Smuggs, VT: 3/19/10 <3

[riverc0il]

Bailed on a skin up Mount Washington today due to a variety of factors but I am fine with that decision given how great Smuggs was today. I love that damn ski area! Got there at 10a and things were still a little firm but by noon time everything was ready.

F.I.S. was OFF THE HOOK!!! Probably a top five bump day today due to that one trail alone. Insanely good spring bumps, perfect condition, good lines, nice size and pitch, etc. I explored other parts of the mountain including Doc's, Freefall, the part of Liftline that was open, the liftline trail under M2, drifter, and the Sterling liftline... nothing compared to F.I.S. though Freefall was really full adventure skiing with a brief area requiring side stepping down some grass and a few monster bumps and some rock. Rockin' good time for sure! I skied until my legs quite around 3:30p and the shade was starting to come down on F.I.S.

Views of Mansfield were stunning. What an incredible one two punch these two mountains are.

For tomorrow I am thinking..... MRG. Gotta get my legs in shape for the Loaf bump comp next weekend.

 

[NHpowderhound]

Damn Riv! I had 4 freebies to Smuggs I just GAVE away at Jay this week. Wish I knew bro, they wouldve been yours in a heartbeat.
Good to hear they are holding up.

((*
*))NHPH

 

[riverc0il]

Damn Riv! I had 4 freebies to Smuggs I just GAVE away at Jay this week. Wish I knew bro, they wouldve been yours in a heartbeat.
Good to hear they are holding up.

((*
*))NHPH

No worries, NHPH, but I appreciate the thought! I am struggling to use up my vouchers from this season. So while my skiing at Smuggs was not exactly "free", I would not have been able to take advantage of your freebie tickets regardless due to needing to use up my vouchers.

 

[NHpowderhound]

I gave the the tix to some local folks I have known from my years of skiing Jay. I considered it an investment. Good people up there. It's nice to come back and have employees calling me by my first name as soon as they see me. Jay vibe.

Never skied Smuggs and was hoping to use those tix myself/kid but I just had to bring my son to the place he has heard me speak of for years. He was ready.

How was the snowpack around the mountain?

((*
*))NHPH

 

[riverc0il]

How was the snowpack around the mountain?

Snow pack was REALLY good. Excepting Robin's Run and sections of Liftline, everything was open. Out of the open trails, the only thin spot I encountered was a minor grass/rock/ice section on Freefall that required side slipping. Otherwise, the place is completely 100% covered including the base area.

Dude, you gotta get to Smuggs! You'll love it there. Though I didn't ski trees on Friday, I would rate Smuggs trees significantly better than Jay's trees. They don't get as much natural snow, but the tree skiing there is ridiculously good.

 

[riverc0il]

Doc Dempsey's and Upper F.I.S.:

Yes, the bumps are even better than they look!

 

[NHpowderhound]

G,head rub it in! ;-)

((*
*))NHPH

 

[powbmps]

Bumps look almost as good as seeded ones ;-).








Just kidding. Those bumps look great. Nice lines!

 

[riverc0il]

Bumps look almost as good as seeded ones ;-).

Just kidding. Those bumps look great. Nice lines!

The picture does not really do the lines justice. They were very much "natural" lines (unseeded, I guess you would say?) but the lines were sensational. You needed to keep your head up and look three bumps ahead and see where the line went. Sometimes it zig zagged but that made it fun stringing together line after line, sometimes traveling half way across the trail with the given line I found.