Member Reviews: Stowe

Full Disclosure:  I taught skiing for a winter at Stowe in 1996/97.  Before and since, I have been a regular, full-paying customer. Stowe is my favorite all-around destination in the east due to it's excellent advanced-expert terrain, reasonable distance from Boston, and its genuine town, replete with a variety of lodging and dining  options from moderately priced on up.Stowe features some of the more challenging - and interesting- slopes in the east. My personal faves include Goat for its gnarly, rocky,  tree-riddled terrain that is both a physical and intellectual  challenge to ski well, Starr for it's pitch and bumps, and a number of classic cruisers such as Perry Merrill and Standard....

I grew up skiing at Killington, so classifying Stowe as the best in the East should give you and idea of how great this mountain really is. Although further north than the Beast of the East, the commute from Boston is about the same as Stowe is almost all highway driving and Killington is a decent drive off of 89/91.  The terrain is challenging and the addition of some new gladed areas makes Stowe the complete package. I'm not much of a terrain park person so I can't testify to the quantity or quality of that aspect of the mountain, but as far as steep vertical, bumps, and glades, Stowe has it all. Try skiing to skier's left of Goat and you'll find yourself in some of the tightest,...

I hit up Stowe over the Xmas-NYE week, which is an extremely hit or miss proposition in VT. I will try to separate the conditions from my overall impression of the mountain, because conditions were for the most part not Stowe's fault.   Conditions: Conditions were better at Stratton (where I was the day prior). There was some seriously thin coverage in parts, and it was often not marked. I scuffed up the edges on my brand new (1st day on them) MX78s on some unmarked rocks where the cover ran thin, which wasn't ideal. I don't think they blow as much snow as Stratton does, but normally they don't have to, so it's a wash.   Lifts: This is my biggest problem with...

I went to Stowe for the first time recently and was quite impressed with the facilities.  It has beautiful mountain views and long trails for all levels of skiers. We went as a group and stayed at resort near by that had a shuttle service to Stowe (very convenient.)  The slopes were long and fun, but it was a very cold day and we really had to bundle up.  The lodge was very nice, and we stopped there often to sit in front of the fireplace.  Food choices were excellent and there was plenty seating.  It seemed kid friendly and there were plenty of ski patrollers in case you got hurt. The skiing was fantastic however.  Lots of snow and long runs to have fun...

Paid $89 for one day ticket. This mountain is great for intermediate skier. Lots of wide groomed blue runs. Grooming was really good. I would not go back simply only because it has limited advanced/expert terrain.

I finally skied Stowe in Feb, 2009 after wanting to go there for many years. Conditions were not great, but I enjoyed myself. Lodging anyplace near the mtn is fairly expensive. I skied Nosedive and liked it - then it got windy & icy and 2 days later a guy broke his leg on the trail so they closed it. I never skied Starr & National, would like to do that with better snow conditions. They do a good job grooming, but the weather was against them when I was there. The men's room at the top of the gondola has heat, running water and green marble counter tops! I felt more like I was in a hotel than on top of a New England ski area. That amazed me.