AN EPIC DAY OF EARLY-SEASON SKIING AT SMUGGLER’S NOTCH

Today was my first day not skiing at Whiteface this ski season. Instead, I skied at Smuggler’s Notch over in Vermont. I have a Smuggler’s Notch Bash Badge, which makes full-day tickets $30 and half-day tickets $20 all season long. It’s a pretty good deal.

I got to the mountain at 9 AM and met up with none other than Pro Skier Darren White. He had been there since open and let me know the snow was nice and fluffy. He wasn’t wrong! It was basically a powder day. The last week or so has seen plenty of snow fall across the Northeast and that was certainly evident at Smuggler’s Notch. They received 8 inches of snowfall last night alone.

Smugg’s just opened on Thursday and they were only spinning the Sterling Lift today, which goes up to the top of Sterling Mountain. This lift is a slow fixed grip double and, with just one lift open, there was a decent line every time we got down to the lift. I’d say, for each run, we were waiting around 10 minutes for our ride up the mountain. The good news is, the skiing was worth the wait!

There were more than 20 runs open today. Most of those trails were natural snow only and coverage was fantastic on the majority. Yeah, you could find a rock here and there, but generally speaking it wasn’t too much of an issue.

There were several glades open and the coverage there was great. Unfortunately, I don’t know the trail names at Smuggler’s Notch very well, but, in the first glade we went in, I really struggled. I’m new to glade skiing. I just started skiing glades last season and, while I don’t think this glade was particularly difficult, having not skied a glade since last April, I was very cautious. In the afternoon, we dipped into another glade and that time I felt much more comfortable and it left me wanting more! Unfortunately, it was my last run of the day. That’s just how it goes sometimes.

Most of our day was really spent just checking out all the open terrain. We never really skied the same run twice and I don’t think we even made it to all of the open terrain, despite there only being 20-25 trails open. Overall, today was a fantastic first day of skiing in Vermont this season and I can’t wait to check out some other ski areas as the season progresses. I’ve got a Jay Peak season pass and an Ikon Base pass, so I’ll be spending a lot of time skiing in the Green Mountain State this winter.

Tomorrow, I’m planning to ski at either Jay Peak or Whiteface Mountain. It’s a game time decision.

-Lincoln