Smugglers' Notch

Our take

Smugglers' Notch is what happens when a resort decides families are the customer, not a target demo. Morse Mountain, Treasures, FunZone, a village you don't have to drive — it is the most coherent family product in this guide. I would fly a family of little kids here from the Mid-Atlantic before I sent them to Vail. I would not pick it over the Wasatch for a Utah-based family who already has passes and a timeshare. Different jobs. For the job of 'first real family ski week with a toddler and a 5-year-old,' Smugglers' is the answer a lot of West Coast marketing pretends to be.

Best for: Families with kids under 10 — especially toddlers — who can commit to a village week in Vermont.

Ski school deep dive

Ski school is 25% of Family Score — the heaviest weight, on purpose. This mountain: 10/10.

The ski school is the resort. Morse for little kids, Treasures from 6 weeks, Snow Sport University all day. Independent, packaged, unapologetically family. Nothing in the West matches this structure at this price.

Researched from official pages and 2026 reporting. Fields marked unverified are unpublished by the resort — we will not invent an age, a class cap, or a price.

Group min age

3+

Private min age

2+

Max group size

5

Certification

PSIA, with a kids-first culture that is the brand.

Formats

Snow Sport University is the whole trip: all-day, multi-day, with lunch, with indoor time, with the village as campus.

Group pricing

Often bundled with lodging. À la carte full-day ~$150–$250.

Private pricing

Private $350–$700 — less gaudy than the West.

Location

Morse Mountain is essentially a kids' mountain. Madonna and Sterling wait until they're ready.

Progression

The three-mountain layout is the curriculum. You do not accidentally take a 5-year-old to the expert side.

Specialized

Treasures Child Care from 6 weeks. FunZone. Teen programs. Adaptive.

Booking

This is a package resort. Book the week, the school, and the lodging together.

Pickup / drop-off

Village-scale. You walk. The 3pm walk of shame is short.

Season programs

Winter-long for locals; most guests are week-package people.

Childcare

6 weeks through pre-ski (Treasures Child Care). Full day, included in many packages. Often bundled; ~$80–$150 à la carte. Licensed. This is the gold standard in our database for infant-to-ski pipeline. Other mountains rent you a crib. Smugglers' runs a program.

Beginner terrain

• Carpets: Morse Mountain carpets and tows.
• Learning area: An entire mountain, not a fenced postage stamp.
• Greens: Morse is the green-run kingdom.
• Progression: Sterling then Madonna. Expert terrain exists for parents who still remember.

Getting there

Burlington (BTV) ~45 minutes, or drive from Boston ~3.5 hours. Transfer: BTV is easy. The last miles are rural Vermont.. Route 108 over the Notch is closed in winter — you go the long way, which is fine if you expected it. Resort packages often include BTV transfers. Driving from the Northeast is the common pattern.

What a day costs

Typical 2025–26 / early 2026–27 ranges — not a quote.

Adult window

$90–$150

Child window

Often included in packages

Child rental

$30–$45

Adult rental

$45–$70

Family of 4 / day (2 adults, 2 kids: lifts + rentals + 1 group lesson)

$450–$750 (packages usually beat daily math)

Pass

Independent. Buy their package, not a mega-pass, unless you already own Ikon/Epic for other trips.