Terrain	5.0
Service	4.0
Crowds	3.5
Activities	4.0
Value	5.0
Overall Rating	4.3

2 Viewer Reviews

Eric from S. Dartmouth	Jul 24, 2006
Overall Rating:  4.8

Three of the four times I was there, it was either raining or below freezing, but no prob! It's a great mountain with great snow.

Darryl K. Lewis from Jamaica, New York	Mar 16, 2006
Overall Rating:  3.8

Skitown Review

Ski resort reviews can be helpful only if you know the skill level and skiing perspective of the person authoring the review. I am a middle age advanced skier with no interest in jumping off cornices or cliffs. I will often at high speeds hit a small lip in the terrain and get a little air, but that’s about the extent of it. I venture in and out of moderate mogul fields in an attempt to become a better all-around skier, but I tend not to spend a majority of my ski day dealing with the bumps. Me and two other ski buddies just finished a week’s skiing trip in Vermont and Quebec, Canada. We selected lodging in East Burke of the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont (see my review of the Village Inn of East Burke). We were just a 5-minute drive from Burke Mountain, a 60-minute drive from Jay Peak, and a 90-minute drive from Mont Sutton, Quebec. With that said, here are my impressions of Mont Sutton:

Terrain – Rated 5.0:
Mont Sutton, I would say, is the most vertically challenged of the three resorts that we skied. Sutton has a listed vertical drop of 1,500 feet as compared to the 2,000 feet plus verticals for Jay and Burke. Is the terrain comparable? Not really. Like most northeastern resorts and unlike the west, Sutton doesn’t have chutes, cliffs, couloirs, and above tree line skiing that usually deserve a 5.0 terrain rating. But Sutton has two things working for it. Like Jay Peak, Sutton appears to have policies authorizing you to ski anywhere you feel the need, but within the confines of the resort. You therefore receive a very challenging and almost backcountry skiing experience. Secondly, Sutton has a very user friendly, and logical layout of the terrain that enhances the skier experience regardless of level of the skier’s ability. Here’s how it works: Sutton is situated on a long ridge (which is the upper most trail of resort and named “Alleghany”). This “Alleghany Ridge” slopes downward from the left to the right as you face the mountain. All the advanced/expert terrain is to the far left. As you ski down this ridge going left, you soon encounter access to all the intermediate terrain. Continuing to ski downward and left on Alleghany, you will finally arrive at all the beginner terrain access. Each one of these adjacent areas have chairlifts that deliver skiers up from the base of the mountain to the part of the Alleghany Ridge that is associated with the respective ability level. It is extremely difficult for beginners to travel up the ridge to access the intermediate terrain (which may be beyond their ability level) due to the traffic always moving down the ridge, and the difficulty of traveling uphill on skis for long distances. The same holds true for intermediates that attempt to access the expert terrain via the “Alleghany Ridge.” The only way to access more advanced areas is to ski down to the mountain base and to the appropriate lift, and then take that lift to your desired level of terrain. Advanced/expert skiers can access all of Suttons terrain starting from the advanced/expert area at the very left on the “Alleghany Ridge.” Intermediates who take the lifts up to the intermediate area can access only intermediate and beginner terrain, and beginner lift riders are relegated to the beginner area at the far right of the mountain. Ingenious! At Sutton the gladed areas seem to pop up out of nowhere and are more varied than those at Jay Peak. And if a skier is uncomfortable in the glades, there are adjacent trails to take to avoid them. There are plenty of steep and dense glades as well as sparse and moderately sloped glades. There are moguled and unmoguled glades. At Sutton there are types of glades for everyone. The trail network is also a great deal of fun. The trails just don’t go downhill. They all dip roll and turn and often present you with the unexpected regardless of the ability level of the terrain. The trail signage has names as well as numbers. The lifts are also numbered from right to left (from beginner area, lift #I; to the expert area, Lift #VII). So if you don’t understand French, you can still negotiate the mountain rather well. To me, Sutton is a huge winter playground for kids of all ages (including us middle-aged kids).

Service – Rated 3.0:
The service was rather normal. Everything ran as well as expected. Nothing was exemplary, and nothing was abysmal. We were having so much fun, and the skiing conditions were so excellent, that I skipped lunch and didn’t have a chance to sample the chili.

Crowds – Rating 3.0:
Sutton appeared a little busy for a Wednesday afternoon. The #II Lift just beyond the main base lodge experienced about 3 - 4 minute wait. No other lift had a lift line of any significance.

Activities – Rating 3.0:
There wasn’t a half pipe, but there was a terrain park. The town of Sutton is small but charming, with some very good dining establishments.

Value: - Rating 5.0:
The exchange rate makes skiing Sutton a steal. A half-day $40 ($47 if you pay in Canadian dollars) lift ticket gave us a half-day skiing plus all day for the following day’s skiing.

In summary: Mont Sutton was like being invited to a combination Fourth of July, New Years Eve, and Christmas ski party all rolled into one. Sutton has the challenge as well as the layout for a skier to have pure unadulterated fun. I had an absolute blast and enjoyed all three of the mountains we skied. Remember, my perspective is focused on the terrain, and weighted with regards to the actual experience of skiing (Terrain/Crowd factors). With that in mind, my favorite of the three resorts are in order as follows: #1, Mont Sutton; #2, Burke Mountain; and #3, Jay Peak. If you are interested, go to the review sections of the aforementioned resorts to see my comments on each one.