Smuggs, VT: 01/09/10 <3

[riverc0il]

WOW! I LOVE SMUGGS!!!!

Finally, after years and years of having it on the to do list, I got to Smuggs. Pity that it took me so long. Boot to knee deep untracked in the woods all day. Sensational woods!!! Liftline is by far the hardest on map trail in the east, I think it is safe to say. Mountain reported 6-8" but I think that is conservative and shots that had not been skied all week were epic to say the least! I am not going to make the call until I visit one or two more times.... but this could be my new favorite mountain. Absolutely in my top three without a doubt. Been wanting to make my first day their a good one.... today was damn special.

More later...

 

[deadheadskier]

how were the lift lines? That's really my only complaint about the place. It definitely has the goods.

Did you venture off the back side at all?

 

[roark]

Nice, still on the hit list for me. Let me know when you go again. I'll drag djspookman with us and make him show us all his secrets....

 

[riverc0il]

how were the lift lines? That's really my only complaint about the place. It definitely has the goods.

Did you venture off the back side at all?

The fear of lift lines had kept me away in the past and was definitely a concern today when I was heading up. However, lift lines were virtually ski on for all lifts, all day. I think I waiting one minute tops for the Madonna 1 lift. I had good vibes regarding my day selection... the weekend after and before a pair of major holidays and before the college kids are back in town as well. Hit it just right. Hard to believe lifts were ski on all day with 6-8" new and WAY more than that in the woods. Must be great mid-week after a dump.

No backside as I was alone. I was going to give it a go as I figured I would just stay skier's right and keep some tracks in sight... but I just didn't feel comfortable doing it a first time solo.

 

[severine]

Nice! My aunt has a timeshare there and we were told we might be able to use it sometime. Will have to consider that now.

 

[riverc0il]

Okay, I had been thinking Jay today but I had a "gut feeling" that today was the right day for my first trip to Smuggs. 2.5 hour drive was not too bad, only a half hour longer than Jay and same drive time as Mansfield. Game plan was to kill the steep stuff on Madonna first and then find low angle on M2 and then head over to Sterling. I had grabbed my 8000s not knowing how much they got. Suffice to say, I switched to my Atua's for the second run. That was the only time I have ever switched up to a fatter ski, usually if I switch skis after the first run, it is a down grade.

Liftline looked incredible but I forced myself to take a warm up run first. Took Liftline on my second run even though I was not fully warmed up as I suspected conditions would deteriorate quickly. Sadly, I did not have my A game with me and this trail is unkind to the B game. You pretty much have to be comfortable with getting air to ski this trail, which is where my A game failed me. Nice audience above... makes Red Line at Magic and Chute at MRG look like Blue Squares. No kidding. Makes skiing the Headwall at Tuckerman seem like a walk in the park. My back is still sore from that run, wow!

Freefall and Robin's Run were fairly rocky. I didn't even bother with DocD's and FIS which were way bumped up. Took to the woods and man were the woods good. Boot to knee deep everywhere with drifts up to thigh deep. It was weird showing up to a mountain and not knowing how to work it or where to go... but I figured things out pretty quickly to sensational results.

This day was so full of win all around. Exploring a new mountain is such a rare thing for me and the sense of discovery was wonderful and at times even overwhelming. Chatting with a life long Smuggs skier on one lift ride, I mentioned how I used to be a pass holder at Jay and he mentioned how much he loved the trees at Jay. I was dumbfounded, Smuggs trees were way better than Jay based on my tiny sampling! It may just be a case of "grass is greener" and "familiarity breeds contempt." Or... he could have just been off his rocker.

One great thing about Smuggs is all Hall Doubles. And on every lift ride, I had an actual conversation with complete strangers from all different skiing and riding perspectives. It was pretty cool though me and one guy did disagree on the need for a high speed lift for Smuggs. Doubles suit me just fine!

Liftline... well, a little less than 20% of it and it all pretty much looks like this to varying degrees.

 

[billski]

I feel bad now. I guess the half dozen or so times I've been to Smugglers have been mediocre days and trail conditions that bordered on unloved. I probably would have had more fun in preschool day care!

Maybe you just picked it right day and conditions. I'm a bit astounded since it's right after a holiday, which I would have expected to be a mob scene and everything tracked out. Maybe they all left before the dump. I'll bet that's what happened.

Unlike trail lappers, I actually don't mind slow doubles at all, except on a windy rainy day!

 

[riverc0il]

I think the in between holiday weekends worked to my benefit. Holiday skiers likely got out Christmas weekend, Christmas vacation week, or New Years weekend or plan to get out on MLK weekend. This was the weekend in the middle of all the holiday weekends so I think that gap effect worked out. As far as the powder, it snowed all week up there and holiday skiers are not off map tree skiers. I am dumb founded that I found staff that may have been left over from last Sunday though (knee deep+). I hit it about as right as could possibly be.

 

[billski]

I'll bet tomorrow will be a nice day there too. Cold, but nice.
I just dropped my daughter off at the airport, heading back to college. She's planning her first ski trip with friends for spring break. Now THAT's my idea of a spring break!

