Hugh's Views - Smugglers' Notch Vermont

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New Smuggs family members

Posted March 9, 2023 at 4:10 pm

I was skiing down Upper Chilcoot and was about to turn onto Catwalk when I saw a couple taking photos. I stopped and asked if they wanted me to take their picture. They said, “Yes please.” After I took their picture we had a wonderful conversation. The first time Mae and Rob had ever been to Smuggs was yesterday. Mae asked Rob ” Why did you wait so long to bring me here?!” They told me that they love it here! The people, the terrain, the uncrowded trails, and the vibe is just great. I told Mae and Rob that I’m the Snow Reporter here at Smuggs. This led to a conversation about snow. I was telling them that the white stuff in the trees is not all snow. Sometimes the trees have rime ice on them also. I asked Mae and Rob if they would like to see an example of rime ice-covered trees and they said “Sure.” We took a short hike to some exposed trees with a good bit of rime ice on them. They told me “That they had never seen rime ice-covered trees like that before.” We had a wonderful time checking out the rime ice. It was fantastic meeting the two of you and I look forward to seeing you on the slopes of Smuggs again!

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More Families… more FUN!

Posted February 7, 2023 at 3:53 pm

Rockin’ Ron for Hugh. The Coadys, Hogans, Kuehls, Smarts, and Forrsets live in the same neighborhood in Toronto, Canada. For 16 years, they’ve been coming to Smuggs together – 2, 3, 4, and sometimes 5 families at a time! Can you say “It takes a Village?” Today I took some runs with representatives of 4 of the families. First, it was warm-up runs on Morse. Then we headed to the upper mountains to make turns on Upper FIS and Smugglers’ Alley, both of which were groomed. We had fun, eh.

Kevin Coady, Skyler Hogan, Sean Forrest, and Brad Smart from Toronto, Canada. From the top of the Village Lift with Madonna Mountain in the background.

Meet the new T-Bar shack. The original was damaged in a recent weather event.

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Opening Presents & Family Presence

Posted December 20, 2022 at 4:27 pm

Rockin’ Ron for Hugh. There will be snowmaking on Garden Path, Midway, and Meadowlark through Thursday night and we hope to open them like presents on Christmas Day! For tomorrow we plan to have 4 lifts operating, and 23 trails open with 11 of those trails being groomed.

Hugh and I talked about how we are featuring Smuggs Families on the blog this winter. Well, as if by magic, I ran into the Jurnak Family in the Black Bear. Mom Colette, in addition to working here, has been skiing at Smuggs for 33 years. Daughter Megan Jurnak was in Mitey Mites 22 years ago and has been skiing here ever since. Megan worked with our mascots so much, she was known as Megan Mouse! Megan’s fiance, Grant Smith was initiated into the Jurnak Family, and then Smuggs Family, 4 years ago. Dad Mike skis here too but wasn’t here today. It was wonderful to be in this Smuggs family’s presence!

Grant, Megan, and Colette in the Black Bear.

Learn to turn from our award-winning *Snow Sport Univerity* Instructors

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New Smuggs Family Member

Posted February 16, 2020 at 10:24 am

I would like you to meet Brian, who is from Pennsylvania just outside of Philadelphia. Brian has been skiing for 25 years in Pennsylvania and New York. This is Brian’s first time here at Smuggs. He is here as a chaperone for a high school group that has been here since Thursday night. Brian was telling me how much fun they have been having at Smuggs. Brian said that his favorite part about skiing at Smuggs is the nice long intermediate runs. He told me, for his last run of the day he skied from the top of Madonna back to the Village yesterday. He skied Upper Chilcoot, Ruthie’s, Curley’s Cutback, and Meadowlark. He told me that “It was the perfect way to end the day!” Brian and his group are leaving to head back to Pennsylvania today, but not before Brian gets a few more runs in this morning! It was great to meet you Brian and I hope you enjoy the last couple of runs before the bus ride home.

