Archives: April 2023

The season started off a little slow, but then it made a strong come back. March was our best snowfall month with a total of 71 inches and coming in second was January with 61 inches. Our season snowfall total was 223 inches. I want to thank all of wonderful employees and everyone who came to visit us here at Smuggs this year! Time flies when you are having fun and that’s why spring came so quickly. It’s always hard for me to say goodbye to the winter season and yes I’m already thinking about next year. I enjoy all the seasons, but I get the most skiing and riding in the winter. I wish everyone a happy and healthy summer. I look forward to seeing your smiling faces again Friday, November 24th, when we start the 2023/2024 Season!

Sunday, April 9th is the closing date of the winter season. We plan to have the Madonna I Lift and Sterling Lift operating. Lift hours are 9 am till 4:30 pm for Madonna and Sterling. We have 29 trails open with terrain for intermediates and experts only. 27 trails have been groomed today, including Thomke’s Express, Drifter, Lower Pipeline, Snake Bite, Upper FIS, Goat Path, Ruthie’s, and Smugglers’ Alley for a grand total of 100 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are machine-groomed and variable with average base depths of 12 to 50 inches. Currently, it is sunny and 25 degrees at the summit of Sterling. Today’s forecast calls for mostly sunny skies with a high of 49 degrees at the base and 34 degrees at the summit. Enjoy this beautiful closing day!

Tomorrow we plan to have the Madonna I Lift and Sterling Lift operating. The operating hours are 9 am to 4:30 pm on Madonna I and Sterling. We have 29 trails open with terrain for intermediates and experts only. 27 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Upper FIS, Drifter, Goat Path, Ruthie’s, Smugglers’ Alley, Snake Bite, and Thomke’s Express. Surface conditions are machine-groomed and variable with average base depths of 12 to 50 inches. Currently, it is sunny and 27 degrees at the summit of Sterling. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for mostly sunny skies with a high of 48 degrees at the base and 33 degrees. We should see some good spring skiing and riding tomorrow. Next year’s season passes go on sale soon!

Lift hours have changed for closing weekend. Madonna I Lift and Sterling Lift is open 9 am to 4:30 pm Saturday and Sunday. We have 29 trails open with terrain for intermediates and experts only. All 29 trails have been groomed for today. Surface conditions are machine-groomed and variable with average base depths of 12 to 50 inches. It is sunny and 25 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 0 to 5 mph. Today’s forecast calls for sunny skies with a high of 38 degrees at the base and 29 degrees at higher elevations.

Tomorrow we plan to have the Madonna I Lift and Sterling Lift operating. Lift hours are 9 am till 4:30 pm this weekend for both Madonna I and Sterling. We plan to have 29 trails open with terrain for intermediates and experts only. We plan to groom all 29 trails for a grand total of 104 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are machine-groomed and variable with average base depths of 12 to 50 inches. Today the bottom half of the mountain became corn snow. Currently, it is 24 degrees at the summit of Sterling with sunny skies and winds of 15 to 25 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for mostly sunny skies with a high of 36 degrees at the base and 28 degrees at higher elevations. Sunday’s forecast calls for mostly sunny skies with a high of 46 degrees. The closing day of the Winter Season is this Sunday, April 9th.

Trivia answer:

The Madonna I Lift has 172 chairs.

It never froze last night, so the conditions were pretty soft. My trail pick of the day was Smugglers’ Alley. It was groomed and had a nice layer of corn snow on top. Tomorrow we plan to have the Madonna I Lift and Sterling Lift operating. We have 33 trails open with terrain for intermediates and experts only. We plan to groom 18 trails tonight, including Upper FIS, Drifter, Chilcoot, Smugglers’ Alley, Thomke’s, and Black Snake for a grand total of 77 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Tomorrow’s colder temperatures will give us surface conditions of machine groomed and variable with average base depths of 12 to 50 inches. Currently, it is partly cloudy and 48 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 10 to 15 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for partly sunny skies, breezy with a high of 33 degrees at the base and 27 degrees at higher elevations.

We have the Madonna I Lift and Sterling Lift operating. We have 33 trails open with terrain for experts and intermediates only. 20 trails have been groomed for today for a grand total of 60 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are machine groomed and spring conditions with average base depths of 12 to 50 inches. Currently, it is partly sunny and 50 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 10 to 15 mph.