Hugh's Views - Smugglers' Notch Vermont

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Freshie refill

Posted January 25, 2019 at 4:51 pm

Justin riding a wave of powder

New Snow

We received 6 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours and 33 inches in the past week!

Lifts and Trails

Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with all 8 lifts operating. We have 75 out of 78 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Snake Bite will be closed tomorrow for the Eastern Cup Slalom Race. Surface conditions are powder and packed powder with average base depths of 24 to 54 inches. 39 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including McPherson’s, Dixie’s Knoll, and Jolly Rodger for a grand total of 151 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Chris finds some fresh snow

Weather

Currently it is 14 degrees at the summit of Sterling with light snow and winds of 10 to 15 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for partly cloudy skies with temperatures between 4 and 17 degrees.

Events

There too many events to list for all the details just go to our events page to check them out.

Ski Patroller Lee Anderson enjoying the new snow

I would like you to meet another member of the Smuggs Family. This is Dennis who lives outside of Philadelphia. Dennis said that he arrived last night and was pretty excited to see all the new snow when he got here!

Ski Patroller Mike Duncan on Smugglers’ Alley

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#smuggslove

Posted January 16, 2019 at 5:46 pm

Lifts and Trails

Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating. We have 73 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. 34 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Dan’s Ford, Snow Snake, and Jolly Rodger for a grand total of 129 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Weather

Currently it is 20 degrees at the summit of Sterling with light snow and winds of 5 to 15 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for partly sunny skies with temperatures between -5 and +15 degrees.

Snowmaking

Tonight we plan to make snow on the Zone and Snake Bite. Tomorrow we plan to make snow on Full Nelson and Snake Bite. Both of these trails will be closed tomorrow due to snowmaking.

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Snowmaking in progress

Posted January 14, 2019 at 2:02 pm

Meadowlark

We are presently making snow Lower FIS, Link to Sterling, and Meadowlark. Lower FIS is closed today for snowmaking, so that we can build the Flowground in the near future. The Flowground will have subtle terrain features like rolls, berms, and banks. These features are perfect for preparing intermediate skiers and riders for more challenging terrain. Snowmaking continues tonight on Lower FIS, Lower Madonna Liftline, Link to Rumrunner, Snake Bite, and the Zone.

Land guns and Tower guns on Lower FIS

Lifts and Trails

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 75 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 34 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Ruthie’s, Snow Snake, and Smugglers’ Alley for a grand total of 136 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are packed powder and machine groomed with average base depths of 24 to 54 inches.

Snowmaking piles are getting big on Lower FIS

Weather

Currently it is partly sunny and 12 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 1 to 5 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for partly sunny skies with temperatures between 15 and 30 degrees.

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Happy Holidays

Posted December 24, 2018 at 4:27 pm

Snow

Snow Sport University Ski Instructor John Kurowski is all smiles over the new snow

We received 1 to 2 inches of new snow today, 6 inches in the past 3 days, and 135 inches of snowfall this season!

Lifts and Trails

Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating. We have 27 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. All 27 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, that’s 101 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are machine groomed and variable with average base depths of 12 to 40 inches.

Snowmaking

Lift Operator Rusty Freeman out having fun on his day off

Today we made snow on Meadowlark, Mulcahy’s Link, Black Snake, Snake Bite, and the Practice Slope. Tonight we plan to make snow on Mulcahy’s Link and Lower Madonna Liftline.

Weather

Currently it is snowing and 26 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 0 to 5 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for partly cloudy skies with temperatures between 11 and 24 degrees.

Pictured yourself here

Who is that loading chairs at Madonna I?

Snowmaking and natural snowfall today

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Early morning grooming and snowmaking

Posted December 24, 2018 at 7:32 am

Groomers on Mulcahy’s Link

Snowmaking

Last night we made snow on Black Snake, Mulcahy’s Link, Snake Bite, Practice Slope, and Meadowlark. Snowmaking will continue today on these open trails, so if you plan on skiing or riding these trails don’t forget your goggles.

Lifts and Trails

Today we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating. We have 27 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 26 trails have been groomed for today, that’s 96 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are machine groomed and variable with average base depths of 12 to 36 inches.

Weather

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 chance of light snow this afternoon and temperatures between 19 and 31 degrees.

