Hugh's Views - Smugglers' Notch Vermont

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Thomas, doubt ye not, we have SNOW!

Posted December 5, 2023 at 4:34 pm

Rockin’ Ron for Hugh. As you drive through Jeffersonville and Cambridge, you might think there’s not much snow on the mountain, but au contraire, we’ve got PLENTY O’ SNOW on the Upper Mountains! 2″ in the past 24 hours and 15″ in the past 3 days. Nearly all the trails on Sterling are open – 26 in total, including Upper Pipeline, Black Bear, and Poachers Woods. Temps in the Village have allowed us to start making snow on Morse, so beginner terrain should be available soon. AND… grooming will begin on Madonna on Wednesday night. How’s that suit ya, Thomas?

NOTE on UPHILL ACCESS – due to snowmaking and grooming operations, there will be no Uphill Access on Madonna, Morse, and Sterling as of 4 pm on Wednesday, December 6th. Uphill Access will resume in the near future.

Take a gander at this pile of SNOW, Thomas!

Smuggs Entertainer Jammin’ Sam and Elizabeth. They have a mixed marriage – snowboarder and skier.

Snowmaking on Lower Madonna Liftline as viewed from the Base Lodge deck.

Former Activities Director Marge and longtime ski instructor June “Bug” enjoyed a run through Poachers Woods.

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Wyndham takes to the slopes

Posted April 5, 2019 at 11:10 am

Wyndham Senior Sales Rep Scott Tobin takes a break from his desk to enjoy some sunshine and corduroy! I was taking in the beautiful views at the summit of Madonna and all of the sudden Scott appeared. We took a few runs together on Madonna and Sterling. We did a nice long cruiser run on Upper Chilcoot to Mulcahy’s Link. We skied Upper Pipeline next and it was in great shape. It was groomed last night and is skiing fantastic. As a matter of fact all three photos of Scott were taken on Upper Pipeline. We have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 4 lifts operating. We have 54 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. 139 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

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Spring Fever

Posted April 3, 2019 at 4:32 pm

Matt enjoying the spring conditions

It didn’t take long for things to soften this morning. I had a blast on the steeper groomed runs like Bootlegger, Smugglers’ Alley, Chute, Hangman’s Drop, and Upper Pipeline. In fact all the groomed runs were good. The natural snow was also good on Black Bear, Full Nelson, Harvey’s Hideaway, and Upper Exhibition. I want to thank the Sterling Patrol for a wonderful lunch today, it was unexpected and appreciated.

Geoff is race day ready with his sporty jacket

Lifts and Trails

Tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with 4 lifts operating. We have 62 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are machine groomed and variable with average base depths of 18 to 48 inches. We plan to groom 37 trails tonight, including Upper FIS, Drifter, Ruthie’s, Snow Snake, Midway, Smugglers’ Alley, and Black Snake for a grand total of 139 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Sterling Patrol Chillin’ & Grillin’ getting ready for the April 6th Tailgate Party

Weather

Currently it is snowing and 29 degrees at the summit of Sterling. Tonight’s forecast is calling for snow showers with 1 to 2 inches of accumulation possible. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies with temperatures between 16 and 38 degrees.

Construction continues on the skimming pond

Patroller Mac with a fresh dog right off the grill

Skiing and riding isn’t just about skiing and riding. It’s also about hanging out with your good friends!

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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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Just another day in paradise

Posted March 3, 2019 at 5:06 pm

Morse Mountain with Madonna Mountain in the background

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, 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. We plan to groom 36 trails tonight, including Upper Pipeline, Drifter, and Curley’s Cutback for a grand total of 141 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

New Snow

We received an inch of new snow last night bringing our season total up to 314 inches.

Weather

Currently it is 22 degrees at the summit of Sterling with partly sunny skies and winds of 0 to 5 mph. Tonight’s forecast is calling for snow showers 1 to 3 inches of accumulation possible. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for a chance of snow early then partly sunny skies later in the day with temperatures between 17 and 26 degrees.

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Sunshine and corduroy

Posted March 1, 2019 at 9:28 am

Lower Morse Liftline

Lifts and Trails

We are 100 percent open! We have 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. Surface conditions are packed powder and machine groomed with average base depths of 24 to 54 inches. 37 trails have been groomed for today, including Upper Pipeline, Playground, and Sam’s Run for a grand total of 145 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Weather

Currently it is 17 degrees at the summit of Sterling with beautiful sunny skies and winds of 0 to 5 mph. Today’s forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies with temperatures between 12 and 28 degrees.

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Another gorgeous day

Posted February 23, 2019 at 4:14 pm

Just picture perfect

Today started off partly sunny and by this afternoon it was bluebird. The temperatures rose from the low teens into the upper twenties. It was great to soak up the sun and recharge the batteries. I had a blast this morning with my son Hugh B on Sterling. We went on tour looking for powder stashes in the trees and also played around in the Zone Terrain Park. This afternoon I ran into good friends of mine Carrie, Steph, and Phil. We all enjoyed some nice turns on Harvey’s Hideaway to Full Nelson.

Phil having fun on Harvey’s Hideaway

Lifts and Trails

Weather permitting tomorrow we plan to have top to bottom skiing and riding on all 3 mountains with all 8 lifts operating. We plan to have all 78 trails open with terrain for all ability levels. Surface conditions are packed powder and powder with average base depths of 24 to 54 inches. We plan to groom 33 trails tonight, including Ruthie’s, Snow Snake, and Upper Pipeline for a grand total of 135 acres of freshly groomed terrain.

Weather

Currently it is sunny and 24 degrees at the summit of Sterling with winds of 0 to 5 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for snow and sleet early 1 to 2 inches of accumulation possible then a chance of rain later with temperatures between 30 and 39 degrees.

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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

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Great conditions

Posted April 12, 2018 at 4:18 pm

Matt finds a nice deep pocket of snow

The 2 inches of new snow last night really made a big difference, especially with the other 5 inches of snow that we received this week. The lighter snow was high on the mountain today. I ran into my good friend Matt McCawley this morning and we went looking for fresh tracks. Many of the lines that we found already had rabbit tracks. We skied in the woods skier’s right of Smugglers’ Alley and then came out on Shuttle. Shuttle was smooth with the all the new snow on top. Matt and I got up to speed and just floated in the powder. Tomorrow we plan to have the Sterling Lift operating with 25 trails open for intermediates and experts. 14 trails will be groomed for tomorrow, including Smugglers’ Alley, Upper Pipeline, Hangman’s Drop, Chute, and Thomke’s Express for a grand total of 41 acres of freshly groomed terrain. Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for partly to mostly cloudy skies with a chance of a shower late in the day with temperatures between 34 and 47 degrees. We should have some great spring conditions tomorrow!

Ski Patroller Dave Sills enjoying the fresh snow

Matt takes flight