Stowe, Vermont?

A snowHead

It's that time again - About to book next year's trip, and having got some brilliant advice on here regarding Breck last year (best resort I've had the pleasure of 'boarding in), I thought I'd ask if anyone has been to Stowe in VT?

I've done the usual forum search and google trawl to find:

+ve's

Short(ish) flight from the UK
Decent runs for advanced beginner / intermediate level
Supposedly preferred by some over Killington - Less queues / more of a town than 'just an access road'
Opportunities to pop up to Montreal / down to NYC on rest days (I'm old / fat so need a rest every 3-4 days!)
Chance to visit a couple of mates that live in the Boston area

-ve's

The snow won't be as good as Colorado - Rain = ice ++
No 'Epic' lift pass deal - Think we paid £280 for a season pass which covered our two weeks in Breck / A Basin / Keystone - £20 per day!
Bit more driving involved; but not thaaat bothered.

Any top tips welcome - Especially regarding deals on lift passes, or where to stay (Looking at the Commodores Inn?)

Hoping to book in the next day or two - I need something to look forward to! Very Happy

A snowHead

Fluoxetine, Been to Stowe a couple of times on the back end of business trips. Very much enjoyed it, but it's not Europe or the Rockies. Think pine covered ( large ) hills and not alpine, there is no link to Smugglers Notch anymore either unfortuantely.

Stowe is a lovely town about ten minutes from the ski area, which there is a bus service for. The town has lots of 'fine dinning' and lots of more ordinary what you would expect of the USA type restaurants - pizza, steak, ribs etc. Also the Ben and Jerry's factory is close by and well worth the visit!!

We stayed at the Golden Eagle Resort http://www.goldeneagleresort.com/ both times and loved it. If I had the money I would probably have picked the Stoweflake http://www.stoweflake.com/ after going there and having a good look around the hotel and facilities.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Fluoxetine,

Think you got it about right the difference of Stowe from the Colorado resorts.

We went to ski last Christmas in VT doing KIllington, Sugarbush, Stowe, Smuggler Notch as we hired a 4x4.

Area wise VT is a small potato comparing with Colorado. The best way to describe it is comparing Montpellier of VT with Montpellier in France. Not only it isn't the same deal but the place in VT is almost what we described a "one-horse" town. We toured Burlington, Rutland and other cities and towns too but none of them is comparable to the upmarket status of Denver.

Skiing wise the ski pass is slightly cheaper than those in Colorado but so is the facilities and size of the resort. There seemed to be a lot less international visitors in VT than Co. The skiing experience in VT is definitely a division below Co. It was Christmas time right but none of the 4 resorts was 100% open. Each had about 30 to 40% closed due to either lack of snow but more to do with lack of visitors so the owners didn't bother with making the rest usable. The resorts, neighbouring towns, cities and everywhere gave an impression of not doing well economically.

I would say Colorado is a place one can justify crossing the pond. We skied VT because we wanted to visit our daughter in New York. Mind you there is nothing wrong with the resort. It is just better skiing places are available in the Alps with less expenditure for the European skiers.

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We actually stayed at the Commodores Inn, about 7 years ago, it was a good budget option, although it is a way out of the town. Rooms were nothing special but clean and warm, and about four times the size of the French rooms we were used to.

As CP said, the town is pretty in a New-England-clapboard kind of way, but the ski area is quite a drive from the town itself. THere are massive car parks at the lift station though. I wouldn't stay anywhere in USA without a car personally.

Ski-ing was fine for intermediates, aome of the lifts were ancient but this was some years ago and I think they have improved since then. You don't say when you are going, we were there over New Year and it was very cold, but the snow was fine. We were out every morning at 8 30 to make the best of the daylight and it was cold, cold, cold. Of course past performance is no guide to future performance etc.

It was a different experience and the biggest eye opener was American lift queue etiquette. The average French teenager would hate it

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

What time of year are you going? That's a big question. No doubt, weather is a bit more shaky in the East at any time of year. Generally speaking, conditions should be fine from mid-Jan - mid March. It can get really, really cold there, although in saying that there's always the chance of a thaw. Weather is much less predictable, but as far as the skiing the mountain conditions should be fine in this time period. Outside of this time it's a crapshoot. There's been 3ft powder days in Dec & April & there's also been rain.

