SKIING THE TREES AND BUMPS AT SMUGGLERS’ NOTCH
As mentioned yesterday, I’m blacked out this week at my home mountain, which is Whiteface. Normally, I ski there after work during the week, but with me blacked out I’ve been skiing elsewhere. Fortunately, I’ve got a few options on my other passes. Yesterday, I headed up to Jay Peak after work. Today I chose to go to Smugglers’ Notch.
Riding the Madonna I lift.
Upper Chilcoot.
Smugglers’ Notch is only about 50 miles from my house, but I’ve got to take the ferry, so it comes out to about an hour and 15 minute drive, which isn’t too bad. I got to the mountain at 1:30 and skied until close at 4. Despite being a holiday week, the mountain wasn’t very busy, so I never waited in a line, which was nice.
Mount Mansfield and the slopes of Stowe.
The Presidential’s in New Hampshire.
Doc Dempsey’s Glades.
Weather wise it was a pretty nice day. As far as temperatures go, it was comfortable, with temperatures probably in the mid to upper 20s, and possibly the low 30s at the base. I can’t say with certainty, though, because I forgot to check! But it was warm enough that I decided not to wear a face mask. There were some clouds hanging around, but there were views in all directions. You could see neighboring Mount Mansfield, the Presidential’s over in New Hampshire, and even Jay Peak to the north. I know I’ve said this before, but I think this ski resort is underrated in terms of views. It’s a beautiful place to ski.
Smugglers’ Notch has a lot of terrain that’s left natural only, and I usually try to stick to that as much as possible, as I find the conditions to usually be better. The snow on the bumped runs and in the trees was great, as was the coverage. The groomers were fine, though I found them to be firm at times.
Black Bear.
Red Fox Glades.
Three Mtn. Glades.
Upper Rumrunner.
I started my afternoon skiing off Madonna Mountain. My most notable run today off Madonna was down Doc Dempsey’s Glades. While ‘glades’ is in the name, this is more so an actual trail with trees on it. There’s just enough trees to create some interesting obstacles, but not enough that it’s really a glade. The run is natural snow only, of course, and ungroomed.
Doc Dempsey’s Glades.
Doc Dempsey’s Glades.
Doc Dempsey’s Glades.
Doc Dempsey’s Glades.
Today, the headwall for the run was fairly rocky, as it seems to typically be, and there were some huge bumps beneath that. Funny enough, as I prepared to drop in, a family came by and determined it was too much for them. As they left, one of their kids told me they hoped I made it to the bottom safely. We all had a laugh and then I proceeded to ski the run. The initial top part, with the rocks and the big bumps, was fairly tough to navigate, but after that the big bumps turned smaller and it was a lot of fun. If you’re skiing Smuggs, this is one you don’t want to miss.
Moonshiner’s Glades.
Highlander Glade.
Poacher’s Woods.
Upper Pipeline.
After hitting some bumped runs, Doc Dempsey’s and some woods, like the Red Fox Glades and the Moonshiner’s Glades, I decided to leave Madonna and head for Sterling Mountain. One of my favorite glades at Smugglers’ Notch, the Highlander Glades, is located on Sterling and it was calling my name. I skied it first thing and jumped in to Poacher’s Woods immediately after. This is such a fun combo and makes for a great run. I got in a few runs off Sterling, and checked out Upper Pipeline, Full Nelson, Black Bear and more. These are all natural runs, and they all had great coverage, except for the final part of Upper Pipeline, which got fairly rocky. Once I got to that rocky section, I recalled experiencing the exact same thing on this run back in December. The bumps in the first part are just so inviting that I fell for it again.
Never Quit Skiing,
Lincoln