Hugh's Views - Smugglers' Notch Vermont

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Bluebird Day

Posted March 19, 2018 at 3:16 pm

Sterling and Mount Mansfield seen from the Madonna Lift I

Today started out a little cool but, the sun warmed things up nicely. This morning I had a great time on a powder stash hunt. I was able to find plenty of fresh snow in the trees. This afternoon this I took a few cruiser runs to take in all the amazing views. The 360 degree views from the summit of Madonna Mountain are pretty hard to beat. You can see the White Mountains in New Hampshire off the backside of Madonna and looking in the opposite direction you have Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks of New York.

We are 100 percent open with top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating. We have

Upper Chilcoot

all 78 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Robin’s Run is open from the work road down to Freefall. Freefall is open from the traverse on Upper FIS. 33 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Upper Drifter, Thomke’s Express, and Snow Snake for a grand total of 132 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Tomorrow is going to be another gorgeous day with mostly sunny skies and a high of 30 degrees.

Lower Catwalk

Do you like black diamonds?

Winter Wonderland

Shoveling the snow off the roofs in the Village

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Epic conditions

Posted March 14, 2018 at 2:43 pm

Snowshoe Adventure Dinner Fun

My wife Harley’s birthday was yesterday and to celebrate we did the Snowshoe Adventure Dinner with our good friends Tony and Joie. I love being on top of the mountain after the lifts have closed. Everything is quiet and peaceful. The view of Sterling Pond from the lean-to was beautiful last night with all the snow falling. We had a wonderful time exploring Sterling while David and Nate of the Hearth & Candle Restaurant were preparing our meals. After our hike we headed back to the Top of the Notch building for a wonderful candle lit meal. David and Nate put a candle in Harley’s dessert, then we all sang Happy Birthday! I think that Harley’s birthday wish must have been snow, because we sure do have some!

Some of the best conditions of the season

We received 23 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours, 31 inches in the past 2 days, 56 inches in the past week, and 265 inches this season so far! The National Weather Service is saying that we could see another 8 inches of new snow by 8 am tomorrow morning. Tomorrow’s forecast is also calling for snow with another 3 inches of accumulation possible and temperatures between 20 and 32 degrees. 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. 40 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Upper Drifter, Smugglers’ Alley, and Snow Snake for a grand total of 150 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Madonna Liftline

We have many events this weekend like the St. Paddy’s Day Lucky Leprechaun Challenge on Saturday, March 17th — Wear green, meet the Leprechaun on the slopes, and get raffle tickets for a chance to win. Join Goodtime Charlie at the Black Bear for music, door prizes, 12 beers on tap and giveaways from 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm! Go to Bootleggers’ Lounge at 4:30 pm, submit all your tickets and relax with 50% off appetizers and drink specials while you wait for your chance to win. We are giving away $5000 worth of prizes!

Snow Sport University class headed into the Sugar woods

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100 percent open

Posted March 11, 2018 at 4:58 pm

Fresh tracks on Upper Exhibition

We received 8 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours and 24 inches in the past 4 days. All the new snow made it easy to talk my son Hugh B into getting up early. He came to work with me this morning and we were the second chair on Sterling. One of his favorite trails is Exhibition and he likes it even more with fresh snow! It has not been windy during all the snowfall, so the snow is a nice consistent blanket of fluff. It did not matter where you went because it was all good!

We have 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. 39 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Upper Drifter, Harvey’s Hideaway, and Curley’s Cutback for a grand total of 145 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Fresh and deep

Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for partly sunny skies with increasing clouds and temperatures between 23 and 35 degrees. The increasing clouds are the beginning of the next snow storm. We could see up to 4 more inches of snow Monday night into Tuesday. There is snow in the forecast right through Thursday.

Hayleigh having fun in all the new snow

River on Doc Dempsey’s

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Snowy Morse Mountain Fun

Posted March 10, 2018 at 5:23 pm

Mogul Mouse and Billy Bob Bear happy to see all the new snow

Today was another amazing day of skiing and riding bliss. We received 16 inches of new snow in the past 3 days and the conditions are fantastic everywhere! It started snowing this afternoon and it really picked up around 2 pm. We have received 3 inches of new snow this afternoon. The forecast calls for the snow to continue right through tonight and into the morning with another 7 inches of accumulation possible.

Tomorrow’s forecast is periods of snow early then flurries later with 2 inches of accumulation possible and temperatures between 22 and 34 degrees. We are 100 percent open with top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with all 8 lifts and all 78 trails open.

