We’re just a few days away from the 2018-19 Winter season! While we wait, there will absolutely be a loud version of Europe’s classic 1986 hit, The Final Countdown, playing on a constant loop. Well, we’ll listen once, but might leave it at that. This is Mike Chait, reporting for Hugh.
Opening With Snow. Lots of it.
Pushing out the piles.
So, here’s the rundown. Since our first snow, the mountain has seen a total of 48 inches with more in the forecast! Not all of that has stuck around, but currently, the mountain is sitting underneath a nice white blanket of snow. How much snow, you ask? Here’s the rundown:
- Sir Henry’s Hill will be open for beginners with private lessons available all weekend.
- Sterling will open on Friday morning at 8:30 am. As of now, the plan is to offer 100% of Sterling terrain. This is not a drill! Bring those rock skis and boards for the natural trails, but we’ll have a good amount of groomed terrain on Sterling as well.
- Madonna, yes, Madonna, will open on Friday and Saturday from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm ONLY. We plan to have the majority of Madonna trails open, but this terrain is offered to EXPERTS only. Now, please give us your complete attention once you’re done jumping out of your seat, as the following information is very important!
- Madonna opening on day one is nearly unheard of. Anyone who has hiked that mountain in Summer knows it’s rocky, steep, and well, it’s a mountain; a big, gnarly one, at that.
- We have NOT made any snow on Madonna yet. 100% of the snow on Madonna is natural. This means there are rocks, open water bars, and other very early season obstacles. The other day we measured 30 inches of natural snow on the ground at once. Now, after weather and settling, we’ve measured depths ranging anywhere from 0-14 inches. That’s why it’s not groomed. We tried to leave it as fluffy as we could, but the natural elements will take their normal course of action and we’ve seen a good amount of settling. That said, it’s yours for the taking!
- Expect very minimal grooming, if any. Again, if you’re not confidently skiing and riding on any terrain Smugglers’ has to offer, you’ll probably want to stick to Sterling.
Special Deals on Lift Tickets
Bring a non-perishable donation for the Cambridge Food Shelf and receive a $20 youth or $32 Adult Full-Day lift ticket good for this Friday, Saturday, or Sunday!
Stay for a While
Our Thanksgiving festivities continue throughout the weekend with fireworks, bonfires, hayrides, and a signature performance from Vermont’s favorite fire dancers, Cirque de Fuego!
If your equipment still needs a tune, or you found some of those famed early season conditions on Madonna, the crew at 3 Mountain Equipment will be running a Black Friday Sale on tunes with their new Wintersteiger tuning machine! Check out details here.
We hope everyone is looking forward to this historic opening weekend as much as we are! See you on the slopes!
