Stratton Mountain Capital Expenditures – What’s New For Winter 24-25

STRATTON MOUNTAIN ANNOUNCES $20 MILLION IN CAPITAL EXPENDITURES IN 2024-2025 

Stratton Mountain is investing over $20 million, enhancing multiple facets of the guest and employee experience, beginning on the mountain with a game-changing snowmaking investment. 

Snowmaking

The experience begins with snow. All the dreams, all the best days, and all the memories, snow is the consistent element to each extraordinary winter experience. Preparing the mountain to open, well that all begins with snowmaking. Stratton Mountain is investing over $2 million directly into snowmaking, to make the best days even better. This is the first phase in a multi-year, multi-million-dollar investment in transforming the mountain’s 95% snowmaking coverage and capabilities into one of the industry’s most powerful, consistent, and efficient snowmaking ecosystems. The multi-phase snowmaking project will position Stratton’s snowmaking capabilities as the most robust and reliable systems for the future. 

Following last year’s successful implementation of 70 HKD KLIK snowmaking hydrants on Suntanner and Polar Bear, the mountain is going all in on the system, installing another 160 HKD KLIK hydrants on a number of favorite trails consisting of Franks Fall Line, Mike’s Way, West Meadow, Drifter Link and Old Log Road. New hydrants on Mike’s Way? That’s correct, 25 HKD Impulse low-energy, high-performance tower snow guns will find a permanent home on Mike’s Way this season, replacing the manual process of bringing ground guns to the trail for snowmaking. This allows the Green Circle summit trail to open earlier, stay open late, and be resurfaced regularly for optimal terrain and conditions from the summit, for all abilities. 

“I am very excited for this summer’s snowmaking improvements. We will be installing tower guns on Mikes Way along with 160 HKD KLIK hydrants on five of our most popular trails” says Kevin Booth, Senior Mountain Operations Manager. “This will increase the safety of our crews and drastically decrease the start-up and shut-down time on these trails so that we are able to take advantage of shorter snowmaking windows. This new installation will also allow for an earlier opening of the beginner terrain from the summit. We installed and tested the KLIK technology on Polar Bear and Suntanner last season and the results were fantastic. The upgrade of 160 more of these hydrants will be a game changer for Stratton snowmaking.” 

How good is KLIK? If you took a ride down Suntanner last season, which made both the opening day and closing day Mountain Report, the results may speak for themselves. Even at lower elevations, the production was truly impressive, with Polar Bear and Suntanner being two of the last trails to melt out. KLIK greatly enhances snow quality at given temperatures and reduces the time it takes to turn on individual snow guns by leaving air and water hoses connected and climate-protected, at all times. Each tower gun is controlled by a multi-setting controller to maximize production at given temperatures through various preset water and air blends. In the average Vermont household, it’s the difference between bringing wood inside from the wood pile, building and starting a fire in a wood stove, versus turning on a thermostat and setting it to your desired temperature as a heat source. Think about how many thermostats you could turn on before you even find the matches. 

“The HKD KLIK manual hydrant is a game changer for snowmakers. In a 12-hour snowmaking window, HKD KLIK manual hydrants can boost snowmaking production by as much as 100%, when compared to using traditional hydrants and hoses. This significant improvement is achieved by eliminating the time-consuming step of hooking up, and unhooking, air and water hoses at each hydrant. Start time per gun can be as quick as 1 Minute instead of 5 to 10 min with manual old school technology.” – HKDSnowmakers.com 

On the access road, approximately 1500 feet of snowmaking pipe has been replaced assuring reliability in transporting water uphill from Stratton’s two large snowmaking reservoirs. This replaced pipe is the main feed from Stratton Lake, the reservoir at the Golf Course, which feeds water up to the base and through the pumps in the Energy Center to the snow guns on the mountain. The replacement pipe is being wrapped for the process of cathodic protection. Cathodic protection is one of the most effective methods for preventing corrosion on a metal surface. Cathodic protection is commonly used to protect against corrosion on ships, subsea equipment, pipelines; and other submerged or buried metal structures.

In partnership with the Town of Winhall, multiple culverts along the access road have been replaced to enhance drainage and stormwater management, and on top of this project, quite literally, the access road has been repaved from Summit View Road to Founders Hill. 

