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Smugglers Notch
Smugglers Notch
Sunday, February 13, 2022
Submitted on February 13, 2022 by rocket21 (1390 Rating1390)
Session SessionFull Day
Lift Ticket Ticket TypeRetail Price
Lift Lines Lift Lines0 minutes
Snow Trail Conditions90% open; Loose Granular, Frozen Granular
Glades GladesFull coverage with a firm base and a dusting of powder on top. Lower Dempsey's Glades was good (via groomed Upper FIS crossover that dead ended).
Moguls MogulsPretty much everywhere not groomed, but firm. Lots of rock/blue ice in the troughs.
Terrain Park Terrain Park(s)Birch Run was set up. T-Bar park in progress.
Run of the Day Run of the DaySnake Bite
Food and Beverage Food and BeverageI hadn't read the COVID guidelines in awhile, figuring they wouldn't be changing at this point. Wrong. Full mask mandate (though not enforced or widely followed). Fortunately I had my pocket stuffed with snacks, because I am not giving my business to food & beverage operations that "mandate" masks.
Comments CommentsTough weather pattern (above freezing yesterday, deep freeze overnight) and not as much natural snow here as compared to Mt. Abram in Maine. Nevertheless, most of the mountain was open, but rock skis are advised for non-snowmaking trails.

The web site is very confusing, in that one area suggests checking the snow report to see if you need to buy ahead, while another page says reservations are required. I spent half an hour last night trying to buy online to no avail. Found out at the ticket window that their online store is down. No issues buying a ticket in person.

Sterling was mostly open, with a few short natural trails (such as Pipeline Escape) closed and a few others (end of Lower Pipeline) that were very borderline (rock and blue ice on a steep). The snowmaking trails were okay for the first few runs, but became dust on crust as the day progressed. Some of the natural trails had good coverage and were firm but edgeable.

Upper Chilcoot, Cat Walk, and the side of Upper FIS were groomed with snowmaking off the top of Madonna. Upper FIS was good first thing, but I suspect was dust on crust pretty quickly. Upper Chilcoot was dust on crust in the afternoon. Catwalk's grooming stops near the lift, with some unseen parts becoming rocky/ice bulge-y. Drifter (natural) was groomed, but thin in places. Shuttle was open, but also had a few places where you had to pick your way down.

Groomed blues off Madonna II were fine in the morning and dust on crust in the afternoon. A few assorted ungroomed bump stretches too.

Morse Highlands had three green ways open, loose granular on frozen granular. Seems like they took care to till up some loose granular for the Morse runs I took. Part of the Upper Morse Liftline was open/ungroomed and okay. Snow Snake was fun.

Sounds like Saturday was very busy, but today was quiet. Never more than a few chair wait for any of the lifts, but often ski-on. Madonna II and the T-Bar were basically running empty. Madonna and Sterling are perhaps the fasted fixed grip doubles around, so it's easy to rack up vertical on a day like today despite there being no detachables. On Morse, the Mogul Mouse lift is significantly slower than the parallel Village Lift.

Some very friendly employees (such as base of Sterling and base of Mogul Mouse), but some others that were not personable. Cold start in the single digits, rising to the low teens. Fortunately blue sky and no wind made it reasonable.

A foot of additional snow would help a lot. Hopefully the forecast later in the week is wrong.
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Rating Report Rating6 Rating6

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