Stratton Seasonal Programs Blog – December ’24 Edition

Hello Everyone,

Talk about a great opening weekend! It was nice to see so many familiar faces around the resort and welcome some of our new families to our seasonal program community! As the base area came to life on Saturday morning, I was reminded of just how special our seasonal programs are, and I can’t thank you and your family enough for being a part of them.

December Holiday Week

With only a few days until our fun-filled holiday week, we wanted to ensure you have all the information you need to get the most out of the week! Let’s start with the schedule for the non-competitive programs(Cub Club, Cross Cub, Synergy, & AAMP):

• Saturday – 12/21 – Full day for all programs
• Sunday – 12/22 – Full day for Cub Club, morning only for Cross Cub, Synergy, & AAMP
• Thursday – 12/26 – Full day for all programs
• Friday – 12/27 – Full day for all programs
• Saturday – 12/28 – Full day for all programs
• Sunday – 12/29 – Full day for all programs
• Monday – 12/30 – Full day for all programs
• Tuesday – 12/31 – Full day for all programs

*Please note that the non-competitive programs will not run on 12/23, 12/24, 1/1, 1/2, 1/3

Arrival Times and Meeting Locations

In our November blog post, we covered all the different meeting locations and times. Please take a look if you haven’t had a chance to read it yet. Stratton Seasonal Program Blog – November ’24 Edition

As we move through the holiday week, we expect more guests than a typical weekend. Please give yourself some extra time to make it to the program meeting areas on time.

Holiday Week Events

New Year’s Eve at Stratton

There’s no better place to ring in the New Year than here at Stratton! We have a lot of great things planned for New Year’s Eve that you don’t want to miss!

Activities at Stratton

The fun doesn’t stop when the lifts do. We have so many great activities that you can take advantage of during your holiday week!

Check out the links below to learn more about each one of these great activities:

• 1 Up Gaming Gallery
• Vermont Snowmobile Tours
• Climb: Indoor Climbing and Bouldering Facility
• Kid’s Snowmobile Tours
• Sno-Go Bike Tours
• Coca-Cola Tubing Park

Stratton Seasonal Program Events

We also have a full season of events planned for our Seasonal Programs. We just posted a blog that goes into more detail about what we have in store for our Seasonal Program families. Please use the link below to learn more.

Stratton Seasonal Program Blog – Events Calendar 24-25

Below you’ll find additional information specific to each of our programs. Please take a moment to read through the posts for the programs that you or your family are enrolled in. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We can’t wait to spend the holiday week with you and your family!

Best,

Tony Bailey
Seasonal Program & Mountain Bike Manager
802-297-4074
tbailey@stratton.com

Cub Club

I like to refer to Cub Club as the Trunk of our Seasonal Program tree. We are creating the base and establishing the roots of your child’s skiing that will be with them throughout their time with us at Stratton and beyond. I’ve been fortunate to be at the helm of this program for a long time and I’ve seen many of our Cub Clubbers go on to do great things from competing at national championships to working with us as coaches and inspiring the next generation. With our commitment to creating strong skiers and building good habits from the start it’s no surprise that Cub Club continues to be one of the most popular seasonal programs!

With all the interest in Cub Club, we are making a few changes for check-in for different groups to ease the congestion during our busiest times:

• Raccoons and up will be leaving the Club to slide at 8:45 am, and the Rabbits on down will be out on the snow by 9:15 am.
• If you have a new skier (mouse) then you can have that extra cup of coffee and check them in after 8:45 am.

With the upper groups going out at 8:45, we will not hold a group. If you are running late give us a call or wait until the morning break to drop your student off.

We are also making some adjustments to our lunch plan so that we don’t have all of our Cubs in the room at once:

• Raccoons and up will eat lunch from 11:00 am -12:00 pm
• Rabbits on down will each lunch from 12:15 pm – 1:15 pm

*Please make sure your child is eating a good breakfast before coming to ski with us for the day.

