3 Mountains

0

Spring conditions

Posted at 3:36 pm

We experienced many types of weather today with sleet, freezing rain, rain, windy conditions, and even partly sunny skies. I had a blast today on Snow Snake. It was groomed last night and was skiing great! The trail was nice and flat with soft creamy snow on top. Snow Snake has steeper pitches, multiple turns, and neat contours, which made it more challenging than some of the other Morse Mountain trails. This also makes it more fun. It was one of my favorites as a kid and I still love it today! Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating, including Madonna I and Morse Highlands. We have 34 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 31 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Smugglers’ Alley, Upper FIS, and Snow Snake for a grand total of 126 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are machine groomed and spring conditions with average base depths of 6 to 40 inches. Currently, it is cloudy and 29 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 20 to 30 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for a chance of rain at the base, rain and snow at higher elevations. A high of 45 degrees at the base and 37 degrees at higher elevations for tomorrow with lighter winds than today.

Uphill Travel

All 3 mountains are presently closed to uphill travel at this time.

View from Garden Path below the Village Lift
Nice soft conditions
0

Wide open spaces

Posted at 4:08 pm

Currently, it is partly sunny and 33 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 0 to 5 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for freezing rain, sleet, rain, and gusty winds with a high of 35 degrees. Windy conditions could affect some lift operations tomorrow. Please check the report in the morning for the most up-to-date information. Weather permitting tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating. We have 34 trails open with terrain for all ability levels.

Upper Chilcoot
0

What a day!

Posted at 1:52 pm

We received 7 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours, 19 inches in the past 2 days, and 199 inches this season so far! It was the perfect storm with wet heavy snow to start, that stuck to everything. The temperature dropped as the snow piled up. The colder temperatures produced some beautiful fluffy powder to finish off the storm. This new snow allowed us to open 35 trails in the past 2 days. I want to thank our patrollers for all their hard work to open all those trails! Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating, including Madonna I and Morse Highlands. We now have 68 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 35 trails will be groomed for tomorrow for a grand total of 138 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are powder and packed powder with average base depths of 16 to 54 inches. Currently, it is partly sunny and 11 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 15 to 20 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for cloudy skies with a chance of a snow shower early and a high of 42 degrees at the base and 29 degrees at higher elevations. I’m looking forward to playing in all this wonderful snow again tomorrow!

Drift at the top of Doc Dempsey’s Glades
0

Sun dog

Posted at 5:09 pm

Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating, including Madonna I and Morse Highlands. We have 35 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 33 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Smugglers’ Alley, Upper FIS, and Snow Snake for a grand total of 131 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are machine groomed and loose granular with average base depths of 12 to 48 inches. Birch Run Terrain Park is open and will be groomed for tomorrow. Currently, it is sunny and 29 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for cloudy skies with a chance of snow late in the day with a high of 38 degrees at the base and 32 degrees at the summit. There is snow in the forecast for Friday night and Saturday with over a foot of new snow expected!

Madonna I Lift
0

Good morning

Posted at 9:18 am

Today we have skiing and riding on all 3 mountains. The Madonna II Lift will have a delayed opening until 10 am due to grooming. The Madonna I Lift will be closed today due to surface conditions and we plan to reopen it tomorrow. We have 24 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. All 24 trails have been groomed for today. Surface conditions are machine groomed and loose granular with average base depths of 12 to 48 inches. Currently, it is cloudy and 28 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 5 to 10 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for snow, freezing rain, and rain with a high of 36 degrees.

Garden Path
0

Making memories

Posted at 9:03 am

Yesterday was the last day of school break and it also happened to be my day off. My daughter Hannah and I came up to do some runs in the afternoon. On the lift ride up Madonna, we talked about where we were going to ski. I suggested that we ski something that Hannah has not skied yet. Hannah is 13 years old and has been on the slopes of Smuggs her whole life. Finding somewhere she has not been may be a challenge. I love to explore and with 3 mountains Smuggs has so much to discover. We skied back-to-back runs that Hannah has not skied on both Madonna and Sterling. We had a wonderful afternoon filled with fresh turns and big smiles. Hannah told me “The next time that I’m not sure if I want to go skiing or not I’m going to remember today!”

