Hugh's Views - Smugglers' Notch Vermont

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Extreme Challenge

Posted February 25, 2024 at 4:39 pm

It was amazing to watch skiers and riders taking on the Madonna Liftline today. One of the best parts of today was the support that the competitors gave each other. It was wonderful to hear them cheer for all the athletes. I believe the photo below sums up that feeling! I want to thank everyone who helped make this great event possible. It’s appreciated by many!

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 41 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 31 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Upper FIS, Snow Snake, and Smugglers’ Alley, for a total of 130 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are machine groomed and loose granular with average base depths of 12 to 40 inches. We plan to have Birch Run Terrain Park open tomorrow. Currently, it is sunny and 20 degrees at the summit of Sterling. Tonight’s forecast is snow showers, with an inch of accumulation possible. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for cloudy skies with a chance of flurries, a high of 36 degrees at the base, and 29 degrees at higher elevations.

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Boom Boom GROOM!

Posted February 20, 2024 at 7:09 am

Rockin’ Ron for Hugh. Let’s do the numbers: ALL 8 Lifts, 71 of 78 trails, 34 groomed trails – totaling 135 acres, and 21 inches of SNOW in the past 5 days… it all adds up to FUN! Today’s forecast is partly sunny skies with highs of 23 degrees at the base and 19 at the summit. So grab your coat, grab your hat, and hit the slopes in seconds flat. Ski U soon!

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Calm before the storm

Posted February 15, 2024 at 4:47 pm

We could see 5 to 9 inches of new snow tonight! Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for periods of snow mostly before noon, with another 2 to 4 inches of accumulation possible, a high of 22 degrees at the base and 16 degrees at higher elevations. The 5 inches of new snow that we received yesterday made a big difference, so I’m expecting another foot of new snow to be quite amazing! 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 45 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Last night and early this morning, we made snow on Lower Madonna Liftline and Playground. We plan to have both of these trails open tomorrow. 32 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Upper FIS, Snake Bite, and Hibernator, for a total of 128 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are packed powder and machine groomed with average base depths of 12 to 36 inches. The new snow should provide some nice powder conditions tomorrow. Birch Run Terrain Park is open with 4 jumps and 4 rails. Currently, it is cloudy and 15 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 5 to 15 mph.

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Snow in the forecast

Posted February 14, 2024 at 4:51 pm

44.57°N 72.78°W (Elev. 1719 ft)

Thursday Night: Snow, mainly after 8 pm. Low around 17 degrees. The chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches is possible.

Friday: Snow showers likely, mainly before 10 am. Cloudy, with a high near 23 degrees. The chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches is possible.

Friday Night: Scattered snow showers. Cloudy, with a low of around 16 degrees. The chance of precipitation is 40%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches is possible.

We received 5 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours. 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 42 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 31 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Smugglers’ Alley, Upper FIS, and Dixie’s Knoll, for a total of 122 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are packed powder and machine groomed with average base depths of 12 to 36 inches. Today, we made snow on Upper Chilcoot and Playground. Birch Run Terrain Park is open with 4 jumps and 4 rails. Currently, it is partly cloudy and 6 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 15 to 25 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for sunny skies early with increasing clouds throughout the day, a high of 24 degrees at the base, and 19 degrees at higher elevations. The skiing and riding were amazing today!

Snow Reporter getting into his work. Photo credit Caleb Kessler

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Feeling the #smuggslove on Valentine’s Day!

Posted February 14, 2024 at 11:05 am

5 inches of beautiful fluffy light snow overnight has made for some amazing turns today. We have skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating. The Madonna I Lift is closed today due to snowmaking operations on Upper Chilcoot. We have 30 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 29 trails have been groomed for today, including Smugglers’ Alley, Snow Snake, and McPherson’s, for a total of 120 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are packed powder and machine groomed with average base depths of 12 to 36 inches. Currently, it is snowing and 2 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 15 to 20 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for cloudy skies with a chance of snow showers early, breezy, a high of 18 degrees at the base and 9 degrees at higher elevations. Dress warm and enjoy all the new snow!

