Date(s) Skied: January 13-14, 2008
Resort or Ski Area: Smuggler's Notch
Conditions: Spring-like on Sunday, some fresh powder on Monday
Trip Report: After sweating it out all of last week because of the weather, my family (wife, 4 year old son and 1 year old daughter) and I decided to suck it up and go on our long-planned trip to Smuggs. We rented a condo for 3 nights, Saturday - Monday nights. With much packing and about a 3.5 drive from Northern Mass, we got in around 7:45 p.m Saturday night and settled in. Though it was dark, we could tell there was lot of bare ground around.
Waking up on Saturday, we looked up and saw the somewhat grim upper reaches of the mountains. Weather was in low 30s, sunny, nice. We dropped our 4 year old off in one of the all-day ski camps, and plopped the 1 year old in Treasures day care. Off to the slopes, first time in 6 years for both of us. All lifts were open, but only about 55% of terrain. It turns out that the open trails were in pretty good condition, and there were absolutely zero lift lines and almost nobody on the slopes. Morse Mountain was perfect for my wife, who is a still a novice, and a good warm-up for me. Eventually I crossed over to Sterling and Madonna for a few runs, with the open trails again being in pretty good shape. There were pretty much no blacks open, but I didn't mind given my 6 year hiatus and general lack of conditioning. I got in several runs, and finished up the day satisfied. We picked up our son, and he was loving his first time out and got rave reviews. Picked up the 1 year old, nothing much to report there :smile:
Next day we get up, snow is falling, a little colder. Pretty much same plan, drop off the kids, hit the greens on Morse, and then split up. There was a little more terrain open, and I got to check out some more of Madonna and Sterling. Probably a couple of inches of fresh powder during the day. Again, no lift lines, plenty of alone time on the trails. Legs were burning, face mask was on, all was good in the world. Son went up on the lift twice on his second day, and is psyched to try it out again sometime soon. Mission accomplished---I need to get the family skiing so I can regain my long-lost love.
Today (the 15th), we had to check out, everyone was gassed, so we hit the pool for a couple of hours before heading out.
All in all, we had a great time and the less than ideal conditions didn't cause any issues for us. I'm glad we decided to go, and I've definitely been bitten by the bug again and hope to go again several more times this season. I thought Smuggs lived up to its reputation as a great family place, and we left wishing we had more days there and more time to participate in a lot of the offered activities.
Resort or Ski Area: Smuggler's Notch
Conditions: Spring-like on Sunday, some fresh powder on Monday
Trip Report: After sweating it out all of last week because of the weather, my family (wife, 4 year old son and 1 year old daughter) and I decided to suck it up and go on our long-planned trip to Smuggs. We rented a condo for 3 nights, Saturday - Monday nights. With much packing and about a 3.5 drive from Northern Mass, we got in around 7:45 p.m Saturday night and settled in. Though it was dark, we could tell there was lot of bare ground around.
Waking up on Saturday, we looked up and saw the somewhat grim upper reaches of the mountains. Weather was in low 30s, sunny, nice. We dropped our 4 year old off in one of the all-day ski camps, and plopped the 1 year old in Treasures day care. Off to the slopes, first time in 6 years for both of us. All lifts were open, but only about 55% of terrain. It turns out that the open trails were in pretty good condition, and there were absolutely zero lift lines and almost nobody on the slopes. Morse Mountain was perfect for my wife, who is a still a novice, and a good warm-up for me. Eventually I crossed over to Sterling and Madonna for a few runs, with the open trails again being in pretty good shape. There were pretty much no blacks open, but I didn't mind given my 6 year hiatus and general lack of conditioning. I got in several runs, and finished up the day satisfied. We picked up our son, and he was loving his first time out and got rave reviews. Picked up the 1 year old, nothing much to report there :smile:
Next day we get up, snow is falling, a little colder. Pretty much same plan, drop off the kids, hit the greens on Morse, and then split up. There was a little more terrain open, and I got to check out some more of Madonna and Sterling. Probably a couple of inches of fresh powder during the day. Again, no lift lines, plenty of alone time on the trails. Legs were burning, face mask was on, all was good in the world. Son went up on the lift twice on his second day, and is psyched to try it out again sometime soon. Mission accomplished---I need to get the family skiing so I can regain my long-lost love.
Today (the 15th), we had to check out, everyone was gassed, so we hit the pool for a couple of hours before heading out.
All in all, we had a great time and the less than ideal conditions didn't cause any issues for us. I'm glad we decided to go, and I've definitely been bitten by the bug again and hope to go again several more times this season. I thought Smuggs lived up to its reputation as a great family place, and we left wishing we had more days there and more time to participate in a lot of the offered activities.
