Smuggler's Notch, VT 2/18/00

[JimB]

<I>(Note from the Administrator: This report was originally posted on 2/19/00. Due to our move to new servers, the date and time attributed to this post is incorrect.)</I> <BR> <BR>Untracked, all day. Trees and stashes, all day. Snowing, lightly, all day. Smiles, turns, friends, skiing, all day. The dream season continues... <BR> <BR>Hit several new-to-me places at Smuggs today with another international ski crew. Plaid dad-in-law Denis was delayed taking off from BWI in the am so didn't meet up with us until 2:30 but still got in a stash run off of Sterling and a Doc Dempsey's: enough to make him a Smuggs believer on his first day there. My third day there confirmed what I had already concluded last Friday with Mark and Marc: Smuggs has some of the finest trees in VT! Today we added some of the steepest trees in VT, as well. It wasn't anywhere near the Notch or the Back Bowls or the Army playground but on our last run the first twenty hop turns were some of the steepest I've found in VT. At least one or two souls had hit it earlier so any slough danger had passed but the landings were still sweet and soft. After the dicey entrance and a couple sweet 10'ers off boulders and ledges the lower part was completely untracked with thigh deep and some waist deep. <BR> <BR>Just about anywhere and everywhere in VT will be unreal tomorrow with unreal lift lines, unfortunately. Denis and I are taking a gamble on the BC and spotting a car at Underhill State Park, riding a lift at Stowe, skiing Teardrop, and then driving back to Stowe and getting our first ever run down Bruce. If we still have any energy we may hit a little more, but I think we'll be spent by then.