Main content

Skiing into the new year on new snow at Vermont’s Smugglers’ Notch Resort!

Posted Wednesday, January 1, 2020
— Alpine / downhill skiing, Smugglers' Notch
Photo of a skier turning in front of a frozen waterfall
Photo of a snowboarder turning and throwing snow
Photo of two people on a narrow ski run
Photo of two people riding a long double chairlift
Photo of a telemark skier on a natural snow trail
Photo of ice on red berries of a mountain ash tree

After hitting the snooze button a few times, we got ourselves up and out the door this morning for some New Year’s Day skiing. We made our way to Smugglers’ Notch Resort to enjoy some new snow, which seemed to be a special delivery to celebrate the new year. (Thanks, Mother Nature!)

The trails were mostly packed powder and powder. It was fun playing in the new, shallow powder! We sought it out at every opportunity.

Our favorite runs of the morning were a bit off the beaten path: Upper Treasure Run and Thomke’s on Sterling Mountain, which is served by a double chair ascending to 3,040 feet. We also enjoyed Upper Chilcoot and Lower FIS on Madonna Mountain. Madonna is the highest peak at the ski area at 3,640 feet. It is served by two double chairlifts.

This morning Smuggs reported three inches of new snow overnight and 11 inches new in the past three days. This came out of a weird and rather prolonged storm system that also included mixed precipitation. In fact, while skiing this morning we gained a light, frozen glaze on our ski clothes, goggles and helmet. It reminded me of glazed donuts!

It was a great morning of making turns in the new snow. The trails with snowmaking had excellent coverage while the newly opened natural snow trails had some rocks and grass to avoid on steeper pitches. We hardly waited in line for the lifts! Bonus!

Everyone out on the hill today was having a ball — families with kids making sweeping turns, people in ski school lessons practicing new skills, snowboarders, telemark skiers and more. We were all making the most of the new snow that ushered in our new year.

Here’s to a snowy 2020!

Smugglers’ Notch Resort, Vermont, at a Glance   

  • 8 lifts: 6 doubles; 2 surface lifts
  • 2,610' vertical drop from top of Madonna to the Village
  • 78 trails
  • Novice: 19%
  • Intermediate: 56%
  • Advanced/Expert: 25%
  • 310 acres of marked and patrolled acreage
  • Additional 750 acres of unmarked and unpatrolled wooded terrain
  • 5 terrain parks and 1 learn-to-snowboard park
  • 62% snowmaking capacity

Share This Blog Post

 

Post a Comment

No Account Needed! To post a comment without any kind of account, you can type in a name, nickname or trail name and an email (which we do not collect or use) then select "I'd rather post as guest." We'd love to hear from you!

Link to get a Protect Our Winters membership

 


Fresh snow in the woods

Thank goodness the snow is back!

Posted 3/13/24

Thanks to a rather long-duration storm, some of Vermont's higher elevations saw 2 feet of snow through Monday. This was a very welcome development! The first wave of snow was heavy and wet, while the…

Skier in pink makes a turn in knee-deep powder

Enjoying some fluffy new snow in northern Vermont

Posted 2/18/24

So grateful for new snow! At higher elevations in northern Vermont, we've seen quite a bit of fluffy new snow in the last couple of days. Above 1600 feet or so there's often a decent, frozen base, as…

Late-afternoon Nordic ski in soft snow

Posted 2/9/24

With Saturday looking like it will hit 45 degrees at 2,000 feet with possible rain showers in northern Vermont, it was time to hit the cross-country trails today! We took a late-afternoon ski at…