Hugh's Views - Smugglers' Notch Vermont

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Spring conditions

Posted March 28, 2019 at 3:55 pm

Snow Sport University Ski Instructor Justin Falkenburg at the summit of Madonna with his class

Today the temperature got up to 41 degrees at the summit of Sterling. Everything was softening up and was skiing well. The Headwall was open, Freefall was open from the top, and Madonna Liftline was open from Catwalk. I ran into my good friends Lenny and Nikki this afternoon. We took a few runs on Madonna together. We started off with a cruiser run on Upper Chilcoot. Nikki skied Waterfall for the first time and did great!

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 1 Lift. We have all 78 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are spring conditions and machine-groomed with average base depths of 24 to 54 inches. We plan to groom 28 trails tonight, including Chilcoot, Dixie’s Knoll, and Black Snake for a grand total of 125 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Nikki skiing Upper Chilcoot

Weather

Currently it is cloudy and 38 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 5 to 15 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for cloudy skies with a chance of mix with temperatures between 34 and 49 degrees.

Snow Sport University Ski Instructor Matt McCawley gap jumping from drift to drift on Upper Chilcoot

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Snow Sport University Fun

Posted March 28, 2019 at 9:07 am

The “Purple Painters” group at mid station on Mogul Mouse’s Magic Lift

Lifts and Trails

We are 100 percent open. We have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating. We have all 78 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Black Hole, Freefall, and Madonna Liftline are open from the traverse on Upper FIS. Surface conditions are packed powder and machine groomed with average base depths of 24 to 54 inches. We should see some spring conditions this afternoon. 38 trails have been groomed for today, that’s 138 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Weather

Currently it is sunny and 33 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 5 to 15 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for sunny skies early with increasing clouds and temperatures between 27 and 43 degrees.

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Another gorgeous day

Posted March 27, 2019 at 10:42 am

Snow Sport University Ski Lesson on Garden Path with Sterling and Mount Mansfield in the background.

We are 100 percent open! We 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. Beautiful sunny skies with a high of 43 degrees. Currently it is sunny and 33 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 0 to 5 mph. Fantastic conditions!

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143 acres of freshly groomed terrain

Posted March 27, 2019 at 8:58 am

Snowboard carve on Lower Morse Liftline

Lifts and Trails

We are 100 percent open! We have top t0 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. Surface conditions are packed powder and powder with average base depths of 24 to 54 inches. 38 trails have been groomed for today, that’s 143 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Weather

Currently it is sunny and 29 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 0 to 5 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies with temperatures between 20 and 43 degrees.

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Bluebirds and Robin’s

Posted March 26, 2019 at 11:47 am

Double-back to the Double Black!!

Rockin’ Ron for Hugh. A sunny, late March day with tons of snow on the slopes and Patrol dropped the rope on Robin’s Run! We are 100% open!! On Madonna Mountain, Freefall is accessible from the Upper FIS traverse, and Upper Liftline can be reached by the Freefall traverse.

Upper FIS with Lake Champlain in the distance (at the top of the picture), and the author’s shadow in the foreground.

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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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Amazing conditions and sunshine

Posted March 24, 2019 at 12:09 pm

Powder explosion

We are 100 percent open with top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with all 8 lifts operating. We 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.

Steep and deep Photo credit Ken Rule

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100 percent open

Posted March 24, 2019 at 8:41 am

Mount Mansfield seen from the summit of Madonna Mountain

Lifts and Trails

We have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with all 8 lifts operating. We have all 78 trail open with terrain for all ability levels. Freefall is open from the traverse on Upper FIS. Surface conditions are packed powder and powder with average base depths of 24 to 54 inches. 145 acres of freshly groomed terrain!

Weather

Currently it is sunny and 20 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 15 to 25 mph. Today ‘s forecast is sunny skies with temperatures between 20 and 35 degrees.

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100 percent open

Posted March 8, 2019 at 4:30 pm

Tony enjoying some nice snow in the woods

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 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 35 trails tonight, including Ruthie’s, Bootlegger, and Snow Snake for a grand total of 139 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Jay Tisbert and Jeff Spring just after loading the Sterling Lift. Off to make some turns on this beautiful day!

Weather

Currently it is sunny and 22 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 0 to 5 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for partly sunny skies with temperatures between 15 and 28 degrees.

Events

This weekend we have our Free Family Fun Race on Lower Madonna Liftline from 11 am till 2 pm.

Saturday we have Grass Sticks bamboo pole demo in front of the Base Lodge

This is Don who has been skiing for 63 years! He bought his ski boots back in 1966, they were new and still wears them today.

Sunday Molly Fund Rail Jam at the Zone Terrain Park