rocojerry
Member
We were deciding on Stowe vs Smuggs for this fine St Pats saturday.
With the conditions of Mt Ellen the day before, I was hoping that potentially the northern facing Smuggs would fair better from last weeks melt more eastern facing Stowe or of course Spruce's southerly exposure which surely got beat up? It was surely spring skiing and conditions. The trails that were open were manageable and fun, while the ones that were closed were clearly done unless you like grass/rock hopping or have the old ski's/board to use.
So we took the extra time to drive around to Smuggs.. I was thinking the notch road( rt 108 ) was probably passable and snow-less, but still looks like the keep to the schedule and don't open it until may.
We started the day in lot 1, folks already tailgating by the time we arrived (11ish)...
We ski'd down to the base and got our tickets-- We started the day off on Madonna, and ski'd chilcoot. The top had a nice big soft bump section, but most of the trail was not bumped up and made for a nice long warmup. We decided to stick to Madonna's lower blues for a while -- the gnarly terrain of Smuggs was not open, and glades were also done, so I was on ski's instead of my board. Although later in the day I saw patrol checking out/skiing Madonna's liftline, looked technical/sparse and not that appealing -- but it was a good story to tell if they did open it. Drifter was not good. I heard good reports from FIS, but didn't venture over there myself. Off of Sterling, Rumrunner to the Snake/Bite was probably my favorite trail of the day...
Looking over the map now, I missed a lot... need to see more of their trails next time and get a bit earlier start.
Stowe in the distance
Its tailgate season, make sure the back of the truck has the grill/cooler and camp chairs!
With the conditions of Mt Ellen the day before, I was hoping that potentially the northern facing Smuggs would fair better from last weeks melt more eastern facing Stowe or of course Spruce's southerly exposure which surely got beat up? It was surely spring skiing and conditions. The trails that were open were manageable and fun, while the ones that were closed were clearly done unless you like grass/rock hopping or have the old ski's/board to use.
So we took the extra time to drive around to Smuggs.. I was thinking the notch road( rt 108 ) was probably passable and snow-less, but still looks like the keep to the schedule and don't open it until may.
We started the day in lot 1, folks already tailgating by the time we arrived (11ish)...
We ski'd down to the base and got our tickets-- We started the day off on Madonna, and ski'd chilcoot. The top had a nice big soft bump section, but most of the trail was not bumped up and made for a nice long warmup. We decided to stick to Madonna's lower blues for a while -- the gnarly terrain of Smuggs was not open, and glades were also done, so I was on ski's instead of my board. Although later in the day I saw patrol checking out/skiing Madonna's liftline, looked technical/sparse and not that appealing -- but it was a good story to tell if they did open it. Drifter was not good. I heard good reports from FIS, but didn't venture over there myself. Off of Sterling, Rumrunner to the Snake/Bite was probably my favorite trail of the day...
Looking over the map now, I missed a lot... need to see more of their trails next time and get a bit earlier start.
Stowe in the distance
Its tailgate season, make sure the back of the truck has the grill/cooler and camp chairs!
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