If the winter break is your first day in Cub Club, try to stop in prior to your first sliding day to get a cubby and equipment labeled. If you can’t, we will get it done at check-in.

Some other details:

• Saturdays are for instruction, and Sundays are for evaluation.
  • The supervisory staff will be skiing with each group on Sunday and during the vacation weeks for evaluation, validating the feedback from the coaches.
  • They will decide when your child moves to the next group. All students progress at different rates, please trust the process, as we have developed some top skiers in all the other Season Programs.
• We slide in all weather conditions, and there are no inside activities, other than breaks and lunch. Please make sure your child has ample clothing for “All Conditions”, a neckie, extra gloves, and warmers are a must!
• We have had a few issues with parents interfering with the process, so here are a few rules to follow:
  • The coaches are required to bring all students back to the room for pick-up. This is for the safety of the children, please do not interfere with the process.
  • We understand that you may like to check in on your child or say hello on the mountain. This can be a distraction for them, as well as the others in the group. If you need to check in on your child please stop in at the room and speak to the indoor staff.
• We have children with severe allergies in the room. We can not have any OUTSIDE food in the room.
  • This includes muffins, cereal, lunch items, and any breakfast items that need to be consumed before entering the room. We are already seeing this happening, the staff is instructed to remove the food item. 
• On a final note, we are expecting a large group through the Winter Break. Please make sure to take the time to check in your child on the whiteboard, when you don’t it just slows down the process.
  • Please don’t just yell out your child’s name as you rush by! 

Well, that’s all for today, if you have any questions or concerns, please email me or stop by the room.

See you soon!

Matt Erickson
merickson@stratton.com

Cross Cub

Hello Stratton Cross Cubbers!

It was so great skiing with you this weekend and I am looking forward to meeting those of you who haven’t made it up yet.

I can’t believe the Holiday week is already here! This is one of my favorite weeks, as we see students make tremendous progress since we are out on the hill 6 days in a row. That being said, 6 days is a long time. If you notice your child is extra tired, it may be beneficial to take a morning or afternoon off.

While we have some pretty solid groups forming, we still have not had all children or coaches join us yet, so students may be changing instructors for the next few weeks. While we try, we do not guarantee the same coach every weekend, but we do work on the same skill set, and for the most part, we try to keep students together as a group.

Please ensure you are showing up to the flag on time each morning. Groups are sent out for the morning by 8:45 am. If you do arrive late in the morning, you can look for me at the bottom of Amex and we will try to connect your child with their group. If you arrive late, we cannot promise they will end up with their normal group, so please make every effort to make it to flag before groups depart for the day. We will not be looping for our afternoon session so please make sure you communicate with your child’s instructor if you plan on coming back so we can maximize our afternoon.

Our coach’s day on the mountain begins with a safety and tech talk meeting where we review safety concerns and plan accordingly for lessons that day. We also review class skills and talk shop regarding skill goals and drills, techniques, and tips for achieving them.

Your children’s equipment should be maintained throughout the season, sharp edges and wax go a long way toward your child’s enjoyment and safety, so please check their gear continuously throughout the winter. I have noticed quite a few bindings that needed to be adjusted already. If your child got new skis this season, it may also be a good idea to label them since some of our younger participants don’t remember what their skis look like. We also ask that all children ski with goggles. Once Mother Nature decides to bless us with enough snow to venture into the trees, we require the children to wear them. No goggles = no tree skiing! Please also check your child’s gloves and make sure to pack them hand warmers (even if they say they don’t need them!). Children are expected to be able to put on their own equipment and some of the smaller mittens with zippers/Velcro are hard for a child to maneuver themselves.

Gentle reminder that your child must arrive with his or her pass every day. I highly suggest putting their pass on the left side of their helmet since it is a piece of equipment that they wear every time they ski with us! Here is a link to a pass holder if you need one: Ski Goggles Pass Holder

Hope you all enjoy the holidays and thanks for letting us ski with your children.

See you next week!

