There’s always something new and wonderful happening in snow country.  This is our every-once-in-a-while roundup of timely news tidbits from here and there to tickle your fancy, wherever that is.

Smugglers Notch

The popular family-oriented resort in Northern Vermont has been sold to a local investment group which also purchased nearby Burke Mountain earlier this season.

Smuggs, as it is known to many fans, has been owned and operated for the past 29 years by William Stritzler, whose family will continue to have an ownership stake. Bill’s daughter Lisa will serve as an advisor on the future of the mountain.  Bear Den Partners intends to keep Smuggler’s Notch low-key and independent.

Over the past year, Smugglers’ Notch was named #2 Ski Resort by USA Today readers, earned a Tripadvisor Best of the Best Award, and was recognized as Ski Magazine’s Best Family Resort.

Big Sky –

The Montana resort has three newsworthy in-bounds openings this season, all of which I just experienced on the 70+ Ski Club trip to Big Sky earlier in February –

• Madison 8 – The longest eight-passenger chairlift in North America opens up the glorious long cruisers and some gnarly tree skiing on the Moonlight Basin side of the mountain. It replaces the cranky old Sharpshooter lift.
• The Igloo – An ice house hang-out close to the base of the Powder Seeker lift and the Tram, has lots of cool spots inside (literally – keep your jacket and gloves on), at carved alcoves with your choice of faux-fur covered ice benches or regular chairs. There’s also plenty of seating and standing room outside in the afternoon sun, for pre-apres conversations and beverages.

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  Photo by Evelyn Kanter

• Kircliff – The new glass-enclosed observation deck at the top of the Tram, is included in the price of the tram, whether you ski down or just sightsee. Put on protective no-scratch booties over your ski/snowboard or walking boots to step onto the see-through glass floor for a vertiginous look down a zillion feet.  Or not.

Idaho Sled Dog Race –

It’s been cancelled for this season, perhaps permanently, for lack of snow and the bail-out of supporting sponsors.

Organizers held the original race, dubbed the McCall Ultra Sled Dog Challenge, in 2018 and ultimately staged 300-mile and 100-mile races five times. However, in addition to canceling races in 2021 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, organizers had to cancel or suspend the lengthier races due to low snow or avalanches the last three consecutive years.

As an Iditarod Qualifier and part of the Rocky Mountain Triple Crown, the Idaho Sled Dog Challenge has drawn mushers from as far away as New Hampshire, Canada and even Alaska for a chance to compete on steep trails through Idaho’s West Central Mountains. The Rocky Mountain Triple Crown also included the Eagle Cap Extreme near Joseph, Ore., and the Race to the Sky near Helena, Mont., both of which have faced similar challenges in recent years.

“The Idaho Sled Dog Challenge is reputed to be one of the toughest anywhere with over 36,000 feet of climb,” race founder Jerry Wortley told SeniorsSkiing.

“It’s gratifying to know that multiple ISDC mushers have progressed to the Iditarod by way of our race, including an Iditarod Rookie of the Year and a Most Improved Iditarod Musher. Also of special note, female mushers have consistently dominated the Idaho Sled Dog Challenge, having won every 100-mile race and all but one 300-mile race since our event’s inception.”

It’s a sad end to an event popular with both locals and visitors – and also for the competitors, both the two-legged ones and the four-legged ones.

Loon Mountain Resort

The New Hampshire resort has opened Little Sass, a new 120-foot conveyor lift designed to make the first-time ski and snowboard experience easier for newcomers.  Located at the base of the green-circle-rated Sarsaparilla trail, Little Sass adds an important first step to Loon’s learning progression..

Beginners can advance from Little Sass to the enhanced Sarsaparilla Carpet conveyor lift, which has been upgraded with new high-speed terminals at both the top and bottom and provide a quicker ride up a longer slope, helping beginners continue to build skills.

Loon also has an 18-foot superpipe, one of the largest in the East, for skiers and riders who aren’t beginners.

That’s it. See you on the slopes.

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Evelyn Kanter

Evelyn Kanter is a NYC-based travel and environmental writer and a senior skier who would rather ride a chairlift, river raft or zipline than the subway, and has done so in the more than 100 countries she’s visited, skiing in many of them. In what she calls a “previous life”, she was a TV and radio news reporter for ABC News and CBS News, now a regular contributor to major publications, including airline inflights and AAA magazines, and has written or contributed to more than a dozen travel guidebooks.Her latest are “100 Things to Do in NYC Before You Die”, Fodor’s Essential Germany and Fodor’s New York City. Evelyn's website is www.ecoxplorer.com

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