Hugh's Views - Smugglers' Notch Vermont

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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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Freshly groomed terrain

Posted December 19, 2018 at 8:09 am

Lower Morse Liftline

Lifts and Trails

Today we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 5 lifts operating. We have 53 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 26 trails have been groomed for today, including Smugglers’ Alley, Upper Drifter, and Sam’s Run for a grand total of 108 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Surface conditions are packed powder and machine groomed with average base depths of 18 to 48 inches.

Weather

Currently it is partly sunny and 10 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 0 to 5 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for partly sunny skies with temperatures between 14 and 29 degrees.

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Bluebird Day

Posted December 8, 2018 at 12:01 pm

View from Upper Drifter

Base Lodge at the Upper Mountains

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Sea of Clouds

Posted December 1, 2018 at 5:14 pm

Into the mist

Today was another wonderful day to be out on the slopes. The Madonna I Lift opened again and Mogul Mouse’s Magic Lift opened for the first time this season. Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 4 lifts operating and 65 trails open. Surface conditions are packed powder and powder with average base depths of 14 to 48 inches. 15 out of the 65 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, that’s 63 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Upper Drifter

Forecast

Tonight’s forecast is calling for snow and mix 1 to 2 inches of accumulation possible. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for snow and mix early then a chance of some rain later in the day with temperatures between 29 and 41 degrees.

Mount Mansfield above the clouds

Some air time on Shuttle

Tony enjoying the nice conditions

Ken carving it up

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Another beautiful day

Posted April 6, 2018 at 10:59 am

View from Upper Drifter

Sunshine this morning followed by snow this afternoon.

We have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 4 lifts operating. We have 41 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. All 41 trails have been groomed for today, that’s 140 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Today’s forecast is calling for increasing clouds with snow developing this afternoon and a couple inches of accumulation possible with a high of 37 degrees.

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You never know Hugh you’ll see

Posted April 3, 2018 at 4:07 pm

Becky, Warren (Hugh Impersonator), Shirley, Randy with a y and not an i.

Rockin’ Ron for Hugh. As I skied around the mountain, I kept seeing this guy in a familiar Helly Hansen jacket. I yelled “Hey Hugh” but he didn’t answer. Turns out, I wasn’t the only one who was confused, several Lifties and Instructors had the same reaction. I finally met the mystery man and his name is Warren. He was skiing with his partner Shirley and long time Smugglers Randy and Becky. Randy told me about some bear tracks he saw under the Sterling Lift and some rabbit tracks under the Madonna Lift. I saw hide nor hare of either.

On the skiing front, I enjoyed runs on Upper Drifter and the Flowground. On the events front, we have some BIG DOINGS on Saturday with Pond Skimming, Chillin’ & Grillin’ Tail Gate Party and some others in and around the Resort! That leaves me on the back end of this Blog… ski ya later!

Sterling Mtn as viewed from Upper Drifter on Madonna Mtn.

Tips for skiing: 1) ski early, and 2) ski often.

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Soft conditions

Posted March 30, 2018 at 4:16 pm

Lamoille Union Middle School 7th graders here at Smuggs as part of their Fitness Friday Program. Photo credit: Melissa Piscitelli

We received a dusting of new snow on top this morning. The spring conditions are just so much fun! I had a blast today with good friends Ken and Justin on Sterling Mountain. We enjoyed Hangman’s Drop, Upper Pipeline, Black Snake, Harveys’ Hideaway, Full Nelson, and the Practice Slope. I would have to say that Upper Pipeline was my favorite today. It was recently groomed and was skiing very well.

Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with all 8 lifts operating. We have 57

Justin having fun on Upper Pipeline

trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 36 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Upper Drifter, Smugglers’ Alley, and Meadowlark for a grand total of 139 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies early then partly sunny skies in the afternoon with a high of 42 degrees.

Ken loving the great conditions

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140 acres of freshly groomed terrain

Posted March 29, 2018 at 7:57 am

Lower Morse Liftline

We are 100 percent open with top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating. We have 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. 34 trails have been groomed for today, including Upper Drifter, Smugglers’ Alley, and Snow Snake.

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Morse Mountain

Posted March 28, 2018 at 2:49 pm

Snow Sport University Snowboard Lesson

I did a three mountain tour today while I enjoyed the soft spring conditions. We received a dusting of new snow last night. The natural snow softened before the manmade snow, but it all softened up. The groomed snow was very edgeable and fun to carve in. Upper Drifter was groomed last night and it was pretty sweet. The spring conditions will continue tomorrow with partly sunny skies early with increasing clouds and temperatures between 39 and 51 degrees. We are 100 percent open with top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating. 35 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Upper Drifter, Smugglers’ Alley, and Snow Snake for a grand total of 140 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

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Blue bird day

Posted March 26, 2018 at 1:57 pm

Sterling Pond with Mount Mansfield in the background

You could not ask for a nicer day, ok maybe tomorrow. Today was amazing with the beautiful sunny skies and the warmer spring air. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the views were fantastic. I want to thank our groomers for the wonderful job that they have been doing. Upper and Lower Drifter were very nice today. The natural snow trails are also in great shape. All of Madonna Liftline was open today. I skied it top to bottom and had a blast! When it comes to challenging trails, Madonna Liftline top to bottom, a.k.a. shack to shack, is right up there.

The wonderful weather continues tomorrow with sunny skies and temperatures between 35 and 47 degrees. Spring

Upper Drifter

conditions will be all the rage!

We are 100 percent open with top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 6 lifts operating. We have all 78 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Freefall is open from the traverse on Upper FIS. Robin’s Run is open from the work road down to Freefall. 39 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Upper Drifter, Chute, and Snow Snake for a grand total of 140 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

View from the Madonna I Lift