And the snow begins...
All of a sudden, it started coming down like crazy. Traffic has slowed to a crawl. Good thing we left early. This could have been a mess in Massachusetts.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
99
Wonderful meal. Had the all star steakburger (which is unfortunately the official burger of the Boston Red Sox) and a 23 ounce Sam Adams.
Yes, there is life in Greenfield, MA. They have built up the place quite a bit over the last few years. This is the exit with the Taco Bell and Friendly's that we normally stop at. We may have to add 99 to the rotation.
We are now heading south once again on 91, listening to the Dallas/Vikings game, and torturing Becca's husband about the coming storm over text messaging. Good times and a good trip. We'll have to shoot to do something again in February.
Also cool...
Stratton is located off of exit 1 in Vermont. You very much get the feeling that the trip is faster. That you are in and out of Massachusetts faster and making progress.
Now, we stop at 99 for lunch. Haven't been there in a while and Justin has never been. Can't wait. Let's hope we continue to beat out the storm.
And a very happy birthday to Keith's mom.
The verdict
Overall, a solid, fun mountain. If we got some better accomodations with a kitchen (and I would suspect that would be rather easy to do), this could become the go to place in Vermont.
While not as challenging as I would have expected, the snow quality is about as good as you could ask for which makes for some awesome cruisers. There seemed to be a bit of wind at times, but it never seemed to blow off the top layer of snow to reveal the ice beneath. The lifts were fast and the people were friendly. If this is their busiest weekend of the year, I would love to see what a non-busy weekend would look like. With those lifts, we might be able to get in 30 runs in a day.
The village was a nice touch and provided everything you need from beer to souvenirs and candy. I especially liked the Intrawest branding. It made me feel like I was at a sister mountain to Tremblant or Whistler.
Bottom line, it is definitely worth another try very soon. At a 4 hour drive (same as Okemo) door to door, you really can't go wrong.
Sunday
Got up, hit first tracks again and got in a solid 10 runs in before noon and the approaching storm. We hit some steeps, we hit some moguls, and we finished strong with some glades action.
The weather was much nicer today and we got to ski above the clouds which was beautiful. Stratton seems to have some great clouds. Either you're skiing above them or you are watching thin ones whip above your head at an incredible speed. Really cool. I wish I had my video camera with me. I need a better smartphone or a flip video camera.
The Krymreaper
Last night, we had dinner at Mullberry's. They were out of garlic bread, the salad bar was okay, and the chicken marsala just okay as well. The chicken and andoille pasta was a little better than that, but I wouldn't say it approched Cheesecake Factory quality. I'm sure they're specialty is really pizza. It certainly isn't bartending. Their bartenders didn't seem to be interested in any of their customers.
But I digress. The point of this posting is to inform you that our waiter was a shaven headed man with a goatee and a skull on the buckle of his belt. When the check came around, we saw that our server was the "Krymreaper". You can't really make this stuff up and we were midly terrified.
You know what this mountain could use?
Other than a better cheap hotel option (we managed to sleep through the craziness last night)?
Half day lift tickets. 84 dollars for a full day ticket where you would like to leave early before the coming ice storm? Really? Not cool. Actually, forget the ice storm. What if you wanted to leave early on a Sunday. They need something like a Sunday Solution like what some of the other mountains have around here.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
The store owner at the Stratton store...
Just thought Becca was pregnant. Honest mistake. She thought she was Justin's wife.
Some memorable quotes
In reference to John sleeping in the same bed with Jim on his wedding night, "it's just like Braveheart, except Polish". -Justin
"are you doing that because it's hot or because of your poop smell?" -Becca
"Remember, he's a guardian, not an angel.". And "Kurt Warner is unbelievably precise." -Kenny Albert
Go Saints! Where's my Monday night football bottle opener?
What did we do today?
Good question. Woke up from our incredibly noisy and hot (heater was stuck on lucifer's habanero sauce) room, and started the day. However, it turned out that our 4 hours of sleep would be the worst part of the day.