Snow falling this afternoon

35 trails will be groomed tonight, including Upper FIS, Bootlegger, and Snow Snake for a grand total of 143 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Tomorrow we have our Free Family Fun Race on Lower Madonna Liftline from 11 am till 2 pm. The Molly Fund Benefit Rail Jam is also tomorrow in Zone Terrain Park.

Allie skiing through the Way Up High School at Sugar Woods

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New snow and more on the way

Posted March 8, 2018 at 8:13 am

Welcome sign

We received 5 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours and 12 inches in the past week. We could see another 11 inches of new snow by Sunday. We are 99% open with top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating. We have 77 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 33 trails have been groomed for today, including Upper Chilcoot, Smugglers’ Alley, and Snow Snake for a grand total of 134 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Today’s forecast is periods of heavy snow with up to 7″ of accumulation and temperatures between 22 and 33 degrees. The snow will continue through the night and into tomorrow! This should be a fantastic weekend!

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Looking good now and better by morning

Posted March 7, 2018 at 5:33 pm

Madonna and Sterling seen from North Hill

We received a half inch of snow today and 7 inches in the past 6 days. The conditions are already good and will only improve as we go into the weekend. The 24 hour forecast is periods of snow with up to 8 inches of accumulation possible. We could see up to 11 inches of new snow by Friday. Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating. We now have 61 trails open and we plan to open more terrain with the new snow. 33 trails will be groomed for tomorrow that’s 134 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

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Birch Run Terrain Park

Posted March 5, 2018 at 3:31 pm

We received 3 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours and 7 inches in the past 4 days! The conditions are wonderful and the trail count keeps climbing higher. There is more snow in the forecast starting on Wednesday with up to 12 inches of new snow possible by the weekend. This will really make the trail count climb. Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 7 lifts operating. We now have 63 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 35 trails will be groomed tonight, including Playground, Bootlegger, and Curley’s Cutback for a grand total of 135 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Tomorrow is the calm before the storm with partly sunny skies and temperatures between 24 and 35 degrees.

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Extreme Skiing Challenge

Posted March 3, 2018 at 5:30 pm

It was so much fun watching these very talented skiers. I saw one young skier do at least three 360’s and he spun both ways, which is even harder. Today’s competition was 18 years and younger but, tomorrows competition will have all age brackets. We had skiers come from as far away as Whistler, BC and Eldora, CO. I had a wonderful time today and I am really looking forward to all the action tomorrow.

We have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with all 8 lifts operating. We now have 50 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Tonight we plan to groom 33 trails, including Upper FIS, Smugglers’ Alley, and Snow Snake for a grand total of 133 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for flurries and snow showers with an inch of accumulation possible with temperatures between 20 and 33 degrees. We are also expecting another 2 inches of new snow Sunday night into Monday.

Teton Gravity Research Stokemobile in front of the Base Lodge

Crossing the finish line

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It is snowing

Posted March 2, 2018 at 11:45 am

Sandy having fun on Upper Chilcoot

We received a dusting of new snow so far this morning. Today’s forecast is calling for light snow with 1 to 2 inches of accumulation possible, with a chance of mix precipitation and temperatures between 26 and 37 degrees. Today we have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 7 lifts operating. We have 42 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 31 trails have been groomed for today, including Upper FIS, Black Snake, and Curley’s Cutback for a grand total of 125 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

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Fun on Sterling

Posted March 1, 2018 at 4:53 pm

Armand finds some nice snow to play in on Treasure Run

I had a good time at Zone Terrain Park and Practice Slope this morning. The Sterling T-Bar was running today and the kids were just making laps. The T-Bar makes it easy to do another run in the course or work on a new trick in the terrain park. Many skiers and riders use the T-Bar to access Birch Run Terrain park also, but always watch for traffic when crossing other trails. I had a great time this afternoon catching up with good friends Armand, Lidia, and Tony. Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 7 lifts operating. We have 44 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Lower FIS will be closed tomorrow for construction of the Flowground Terrain Park.

Lidia skiing by the ice flow on Thomke’s

34 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Upper FIS, Smugglers’ Alley, and Snow Snake for a grand total of 134 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Birch Run, Log Jam, and Zone Terrain Park are all open. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for light snow an inch of accumulation possible with a chance of mix precipitation and temperatures between 28 and 37 degrees.

Dusting of new snow on the roof of the Top of the Notch building

Race training on the Practice Slope