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More Snow. More Trails.

Rockin’ Ron for Hugh. 100% of the trails on Madonna and Sterling Mountains were open today, and all but three on Morse, making a grand total of 75 of 78 trails!! 6″ of new snow overnight and 20″ in the past 5 days will do that. Tomorrow, we expect a similar trail count. I enjoyed runs on Upper Chilcoot, Goat Path, and Lower FIS with the Allman Brothers’ Blue Sky in the earbuds.

NOTE: Uphill access on Morse will be closed on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights due to snowmaking.

All of these trails were open today!
Lower Doc’s. Photo by Seth Crevison.
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Morse / Report / Uphill Info / Shanty

Rockin’ Ron for Hugh. I had a fun morning on Morse Mountain helping shuttle kids on Mogul Mouse’s Magic Lift for Snow Sport University. It’s great to see them progress in their on-snow abilities! In between groups, I got to catch up with my friend and co-worker Stacy “Webmaster” Maynard, who was also shuttling. Then, I snuck a run on Snow Snake… YES!

REPORT: Tomorrow’s forecast is sunny and breezy, with highs of 34 degrees at the base and 29 at the summit. We plan to have top-to-bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains, with 7 Lifts operating and 72 trails open. 34 trails will be groomed – that’s 132 acres of freshly groomed terrain. We’ve received 21 inches of new snow in the past 5 days. We’ll be making snow tonight on Sterling Mountain on Bootleggers’ and Thomke’s.

UPHILL ACCESS: Morning uphill on Sterling will be closed on Wednesday, but Madonna will be open. NEW! Evening uphill on Madonna and Sterling will open starting Wednesday night, February 21. The evening uphill schedule is as follows: Madonna on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 6 to 8 pm, closed Sunday. Sterling on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, 6 to 8 pm, closed Sunday. Morse is open from 5 to 10 pm daily except Thursday. Remember to check the snow report daily for any changes before you go, as there may be closures at times when weather disrupts grooming schedules. Check here for more specific guidelines on our uphill policy.

Boot, scoot, and boogie UPHILL, or as Hugh says, “use the Shoe Leather Express.”
Mogul Mouse’s Magic Lift and the Magic Learning Trail.
Check out the Ski Shanty video by Rockin’ Ron the Friendly Pirate on YouTube/@SmuggsTV. It’s a sea shanty about skiing pirates that namechecks Smuggs trails and features Smuggs staffers Hugh “Snowman” Johnson, Caleb “Mr. Rizz” Kessler, Angie “Dispatcher Extraordinaire” Shorey, Jason “Nemo” Niemi, and Seth “Carv-ison” Crevison. The video was produced by Thaddeus Homan of Smuggs TV. The song was inspired by long-time Smuggs Guest Kim Riegel.
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Post Season Uphill Access

Daytime uphill access will be available starting Thursday, April 13th.  It is closed Monday the 10th through Wednesday the 12th as there will be equipment and personnel on the hill performing end-of-season closing work.  Evening uphill access will be open after 4 pm daily.  After the 12th there may be occasional work on the hill so please be aware.  On Morse, snow removal on the Village Green and the Wire road crossing will commence Monday the 10th.  No dogs allowed.  Be advised that there is no rescue service readily available and use is at your own risk.  Call 911 in the event of an emergency.

Snow removal on the Village Green
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Grooming operations

The Madonna 2 Lift will open at 9:30 am. The Madonna 1 Lift is closed for today. We have 6 lifts operating with 23 trails open. Currently, it is 21 degrees at the summit of Sterling with freezing rain and winds of 5 to 10 mph. Today’s forecast calls for sleet and freezing rain becoming snow with 1 to 2 inches of accumulation possible with a high of 34 degrees. Surface conditions are machine groomed and variable with average base depths of 8 to 30 inches.

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More Families… more FUN!

Rockin’ Ron for Hugh. The Coadys, Hogans, Kuehls, Smarts, and Forrsets live in the same neighborhood in Toronto, Canada. For 16 years, they’ve been coming to Smuggs together – 2, 3, 4, and sometimes 5 families at a time! Can you say “It takes a Village?” Today I took some runs with representatives of 4 of the families. First, it was warm-up runs on Morse. Then we headed to the upper mountains to make turns on Upper FIS and Smugglers’ Alley, both of which were groomed. We had fun, eh.

