Hugh's Views - Smugglers' Notch Vermont

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Happy April No Fooling

Posted April 1, 2019 at 3:42 pm

Summit of Sterling

The month of April has started off very nicely with fresh snow and sunshine! The cooler temperatures last night made the new snow light and fluffy. The wind moved the snow around a little and I was able to find some sweet drifts to play in. The new snow moving around also filled in the low spots and in between the bumps. The new snow will also be really nice mixed in on the groomers for tomorrow!

The snowpack is so deep our snow gauge is buried

New Snow

We received 4 inches of new snow last night, 5 inches in the past 2 days, and 275 inches this season so far.

Lifts and Trails

Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 4 lifts operating, including the Madonna I lift. We plan to have 61 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are machine groomed and packed powder with average base depths of 18 to 48 inches. We plan to groom 36 trails tonight, including Drifter, Snow Snake, and Bootlegger for a grand total of 125 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Morse Mountain will close after April 7th.

Are you ready to do some skimming on April 6th? Construction of the pond started today.

Weather

Currently it is sunny and 16 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 15 to 25 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies with temperatures between 20 and 45 degrees.

Sterling Pond with Mount Mansfield in the background

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Snow in the forecast

Posted March 31, 2019 at 8:46 am

The forecast for 2,400 feet from the National Weather Service is

Today

Rain before 1 pm, then snow showers. Temperature falling to around 25 by 5 pm. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

Tonight

Snow showers, mainly before 5 am. Low around 12. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Lifts and Trails

Today we have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 7 lifts operating. The Village Lift is presently on wind hold. We have 62 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are spring conditions and machine-groomed with average base depths of 18 to 48 inches. 32 trails have been groomed for today, including Drifter, Ruthie’s, Snow Snake, Thomke’s, and the Practice Slope for a grand total of 134 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

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Spring Fever

Posted March 30, 2019 at 5:25 pm

Lifts and Trails

Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with all 8 lifts operating. We have 66 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are spring conditions and machine-groomed with average base depths of 20 to 50 inches. We plan to groom 30 trails tonight, including Drifter, Snow Snake, and Thomke’s Express for a grand total of 134 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Weather

Currently it is cloudy and 36 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 10 to 25 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for cloudy skies with a chance of rain/mix becoming snow with temperatures between 27 and 47 degrees. Temperatures will be falling throughout the day.

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370 inches of snow this season so far

Posted March 25, 2019 at 3:56 pm

Giant wave of snow crashes onto Smuggs

Today was gorgeous with the sunshine and fresh snow! The 1 to 2 inches of fluffy new snow that we received last night added nicely to the 23 inches of snow that we received in the past few days. There are some huge snow drifts. We are stock piling the snow so that we have a nice long season. The conditions are amazing with super deep base depths!

Lifts and Trails

We are 100 percent open! Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating, including the Madonna I lift. We have all 78 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Freefall is open from the traverse on Upper FIS. I would like to thank Ski Patroller Ethan Costello for the trail maintenance work he did on the traverse. The snow is so deep, that it was hard to get under the branches on the traverse. Surface conditions are packed powder and powder with average base depths of 24 to 60 inches. We plan to groom 40 trails tonight, including Drifter, Shuttle, Snow Snake, Curley’s Cutback, Hangman’s Drop, and Upper Pipeline for a grand total of 148 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Fresh tracks

Weather

Currently it is sunny and 15 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 10 to 20 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies with temperatures between 10 and 28 degrees.

Notice the pole that is buried?

#smuggslove

Nice view

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Just picture perfect

Posted March 24, 2019 at 4:03 pm

Powder Hound

Today was gorgeous with great conditions and beautiful sunshine. The winds decreased allowing the sun to work its magic. The 23 inches of new snow that we received in the past 3 days has been incredible. The storm started out with warmer temperatures and wet snow. The temperatures slowly dropped as it continued to snow. The wet snow bonded with the old snow and was topped off with lighter snow, making it the perfect storm. Especially when the sun comes out right after the storm!

