mediamogul
New member
Date(s) Skied: 2/25/12
Resort or Ski Area: Smugglers Notch
Conditions: Powder for Days!!! 24" (No exaggeration!)
Trip Report: An amazing day on the hill! First time going to Smuggs. Great mountain with loads of powder to be had!
With that said our day started on an extremely frustrating note. My wife-to-be and I drove up from Northampton, MA at 3:30am to be on the hill around first chair. The drive up wasn't terrible but upon entering the resort we had to most difficult time finding the Base Lodge, possibly because all the signs were covered in snow. We initially parked at the Morse base but then discovered that was not the Main Base lodge. When we tried to leave the car got stuck in the snow and we had to dig it out. This took about 20 mins and the lifts were beginning to load. So we drove up the road to the Madonna base and got suited up in the Lodge. When we went to the ticket window I tried to use my WCAX voucher at the ticket window the ticketperson rudely said I could use it thereand shoved the voucher back at me and said "next". No further explanation. I asked the guy shoveling the area and he was endlessly more helpful. Then after another 15 minutes of attempting to find the shuttle back to Morse to find the season pas office (BTW the shuttle stop was an unmarked wooden bench at the bottom of a treacherous snow covered flight of stairs) Traded in our vouchers at the pass office and FINALLY we were on a lift, moving up the mountain. It only took two and a half hours after we arrived. The worst part was watching the snow falling this entire time. Anyways, on to the skiing:
Madonna I was down all day on wind hold. Rode Madonna II for the majority of the day with runs off of Sterling interspersed. The snow was DEEP everywhere. Waist deep in places. Glad I packed the pow skis. The glades skied amazingly. Some highlights were the Bermuda Glade and Norwegian Woods. Skiied Pipeline off of Sterling, was the only trail of the day that was really scratchy through the middle section. Hangman's Drop was good. There was not a single run that we did today that did not include a glade. Powder Keg and Highlander were good too. Nothing like boucing off of soft piles of snow. The only regret of the day is that I couldn't ski the upper mountain. Was hoping to do Liftline and Doc Dempsey's glades but maybe next time.Whoever got first chair today had some unbelievable turns this AM I'm sure. Despite the day's early frsutration it was awesome on the hill and as soon as skis hit snow that all seemed like the distant past.
Enough talk. On to the pics:
First Chair Ride Up
View attachment 4968
Bermuda Glade
View attachment 4969
Moonshiner Glade
Shire Glade
Me Bermuda Glade
Resort or Ski Area: Smugglers Notch
Conditions: Powder for Days!!! 24" (No exaggeration!)
Trip Report: An amazing day on the hill! First time going to Smuggs. Great mountain with loads of powder to be had!
With that said our day started on an extremely frustrating note. My wife-to-be and I drove up from Northampton, MA at 3:30am to be on the hill around first chair. The drive up wasn't terrible but upon entering the resort we had to most difficult time finding the Base Lodge, possibly because all the signs were covered in snow. We initially parked at the Morse base but then discovered that was not the Main Base lodge. When we tried to leave the car got stuck in the snow and we had to dig it out. This took about 20 mins and the lifts were beginning to load. So we drove up the road to the Madonna base and got suited up in the Lodge. When we went to the ticket window I tried to use my WCAX voucher at the ticket window the ticketperson rudely said I could use it thereand shoved the voucher back at me and said "next". No further explanation. I asked the guy shoveling the area and he was endlessly more helpful. Then after another 15 minutes of attempting to find the shuttle back to Morse to find the season pas office (BTW the shuttle stop was an unmarked wooden bench at the bottom of a treacherous snow covered flight of stairs) Traded in our vouchers at the pass office and FINALLY we were on a lift, moving up the mountain. It only took two and a half hours after we arrived. The worst part was watching the snow falling this entire time. Anyways, on to the skiing:
Madonna I was down all day on wind hold. Rode Madonna II for the majority of the day with runs off of Sterling interspersed. The snow was DEEP everywhere. Waist deep in places. Glad I packed the pow skis. The glades skied amazingly. Some highlights were the Bermuda Glade and Norwegian Woods. Skiied Pipeline off of Sterling, was the only trail of the day that was really scratchy through the middle section. Hangman's Drop was good. There was not a single run that we did today that did not include a glade. Powder Keg and Highlander were good too. Nothing like boucing off of soft piles of snow. The only regret of the day is that I couldn't ski the upper mountain. Was hoping to do Liftline and Doc Dempsey's glades but maybe next time.Whoever got first chair today had some unbelievable turns this AM I'm sure. Despite the day's early frsutration it was awesome on the hill and as soon as skis hit snow that all seemed like the distant past.
Enough talk. On to the pics:
First Chair Ride Up
View attachment 4968
Bermuda Glade
View attachment 4969
Moonshiner Glade
Shire Glade
Me Bermuda Glade
