Hugh's Views - Smugglers' Notch Vermont

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55+, plus more…

Posted March 29, 2023 at 1:43 pm

Rockin’ Ron for Hugh. To paraphrase Mr. Rogers, “It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood.” With 71 trails open it was hard to decide what to ski first, but I really enjoyed my “double compression” run of Upper Drifter to Shuttle – that put the wind in me sails. I got to hang out with the 55+ Club, a group of 90 members who are “on the hill, not over the hill.” Club President Liam Kearney invited me to their regular Wednesday breakfast get-together, and to their season-ending lunch and awards ceremony. They’re just like kids with a few wrinkles and gray hair – age is just a number. Then I saw the usual assortment of characters in my travels. I hope your day was on the plus side!

The Legendary Peter Ingvoldstad, former Director of SSU, former Lamoille Union School Board Member, sometime Hulk Hogan Impersonator, Current President of Cambridge Area Rotary, AND… recently-elected Town of Cambridge Select Board Member. He’s a Mensch.

Rusty – one of three Snowboarding Patrollers. He works at our Disc Golf Courses for the rest of the year.

Deborah Pomeroy with 55+ Club President Liam Kearney handing out awards and prizes at the season-end lunch soiree.

Charles – Madonna I mainstay and Reggae Musician, gets ’em loaded.

55+ Club Members Dottie, Charlie, and Bill – ON THE HILL! This is their silly pose.

A Groomer is being winched, to get the pond built for Saturday’s Pond Skimming. Thanks for the photo, Mark Delaney.

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Extreme Challenge

Posted March 1, 2020 at 4:22 pm

**Irian Adii at the base of the Headwall**

**Peter Hawk pictured on the right of the Flyin’ Ryan Hawks Foundation was at the competition today.**

This is the Men’s 45 + Category
Jim Laporte 3rd, Shaun King 2nd, and Teo Campbell 1st

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 20 to 60 inches. 34 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Shuttle, Hibernator, and Black Snake for a grand total of 139 acres of freshly groomed terrain. We received 2 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours and 36 inches in the past 4 days. Currently, it is partly sunny and 10 degrees at the summit of Sterling. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for snow early then a mix with a chance of rain late and a high of 43 degrees. Temperatures will be rising throughout the day.

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Good morning

Posted February 20, 2020 at 8:01 am

Top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 7 lifts operating, including the Madonna I lift. 77 out of 78 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are machine groomed and packed powder with average base depths of 16 to 54 inches. 38 trails have been groomed for today, including Upper FIS, Shuttle, Snake Bite, and Hibernator for a grand total of 150 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Currently it is partly sunny and 2 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 5 to 10 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for partly sunny skies with a high of 15 degrees.

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Clear skies

Posted January 30, 2020 at 7:51 am

Today we have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating, including the Madonna I Lift. We now have 69 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are packed powder and machine groomed with average base depths of 14 to 50 inches. 31 trails have been groomed for today, including Shuttle, Curley’s Cutback, and Jolly Rodger for a grand total of 94 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Last night we made snow on Snow Snake, Log Jam, Hibernator, and the base area of the Village Lift. Currently it is sunny and 6 degrees at the summit of Sterling. Today’s forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies with a high of 25 degrees.

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Virginia to Vermont

Posted April 2, 2019 at 4:23 pm

Liza and Julia in 3 Mountain Glades.

Rockin’ Ron for Hugh. As I was leaving Patrol and heading to MI, I heard my name being called. It was my friends Liza and her daughter Julia from Virginia. They are 2nd and 3rd Generation Smugglers who vacation here in the summer and winter. Liza and her siblings learned to ski on Morse, Madonna, and Sterling mountains, and now it’s her kids’ turn (or turns, if you will). Julia was telling me about taking lessons with Matt McCawley, himself a 2nd generation Smuggler, being the son of Squatch and Judy. Matt successfully challenged her to do Black Diamond trails and gave her an appreciation of the glades. It was a blast taking runs with them!!

LIFTS & TRAILS

For Wednesday we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 4 lifts – including MI – operating and 63 trails open!

Julia leading Liza down Upper Drifter.

GROOMING

33 trails/130 acres are on the grooming schedule for Wednesday, including Smugglers’ Alley, Shuttle, and Snow Snake.

SNOW

5 inches in the past 3 days. 375 inches this season.

EVENTS

Saturday, April 6th – Pond Skimming, Chillin’ & Grillin’ Tailgate Party and Cambridge Day.

Tuesday, April 9th – Ben & Jerry’s FREE Cone Day at the scoop shop in the Village Lodge.

Sunday, April 21st – Easter Sunrise Service – load at the Sterling Lift from 6:00 am – 6:30 am.

Visit smuggs.com for more details.

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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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Winter Storm Watch

Posted March 21, 2019 at 6:44 am

The forecast from the National Weather Service for an elevation of 2,400 feet

Tonight

Rain and snow likely before 11 pm, then snow. Low around 32. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

Friday

Snow before 11 am, then rain and snow. High near 35. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

Friday Night

Snow. Low around 23. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 6 to 10 inches possible.

Saturday

Snow, mainly before 3 pm, then a chance of snow showers after 3pm. High near 28. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.

Lifts and Trails

Today we have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating, including the Madonna I lift. We have 65 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are machine groomed and spring conditions with average base depths of 20 to 50 inches. 37 trails have been groomed for today, including Smugglers’ Alley, Snake Bite, Bootlegger, Chute, Upper Pipeline, Snow Snake, and Shuttle for a grand total of 144 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Weather

Currently it is cloudy and 29 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 5 to 10 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for cloudy skies with a chance of snow late in the day and temperatures between 29 and 43 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.

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Fresh snow and sunshine

Posted February 28, 2019 at 9:24 am

Sterling and Mount Mansfield seen from Upper Drifter

New Snow

We received an inch of new snow last night, 7 inches in the past 5 days, and 313 inches this season so far!

Lifts and Trails

We are 99 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 77 out of 78 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are packed powder and machine groomed with average base depths of 24 to 54 inches. 42 trails have been groomed for today, including Shuttle, Ruthie’s, Smugglers’ Alley, and Evaporator for a grand total of 156 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Shadow dancing on Shuttle

Weather

Currently it is sunny and 2 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 0 to 5 mph. Today’s forecast is sunny skies with temperatures between 5 and 17 degrees.

Snowmaking

Last night we made snow on Upper Zone. We plan to make snow on the Upper Zone tonight also.

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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.