Our family’s annual holiday visit to Vermont’s Smugglers’ Notch always feels a bit like a homecoming. I was a Bash Badge holder there for a few seasons in the early ‘90s and have always appreciated Smuggs for its gladed skiing and genuinely heart-thumping steeps. But , in December, the steepest terrain will often be off limits until enough snow fills in the drops and covers the bigger rocks.
Like many of you, I obsess about snow. During the 10 days prior to our trip I kept a daily vigil on Smuggs’ No Bull Snow Report, which I’ve found to be reliable and accurate in the past. Like everyone else this season, my family and I lamented the lack of natural snow. But temperatures were good for blowing the manmade and I knew the snowmakers at Smuggs’ would do a good job. And, we got lucky. Madonna and Sterling mountains, the twin peaks that make up the greatest portion of the resort, were blanketed with between 10 and 12 inches of the real thing during the 48 hours before we arrived.
Aside from loving Smugglers’ Notch for its challenging terrain, I have also come to appreciate Smuggs for its attention to families with mixed abilities. In our case, we have two kids who are progressing skiers and my wife is a continually improving intermediate. Sounds like your family, doesn’t it? Smuggs is consistently top-rated for its concentration on the family experience, and our boys have enjoyed the benefits of the Smugglers’ Notch children’s programs.
On this trip, the boys, Ethan (14) and Becket (12), were booked into a two-hour morning lesson with the Kids Notch Squad and my wife Laura would join the resort’s Snowsport University for two hours of instruction while I re-familiarized myself with the available terrain.
After handing the boys off to Sam Lotto for their group lesson, and telling my wife I’d see her at lunchtime after her class, I joined our friends John and Lisa Stitt and their daughter Emily for a trip up Madonna, the tallest of Smugglers’ three mountains. As we neared the top I drank in the drops and bare boulders of Upper Liftline and looked longingly at Freefall and The Black Hole. Freefall and Upper Liftline would open a week later. The Black Hole was probably another one, or even two good storms away from getting enough cover to ski.
At the top I only glanced south for a minute because we were socked in (on clear days the 360-degree views are stunning), then looked at the ropes blocking the entrance to Liftline. I realized then that in 20 years of skiing at Smuggs, I had never skied Upper Liftline and I’d only been on the wooded pitch of The Black Hole once – and had to take off my skis and scramble out at that. One of these days, they are going to get ticked off my list.
On this day we were limited to probably 20-25 percent of the area’s trails, but the cover was excellent. Two trips up Madonna revealed loose surfaces integrated into a good carving base on the intermediate ridge-hugging Upper Chilcoot, Link, Lower Liftline and Drifter. Noiseless skiing. And, despite the tops of tall grasses poking through the surface, there was enough fluff on the steeper lead-in to Lower Liftline for a fun dash under the chair with just enough bumps to keep you honest.
But the best run of the morning, and I would repeat it two more times that afternoon, was McPherson’s. It’s a “double falline” pitch connecting Drifter to the M2 liftline. It’s rated an intermediate but that’s only because of its brevity. Ungroomed that day, it was a bit bumped up with boot-deep “chowder.”
After a trip up Sterling and finding better-than-expected surfaces of dry and loose snow on Rumrunner and somewhat mixed cover on Exhibition, I pulled up at the Ski School building to meet Laura and the boys and get a report on their lessons as our hosts headed back up for another run before lunch.
Over sandwiches and cookies, Ethan, Becket and Laura all reported successful mornings. Becket was pleased that Lotto took the kids into Highlander Glades and down Treasure Run to work on edging skills and planting their poles to initiate turns. (Was it possible I no longer had to chant, “use your poles, use your poles” when I skied with them?) Laura said her instructor, Gary Hopper, offered good advice on keeping her hands up front with her elbows out to “open the gate” with her poles. He also had her rest her poles horizontally on her forearms while skiing to get used to the proper positioning of her upper body. We all commented on the surprisingly good snow conditions as we quickly finished our refueling. We were in a hurry to get back outside and enjoy the snow.
We all paired up for another trip up Madonna and another run on Chilcoot. I hung back to watch the kids and Laura ski and could see immediately that all three were skiing with more self-assurance than I had remembered. Becket was flicking his poles on turns, Ethan was more upright and had developed a more fluid turning style and Laura was skiing with hands up and skis shoulder-width apart. Maybe they’d be joining me in Doc Dempsey’s Glades or on Upper F.I.S. on a successive trip!
At $75 for a two-hour lesson, the collective expertise of the Smugglers’ Notch Snow Sport University is well worth the new skills and confidence gained. Whether you are just starting out as a beginner, (regardless of age), or getting a technique tuneup as a level 8 skier, the instructors are ready to help any snowboarder or skier improve to have fun on the resort’s classic New England trails.
Smuggs is still all about families and our family is looking forward to another visit. More snow and more terrain would just be the icing on the cake.