Hugh's Views - Smugglers' Notch Vermont

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Snow Snake is open

Posted February 1, 2020 at 3:32 pm

I love Snow Snake. It has always been one my favorite runs. I can remember back when I was a kid learning to ski on Morse Mountain. You would take the skills you learned on Garden Path and test them on Snow Snake. Snow Snake will let you know if you are ready to go to the upper mountains.

Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with all 8 lifts operating. We now have 74 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 will be groomed for tomorrow, including Smugglers’ Alley, Snake Bite, and Snow Snake for a grand total of 124 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Skier’s right on Upper FIS will be groomed tonight from Catwalk down to Dan’s Ford. Dan’s Ford down to Times Square will be groomed full width. Currently, it is cloudy and 20 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for partly sunny skies with a slight chance of a snow shower late in the day and a high of 30 degrees. Free Family Fun Race tomorrow on Lower Madonna Liftline from 11 am till 2 pm.

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Getting the mountain ready for another great day

Posted January 13, 2020 at 8:07 am

Last night we made snow on Meadowlark, Midway, Garden Path, the top of the Village Lift, and the base of Morse. Today we plan to have 5 lifts operating; Sterling, Village, Mogul Mouse’s Magic, Morse Highlands, and Sir Henry’s Wonder Carpet. We have 18 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Currently it is partly sunny and 17 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 10 to 20 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for partly sunny skies early with increasing clouds, the chance of snow and freezing drizzle after 1:00 pm, a high of 27 degrees. Madonna Mountain is closed today for snowmaking and grooming.

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A little fresh snow

Posted January 12, 2020 at 5:40 pm

**Top of the Notch Building at the summit of Sterling**

**About a half inch of new snow this afternoon**

Today was a pretty wild weather day with rain turning to snow and falling temperatures. It was 48 degrees at the summit of Sterling this morning and it has dropped down to 12 degrees this afternoon. The colder temperatures are just what we needed to get our snowguns fired back up. Tonight our snowmakers will be busy on Garden Path, the top of the Village Lift, Magic Learning Trail, the base of Morse, and Meadowlark. Madonna Mountain will be closed tomorrow for grooming and snowmaking. Tomorrow we plan to have 5 lifts operating; Sterling, Village, Mogul Mouse’s Magic Lift, Morse Highlands, and Sir Henry’s Wonder Carpet. We plan to have 21 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are machine groomed and variable with average base depths of 10 to 46 inches. 20 out of the 21 trails will be groomed for tomorrow. The forecast for tomorrow is calling for mostly sunny skies early with increasing clouds and a slight chance of a snow shower late, a high of 25 degrees.

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Skiing and riding on all 3 mountains

Posted December 25, 2019 at 5:16 pm

**Garden Path with Madonna Mountain in the background**

Tomorrow we plan to have 6 lifts operating; Sterling, Madonna II, Sir Henry’s Wonder Carpet, Morse Highlands, and the Village Lift. We have 23 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 20 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Smugglers’ Alley and Garden Path for a grand total of 86 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Tonight we plan to make snow on Upper Chilcoot. Weather permitting we plan to have the Madonna I Lift open this weekend. Tomorrow we are going to install some features on the lower half of Birch Run Terrain Park and we plan to have it open by the afternoon. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies with a high of 32 degrees. Happy Holidays!

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New Snow

Posted December 15, 2019 at 5:11 pm

We received 2 inches of new snow today and 48 inches this season so far. Tomorrow we plan to have skiing and riding on all 3 mountains. We plan to have 4 lifts operating, Sterling, Madonna II, Sir Henry’s Wonder Carpet, and Mogul Mouse’s Magic Lift to the top. We have 15 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 14 out of the 15 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Smugglers’ Alley for a grand total of 60 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Currently, it is still snowing and 18 degrees at the summit of Sterling. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies with a high of 25 degrees. Tonight we plan to make snow on Lower Rumrunner, Birch Run, and Meadowlark.

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New Snow, Snowmaking, and Grooming

Posted December 7, 2019 at 7:40 am

We received 3 to 4 inches of new snow overnight and 12 inches in the past 3 days. We are presently making snow on Garden Path and Lower Morse Liftline. Today we plan to have skiing and riding on all 3 mountains. We plan to have 4 lifts operating, Madonna II, Sterling, Sir Henry’s Wonder Carpet, and Mogul Mouse Magic Lift open to mid-station. We now have 28 trails open with terrain for all ability levels.

11 out of the 28 trails have been groomed for today, including Smugglers’ Alley for a grand total of 40 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

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Calm before the storm

Posted December 4, 2019 at 4:39 pm

**Top of the Notch building on Sterling**

Tonight’s forecast is calling for snow showers mainly after midnight with an inch of accumulation possible. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for snow showers 2 to 4 inches of accumulation possible with a high of 24 degrees. Tomorrow we plan to have Sterling lift and Sir Henry’s Wonder Carpet operating. We have 18 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 6 out of the 18 trails will be groomed for tomorrow for a grand total of 22 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are machine groomed and variable with average base depths of 12 to 48 inches. Last night we made snow on Garden Path and Lower Morse Liftline.

**Upper Rumrunner with the Sterling Rock in the background**

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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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Another beautiful day here at Smuggs

Posted March 18, 2019 at 9:19 am

Skiing Garden Path with Mount Mansfield in the background

Lifts and Trails

Today we 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 packed powder and machine groomed with average base depths of 20 to 50 inches. 40 trails have been groomed for today, including Ruthie’s, Snow Snake, and Bootlegger for a grand total of 152 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Upper FIS was also groomed from the Doc Dempsey’s cutoff down to Mulcahy’s Link.

Weather

Currently it is sunny and 14 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 12 and 28 degrees.

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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.