Kevin Coady, Skyler Hogan, Sean Forrest, and Brad Smart from Toronto, Canada. From the top of the Village Lift with Madonna Mountain in the background.
Meet the new T-Bar shack. The original was damaged in a recent weather event.
Snowmaking on Morse earlier today.
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Grooming in the new snow on Morse

Great conditions!

We received 5 inches of new snow overnight and 18 inches in the past week. Today we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 7 lifts operating, including the Madonna I lift. We have 32 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. More trails may open throughout the day. Surface conditions are packed powder and powder with average base depths of 12 to 48 inches. Currently, it is snowing and 17 degrees at the summit of Sterling. Today’s forecast is calling for snow showers with another 1 to 3 inches of accumulation possible with a high of 20 degrees.

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Snowmaking top to bottom on Morse

Connecting the hoses
Snowmaker Dave Gagnon starting up another gun
Lower Morse Liftline

We are presently making snow on Garden Path, Midway, Meadowlark, and Lower Morse Liftline. Today we have skiing and riding on all 3 mountains. We have 4 lifts operating, Madonna II, Sterling Lift, Sir Henry’s Wonder Carpet, and Mogul Mouse’s Magic Lift to mid-station. We have 33 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 11 out of the 33 trails have been groomed for today, including Smugglers’ Alley for a grand total of 40 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are packed powder and powder with average base depths of 12 to 48 inches. Currently, it is sunny and 10 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 0 to 5 mph. Today’s forecast is sunny skies early with increasing clouds, the chance of flurries, and a high of 29 degrees.

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Sunny skies with a snowmaking cloud on Morse

Early morning light over the Village
Snowmaking on Lower Morse Liftline

We are presently making snow on Wanderer, Magic Learning Trail, the Sledding Hill, and Lower Morse Liftline. Today we have Sterling Lift and Sir Henry’s Wonder Carpet operating with beginner, intermediate, and expert terrain available. 6 out of the open 13 trails have been groomed for today for a grand total of 22 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Currently, it is sunny and 12 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 0 to 5 mph. Today ‘s forecast is calling for sunny skies early with increasing clouds later and a high of 24 degrees.

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Smuggs Family

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI would like you to meet Jenny and Josie Monto. The Monto family is from Delaware and have been coming to Smuggs for the past 17 years!  Jenny is a life long skier and her daughter Josie is also a life long skier. Josie learned how to ski here at Smuggs. Josie decided that she wanted to try snowboarding while they were here at Smuggs. Josie did not want to try snowboarding by herself, so Jenny decided to try snowboarding with her. I met Jenny and Josie at Sir Henry’s Learning Hill where they were getting ready for their lesson. It very nice to meet you and I hope you have a wonderful vacation here at Smuggs!

New Snow

We received 5 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours, 43 inches in the past week, and 270 inches this season so far!

Lifts and Trails

The Madonna I lift, Madonna II lift, and Village lift are presently on cold hold. We have 78 skiable trails and 46 lift accessible trails open today. We have 5 lifts operating today: Sterling , Mogul Mouse, Morse Highlands, Sir Henry’s Wonder Carpets, and the Sterling T-Bar. 43 trails have been groomed for today, that’s 156 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are packed powder and powder with average base depths of 30 t0 60 inches.

Weather

Currently it is -7 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 15 to 25 mph. Today’s forecast is partly cloudy skies with a slight chance of snow showers and temperatures between -8 and +8 degrees. Bundle up and enjoy the great conditions!

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Natural snow and snowmaking

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Upper Chilcoot with snow covered trees

Snowmaking

Snowmaking resumes on Morse Mountain today. Tonight we plan to make snow on Sir Henry’s, Magic Learning Trail, Garden Path, Snow Snake, and the top of Morse. Tomorrow we plan to make snow on Garden Path, Lower Morse Liftline, and Snow Snake.

New Snow

We received an inch of new snow today, 11 inches in the past week, and 142 inches this season so far.

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Snowmaking on Morse

Lifts and Trails

Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 7 lifts operating. We now have 32 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 27 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Lower Chilcoot, Dixie’s Knoll, and Smugglers’ Alley for a grand total of 116 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are machine groomed and variable with average base depths of 12 to 40 inches.