Hugh's Views - Smugglers' Notch Vermont

0

Winter wonderland

Posted January 22, 2024 at 5:46 pm

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 67 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 26 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Goat Path, Curley’s Cutback, and Smugglers’ Alley for a total of 105 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are packed powder and machine groomed with average base depths of 16 to 40 inches. Last night, we made snow on Log Jam, Hibernator, and Dixie’s Knoll. Currently, it is cloudy and 20 degrees at the summit of Sterling. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for cloudy skies with a chance of snow showers, a high of 26 degrees at the base, and 19 degrees at higher elevations.

0

Grateful Shred

Posted January 25, 2022 at 3:52 pm

Rockin’ Ron for Hugh. Grateful to get on the slopes today – my best ski day – so far this season! … and my first time this season on M1!! How about this run of bumps, woods, and groomers: Upper FIS (pre-snowmaking – all natch) to Lower Doc’s to Goat Path to lower Upper FIS to Mulcahy’s Link to Lower FIS! Can skiers shred the gnar like snowboarders? If so, it was a Grateful Shred.

This man has a mono ski! It’s Phil Marshall and the Deputies chasing down the fresh tracks. BTW Phil designed the website you’re now looking at.

Snowmakers are busy on Lower Chilcoot. They’ll be on Upper FIS tomorrow.

I also got to rip the dips for a “compression run”: Upper Drifter to Shuttle to Lower Rumrunner to Link to Sterling.

0

Fresh snow

Posted January 7, 2022 at 10:08 am

3 inches of new snow in the past 2 days and 75 inches this season so far. We just opened Goat Path, Father Bob’s, Thomke’s, Chute, and Bootlegger from Thomke’s. We have skiing and riding on all 3 mountains. We have 5 lifts operating; Sterling Lift, Madonna II Lift, Sir Henry’s Glider, Mogul Mouse’s Magic Lift, and Village Lift. We now have 27 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 20 out of the 27 trails have been groomed for today, including Smugglers’ Alley, Curley’s Cutback, and Lower FIS for a grand total of 86 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are machine groomed and packed powder with average base depths of 6 to 32 inches. Currently, it is snowing and 14 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 0 to 5 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for periods of snow with 1 to 3 inches of accumulation possible and a high of 21 degrees. Temperatures will be falling throughout the day. Dress warm and enjoy the wonderful conditions.

0

124 acres of freshly groomed terrain

Posted February 22, 2021 at 6:44 am

Today 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 71 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are packed powder and powder with average base depths of 16 to 50 inches. 32 trails have been groomed for today, including Goat Path, Curley’s Cutback, and Jolly Rodger. Currently, it is snowing and 12 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 10 to 20 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for snow showers with 2 to 4 inches of accumulation possible and a high of 31 degrees and breezy.

0

Top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains

Posted March 15, 2019 at 2:43 pm

Upper FIS

Lifts and Trails

Our current weather forecast calls for today’s warm temperatures to begin falling this evening to near or slightly below freezing by 8 am Saturday. Temps will warm into the mid to upper 30s during the day. Today’s wet snow will likely become rather firm tomorrow. In order for us to provide the best skiing and riding surfaces possible, we will be delaying our upper mountain lift openings to allow for some last minute grooming. There is also the possibility of some early morning snow showers that will help improve conditions.

Coming up with a plan

Our anticipated lift opening schedule on Saturday will be as follows:

Village Lift – 8:00 am

Sterling, Mogul Mouse, Morse Highlands, and Sir Henry’s lifts – 9:00 am

Madonna I & II lifts – 10:00 am

All lift opening times assume we are not experiencing any wind delays, which does not look likely at this time. Lift crews will be in place to open upper mountain lifts earlier if conditions allow.

The George Tormey race will be held on the Practice Slope with first run starting at 9:30 am. T-bar will commence operating at 7:30 am for race crew and coaches and for athletes at 8:15 am.

Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with all 8 lifts operating. We have 65 out of 78 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are machine groomed and variable with average base depths of 20 t0 50 inches. We plan to groom 40 trails, including Goat Path, Ruthie’s, Snow Snake, Dixie’s Knoll, Black Snake, and Treasure Run for a grand total of 149 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Sterling Mountain seen from the Madonna I Lift

Weather

Currently it is partly cloudy and 44 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 15 to 25 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is cloudy skies with a chance of scattered snow showers and an inch of accumulation possible with temperatures between 18 and 35 degrees.