We started at the deli for breakfast and coffee. Purchased an 84 dollar lift ticket with a yellow cord. Why a yellow cord, do you ask? Because it signifies that it was our first time there. Every employee who saw the yellow went out of their way to make us feel welcome, ask is how we were doing, and make sure that we were going to the right places. Awesome and friendly service. We'll have to pretend we're new all the time.
We boarded the gondola for first tracks and we were on our way. While the gondola fit 12 people and managed to move the line very quickly, it wasn't very comfortable. When you're "sitting", you're really on the edge of a plastic ledge. If you're not "sitting", you're standing for the whole time. That's not comft either. However, you don't need to take the gondola because Stratton has 4, count them 4! 6-man high speed quad lifts. With the exception of two lift lines, we didn't wait in line more than 10 minutes for anything even though this is their busiest weekend of the year. 7 solid runs in the morning.
At lunch, we went back to Mulligan's. Solid food, solid beer, and awesome service. After some domination of the chili and bathrooms, we went back out to dominate the mountain.
And dominate we did. Another 7 solid runs with a lot more sun than we had in the morning. The terrain here isn't the most challenging, but they have excellent snow, great character, and a few tree runs to boot.
Apres brought us to the provisions store where we purchased some water and magic hat to watch the Saints game. As I write this now, I am drinking a Circus Boy and watching Michael Strahan look like David Letterman while Becca appears to be asleep.
Tonight, we take on the Pizza/Pasta place (mullberry's) which scared us away last night with their "dance party". Let's just put it this way... I haven't seen it's equivalent since a certain bar with a certain Big Buck Hunter video game with a certain girl/potential hooker named "Heather". But perhaps I've said too much...
More updates to come. And yeah, I am missing Lotusphere right now. I'll have to drink another beer because of that.
P.S. - Becca is apparently not really asleep.
Arrival
Liftline lodge... Not as bad as I would have thought. The room is very hot though. We may have to keep the window open.
The village is small, but cool and not crowded. Two bars/restaurants at either end. I think one of them had big buck hunter. I hope tomorrow is this dead. I doubt it though.
Two beers in at mulligans and we're feelin fine.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Stuck behind a horse trailer
And not the John Madden kind. Been stuck since Brattleboro. 28 miles left to go. 43 minutes. We hope.
Entering mass
Quick stop at McDonald's for southern chicken sandwiches and big Mac snack wraps. (in honor of Mark McGuire). Jim takes a quick ride down the slide at the McDonald's play place. (pictures coming)
Fight!
Already 10 minutes in and Becca and Justin are fighting about directions. Becca apparently wants is to go against the highway signs. Apparently, she was right. Who would have guessed?
And we're off...
The 4runner is packed and we're on our way.
First memorable quote, "I'm very messy so I need the big ones most of the time". -Becca
Slow Start
Looks like we won’t be getting off to that 2 PM start we were hoping for. However, it looks like the weather will be gorgeous ski weather. That, combined with the long weekend, should mean lines the likes of which we have never seen before. Oh well, it’s a good thing they have plenty of bars.
Live blogging resumes tonight at 6:20.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Late Start to the Season
Due to snow conditions and member apathy, the beginning of the 2009/2010 ski season will kick off this weekend in 2010. First on the agenda? A trip to Stratton, Vermont. To my knowledge, this will be the first trip to Stratton by the PQ Ski Team (okay, really just Jim). However, I will be checking out the scene, taking in the village, dominating some beers and rest rooms, and yeah... doing a little skiing. Best of all, you loyal PQ Ski Team.com readers can tune in for live blog updates all weekend. I don't promise sober posts and I don't promise long posts from my Blackberry, but I will do all I can to capture the magic of what I can assume will only be another feather in Intrawest's already glorious cap. Please stay tuned for updates. The live blogging kicks off from Justin's 4Runner at 2 PM tomorrow.
Dominate!
Dominate!
