# Killington or Stratton?



## Mel M (Feb 2, 2012)

Haven't been to Stratton, but have been to Killington. Was a bit disappointed in the vertical. I feel it really is half the vertical it's marketed as with only a green trail going from top to bottom.

Not to say it's a bad mountain by East coast standards, but I much prefer the top to bottom runs you can find on Stowe.

It's also one of the resorts on the east that really should be rode on the weekdays as find the lift lines very long and slopes very crowded on the weekdays.


----------



## warriior91 (Aug 25, 2013)

Mel M said:


> Haven't been to Stratton, but have been to Killington. Was a bit disappointed in the vertical. I feel it really is half the vertical it's marketed as with only a green trail going from top to bottom.
> 
> Not to say it's a bad mountain by East coast standards, but I much prefer the top to bottom runs you can find on Stowe.
> 
> It's also one of the resorts on the east that really should be rode on the weekdays as find the lift lines very long and slopes very crowded on the weekdays.


Thanks for the reply! Have you ever been to okemo? Because i hear some say that's a pretty good mountain.


----------



## Mel M (Feb 2, 2012)

No, just Killington and Stowe. Hoping to go to Jay Peak in a few weeks, but I had a friend go to Okemo and said he enjoyed it. Really though, any VT mountain can be a great experience for me as I go mostly to the Poconos, particularly Blue Mountain.


----------



## ryan lambert (Aug 6, 2012)

Been to killington, smuggs, Stowe, jay, and okemo. Smuggs jay and Stowe are gonna have better all mountain riding. Killington will have the most parks and okemo is close to killington. Okemo however is much less crowded. All are fun resorts and will have terrain you like. Just pick one and hit it up.


----------



## LightninSVT (Dec 31, 2010)

I've been to Killington, Stowe, Bolton & Jay Peak.

Killington is crowed, trails were nice but hard to enjoy because it was so crowded and so many trails cross each other. It would probably be better on a weekday. Best nightlife of the places listed by far. I stayed in a place right behind Pickle Barrel and Wobbly Barn and cabs would pick you up for $3 a head and take you to and from the bars.

Stowe is the nicest of the places listed but that comes with a cost. Nicest amenities and lodge if you care about that kind of stuff. The nightlife used to be great but a lot of places have closed or changed hands in the past few years. We bar hopped most of the nights looking for the "place to be" that night but never found it. A lot of long and cool trails that I look forward to riding every year. 

Jay Peak and Bolton are further North and cost less, I like them just as much. The glades are nice at Jay. The times I've been to these mountains it was snowing at the time so conditions were great. Jay Peak has a Giant indoor water park/bar at the bottom of the slopes too which is pretty cool.


----------



## MikeIn248 (Dec 6, 2011)

Sugarbush or Stowe.

Killington -- I've only been there once and found it very confusing. I've been to plenty of resorts and know how to read a map and know how find my way around a place. Parts of Killington have intersection after intersection. How did I end up at the bottom of lift X? I was trying to find lift Y!

My impression of the place is that it could be a lot of fun if you had a good friend who knew it well and could show you around. Otherwise, I think it's a bit of an investment to try to learn the lay of the land.

Stratton -- Also been there only once. I thought a lot of the trails seemed identical to each other.

I know Sugarbush well and really like it, and I've been to Stowe only once, but had a very favorable impression. Both Sugarbush and Stowe have a wide variety of terrain: groomed cruisers, steeps, bumps, wide, narrow, glades. (Sugarbush has approximately zero nightlife, but that's not an issue for me.)

Can't comment on any of the parks. I'm not much of a park rider.


----------



## sheepstealer (Aug 19, 2009)

Honestly, all of these mountains can get crowded on weekends. 

Killington has some good parks. It's very big (wide) and its been said its not the best for riders. Better nightlife however.

Okemo is mediocre IMO. It's park has been slow to get set up. Lots of terrain but nothing unique. It gets a lot of new yorkers. It can get very icy, moreso than other NE mountains.

Stratton is good, probably a bit more expensive. Good vertical, good parks. Like Mike said, all the trails are kind of the same.

Mount Snow is probably my favorite "big" northeast mountain. Their park, Corinthia, is one of the best you'll find. Good vertical, good mix of terrain so you won't get bored. IMO, Snow does a better job of managing the crowds which results in less time in lift lines. 

