Smugglers Notch
Vermont
December 09 - 13 2000
3 people went on the on trip, Robert (36 years old), Laurie (30 yrs old), Ashley (9 yrs old).
Click on each picture to make it bigger. Then click back on your browser to return to the report. All pictures were taken with a Sony Mavica FD-81 digital Camera.
Laurie and Ashley on the plane ride, Robert and Ashley at the resort.
Flew into Burlington on December 9th on US Airways. Picked up an Avis rental car, and drove to the Comfort Inn to check in. Drove to downtown Burlington and checked out lake Champlain.
Sunday December 10th - Drove to Smugglers Notch early Sunday morning, took about 45 minutes to get there. Our 3 day package deal was $1049, and included equipment rental (for first time skiers), and a 1.5 hour lesson each day. We set up our package to do our lesson first, with an afternoon check in. Lucky for us, there was more snow on the ground than last year, we heard that the previous year the mountain was bare, but his year it was covered with snow.
Started our first lesson in a square next to the rental center. It had hay bales at the bottom of a 10 degree slope. We started out on 1 ski, then two, learning snow plow turns. Then it was off to Sir Henry's learning park, a larger hill with a toe rope. Went up and down this hill the rest of the afternoon. I'm not a ski expert, but the snow seemed to be about 3 inches of packed powder.
Picture on Sir Henry's learning park, a picture of our lift side condo unit 31L, and a view out our back porch looking at Madonna Mountain with Morse Mountain to the left.
Picture of the daily 3:30pm Bonfire with free hot chocolate, and a family picture.
Monday December 11th - Took our second lesson. Shane took us half way up Morse Mountain and brought us down. Learned more turning techniques.
Picture of Robert and Ashley at the lower end of Morse Mountain. And a picture of the Fun Zone, free from 1 to 3pm.
Later that night, we went on a sleigh ride, located a couple miles down the road. There wasn't enough snow for a sleigh ride with skids, so it was a cart with wheels. We had fun, the horses actually sped up as we sang Christmas carols.
Tuesday December 12th. The blizzard that hit Chicago passed thru, it was raining in the morning, later turning to snow. Parts of the snow had turned to slush. Laurie had strained her leg the previous day, so it was only Ashley and I at our lesson. Shane took us all the way to the top of Morse mountain bringing us down the Garden Path which merged into Sam's run. Laurie and Ashley went to the fun zone, I went down the mountain one more time by myself without wiping out. My skis we're chattering, but Shane had told me to to worry about it. The rain from the morning made a ice layer on top of the snow, but it wasn't that bad. I came back to the room and had a celebration drink, chilled with the outdoor freezer.
At 3:30pm, they did the Bonfire, I was the only one out there at first, but then more people showed up, and even the characters came out, it was funny. Have to give them credit for coming out in a blizzard.
Each night at 04:30pm, they have free tire tub riding, Ashley really enjoyed this. The blizzard ended leaving 1 inch of powder on top of a frozen layer of ice underneath.
Restaurants we're great, visited the Mountain Grille, Riga Bello's Pizza, and a Mexican restaurant across the street.
Last picture of Morse Mountain on Wednesday December 13th, clear day after the blizzard.
I would strongly recommend Smugglers Notch. We picked them because of they are the #1 family resort in the east, and they delivered.
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