The 80s—It takes a village
The 1980s was a decade of explosive growth at Stratton. But not without a few challenges.
In late 1979, Stratton Mountain Corporation purchased Bromley for $2,389,000 and took over the “sun mountain’s” $2.4 million debt, doubling the corporation’s debt load to $7 million at a time when the prime lending rate was high. Throughout 1980, interest rates dropped no lower than 11 percent, and on December 19, 1980, they peaked at 21.5 percent.
December 25, 1980, stands as the coldest Christmas day in Vermont’s record books.
Mother Nature didn’t help. The winters of 1979/80 and 1980/81 featured little snow. And December 25, 1980, stands as the coldest Christmas day in Vermont’s
record books. Temperatures reached -26 degrees F in Burlington and -38 degrees atop Mt. Mansfield, Vermont’s highest peak. As if to make up for this cold spell, two months later in February 1981, temperatures ranged in the high 50s to low 60s for a week, topping out at 62 degrees on February 19. The corporation’s annual report wasted no words: “The ski season was a disaster.”
Frank Snyder saw only one way to keep Stratton off the auction block. If his company, Moore & Munger, would invest in Stratton, the resort might survive. Moore & Munger invested $3.75 million and loaned another $1 million.
With the influx of capital, the resort was finally transformed into the world-class, four-season resort that the founders’ envisioned. Trails were widened, and they broke ground on the long-anticipated base village. The alpine clock tower was topped off in January 1985, and Ben & Jerry’s was the first shop to open in the new village. Then in December 1988, the Starship gondola opened. It was named for how fast it reached the top—just over seven minutes, as fast as a starship!
