Hugh's Views - Smugglers' Notch Vermont

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Jr. Regional Freeski Competition

Posted February 12, 2024 at 9:57 am

Today on the Madonna Liftline from Catwalk down to the Robin’s Run work road. The competition starts at 11 am. The best place to watch the action is from the Madonna I Lift. Skiers and snowboarders ages 12 to 18 years old will be taking on the infamous Madonna Liftline.

Today, we 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 have been groomed for today, including Upper FIS, Smugglers’ Alley, and Howie’s Wanderer, 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. Birch Run Terrain Park is open with 4 jumps and 4 rails. Currently, it is cloudy and 22 degrees at the summit of Sterling, with winds of 1 to 5 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for cloudy skies with a high of 31 degrees at the base and 24 degrees at higher elevations.

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Sunny skies Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

Posted April 5, 2023 at 3:11 pm

Tomorrow we plan to have the Madonna I Lift and Sterling Lift operating. We plan to have 23 trails open with terrain for intermediates and experts only. We plan to groom 20 trails for tomorrow, including Upper FIS, Drifter, Smugglers’ Alley, and Thomke’s for a grand total of 77 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are machine groomed and spring conditions with average base depths of 12 to 50 inches. Currently, it is 30 degrees at the summit of Sterling with light rain and winds of 20 to 30 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for cloudy skies with a chance of showers, and wind, a high of 55 degrees at the base, and 51 degrees at higher elevations. The closing day of the 2022/2023 Season is Sunday, April 9th.

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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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Snow Cat is purring

Posted January 24, 2023 at 7:52 am

Rockin’ Ron for Hugh. Here be yer morning update. 15 inches of white gold in the past 5 days. Snow of 1 to 3 inches at higher elevations is forecasted for today, with 6 to 12 inches for Wednesday night into Thursday! Snowmaking on Upper F.I.S. from Catwalk to Goat Path (this may cause the closure of a few nearby trails). Grooming on 24 trails for a total of 95 acres of freshly groomed terrain (can’t you hear Hugh’s voice when you read that?). OK, I gotta get my second cup of coffee, then I’ll feel purr-fect.

It’s not just the trails that get groomed, it’s the areas between and around the lifts, and of course the Tubing Hill. Hey, can you do my driveway?

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Great conditions

Posted January 18, 2021 at 4:23 pm

Wow-what a fun day! I found many powder stashes throughout the day and also had a great run on Freefall.

We received 2 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours and 19 inches in the past 3 days. 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 now have 70 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 19 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Smugglers’ Alley for a grand total of 85 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are packed powder and powder with average base depths of 12 to 46 inches. Tonight we plan to make snow on Black Snake and Snake Bite. Currently, it is cloudy and 12 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for cloudy skies with a chance of snow showers and a high of 23 degrees.

This traverse from Upper FIS will bring you to Freefall and the Black Hole

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Doc Dempsey’s Glades

Posted March 2, 2020 at 3:45 pm

**They were having too much fun to stop!**

I started my day off with a nice long run from the summit of Madonna back to the Village. I skied Upper Chilcoot, Catwalk, Upper FIS, Lower Doc Dempsey’s, Ruthie’s, Curley’s Cutback, and then Meadowlark. The wind had moved the snow around a little bit. I had a great time playing in the drifted snow. I was lucky enough to catch up with a few friends and most of my family for a few runs. We had a wonderful time playing on Madonna and Sterling Mountain. We skied Upper FIS, Doc Dempsey’s, Bermuda, Mustache Glades, and Upper Exhibition. The mild temperatures kept the snow nice and soft today.

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 plan to have 77 out of 78 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are machine groomed and variable with average base depths of 20 to 60 inches. 23 trails will be groomed for tomorrow for a grand total of 110 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Currently, it is cloudy and 28 degrees at the summit of Sterling. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for fog early then partly sunny skies with a high of 42 degrees.

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Upper FIS

Posted February 2, 2020 at 8:36 am

Today we have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with all 8 lifts operating. We now have 73 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are machine groomed and packed powder with average base depths of 14 to 50 inches. 30 trails have been groomed for today, including Smugglers’ Alley, Snow Snake, and Waterfall for a grand total of 124 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Currently it is cloudy and 18 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 0 to 5 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for cloudy skies with a slight chance of snow showers early and a high of 30 degrees.

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Snowmaking in progress

Posted December 29, 2019 at 11:18 am

We are presently making snow on Upper FIS from Catwalk down to Mulcahy’s Link. Today we have skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 7 lifts operating, including the Madonna I Lift. We have 22 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. All 22 trails have been groomed for today for a grand total of 92 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are machine groomed and variable with average base depths of 12 to 48 inches. Currently, it is partly sunny skies and 23 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 0 to 5 mph. Today’s forecast is partly sunny skies with increasing clouds later in the day with a high of 31 degrees.

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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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Sunny and beautiful

Posted March 20, 2019 at 12:50 pm

Family skiing Lower Catwalk

Currently it is 35 degrees at the summit of Sterling with sunshine and winds of o to 5 mph. Today’s forecast is mostly sunny skies with a high of 42 degrees. Top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating, including the Madonna I Lift. 65 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Great conditions!

Upper Chilcoot and Catwalk