that we decided to go. The lines are well managed, they keep it moving and they fill up the chairs well. I never had to wait very long. However, for people that are beginners or still learning, this hill can be fairly challenging. The easiest path down from the top ("Long John") has some pretty steep sections for a green, and it's pretty busy, so there were a lot of people taking it pretty quickly through those sections. The beginner lift "Seasons" only really services one wide path straight back down, so it gets old quick. The green on the Canyon lift ("NE Time" - "Snowdance") had a quite challenging section - I think that route would be a blue on most other mountains. And that's basically it for greens, other than the bunny hill ("Launch Pad") and a couple of connecting routes. We didn't end up getting any food or drinks this time, but the village looked to have a lot of great options, particularly for craft beer. They also had multiple of those waffle huts if you like those. The racks outside the lodges are those "Ski key" racks with the overpriced proprietary locks (again with the nickel-and-diming), but if you already have one of the locks you can use it here. If you're comfortable with all blues on other mountains, then you'll have a great time at Mount Snow, especially if you like terrain parks. Just be sure to download the Passport parking app ahead of time and be prepared to pay per car. If you're newer to skiing or snowboarding, there will be limited options for you here, and the few greens that they do have are challenging compared to...

My father rented skis for 1 day here. When receiving the skis, they were given to us latched together bottom to bottom (the employee who gave them to us did temporarily unlatch them to adjust the binding sizing on top but did not examine the ski bottoms). My father unlatched them and put them on the ground without checking the bottoms and we skied the day (I will never, ever not check and take pictures of rented equipment top to bottom again). Upon turn-in, the rental shop claimed one of the skis had "unrepairable" damage and proceeded to charge my father $500 for damage that he did not do to this one ski. It was the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen in my life. I skied with him all day, on the exact trails. He did not damage the ski nor even bump it against anything. The terrain did not do it, I rode the same exact terrain. It was obvious that what most likely happened was that the last renter got away with damaging it and the staff did not check. Either that, or they pulled something even shadier which I'd hope isn't the case but I honestly wouldn't be at all surprised. Regardless, they were taking advantage of an older guy who treated the equipment with the utmost care.

We purchased the rental insurance. They claim they cannot honor it because it is not repairable, it only covers repairable damage. Even though it wasn't my father who did the damage, I have seen multiple skis with side shots get repaired, especially good enough for a rental ski. The kicker? I asked well does he get to keep this ski he supposedly damaged since he just paid for a new pair? "No, we have to throw them out".

Asked Mount Snow's front desk to help me as this was just insane. Said they can't help me because the ski shop operates independently. They are on your property, not 20 feet away from your ticket booth. Whether you like it or not you are associated with them, especially since you schedule/pay for the rentals from YOUR site.

Imagine being excited for a fun day of skiing with your family just to get scammed out of $500 for damage you did not do to your equipment. Absolutely unacceptable and I will never go to a vail resort again. Whether or not you decide to ski Mt Snow, AVOID THE RENTAL SHOP...

The resort is well maintained and staff are present and helpful around the lodges and at the lifts. However, on the trails there were a lot of out of control or speeding skiers and boarders and no ski patrol or anyone out to try and manage this. I was hit twice within 15 minutes when taking the trail Long John down to the base. For additional context, I am an advanced skier, have been skiing for almost 25 years, do not make erratic turns, and have a tight, controlled trajectory along either the far left or far right of the trail to stay out of the main flow of traffic. The last time I was hit by another skier or rider was over 10 years ago, and that person was completely new and lost control. On both counts this weekend, the individuals were going too fast and not paying attention to people down mountain. I was lucky to keep my feet the first time after being hit in the back of the legs and only suffer a minor fall the second. But both situations could have been much worse. I can't even imagine if something like this were to happen to a young child either.

On top of this, my party and I got stuck on the summit quad for 20 minutes in freezing temperatures, 20+ mph wind gusts and heavy snowfall. We had no idea what was going on and no ski patrol or anyone came by to update us. By the time we were able to get off, my hands and feet were completely numb and I was getting the beginnings of frostbite on my nose and cheeks even through a buff.

Overall, while there were some good conditions, skiing and riding felt dangerous due to other out of control patrons and the handling of the lift malfunction in serious weather was particularly abysmal. I felt particularly bad for 4 of the 6 of my party who didn't have epic passes and paid for expensive lift tickets only to have to deal with...