We can debate McDonalds, Walmart etc, but its easy to chastize such corporations that are saving people thousands of dollars a year. Many people rely on these establishments to save them time and money in their lives. if they didn't, these business wouldn't be doing so well. The mom and pop store, are certainly nice stories and bring us nostalgic thoughts of a more simple time, but are only sustainable in very very rural areas or around wealthy who are willing to pay more for a homely atmosphere. Increasing many middle class people's real income as the price of the bundle of goods they purchase goes down. Since this isn't an economics forum, I won't continue.

Having said that, I have no problems with stowe, its a very beautiful town, but yet again its lift tickets have priced me out. There is terrain similar to Stowe's thats far less money than 65 dollars a lift ticket.

If you like Stowe, you'll also like North Conway Nh. Its bigger than stowe but its less expensive and has a large variety of nearby resorts(Wildcat, Attitash, Bretton Woods, and even Sunday River).

I'll stick to magog as being the nicest, cheapest, base camp. If you've never been there, it is a beautiful town right over the border in Quebec. Jay Peak, Mount Orford, and Sutton give it the best snow record, and most extensive terrain for people who love glades and steeps. Yes it does have a McDonalds, but it also has a lot of wonderful resteraunts.