January 29, 2006: Weekend at Smugglers' Notch.

That was my first time skiing after returning from Crested Butte two weeks ago. Just the three of us (myself, Alena and Sophia) drove up to Smugglers' Friday night, skied for two days and drove back Sunday night.

Well, Crested Butte memories being fresh, my impressions are mixed...

Snow

The snow was actually quite good for New England, especially considering the summer-like weather of the past couple weeks. That said, it was certainly noticeably worse than anything we saw in Crested Butte. And by Sunday night it was primarily ice (and for you Westerners, I mean it: it's not what you call "firm icy snow", it's real ice, as good as the one that they play NHL games on).

Snowboarders

There certainly were snowboarders in Crested Butte, but skiers outnumbered them at least 4:1. Here in the East, snowboarders, most of them in their early teens, comprise at least half of mountain population. It's hard to live with it even when you are used to it, and it was absolutely unbearable coming from Crested Butte.

By the way, I always thought that snowboarders are so irritating and ignorant of their surroundings because of their average age. The last issue of the Ski Magazine clarified it for me: they have a huge blind spot. I never thought about it, but now I am realizing not all of them are idiots. Not that it makes my skiing life any easier, though...

Kids

Ski Magazine (again) ranked Smugglers' number 1 in North America in family/child programs last year. Looking at Sophia, I understand why. As usual at Smugglers', she had a blast both skiing and doing whatever they do for après (science show and a movie this time, if I remember correctly).

Trails

Apart from the ice, another thing that makes New England skiing difficult is narrow groomers. When a slope is crowded, it feels like like CA-91 Westbound in Corona at 8 AM (or at least the way CA-91 felt back when I used to drive there): you just have no choice but go with the speed of the car in front of you.

Smugglers' being a relatively big mountain, that's not a huge issue, as you can always find something less crowded, but if you find yourself on a blue groomer in that kind of traffic, that ruins the run.

Lifts

I am not sure if there is a person who went to Smugglers' and didn't complain about the lifts. Guess what, a local told me they are going to install a modern high-speed chair on Sterling after the next season. Not sure if it's true, but if it is, I am willing to wait a couple years.

Pictures

Alena was carrying the camera, so she took most of the pictures. Some are pretty nice.

Here is Sophia somewhere on the Morse Mountain (at the top of the Morse lift I think):

And that's me at the top of the Sterling lift:

And that's Alena in the same place:

A view from the top of Madonna mountain:

A view from somewhere midway down Madonna mountain:

A slightly different view from the same spot:

Sophia with Billy Bob Bear Sunday evening (she figured that it's a costume some time last winter, but she still loves him...perhaps it brings back the happy memories of her first visit to Smugglers' two years ago?):

Sophia with Mogul Mouse (she knows he's a costume, too, but to her the Mogul Mouse is probably synonymous with Smugglers Notch):

On the way back, it was snowing. I mean, it really was snowing, the Vermont's way. We stopped at a rest area on I-89 (Sharon, VT), and I took this picture: