If all this sounds like a Intrawest resort, it is. The Vancouver based company has produced the same upscale packaging  at  its other resorts, such ast Whistler/BlackComb,  Mammoth and Mont Tremblant. It's a formula that has proved more successful than busing in hundreds of skiers who are unlikely to spend the kind of money Intrawest is after.

``It's costing me $3,500 for four days here with my family," says Larry Keynes from New Jersey. Larry is 45. He likes Stratton ski resort, but his comment says a lot about the way it is at this all season southern Vermont resort. Private parking is $600 per year, one bedroom condos start at $175,000 with $500 monthly fees, and a ski ticket is $59 on a weekend - the highest of any Vermont resort. Yet, few people are complaining.

 Indeed, Stratton would appear to have some very happy customers, who feel that they are getting their money's worth. Those customers are mostly well-off ``baby-boomers." They want decent food in the cafeteria. They don't want a collegiate-style  squeeze in a tiny condo, nor do they don't want to be insulted by skier hype that pumps up a ski report, obscuring the truth. Raucus rock does not blast away throughout the base lodge at Stratton. Instead you might here Aker Bilk from the sixties or some Mozart. You'll find Pilsner beer on draught in one of the base lodge taverns and a heated cobbled pavement in the ``village" an upscale shopping area adjoining the base lodge.
Yes, you can shop in high fashion at Stratton in the middle of winter and never  put up with slush.

Stratton's cafeteria, called the Food Court, offers some excellent meals, albeit at slightly higher cost than elsewhere. The cafeteria has three separate counters offering different types of food. There is more variety here than in the main lodge restaurant. In the cafeteria you can have marinated flank steak carved to order, a FRESH pizza or a really nice beef stew in a bread bowl. The food you see on the tray below cost $12.95 including a beverage.

Slightly different fare, is available at two other eateries, the Rooster (now Cider's) and Grizzlys. You may want to consider these at noon time when faced with a crowded cafeteria.

More high speed lifts are going in at Stratton for the 2001-2001 season. Two high speed detachable six passenger lifts are going into the Sunbowl area. While this will alleviate lift lines what about wear and tear on the trails?