View from Upper Drifter

Lifts and Trails

We are 100 percent open! Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating. We plan to have all 78 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are packed powder and powder with average base depths of 24 to 54 inches. We plan to groom 37 trails tonight, including Smugglers’ Alley, Snow Snake, and Drifter for a grand total of 145 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Taking flight

New Snow

We received 14 inches of new snow in the past 2 days, 23 inches in the past 3 days, and 368 inches this season so far!

Weather

Currently it is sunny and 27 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 10 to 20 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is partly cloudy skies with increasing sunshine and temperatures between 11 and 29 degrees.

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Just getting started

Posted March 22, 2019 at 7:24 am

New Snow

We received 1 to 2 inches of new snow this morning with much more to come!

Weather

Currently, it is snowing hard and 28 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 5 to 10 mph. Today ‘s forecast is snow with 3 to 5 inches of accumulation possible and temperatures between 27 and 35 degrees. Tonight’s forecast is snow with another 6 to 10 inches of accumulation possible. Tomorrow’s forecast is snow and another 3 to 5 inches of accumulation possible.

Mogul Mouse working the snow magic!

Lifts and Trails

Today we have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 7 lifts operating, including the Madonna I Lift. We have 65 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are powder and machine groomed with average base depths of 20 to 50 inches. 27 trails have been groomed for today, including Drifter, Sam’s Run, and Thomke’s for a grand total of 127 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

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Calm before the storm

Posted March 21, 2019 at 4:32 pm

Flying into Spring

Lifts and Trails

Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 7 lifts operating. We have 65 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are machine groomed and spring conditions with average base depths of 20 to 50 inches. We plan to groom 27 trails tonight, including Drifter, Thomke’s, and Hibernator for a grand total of 127 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Bird’s eye view of a nice carved turn

Weather

Currently it is cloudy and 35 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 5 to 15 mph. Tonight’s forecast is snow with 2 to 4 inches of accumulation possible. Tomorrow’s forecast is snow and another 4 to 8 inches of accumulation possible with temperatures between 27 and 35 degrees. We could see up to 28 inches of new snow by Saturday afternoon.

Time to reflect

Bootlegger was groomed last night

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Snowfall totals have increased for this weekend

Posted March 20, 2019 at 3:13 pm

Big John and Dr. John on Upper FIS

The calendar says that today is last day of winter, but we have a bunch of skiing and riding to go! We have deep base depths with more snow in the forecast! The forecast says that snow will start tomorrow night and continue into Saturday morning with up to 17 inches of accumulation possible!

Lifts and Trails

Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating. We have 65 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are machine groomed and spring conditions with average base depths of 20 to 50 inches. We plan to groom 37 trails tonight, including Drifter, Snow Snake, and Snake Bite for a grand total of 144 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Upper FIS seen from a different angle

Weather

Currently it is sunny and 36 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 0 to 5 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for cloudy skies with snow developing late in the day with temperatures between 29 and 43 degrees.

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Happy St. Powdery Day

Posted March 17, 2019 at 7:57 am

Ski Patroller Jordan Brown enjoying the new snow on Upper FIS

New Snow

We received 3 to 5 inches of new snow overnight, 20 inches in the past week, and 345 inches this season so far!

Lifts and Trails

We have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with all 8 lifts operating. We have 58 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are powder and packed powder with average base depths of 20 to 50 inches. 47 trails have been groomed for today, including Upper FIS, Drifter, Smugglers’ Alley, Jolly Rodger, Snow Snake, and Dixie’s Knoll for a grand total of 162 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Fresh snow!

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Posted March 16, 2019 at 4:15 pm

Lifts and Trails

Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with all 8 lifts operating. We plan to have 48 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. We plan to groom 47 trails tonight, including Upper FIS, Drifter, Shuttle, Snow Snake, Garden Path, Wanderer, Black Snake, and Smugglers’ Alley for a grand total of 162 acres of freshly groomed terrain. For all the details on trail grooming check the trail by trail report tomorrow morning. Surface conditions are machine groomed and variable with average base depths of 20 to 50 inches.

Wade having fun at the ski and ride desk

Weather

Currently it is partly cloudy and 20 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 15 to 25 mph. Tonight’s forecast is calling for snow showers 1 to 3 inches of accumulation possible. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for partly sunny skies with temperatures between 14 and 28 degrees.