Through most of my time as a teenager growing up in the Northeast, we had school-sponsored ski trips to our local mountain in Pennsylvania. I always felt like an imposter because I had to rent gear, while most of my friends were more avid snow sport enthusiasts. My best friend always had a new set of K2’s and the others had neon Rossignol’s. And then there was me, out there dominating – with flannel Long John’s under my Wranglers, and a beanie that we snagged from K-mart. The ‘real ones’ would stand around in their ski huddles, saying words like ‘Killington’ and ‘Stowe’ and ‘Smugglers’ Notch’. I had no clue WHAT they were talking about…
Turns out – they’re SKI RESORTS in VERMONT. And by gosh, fast forward 35 years, as my wife and I check states off of our bucket list, I felt inspired to quietly seek out the comfort of knowing what in the hell they were talking about all those years ago… so we loaded everyone in the truck and headed for America’s Family Resort, Smugglers’ Notch.
Smuggler’s Notch Resort is situated on lands included within the Mount Mansfield State Forest. It name comes from the activities that precipitated after Thomas Jefferson dropped the Embargo Act of 1807. Y’all remember that, right? Duh. No trading was allowed with Canada or Great Britain, so settlers utilized the notch in the mountains to smuggle goods and booze during prohibition. The caves and caverns made it easy to keep the alcohol around room temperature. After seeing the notch, I’m not sure I can imagine hauling a rucksack full of Canadian hooch in waist-deep snow, just to please a few settlers back at the colony…
But I digress.
Today, it’s still 1,000 acres of beautiful, awe-inspiring terrain. And along with those old smuggling routes, they have 78 trails covering 310+ acres, with 750 acres of woods in between… this was something we needed to experience. The only caveat? We live about 1,200 miles away in Nashville – roadtrippin’ (for real).
It takes a lot to pile these tiny savages into one vehicle for that kind of drive – the sheer physical stamina and bladder control, not to mention a level of patience we haven’t seen since waiting for more ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ episodes to come out.
In reality, as much as we might gripe about taking a 1,200 mile road trip, we love the flexibility and spontaneity that comes with driving instead of flying. We stopped off to see my folks in Pennsylvania and had dinner with a few friends. The next day, we marched onward into the Catskills of upstate New York and eventually crossed the Vermont state line and wound our way into the Green Mountains.
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We pulled into the resort late on a Monday night and headed towards the Village Center. We picked up a map and key cards at guest services. The resort accommodations are broken into small communities (North Hill, West Hill & Highlands Hill) and villages (Village East & West) of small rooms, but also full suites with multiple bedrooms for larger families. Since we knew we would have access to a full kitchen (and that we would be dead-tired every day), we decided to meal-plan and bring a cooler. We spent the week in the North Hill Community, in a building called ‘The Owls’.
Bright and early the next morning, we got everyone dressed and headed towards 3 Mountain Equipment for our gear. As we maneuvered through the process, every person – whether it be getting fitted for boots, helmets, skis or boards – was knowledgeable and quick to offer assistance. We’ve taken our kids skiing twice before, but never in this kind of amazing powder and at these ages. The employees were awesome and really great at explaining even the most mundane to the little ones. Plus, their side conversations offered a glimpse of a tighter-knit community that really provides the backbone of these resorts through the seasons.
That morning, Vermont got a little over six inches of fresh snow. We dropped the three older kids off at ski school and took Evelyn (5) over to the Mogul Mouse and magic carpet lift, to work with her on balancing. I can’t say that my back didn’t pay the price on this one. Neither she, nor I used poles and I wound up hunched over the entire time, really encouraging a curvature of the spine to add to my ailments. Even though it was fun teaching her, next time we’d send her to a day camp for a day so that she could learn amongst kids her own age.
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Smugglers has three mountains that fan from left to right – the Morse Highlands leading up to Morse Mountain at 2,250′ (greens), Madonna Mountain which tops out at 3,640′ with blues and black, double & triple-blacks and Sterling Mountain at 3,040′ – nothing to sneeze at with a handful of blues and black diamonds and just a ton of really great runs overall. Lots of them were fun for our entire family – and given the range of experience and the fact that one of our boys insisted on boarding instead of skiing, these runs were a perfect time for our family once the big three got out of ski school.
It’s all brought together down at the Village Center where we checked in – you can grab something to eat at the Lodge where they’ve got a Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop, Pizzeria and our favorite, the deli.
We grabbed a few sandwiches and snacks and circled up on a few Adirondack chairs by the fire. The littlest one fell in love with Vermont Extra Sharp Cheddar.
Once the lifts started closing around 4pm, there was no better feeling than heading back to our suite and being able to ‘feel like you’re at home’. We cooked dinner together every night, giving us a chance to connect.
It also bears mentioning that you can gain access to tube sliding hills, outdoor skating rink, as well as indoor/outdoor heated pools and hot tubs (which we took advantage of every night apreś ski) – but my kids REALLY enjoyed laser tag and when we realized we’d never played together as a family, it was game on. My wife lost big, which is a rarity, and I’ve wasted no time rubbing that one in. On the other nights we finished in the Fun Zone, an indoor facility that has tons of very clean bounce houses, air hockey, shuffleboard, arcade games, and other play areas perfect for our kids’ ages.
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I did everyone a solid and did not ski in jeans this time. We had an amazing time this winter and now that everyone’s fully outfitted, we can’t wait to go back. We’d love to see how it looks in the summer! This little gem nestled in the Green Mountains has all kinds of activities from mountain biking to freshwater swimming reservoirs and walking/hiking summit experiences. Check out Smuggs next time you’re in Vermont!
Laura says
I’d drive 1200 miles for that fresh mountain air too! Looks like a fabulous destination.