If you're a weekend warrior or going up for an extended weekend, my advice is to find a motel or B+B within driving distance of a few mountains and try out a bunch. There's a bunch of medium-small mountains near Snow, Okemo and Stratton that are just as good, but with less terrain (i.e. Sunapee, Magic, Bromley).

To answer your original question: Stratton. More vertical.


----------



## lisevolution (Sep 20, 2007)

if you're choosing between Killington and Stratton I'd say go to Stratton. I've spent extensive time at all of the southern VT mountains and Stratton is one of my favorites. It can be very busy on a weekend but if you avoid the gondola and take one of the regular lifts up it's a bit better. Then ride the gondola during lunch when everyone else goes in. Killington is definitely the place to go for nightlife so if that's important to you it's something to consider. As far as the snowboarding goes though it's a big confusing mountain with a ton of trails that all interconnect and can be confusing as others have said if you don't know where you're going. 

Okemo was my "home" mountain for a while as good friends of mine and my wife have a family home just outside of town that allowed us to hit it up about 10-15 days a season at one point with free lodging. It is more of a "family" mountain and the lower half of it will be crowded and annoying because of that. Their best trails are the newer ones on the Jackson Gore side and I know over the last 2-3 years they also opened up some new gladed runs which are very nice and definitely challenging. Okemo has similar size to Killington but is definitely less confusing to navigate as it has 3 main sections. Main base, Jackson Gore and South Face. You can also avoid the lower half and lap the mid mountain lifts for the better terrain and less time in line.

Mt. Snow is definitely the spot if you're a park rider they have the most progressive park system in VT and probably the east coast. For regular riding it get ridiculously crowded on a weekend though and while they generally manage it well there is a very high clown factor here and I've had my worst overall riding experiences here so it's hard for me to recommend. It does have some nice runs though


----------



## Psi-Man (Aug 31, 2009)

I'm not a big fan of the way Killington is laid out, but the terrain is better than Stratton.  Stratton is one big blue square for the most part IMO, hence the nickname Flatton Stratton. Also in this area is Magic Mountain, which is quite good if there is snow.


----------



## Soul06 (Dec 18, 2010)

Been to Killington, Mount Snow, Stratton, Okemo, Stowe and Sugarbush in VT. Sunday River in Maine.

Of the Vermont resorts for me its
1- Stowe
1a- Sugarbush

Yes I LOVE these places. Sugarbush has more vert but I loves Stowe's terrain more. Now as for the rest...

2- Okemo
3- Stratton
4- Killington
5- Mount Snow

Okemo really takes care of their snow which is big for the Icy Coast. Plus even on crowded days you can find parts of the mountain that aren't conjested. I like Stratton over Killington because I just don't like how Killy is spread out or the false advertising of their vertical or trail count. But in its defense it does have better trails than Stratton. Mount Snow I feel is better suited for the park rats. Its decent riding though but also the smalled of all the mountains listed.

As for Suday River...that is another spot I love. Because of where it is you aren't going to get lots of crowds. Big mountain. Seven peaks. And they've been gettigns some good snowfall these last few years


----------



## blackbeard (Nov 24, 2011)

Thanks for starting this thread and all the replies! 

I'm planning a trip from NYC to VT for Presidents Weekend and was thinking of doing Okemo. Wanted to hit up Sugarbush to use my quad pack but the Amtrak train takes 7 hours to get there, compared to the 5 hours to Rutland VT. Killington seems crowded so going to avoid that if I can.

And to add what others have said, Stowe is great. Good terrain and things to do in town.


----------



## baldylox (Dec 27, 2007)

Kton > Flatton - Better terrain, better vibe, better nightlife, better snow.

-Two year Flatton season pass holder.


----------



## IceShredEC (Apr 8, 2013)

couldnt agree more on stratton. mountain is so freakin easy, but has some decent trails, polar bear, upper grizzley, and tamerack but hardly anything to play with on the sides of trails and i just find the mountain to be blahhh. Killington is the best southern/middle vt mountain by far. a lot of terrain, night life is good, parks are good.

yes, going farther north you get stowe, sugarbush, jay and those are much better.


----------



## ColinCuite (12 mo ago)

warriior91 said:


> If you had to choose one, which one would you go to and why?


It's a silly question. Killington is 6 mountains, further North, taller, and Higher summit. Killington by a mile. Make that 2 miles. Only negative is that it's 1 1/2 hours further drive for the flatlands (CT, NJ, downstate Ny'ers)


----------