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Morning light

Posted December 20, 2018 at 7:50 am

The Village Lift

Lifts and Trails

Today we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 5 lifts operating. We have 48 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 28 trails have been groomed for today, including Smugglers’ Alley, Upper Drifter, and Sam’s Run for a grand total of 112 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are packed powder and powder with average base depths of 18 to 48 inches.

Weather

Currently it is sunny and 28 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 0 to 5 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for sunny skies with increasing clouds and temperatures of 24 to 39 degrees.

Snowmaking

Last night we made snow on Snake Bite and the Practice Slope.

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Another wonderful day out on the slopes

Posted December 19, 2018 at 4:37 pm

Brian Horton takes flight

Today Halley O’Brien was here from Snocountry Snow Reports. Snocountry receives snow reports from resorts across the U.S.A., Canada, Europe, and more. Halley visits different resorts and highlights them on “Snapshot” at Snocountry.com. Myself and a small group of Smuggs family members were lucky enough to join her today. We had a great time on Madonna and Sterling Mountain this morning. Catwalk provided us some sun-filled powder shots. Red Fox and Three Mountain Glades gave us wide open birch trees with powder turns for all. Sterling Mountain was also a blast with powder covered snowmaking whales on Snake Bite.

Ira and Allison having fun in the fresh snow on Madonna Liftline below Red Fox Glades

Lifts and Trails

Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 5 lifts operating. We have 48 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. We plan to open terrain in the next few days. 26 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Smugglers’ Alley, Jolly Rodger, and Upper Drifter for a grand total of 112 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are packed powder and powder with average base depths of 18 to 48 inches.

Snowmakers left their mark on Morse Highlands

Weather

Currently it is 20 degrees with partly sunny skies at the summit of Sterling with winds of 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies with temperatures between 24 and 39 degrees.

Snowmaking

Today our snowmakers were busy on Log Jam and the Practice Slope. Tonight they plan to make snow on Snake Bite and the Practice Slope.

Fresh line in the woods

Snowguns blasting on the Practice Slope

Rooster tail

You don’t see this everyday, but it is still great to see

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An Opening Day for the record books

Posted November 23, 2018 at 4:49 pm

Assistant Patrol Director Mike Duncan enjoying the great conditions on Freefall.

I had to keep reminding myself today that it’s only November and not February. The amount of natural snow coverage is just amazing! I skied Freefall from the top and it was so much fun. A few more favorites from the day are Snake Bite, Full Nelson, Harvey’s, and Dan’s Ford. I skied Snake Bite this morning for my first run and skier’s left was filled in nicely with beautiful knee deep fluffiness! Actually everything I skied today was good. It is still hard to believe that we had 58 trails open on the first day of the season. One of the great things about having so much terrain open is how it spreads every one out. Having both the Madonna I lift and Sterling lift operating today was a fantastic bonus! I can not wait to go exploring again tomorrow to see what I can find.

Floating down Upper Exhibition

Tomorrow we plan to have 3 lifts operating; Sir Henry’s Magic Carpet, Sterling, and Madonna I from 10:00 am till 2:00 pm. 14 out of the 58 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Smugglers’ Alley and Meadowlark for a grand total of 50 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Our snowmakers have been rapidly making some nice piles of snow on Morse the past days with these cooler temperatures. They plan to make snow on Garden Path tonight. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for a mix of sun and clouds with a high of 38 degrees and light winds.

View from Upper Drifter

Harley having fun Full Nelson

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We plan to run the Madonna I and Sterling lifts this weekend

Posted April 13, 2018 at 4:20 pm

Nice bumps on Full Nelson

Today started off pretty foggy, but the snow was good. The fog lifted by the afternoon and we even saw some partly sunny skies for a little while. The temperature almost reached 40 degrees at the summit of Sterling today, so we had some great spring conditions. The soft spring conditions made it fun to attack the steeper trails like Upper Pipeline, Chute, Smugglers’ Alley, Full Nelson, Snake Bite, and Bootlegger.

We have some snow on the way this weekend. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for periods of snow and sleet 1 to 3 inches of accumulation possible with temperatures between 20 and 30 degrees. There is more snow in the forecast for Saturday night into Sunday with another 3 inches of accumulation possible.

James Miller takes flight

For Closing Weekend we plan to have both the Madonna I and Sterling lifts operating. We plan to have 39 trails open for intermediates and experts.

Upper Pipeline