I'd definitely recommend Stowe over Killington, or over most VT areas. Everything else mentioned above I'd pretty much agree with. You'd definitely want a car & staying anywhere on the 'Mountain Road' in Stowe (incl. Commodore) is perfectly fine.

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

head west unless you really want to visit your friends in Boston!

After all it is free

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Fluoxetine, we have stayed in Stowe three or four times and love it there. We have always stayed at the Old England Inn which is between the mountains and the small town and have been very happy and comfortable there. Have driven from Boston airport a couple of times which was fine, once from Montreal for a change and because the flights worked out for us I think, but we didn't particularly enjoy that drive as a bit boring, and last time we went up from our son's in CT so easy. Last time we were there over New Year and it was cold, but probably not as cold as the first time we went in the middle of February. Hope you have a good time there - as has been mentioned there are some good places to eat in the evenings.

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I've spent quite a bit of time in Stowe. I think the town itself is terrific. Very charming with lots of pubs and dining options. Killington is reputed to be livelier with respect to late night partying. The main part of town is 5-6 miles from the mountain. The road from the core village to the mountain is lined with Inns, restaurants, and other small shops. Best to have a car. By European or even Western NA standards the skiing is not very extensive. There is very challenging terrain, however. And very good tree skiing if the snow is good. IMO, Stowe is not well suited to low intermediates. There's great learning terrain but not a lot of easy intermediate terrain. Parts of blues ("intermediate in the US") like Lord, North Slope, and Main Street are quite steep. One head wall on Main street requires winch cats to groom. With a car you might consider driving down to Sugarbush for a day or two. Sugarbush has two mountains and very good skiing on both mountains. There's also Mad River Glen which is completely retro, has little snowmaking, and can be either really bad or really good. January is often cold. The biggest issue is the weather. Weather in New England is very fickle. You could get extremely cold temperatures, rain, fantastic powder snow, etc. And you could get it all in the same week. We usually do a week in Stowe in early January. One year it was pouring rain as we drove to the mountain. There was not much skiing the first couple of days and some of it was pretty ugly. On the 3rd or 4th day we were skiing powder. Just a complete guess as to conditions. Colorado is high and dry. While you may not get fresh powder you'll almost certainly have very enjoyable conditions. All that said I think you can get great skiing in New England. We spent a week in Northern NH last March and had amazing conditions. But it's way more hit and miss than CO or Utah. If altitude sickness is a concern consider Utah. Park City has 3 adjoining resorts which combined, have way more terrain than Vail. PC is about 6800 feet and you're far less likely to experience altitude related problems. Plus, Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, Solitude, Snowbasin, and Powder Mountain are all within an hour or so. Flights to Denver are probably easier and cheaper from across the Pond, however.

All good stuff - Thanks! Smile

Took the plunge and booked my flights / accommodation / rental car last night - Going to give Stowe a try.

I've been to small(ish) resorts before, and am guessing it's akin to Glenshee in Scotland - If it's any bigger / better, that's a bonus!

Commodores Inn had no availability (and the Stoweflake was around $250 per night), so booked the Golden Eagle Resort.

Still looking for any deals on lift passes - Is it best just to buy from the Stowe website - Or even just wait till we get there, as there seems no real saving?

(Would like to try a few other resorts, but didn't notice any multi area passes - Anything like the Epic Pass in VT?)

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Being so "close" to population center, lift pass deals are rare. Inquire at lodging. Forget about multi-area deals.

There're loads of mountains nearby, depends on what you like. Okemo is the closest in terms of service and grooming to Stowe. Fairly extensive though mostly easy intermediate level skiing. Sttraton similar in size but is losing its "status" to Okemo. Both are too sterilized for my taste, but it's a crowd favorate especially for families.

On your way back to Boston, you can also detour to Bretton Woods in New Hampshire. It's one of the best intermediate ski area, quite extensive and excellent grooming. And there're large trac of trees for the advanced. There're no town but the Mt. Washington Hotel is at the base. Huge hotel of many amenities, and often deals to be found.

