Smugglers' Notch Family Activities

Skiing & Snowboarding
There's so much going on at this resort that it's not so easy to pin down, but let's start with winter recreation. From the age of 2 1/2 years-old, Smuggs will teach the kids the art of skiing and starting at age 3, how to snowboard. Children must be out of diapers to tackle the slopes with an instructor. The full day camp includes on-mountain instruction by some of the best teachers in the business, lunch, down time, even other fun games for kids to play. It's not meant to be a drill session, where kids ski and only ski. They want children to relax and have fun. "Mom & Me" or "Dad & Me" are semi-private lessons for families with children between ages 3 and 5. This experience is for first-time children skiers and adults of an intermediate level.

Adults can also get ski or snowboard lessons every morning for 2 1/2 hours and I can't emphasize enough the quality time you'll share together going up the lifts and skiing together as a couple. This is especially true if the kids are young like ours were when we first came to Smuggs. Leave a 2 and 4 year-old at the Ski School and it could be the first time you've had more than a dinner together in years!

Childcare
Children from 6 weeks to 3 years old can be dropped off at the large child-care center called Treasures. With almost 10,000 square feet of space, indoors and out, they have more than enough room to keep the youngins entertained while you and your loved one are on the slopes carving those perfect turns. They'll spend time crawling, climbing, singing, doing arts and crafts, playing in a ball pit, and resting during story time.

Kids' and Teen's Clubs
Kids 2 1/2 years or older can opt for the Little Rascals on Snow program which can get the tykes out on the Magic Carpet -- an closely supervised skiing class -- at an early age. More ski and snowboard programs keep kids busy in two age-appropriate children's groups of 3 to 5 years and 6 to 10 years. More kids' groups allow kids to feel less crowded and develop more camaraderie with new friends. Additionally, two teen's clubs group kids into 11 to 15 year olds and 16 to 17 year olds. Located in the Village, the two teen centers for 13 to 18 year olds are off-limits to parents. The Teen Alley Club features Nintendo Wii, Xbox, cards, Ping Pong, pool table, and a healthy supply of popcorn. Also check out their nightly events like dodgeball, airboard slaloms, and dance parties.

The wealth of activities continues in the summer, when children ages 3 to 17 can participate in summer camps from mid-June to early September. Every day from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., kids take advantage of the surroundings to hike, bike, paddle, get involved in theater, arts & crafts, and music, and learn to swim in Red Cross-accredited lessons. Teenagers will have fun with the high ropes climbing course and climbing walls.

Pools
Now let's head indoors. After skiing, kids love a good dip in the heated pool while mom and dad soak their weary muscles in the hot tub. On property, there are eight heated pools and four waterslides including the aptly named Twister.

FunZone & Arcade
The FunZone is a place where kids can go down an indoor slide, climb the Kids Wall, try their luck at an obstacle course, jump in the bouncy house, play a couple holes of miniature golf, shoot hoops, and play ping pong. More games await in the arcade located in the Village Lodge. After playing pinball, you can grab an ice cream cone at the Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop, just down the hall.

Classes
Parents will want to know about the Artists in the Mountains course, where local artists teach digital photography, painting, beading, sculpture and other art courses on the mountain; the yoga classes at the Mountain Massage Center, where you can also get those muscles worked on; and nightly entertainment shows for everyone over 21 at the Bootlegger Lounge featuring karaoke, magic shows, and an 80's Dance Party.

On the Grounds
There are fitness walks in the morning, guided hikes to Sterling Pond, to the top of Mt. Mansfield, Jay Peak and many more. Tennis players will want to know about the eight outdoor clay courts and two outdoor and two indoor hard courts. There's also a tennis camp for kids ages 10 to 17 in summer and two-hour tennis clinics for their parents as well.

For golfers, there's a driving range on site and instruction for kids ages 8 and older at a nearby country club, like the one in Stowe, twenty minutes away. A miniature golf course is located behind the tennis center. There's also an 18-hole Frisbee golf game in the woods.

Other outdoor possibilities include canoeing on the Lamoille River past the cows and silos, skateboarding at the new skateboard park (there's even a skateboard camp for kids ages 10 to 17), rock climbing on the Raven's Roost wall, geocaching at the bottom of Morse Mountain, fly-fishing clinics, biking up and down the surrounding hills on paved or unpaved roads, exploring Smugglers' Notch Village on a motorized Segway, taking a three-hour lunch and llama trek, dogsledding on wheels tours, and, of course, mountain boarding, digglering, and bike boarding, a trio of new wheel-based activities on the mountain that combine the skills of skateboarding, snowboarding, and biking.