Events

We have too many events this weekend to list! For all the details just go to our events page.

0

Fresh snow

Posted March 4, 2019 at 5:36 pm

Snow Sport University Snowboard Instructor Violette with her fuzzy companion

New Snow

We received 3 to 4 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours and 318 inches this season so far.

Lifts and Trails

We are 99 percent open. Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating. Surface conditions are packed powder and powder with average base depths of 24 to 54 inches. We plan to groom 41 trails tonight, including Smugglers’ Alley, Goat Path, and Snow Snake for a grand total of 145 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Mogul Mouse working the snow magic

Weather

Currently it is partly sunny and 12 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for a chance of snow showers in the afternoon with temperatures between 4 and 21 degrees.

Hannah is happy about the new snow

Lidia cruising down Sam’s Run

0

Representing while you ski and ride

Posted February 3, 2019 at 4:33 pm

It was great to see all the jerseys out on the slopes today. You may have noticed that all my photos of people wearing a jersey have been Patriot’s Fans. Yes, I am also a Patriot Fan, but the reason you don’t see any Rams jerseys is because I did not see any Rams jerseys.

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. Surface conditions are packed powder and powder with average base depths of 28 to 60 inches. 39 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Goat Path, Dixie’s Knoll, and Smugglers’ Alley for a grand total of 145 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Weather

Currently it is cloudy and 22 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for cloudy skies with a slight chance of an afternoon shower and temperatures between 32 and 38 degrees.

0

Whales and Winter Wellness

Posted January 15, 2019 at 2:29 pm

Snowmaking whales on Lower FIS. It may be hard to see in this picture, but the whales go all the way up the trail.

Rockin’ Ron for Hugh. Speaking this morning to Stew from Patrol, he recommended Shuttle as a trail pick. I’m glad he did – it was groomed and great! After the steep compression at the beginning, it turns into roller coaster hills – heck yeah!

I also enjoyed Catwalk and Goat Path. When I take those trails I feel like I’m on a Hot Wheels track with lots of hairpin and banked turns. No loopy loops though, that’s probably for the best.

I would’ve wailed on the whales on Lower FIS if it was open. It’s temporarily closed so the moisture can leach out of those snowmaking whales. Lower “Fizz” is also home to the Flowground Terrain Park. Soon, we’ll all be able to go with the flow.

CAR at 3ME. Pictured in the back are 4 Cambridge Area Rotarians (3 of whom who have been employed by the Resort). They helped the kids with their gear at 3 Mountain Equipment.

All this week there’s Winter Wellness. Cambridge Area Rotary sponsors this program which gives every 4th, 5th, and 6th graders from Cambridge Elementary School the opportunity to learn to ski or ride at Smuggs. There are many benefits to the program and ones like it – kids learn an athletic skill, they have the opportunity to appreciate nature, and they get some fresh air.

LIFTS & TRAILS

6 lifts including Madonna I are operating and 75 trails are open.

Upper Madonna Liftline is blanketed in snow. We don’t make snow there – so it’s all NATCH!

SNOW

35 inches in the past week and more is on the way towards the end of this week.

0

Another beautiful day here at Smuggs

Posted March 12, 2018 at 2:53 pm

Sterling Pond with Mount Mansfield in the background

This morning I rode the Village Lift on my way to the upper mountains. I rode the chair with a nice 12 year old young lady from the Toronto area named Eireann. She told me that her family has been coming to Smuggs for seven years in both the summer and winter. I asked Eireann if she liked winter or summer best. It took a second for her to answer, but then said winter because I just love skiing. She told me that one of her favorite trails is Goat Path. She also added that she really enjoys glade skiing here at Smuggs.

We received 24 inches of new snow in the past 5 days and the forecast is calling for another foot of new snow by Thursday. The sun made a short appearance today

Birch Run Terrain Park

before the clouds started rolling in. We could see an inch of new snow tonight, then 1 to 3 inches tomorrow, and then 5 to 8 inches Tuesday night into Wednesday. We are 100% percent open with top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating. We have 78 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 34 trails will be groomed for tonight for a grand total of 135 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Birch Run Terrain Park

Sometimes a rabbit gets to your line before you