A snowHead

I'm thinking the Golden Eagle is pretty nice though I've not stayed there. Stowe used to have a package that included group lessons that was a pretty good deal. Saved on lift tickets and lessons or other optional add ons. If you want to take group lessons it's a very good deal. Here's a line: http://www.stowe.com/tickets/vacation_rewards/ My wife and I have joined the VT Travel Club the past few years and have used it to great advantage at Stowe. I think this year it costs $44 / person and there is a family price. Don't know what the lift tickets at Stowe will be with it this year and I don't know if they deal internationally. I've talked with the guy who runs it several times. He doesn't run a super tight ship but has always come through for us. I believe he lives either in Stowe or Waterbury. At least in the area. You could email him. We've thought it was a very good deal in the past, here's another link:

https://www.classicskitours.net/vermontTravel.asp

Hope you have a great time in Stowe. We'll be there the prior week so I really hope the snow is good.

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Take a look at Sugarbush. It's probably 45 - 60 minutes from Stowe. It's virtually two separate mountains. There is a very long (I once heard the longest in the world long) lift that connects the areas. It goes up, down, back up... Would not be a fun ride on a cold day and they only run it on weekends and holidays. There's also a bus connection. That said, both Sugarbush South and North have really fun skiing. South is more developed and busier. The lodge at Sugarbush North is pretty old school but my wife and I like old school. Sugarbush North is generally much less busy than either Sugarbush South or Stowe. It has more vertical than Stowe. Smugglers Notch is basically on the other side of the Spruce Peak side of Stowe and the two resorts could easily be linked by lift. It's kind of a "you can't get there from here" scenario in the winter. Probably 1+ hours from Stowe in winter since you have to drive around the mountains. It has 2000+ feet of vertical, lifts are old and slow but the skiing is very good. Killington would be closer than Stratton or Okemo. I have limited direct experience with Stratton and Okemo but both have lots of intermediate terrain and many of the blacks are fine for decent intermediates (most blacks at Stowe are pretty steep, Centerline is the baby black if it's not bumped up). Jay Peak is also probably closer than either Stratton or Okemo (I'd have to consult maps to say that for sure) but I recall it being < 1.5 hours from Stowe).

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RISkier, Have you any experience of the skiing at Mad River Glen? It can't be that far from Stowe either.

Also regarding the Stowe/Smugglers Notch link - The first time I skied at Stowe there was a marked skiable link over to Smugglers Notch, which I did, from the top of Spruce Mountain area and you could get a day lift ticket on your Stowe ticket for no charge. The next time I went to Stowe this 'arrangement' no longer existed. A ski instructer I spoke with on a lift told me that the 2 resorts had a marketing disagreement ( obviously financial ) over the link so closed it! This was a real shame as the two resorts really did make up a decent sized ski area with lots of varied terrain.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I've never skied MRG. I've simply not had an opportunity when there was good snow. Snowmaking is pretty limited and it depends on good natural snow. It's skiers only. No snowboarders allowed. It's owned by a cooperative. By reputation it's very unique and retro. They had a single chair lift that needed to be replaced. They replaced it with another single even though I believe a double would have been less expensive. Reputed to have very challenging skiing and many folks seem to love it, though pretty much everyone would acknowledge that it's more dependent on mother nature than most nearby ski areas. It's just up the road from Sugarbush. I have been there but have never skied there. Yes, folks used to ski across between Stowe and Smuggs. When Stowe put in the new high speed lift on Big Spruce Peak they actually moved the unloading area so that it's a little lower. Apparently you need to hike a bit to get to the old trails. Would be great if they were lift linked but I don't think that's happening anytime soon. As an aside there's a bar called the Matterhorn. One of our favorites and the food, even the sushi, is really very good for what appears to be kind of a skiers dive. My wife and I typically spend a lot of time there when we're in the area. It's not uncommon for folks to walk in and ask how to get to Smugglers Notch. Their GPS leads them right up the Mountain Road. The Mountain Road is closed every winter just past the entrance to Stowe. If you ever have a chance to drive it in the summer you'll know why it's closed during winters. But yes, Smuggs is just over the hill and they could very easily be linked.

