My boys love to snowboard, so they headed straight to the terrain parks. Stratton requires riders to watch a safety video and take a quick quiz before entering the park. No worries if they fail the test the first time; they can immediately take it again.

Stratton was the first major ski resort to allow snowboarding, and where Burton started the first snowboard school in the world. In fact, the Stratton Snowboard Mountain School has been there for more than 30 years. Stratton also offers free one-hour guided tours of the mountain for intermediate and advanced skiers every morning at 9 and 10am. Meet at the info desk in the main base lodge to join.

In addition to skiing, the Sun Bowl Activity Center offers a tubing park along with a Nordic center with groomed cross-country and snowshoeing trails, rentals and lessons. The main base lodge area offers everything you would expect, including day care for young kids and trailside overnight ski check.

We stayed at the Black Bear Lodge, just minutes outside of Stratton Village. It's quite large with an indoor hot tub, and a shuttle bus that conveniently takes you back and forth between the lodge and the mountain base. Our room was comfortable for the three of us. We enjoyed a complimentary breakfast in the morning before we headed out for more snowboarding and skiing. Black Bear Lodge isn't a luxury hotel, but it's comfortable, clean, decently furnished and fit the bill for our family ski trip.

There are many good restaurants and stores in the village. We opted for Village Pie, which received a thumbs-up from my crew. After dinner, we checked out Black Bear Lodge's arcade featuring about a half-dozen old-school video games along with Foosball and other tabletop amusements.

Stratton Mountain Resort offers ski and lodging deals. Plus, the Stratton Snow Guarantee means you never have to worry about bad snow conditions.

Stratton Mountain Ski Resort
5 Village Lodge Road
Stratton Mountain, VT
802-297-4000

Black Bear Lodge
61 Middle Ridge Road
Stratton Mountain, VT
1-866-332-3590

For more ski trip reviews,, check out our Ski & Snow Sports Guide.