Employee Housing

Continuing to enhance the employee experience, Stratton is investing $8 million into employee housing. By purchasing multiple properties in the Manchester area, the resort adds 200 permanent beds for seasonal employees, creates additional employment opportunities, and adds housing alternatives for the seasonal workforce that mountain communities depend on. Increasing employees and overall employee satisfaction positively affects the employee and guest experience in all aspects of the resort.  

“The completion of is project excites us and is a huge leap forward for our seasonal recruiting, as we will now own the properties which were previously leased, as well as adding new buildings to our portfolio. This allows for us to improve both the buildings and the experience for our employees” says Kristyn Greene, Vice President, Human Resources. “We also look forward to being able to continue to partner with other employers in Manchester and the surrounding communities to significantly increase the availability of desperately needed summer workforce housing for the community. Our hard work isn’t done, as we continue to explore year-round solutions and support for our team members, but this is a huge step forward in that process.” 

Lifts

Ursa and American Express will be undergoing Lift Modernizations, beginning in the fall. This project entails updating components of the lift to newer modernized components, including but not limited to; the control system, tower circuit, hydraulic brake unit, hydraulic tension unit, cyclo spacing unit and drive machinery, plus other internal components of the lifts. Updating these components will not change the external appearance of the lifts but carry them into the future allowing for better serviceability and reliability, availability of parts, quicker maintenance times, and overall smoother operations. Shooting Star also receives a completely new haul rope, a 20-year cycle of regular maintenance for ski lifts. 

Food and Beverage

Benedicts restaurant is looking forward to finding a new home in the Stratton Courtyard, in the former location of Carve. With this, Benedicts will host more seating in a versatile space, extend hours to join in on the après scene and feature an all-new menu with “All Day” options, in conjunction with its renowned breakfast and brunch offerings.  

Table 43.1 is offering up a new Italian focused menu featuring classic favorites and family-friendly dining located in the Black Bear Lodge. The main base lodge will see new grab-and-go offerings featuring cheese and charcuterie boards, giant soft pretzels, canned cocktails and craft beer at a quick serve counter. With the relocation of Benedicts, keep an eye out for a new menu and dining experience in the former location opening this winter.   

Grooming

A new Prinoth Bison X will be added to Stratton’s grooming fleet to lay down the best lines in southern Vermont. This marks the fourth Prinoth snowcat purchased in the last four years, continually updating a fleet of 11 frontline machines and committing to the newest in technology and efficiency.

“The Caterpillar C9.3B engine offers unrivaled performance. The straight-six engine produces max torque at the optimum engine speed of 1,400 rpm; meaning you have ideal power performance within the recommended running range. This machine meets the world’s highest emission standards—Euromot Stage V.” – Prinoth.com. 

“We’re excited to add a new machine to our grooming fleet. This new snowcat is top-of-the-line in our industry and will keep our operators comfortable as they lay out smooth corduroy nightly for all to enjoy. Adding a new Bison X to our fleet means less maintenance time, better fuel efficiency and a superior, more consistent riding surface across the entire mountain with the upgraded fleet.” – Judy Polhemus, Grooming Manager 

Activities & More

The magic of winter doesn’t stop when the lifts do. Stratton’s snowmobile tours are a one-of-a-kind experience to access the mountain at night. Snowmobiling on the resort is a way to tie together the entire winter experience and is available for kids as young as 8 years old with the Mini Z Tours. Stratton continues to invest in improving our fleet of adult and kids snowmobiles.

Two new passenger shuttles have been purchased which guests will utilize through Stratton’s shuttle system, helping enhance our overall shuttle service across the base areas, parking lots and Stratton neighborhoods.  

In a commitment to learning, new skis, snowboards, bindings and boots are being purchased to keep Stratton’s winter rental equipment fleet cutting edge with the latest gear for bringing new skiers and riders to the mountains. Additionally, 13 new mountain bikes are being purchased for the summer rental fleet, while also updating full face mountain bike helmets, and protective padding, to welcome all riders to experience downhill mountain biking in the Stratton Bike Park, and rounding out this season’s Stratton Mountain Capital Expenditures.

Posted October 1, 2024 by Andrew Kimiecik