2000 and Beyond—Back to our roots
Talk to a Stratton regular long enough, and you will start hearing a lot about “community.” Getting up to the mountain, bumping into old friends, often multiple generations of family friends is a big part of what makes Stratton special, they say. It’s the place to escape the headaches and hassles the rest of the world has to offer, and to find some serenity, or some laughter, or maybe shopping and entertainment to go along with the world-class skiing and snowboarding.
The millennial decade saw its share of new lifts and trails and snowmaking equipment installed at Stratton, although most of that was in place by mid-decade and the story of the last five years has been more along the lines of integrating it all together than in headline-grabbing expansion. The U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships continues to draw big names and big crowds, and a host of other, smaller scale events like the Tubbs Snowshoe Race to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure remain fixtures on the winter calendar. But at the heart of the mountain remains the community experience, certainly among those multi-generational families who have called Stratton their winter home away from home.
Skis may have gone from straight-line planks to extreme carvers, helmets may now be more common than once ubiquitous woolen beanies and ski boots may actually be comfortable to wear, but the shared experience of cruising the trails on the mountain makes for bonds that are enduring.
