Border War! Vermont vs. New Hampshire Skiing Part 3 – Smugglers’ Notch
JEFFERSONVILLE, VT – First chair at the place that had the best snow: that was the game plan, but I was having trouble executing it….
But then, like the first ray of sunshine over a mountain’s brow that illuminates the valley below in a crown of glory, there it was, exactly what I was looking for: over two feet of powder at Smugglers’ Notch and almost everything slated to be open for the weekend. I could make a good run at hitting almost every trail worthy of note.
A few clicks and it was done; my pass would be waiting for me when I arrived at the mountain. As I put down the phone, a satisfied smile spread broadly across my face. Jackpot! With that luck, I ought to go rob a bank; they’d never catch me. Historic Smugglers’ Notch! – where for over 200 years its coves and caverns were the scene of swashbuckling adventure, first during the Napoleonic Wars, then later during Prohibition, two of the most defining eras in America’s history. Scenic Smugglers’ Notch! – perhaps of the prettiest of all Vermont’s winter destinations, tucked cozily in the shadow of Mount Mansfield the highest point in the state. And rugged Smugglers’ Notch! – reputed by one and all to be home of perhaps the rowdiest, gnarliest, steepest terrain in the East. It’s a bucket list place to be sure, a must-place pin for your skiing map.
Vermont has always been a hotspot for colorful history, with many of its towns founded decades before the Revolutionary War began, and Smugglers’ Notch is easily among the most iconic, romantic, and fascinating locales.
“They smuggled everything through the Notch: booze, provisions, even cattle and other livestock,” explains resort public relations maven Mike Chait, himself quite a history buff, “first during the years leading up to the War of 1812, and then again during prohibition.”
Smuggs, as it’s known to its friends, is divided into three parts. From left to right as the skier faces uphill you see Morse Mountain (the beginner and novice area), Madonna Mountain (where most of the expert terrain is found, but home to many intermediates as well), and Sterling Peak (home to most of the intermediate trails, with a fistful of advanced/expert terrain)….Smuggs’ three mountains are somewhat sequestered from each other with Morse particularly isolated, sitting below and to one side of the other slopes. The total vertical drop for the resort is listed as 2,610 feet, however that’s misleading as it measures from the top of Madonna to the bottom of Morse, but the two mountains aren’t truly connected. From a summit of 3,640 feet, the vertical drop of Madonna is still a stern and difficult 2,010, while the vertical drop of Sterling is an equally respectable 1,410 feet from a summit of roughly 3,000. Madonna and Sterling have one or two trails that connect each other and criss-crossing between the two is easy.
We don’t just write about skiing, we write about the people who ski. It’s the personalities that color our sports that give us the greatest happiness….well, that and shredding moguls. Now as Winston Wolf famously said in Pulp Fiction, just because you are a character, doesn’t mean you have character. Happily, at Smuggs they have character-filled characters colorful enough to fill the rolodex of Central Casting, with nicknames to boot. There’s Rockin’ Ron, Straight Nate, Big Mike, and Hugh Johnson, whose nickname is too colorful to put in print, but rest assured, he earned it for his sublime skiing. A heart as big as his smile!
Mike and Hugh took me on an exhilarating tour of Sterling that afternoon, everywhere from the Pond to the Balcony and down every trail of note I didn’t have a chance to hit during the morning session, including Full Nelson and Black Snake, the best bumped-out, black diamond joyrides of the day. Hugh is not only the resort’s in-house writer, he’s reputed to be the finest skier on the mountain. Who says wedeling is dead? The goal is to ski an aesthetic line, make it pretty, so I just skied in Hugh’s tracks, and together we looked like one of those Swiss instructional videos. The only thing missing was somebody yodeling as a soundtrack.
They call the mountain’s inimitable and infectious vibe “Smuggs Love,” and they mean it. The sentiment is dead solid perfect. There’s a reason why this small, homespun resort has grown to become on of America’s most celebrated and beloved: Smugglers is the perfect mix of tough, character filled terrain and family fun. Smuggs is one of those places that you’ll never forget you visited, no matter how old you get. It’s too much fun, and the people are supercool. They make you feel like you’ve been friends for years. Every guest gets treated like family.
Dripping with character and loaded with characters, i.e. every local you meet, it’s a northern rejoinder and metaphoric bookend to southern Vermont’s Magic Mountain. Also, like Magic, it’s independently owned, reasonably priced, and locally controlled.
To read all of Jay’s article, click here: Border War! Vermont vs. New Hampshire Skiing Part 3 – Smugglers’ Notch
Posted from JayFlemma.com