Today we have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating, including Morse Highlands and Madonna I. We have 68 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Freefall is open from the traverse on Upper FIS. Upper Madonna Liftline is open from Catwalk down to the work road. Robin’s Run is open for now and may not last all day. 31 trails have been groomed for today, including Upper FIS, Black Snake, and Hibernator for a grand total of 128 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are packed powder and machine groomed with average base depths of 16 to 50 inches. Currently, it is 8 degrees at the summit of Sterling with flurries and winds of 5 to10 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for mostly cloudy skies with a high of 23 degrees at the base and 17 degrees at higher elevations.

Snow is pretty deep in some places!
Somewhere Hannah has never been
0

Skibras and snow squalls

Posted at 4:44 pm

It was snowing most of the day and we received a couple of inches. A snow squall warning was issued for the area late this afternoon and they were not wrong. I think we got more snow in a half-hour than we did all day long! We received 4 to 5 inches of new snow today! Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating, including Madonna I and Morse Highlands. We have 67 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Black Bear is open from Jolly Rodger. Freefall and Black Hole are open from the Upper FIS traverse. 30 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Ruthie’s, McPherson’s, Black Snake, Treasure Run, Curley’s Cutback, and Hibernator for a grand total of 126 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Birch Run Terrain Park is open. Currently, it is snowing and 13 degrees at the summit of Sterling. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies, breezy with a high of 11 degrees at the base and 5 degrees at higher elevations. Bundle up and enjoy the wonderful conditions!

Credit goes to Rockin’ Ron for the name “skibra”
The wall of snow approaches
Ski Patroller Ron Packard going warp speed down Waterfall
Patroller Pete Downing doing a sweep on Upper Chilcoot in the snow squall
0

Here it comes

Posted at 7:47 am

There is a winter storm warning until 10 pm tonight. Today’s forecast is calling for periods of snow with 7 to 11 inches of accumulation possible, a high of 20 degrees at the base, and 13 degrees at higher elevations. The Village Lift will open at 8:30 am this morning due to snowmaking and grooming operations. Mogul Mouse’s Magic Lift and Morse Highlands Lift will open at 9 am. 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 35 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are machine groomed and loose granular with average base depths of 12 to 46 inches. Surface conditions will be changing throughout the day with all the new snow. Last night we made snow on Midway, Meadowlark, Magic Learning Trail, and Sir Henry’s Learning Hill.

Uphill Travel

Sterling Mountain is open from 5:30 am till 7:30 am

Morse Mountain open 5 pm till 10 pm

1

Great day on the slopes

Posted at 3:35 pm

Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with all 8 lifts operating. The Madonna I Lift will be open from 10 am till 2 pm due to limited terrain. The Madonna II Lift will open at 8:30 am tomorrow. We have 41 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 31 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Upper FIS, Smugglers’ Alley, Snow Snake, Practice Slope, Goat Path, and Dixie’s Knoll for a grand total of 126 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are machine groomed and loose granular with average base depths of 16 to 48 inches. Currently, it is partly sunny and 10 degrees at the summit of Sterling. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for cloudy skies with a slight chance of some freezing drizzle a high of 34 degrees at the base and 26 degrees at higher elevations.

Uphill Travel

Morse Mountain is open from 5 pm till 10 pm

Sterling Mountain is open from 5:30 am till 7:30 am

View from the Madonna I Lift
Upper FIS
I took this photo looking into the sun and it made for some cool colors.
Now that’s a welcome sign
Trees covered in rime ice. Rime ice forms when water droplets in fog freeze to the outer surface of objects. The fog freezes to the windward side of the branches.
Upper FIS
Do you see the skier on Upper FIS?