Frances Hoeffner
Cross Cub Supervisor
fhoeffner@stratton.com

Synergy

Season’s greetings Synergy families,

Our season is off to a fantastic start with many of our groups shaping up nicely. Thank you for your continued patience as we continue to shift groups to match skill set, pace, and social fun. 

To recap the first week of our program, all of our groups have been building confidence with finding and re-discovering their ski-legs. Some of us have new equipment this year, others have had a huge growth spurt, while the rest of us are dusting off some summer cobwebs. The silver lining is that winter is here and there is plenty of snow for an amazing time out on the slopes. Our groups have been focusing on building awareness of where they are standing on their skis and asking themselves questions such as: Where do I feel most balanced? Am I leaning too far forward? Am I sitting in the back seat? Coaches have been supporting our skiers with thinking about their athletic stance and their balance throughout various terrain and weather conditions.  

The next few weeks will focus on the importance of turn-shape, specifically “C-shaped” turns, and understanding how we use rounded turns to control speed. All groups will also be establishing group routines about safety and ski etiquette, such as setting up specific meeting spots on the sides of trails, allowing the person in front of you to make two turns before it’s your turn, parking below the group when stopping, and looking uphill before moving downhill; to name a few. Be sure to ask your skiers about what they have been learning in Synergy.

On behalf of the coaches, I would like to wish all of you a warm and festive holiday season and a healthy, safe, and happy New Year!

See you on the slopes, 

Sarah Kneip (and Waffles the penguin) 🐧
Synergy Supervisor 
skneip@stratton.com

Important Notes:

• First loop (warm-up lap) on AMEX is at 8:45
  • If you arrive past this time, there is no guarantee that we will be able to connect your child with their group 
• Lunch (separate from the program) runs 11:30 – 12:30
• There is no PM loop on AMEX, so please be on time at 12:30  
• Let coaches know if there are changes in pick-up arrangements
  • i.e. meeting at the Club or Base lodge rather than the flag, etc.

Upcoming Events:

• Sat. Jan 4^th – Decorate Your Helmet Day/Contest
  • Deck your helmet out in style. Best helmet designs can win a prize!

• Sun. Jan 12^th – Annual Cookie Swap
  • Bring enough cookies for your group to share at morning break

AAMP

Hello AAMPers!

What a wonderful start to our season enjoyed by AAMPers and Coaches alike. This was one of the best starts to the season I can recall in many years with the mountain in such fantastic shape. Please thank the Mountain Operations team for the hard work they put in for our enjoyment. We had an enthusiastic first day turnout of AAMPers and I was impressed by how helpful everyone was Saturday morning getting organized with your coaches. The season opening social Saturday afternoon at Grizzly’s was a big hit too!

Not only did we have a great opening turnout, but we had new AAMPers join as well. Please welcome our new AAMPers:

• Angelica
• David
• Jennifer

AAMP is a great program and we grow mostly by word of mouth. Please don’t hesitate to spread the word to help us grow.

Group organization – AAMP has four levels of skiing. New skier, Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3. I believe everyone has a good understanding of what group to ski in after the opening weekend. If you are not sure or think you should be in a different group, please don’t hesitate to see coach Greg. Group selection is based on many variables. The most important to the coaches is to ensure each AAMPer is placed into a group where they are safe first, and appropriately challenged second. Anyone who has skied with coach Greg knows his favorite saying “Anyone can ski fast. But only good skiers can ski slow”.

Current social itinerary:

• Saturday January 4th Ski Tune Wine and Cheese Social – Coach Greg’s shop*
• Saturday January 11th NASTAR race course clinic
• Saturday Feb 1st Social – Location TBD
• Saturday February 8th NASTAR race course clinic
• Saturday Feb 22nd Social – Location TBD
• Saturday March 22nd pizza social – Location TBD

*Many people were inquiring about equipment on the kickoff weekend. We are offering to change the January 4th tuning event to an equipment review and discussion event. Please let your coach which you prefer and we will change based on feedback.

That’s all for now!

Best Regards,

Greg Morin
AAMP Supervisor
greg.morin@stratton.com