First time out this year at Smuggs!

We finally got off our candies today and went to Smugglers Notch. Our season passes have been pinned to the cork board since they came in the mail. Not that we didn't have other things to do, but it still feels like we have missed half the season. So we got everything together and headed out to the mountain. It only takes about 40 minutes to get there and doesn't even seem that long. First stop was to get our passes printed out and also to get one for Ally. Second stop was at the ski shop to get her a helmet, mittens, goggles, a face mask and some ski wax. That done we needed to get her some rentals. That was easy and cheap at about $12.50. I think that's what we are going to do for the rest of the year too. Finally though we were ready for the slopes. We headed for the learning center which is essentially what we all knew as the 'Bunny Hill' Of course technology has caught up to us a this location as there is no tow rope but rather a conveyor belt built into the hill. It's called a magic carpet and it is sooooo easy. We got Ally all set up in her gear and the boys did a great job also in getting ready. We got her up the hill and I ran her down the hill between my skis. She loved it! Laughed when we got to the bottom. Another run and it was time to hit some lunch. At that point I also knew she was ready for the harness system we have. It's really nice as it attaches around her waist and you just tug on one side or the other. It allows the child to get used to balancing over skis and also how it feels to balance thru a turn. Once we got her hooked up I took her down the learning hill twice. Meanwhile Jo and the boys were running halfway up the magic mouse lift and getting some runs in. I felt it was time to take the next step because you can only do so much on the learning hill. We took Ally up the chairlift and to the halfway point. She was super excited to ride the lift and never once showed fear. I took her down a little bit but she started to get clingy and needed to hold my hand, so I gave the reins to Jo and tried to lead Ally down by skiing ahead of her. That worked pretty well and allowed me to get a picture too. Well, that was our her last run for the day, but I figure 4 small runs and 1 bigger one is a great start. So after that Jo and Ally went into the warming hut and the other boys and I decided to get one last run in to the top of Morse. Zack and i had already hit it twice and now Seany and BJ came with us. It's our favorite path on Morse which is Midway to Curlys Cutback and then to Meadowlark. It was a beautiful day to ski and we were thankful to get out and also that Ally liked it. I only got a few pics today but hope you will enjoy them.