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Birch Run Fun

Posted February 11, 2024 at 4:00 pm

The Birch Run Terrain Park is open with 4 jumps and 4 rails. 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 35 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 33 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Snow Snake, Dixie’s Knoll, Curley’s Cutback, Smugglers’ Alley, Thomke’s, Upper FIS, McPherson’s, and Chilcoot for a total of 130 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are machine groomed and loose granular with average base depths of 10 to 34 inches. Currently, it is cloudy and 26 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for cloudy skies with a high of 30 degrees at the base and 23 degrees at higher elevations.

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Clear, calm, and corduroy

Posted February 7, 2024 at 7:55 am

Currently, it is sunny and 20 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 0 to 5 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for sunny skies early with increasing clouds, a high of 33 degrees at the base, and 27 degrees at higher elevations. Today, we have top-to-bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating, including the Madonna I Lift. We have 58 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 28 trails have been groomed for a total of 119 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are machine groomed and variable, with average base depths of 12 to 36 inches.

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Top to bottom on all 3 mountains

Posted February 1, 2024 at 4:36 pm

Tomorrow, we plan to have 6 lifts operating, including the Madonna I Lift. We now have 48 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 28 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Upper FIS, Smugglers’ Alley, Waterfall, Curley’s Cutback, Thomke’s, and Dixie’s Knoll, for a total of 114 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are machine groomed and variable, with average base depths of 12 to 36 inches. Tonight’s forecast is snow showers with 1 to 2 inches of accumulation possible. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for a chance of flurries early, mixed later in the day, with a high of 30 degrees at the base and 26 degrees at higher elevations. I can’t wait to head up Madonna Mountain and check out Upper FIS tomorrow.

Can you name this trail? I will post the answer tomorrow.

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Good morning

Posted January 29, 2024 at 7:58 am

Today we plan to have skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating. The Madonna I Lift will be closed today, tomorrow, and maybe Wednesday for snowmaking operations. We have 38 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 27 trails have been groomed for today, including Smugglers’ Alley, Black Snake, Dixie’s Knoll, Howie’s Wanderer, McPherson’s, and Lower FIS for a total of 113 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are machine groomed and variable, with average base depths of 12 to 36 inches. Currently, it is cloudy and 20 degrees at the summit of Sterling. Today’s forecast calls for cloudy skies with a chance of a snow shower early in the day, a high of 28 degrees at the base and 22 degrees at higher elevations. Today, we plan to make snow on Upper FIS.

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Fantastic day on the slopes

Posted January 24, 2024 at 5:12 pm

I skied on all 3 mountains today. I was lucky enough to be on Madonna Mountain when patrol started dropping the ropes. I was riding the Madonna I Lift, and just as I passed mid-station, I could see someone on the Headwall. Once I got closer, I realized that it was patroller Jason Nemo, and he was ripping up the skier’s left side. It looked really good, and I was hoping that patrol would open it up. Just then, I got a text from Patrol telling me that Madonna Liftline, Black Hole, and Freefall from the Traverse were all opening. I got to the top, took an immediate right turn around the top shack, and headed down Liftline. Ski Patroller Alissa was dropping the rope at Catwalk just as I got there. I got a few fresh turns in, and then I took some photos of the skiers and riders in the fresh snow as they passed me. It was only a few people, and I still found some fresh turns as I skied down to the Robin’s Run work road. The skiers and riders in front of me did not go down the Headwall, so I did. I got the skier’s right side of the Headwall fresh! I then continued down Liftline for a true “shack-to-shack” run. I got to the bottom and jumped right back on the Madonna I Lift. I ran into Ski Patroller Ethan at the summit of Madonna; he was headed to drop the rope on Sally’s Alley and invited me to join him. We then took the traverse over to Freefall from Upper FIS. Ethan took the left side, and I took the right. The new snow was skiing fantastic! Tomorrow, we plan to have top-to-bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 5 lifts operating, including the Madonna I Lift. We have 73 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 27 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including McPherson’s, Midway, and Snake Bite, for a total of 112 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are packed powder and machine groomed with average base depths of 16 to 40 inches. Currently, it is cloudy and 23 degrees at the summit of Sterling. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for a chance of freezing drizzle becoming drizzle with a high of 35 degrees at the base and 33 degrees at higher elevations.