 

[deadheadskier]

The fear of lift lines had kept me away in the past and was definitely a concern today when I was heading up. However, lift lines were virtually ski on for all lifts, all day. I think I waiting one minute tops for the Madonna 1 lift. I had good vibes regarding my day selection... the weekend after and before a pair of major holidays and before the college kids are back in town as well. Hit it just right. Hard to believe lifts were ski on all day with 6-8" new and WAY more than that in the woods. Must be great mid-week after a dump.

No backside as I was alone. I was going to give it a go as I figured I would just stay skier's right and keep some tracks in sight... but I just didn't feel comfortable doing it a first time solo.

Nice

You caught it just right. Smuggs most Saturdays = 15 minute wait for Madonna, 30+ for Sterling.

Don't make the mistake of skipping the backside because you're 'alone' again. It's incredible, but busy back there. No different than skiing a marked glade really.

glad you finally made it to Smuggs. Did you ski Liftline? I agree with you that it's probably the most difficult marked run in the east.

 

[deadheadskier]

oops, posted before I read your extended TR. Jealous you got Liftline in the condition you di. Rare

 

[riverc0il]

oops, posted before I read your extended TR. Jealous you got Liftline in the condition you di. Rare

I am somewhat trying to temper my enthusiasm with the understanding that the entire day was rare for many reasons! Indeed, Liftline skied very well and was quite powdery even on the steeps though the rocks and ledges were quite worn down. The flatter sections had boot to knee deep untracked. The first pitch was completely wind blown but was the easiest section so that was fine as well.

I can understand 15 minutes but I am surprised Sterling can back up to 30 minutes, yikes!

 

[deadheadskier]

Sterling is where the majority of cruising terrain is, some of their terrain parks, racing trail etc. It's also a shorter, less cold ride and provides access to most of the slack country.

It amazes me that Smuggs does so well with families despite having such issues with lift lines. Mid-week the place is a dream, but I wont be in a hurry to return on a weekend; though I might take a look at the weekend you chose for next season if the conditions are good.

 

[polski]

2.5 hour drive was not too bad, only a half hour longer than Jay and same drive time as Mansfield.

When you say Mansfield do you mean to differentiate from Stowe somehow? Not seeing how drive time from NH(/MA) can be same to Smuggs as to Stowe in the winter. Am I missing something? Not talking about riding a chair up Stowe and skiing over to Smuggs, either.

 

[riverc0il]

When you say Mansfield do you mean to differentiate from Stowe somehow? Not seeing how drive time from NH(/MA) can be same to Smuggs as to Stowe in the winter. Am I missing something? Not talking about riding a chair up Stowe and skiing over to Smuggs, either.

I go east to west via Route 2 to Route 15. From the intersection of Route 100 and Route 15, it is the same drive time to either mountain coming in from the north side.

 

[polski]

I go east to west via Route 2 to Route 15. From the intersection of Route 100 and Route 15, it is the same drive time to either mountain coming in from the north side.

I see - because I-89 isn't a viable option for you. Coming from NE MA I can get to Stowe in ~3 hrs via 93N-89N-100N-108N. Looks to me like there wouldn't be much difference whether I did 93N-89N-100N-15W-108S or 93N-2W-15W-108S - either way probably 3:45 or so, which puts it a little beyond day-trip range for me.

 

[riverc0il]

I see - because I-89 isn't a viable option for you. Coming from NE MA I can get to Stowe in ~3 hrs via 93N-89N-100N-108N. Looks to me like there wouldn't be much difference whether I did 93N-89N-100N-15W-108S or 93N-2W-15W-108S - either way probably 3:45 or so, which puts it a little beyond day-trip range for me.

Anything north of Killington, I either go straight across NH (MRV) or up to StJ (Stowe, Smuggs, Jay, of course Burke). Killington still requires back roads to get down to West Leb. I don't drive too much highway in VT except for going to Jay.

 

[JD]

The fear of lift lines had kept me away in the past and was definitely a concern today when I was heading up. However, lift lines were virtually ski on for all lifts, all day. I think I waiting one minute tops for the Madonna 1 lift. I had good vibes regarding my day selection... the weekend after and before a pair of major holidays and before the college kids are back in town as well. Hit it just right. Hard to believe lifts were ski on all day with 6-8" new and WAY more than that in the woods. Must be great mid-week after a dump.

No backside as I was alone. I was going to give it a go as I figured I would just stay skier's right and keep some tracks in sight... but I just didn't feel comfortable doing it a first time solo.

Off the madonna ;ift skiers right, at then end of the fence.....skin back up chilcoot. Piece of cake. I love the notch.

 

[4aprice]

Now THAT's my idea of a spring break!

I spent all my spring breaks on snow usually in Colorado.

Riv: Having spent alot of my youth at Smugglers Notch (then called Madonna Mt) I'm glad to see you had a good time there and actually got to ski Madonna Lift Line. Doc Dempsey's used to be my favorite glade trail but when I was there a couple of seasons ago they had cleared about 50% of the trees and taken away a lot of the character. Too bad the old interconnect with Stowe is virtually gone.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[campgottagopee]

Off the madonna ;ift skiers right, at then end of the fence.....skin back up chilcoot. Piece of cake. I love the notch.

Why not just go straight behind the bullwheel off of Sterling---cross the pond then skiers right???? Ain't that easier???