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I'm a bit of a geek, so knocked up a quick spreadsheet to give me an idea what's doable from Stowe... Embarassed

(Lift pass prices are a mish-mash of 2010-11 and 2011-12 prices, so for a rough idea only).

As RISkier states, snowboarders are banned from MRG, so I won't be bothering visiting there. I understand Quechee Lakes is a private resort for residents only, and Ascutney Mountain isn't operating due to financial issues?

Bolton Valley is open till 8pm Wed -> Sat, which makes it an attractive option - And Sugarbush looks like it offers plenty, too.

Lots to think about... Smile

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What's with the colour coding?

Yes, Bolton Valley can be enjoyaable for a day. You should be able to find very inexpensive lift pass especially midweek.

Sugarbush is a lot bigger. Definitely worth spending at least a couple days there. They're quietly trying to upend Stowe as the "top" resort of Vermont.

After all it is free

The 12 miles between Stowe and Smuggs would basically be from Stowe Village to the Smuggs base in the summer. The road is Rt. 108, also known as the mountain road. It goes through a high (at least high for New England) pass (also named Smugglers Notch) that is closed in the winter. To get to the Smugglers Notch ski area you need to take Hwy 100 out to Morrisville, then 15 back around to the other end of 108 which allows access to Smuggs. Probably around an hour. I'd say Sugarbush is very comparable to Stowe with respect to the amount of available terrain. My wife and I like Sugarbush a lot. Didn't think about Bolton Valley. I've not skied there either. I've wanted to and I think we may try to get there this year. Certainly large enough to keep you (at least me but I'm simple) entertained for a day. Unless you have AWD I might not try to drive up there on a snowy day; the access road to Bolton is pretty steep, as I recall. y wife and I also love Burke. Another smaller area. It's in the far Northeast part of VT and is really pretty isolated. The upper part of the mountain is quite challenging. There are some runs that wouldn't be good on a Board -- one goes way out to the outside and requires a pretty good skate.

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I went to Stowe, lovely town, the drive up to the ski slopes is really easy, so no worries there.
I was at the SKi and Snowboard show in London and one of Vermont's reps was from Jay Peak and the other from Okemo.
After speaking to them both they suggested I'd love Jay Peak, loads of great glade skiing and you do not need to be an expert to enjoy it (though of course there is even more for experts).
Glade skiing (i.e. in the trees) usually means better snow in the North East climate rather than too icy.
Jay peak is considered one of the "Burlington" resorts, so very accessible from Stowe.

And I second the suggestion of stopping by in Bretton Woods for the warm and some amazing intermediate skiing.

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I've only been to Jay Peak once and the snow was mediocre with most glades closed. IMO it's probably best for advanced intermediates and above. By reputation it has great glade skiing. Definitely within reach of Stowe. The day we skied there we were staying in Stowe. Bretton Woods would be in reach but it's a significant drive from Stowe BW has very pretty views of Mount Washington and the Mount Washington Hotel and is great for early intermediates. There are a couple of fairly steep head walls but no sustained steeps. The negative rap on BW is that it just doesn't have terrain to keep experts happy. It too has a lot of glades and has many low angle glades that are really nice for folks who are just starting to go into the woods. We rode a lift with a guy from Scotland at BW last March. He said he was worried about snow conditions cause he had planned the trip and it was his neck on the line. The snow that week was wonderful and he and his family were having a great time. He pointed out one of his grand children who was taking a lesson. Overall, the terrain at BW is considerably tamer than Stowe. I suspect folks from across the pond largely look at either Stowe or Killington when looking at NE. They are the best developed overall resorts. But one could base themselves in someplace like North Conway or Lincoln NH and, with a car, have access to a lot of areas that will keep folks entertained for a day or two. From Lincoln you'd be close to BW, Cannon, Loon, Waterville Valley, and not too far from Burke in VT. As for cars and roads. They generally do a great job with roads. Even if its just dumping snow you should be able to get around Stowe -- even with 2 wheel drive. Some access roads can be steep though I can't think of any in Stowe itself

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Stowe, Vermont?

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