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Longtime Smuggs Family Member

Posted February 12, 2020 at 4:17 pm

I was getting ready to load the Madonna I Lift today when Snow Sport University Ski Instructor Matt McCawley stopped me. He had an odd number of people in his group and noticed that I was single, so I rode the lift with Sage. We started talking about the snow report, Smuggs, and how long we each have been here at Smuggs. I told Sage that “I started skiing here when I was eleven years old and our first year living in Vermont was right here in the village of Smuggs.” I thought I had been here a while until Sage told me, “My father is Jim Snider and my grandfather is Stanley Snider.” Stanley Snider was hired by then Smuggs owner Tom Watson Jr. in 1967 to build his dream of a village resort at the base of three interconnected mountains. Stanley Snider a successful developer of resort properties was to plan and build the village complex. Stanley Snider bought the resort from Tom Watson Jr. in 1973. Stanley Snider brought William P. Stritzler on board in 1987 as Managing Director. Mr. Stritzler was a Vice President with AT&T at the time and had been a vacation homeowner at Smugglers’ since 1977. Mr. Stritzler fell in love with Smuggs and bought the resort from Stanley Snider in 1996. Sage told me “I love skiing in the glades and Smuggs is my home!” It was great to meet you Sage and thanks for the walk down memory lane!

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Family Fun

Posted February 10, 2020 at 10:27 am

I would like you to meet siblings Henry and Autumn from Morrisville, Vermont. Henry is 3 years old and Autumn is 6 years old. I met them on their way to Sir Henry’ s Wonder Carpet and Mogul Mouse’s Magic Lift. I was impressed that they were carrying their own skis. They were both very happy that they were going skiing! Autumn is super excited, because today she is going to ride the chair lift for the first time! It was wonderful to meet the two of you and I hope you have a fantastic time tearing up the slopes today!

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Smuggs Family Members

Posted January 26, 2020 at 9:56 am

I met the Triuzio family last night on the Cat Trax Tour to the summit of Madonna. The father Frank told me “we found Smuggs 10 years ago and we have been coming here ever since. We also want to come to Smuggs in the summertime to check out all the activities and the notch.” It was wonderful to meet you and I hope you enjoy the rest of your vacation! We look forward to seeing you this summer!

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Another member of the Smuggs Family

Posted January 18, 2020 at 3:14 pm

I would like you to meet Joe. Joe is from New Jersey and is here with a group. I was skiing Upper Drifter when I saw someone walking down the trail. I stopped to ask “what is going on”? Joe told me that “he rode his snowboard through a little water and now he has ice on the bottom of his board.” The ice on the bottom of his board would not allow him to slide. Joe did not have anything to scrap the ice off his board. I told Joe that “this has happened to me many times and it is easy to fix.” I took my skis off and used them to scrape the ice off his board. Joe said that “he was not able to keep up with his group because of ice on his board and he was not sure where to go.” I told Joe “No problem, let’s ski and ride down together. We will go to the Base Lodge and see if we can find anyone in your group.” When we got to the Base Lodge one of Joe’s friends was out in front of the ski racks looking for him. Joe was now back with his group and everybody was happy to see each other again. One thing I want to say about these young men I met today is that they are very nice and polite. Joe and his friends all shook my hand and gave me a sincere “Thank You.” It was wonderful to meet Joe and his friends. I hope you have a fantastic trip here at Smuggs and I hope to see you again.

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Greetings from Smuggs

Posted January 14, 2020 at 4:31 pm

The National Weather Service says we could get up to 21 inches of SNOW by Friday!

P-A in the 8-0-2. Pennsylvania fans of Hugh’s Blog/Views. Photo by Hugh Johnson.

Wave to the Snow Reporter. Photo by Hugh Johnson.

Micro-climates 1: Sunny on Morse. Photo by Rockin’ Ron Carter.

Micro-climates 2: Cloudy on Sterling. Photo by Rockin’ Ron Carter.

On a chair with a bear. *Billy Bob Bear* and *Rockin’ Ron* Carter from last Friday. Photo by *Mogul Mouse*.

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Smuggs Family Members

Posted January 13, 2020 at 1:02 pm

This is the Belisle Family from New York state. They have been coming to Smuggs since 2011 and have come here each summer. They were telling me how much they enjoy Smuggs in the summer with all the activities. They also really enjoy the notch in the summer. They said they have now been to Smuggs a few times in the winter and love it also. They have had a great time skiing and tubing! They also told me that they might be back next week. It was great to meet you and we look forward to seeing you next week!