Smuggler's Notch
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| Smuggler's Notch Resort | |
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| Type of Company | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1956 |
| Headquarters | Jeffersonville, VT |
| Industry | Ski resort |
| Website | www.smuggs.com |
Smuggler's Notch is a ski area in Jeffersonville, VT. It consists of three ski mountains: Morse Mountain, with terrain geared more towards families and beginners, and Sterling and Madonna Mountains, geared more towards advanced skiers and snowboarders. Its namesake is a narrow mountain road running adjacent to Sterling Mountain which smugglers used many years ago.
[edit] History
Smuggler's Notch was founded 1956, by a group of Vermont skiers. The first lifts were two pomas (or platter lifts) on Sterling mountain.
Smuggler's Notch never made any money in the first seven years of its exsistence, until it was discovered by Tom Watson, Jr., who was the Chairman of IBM at that time. The site of the Village today was an open field and logging station Watson envisioned a village patterned after those found in Europe. Soon, he developed the other mountains, Morse and Madonna. Never to be outdone Watson placed the bottom of the Madonna I chairlift several feet below the lodge to get the prize of owning the world's longest bottom-drive chairlift at the time.
After this was done, Watson started on the Village at Morse that he had envisioned. He hired Stanley Snider of Stanmar, a Massachusetts-based developer and Martha's Vineyard resort owner, to create that village. After a heart attack, Watson began to divest in his pet projects and sold Smuggs to Snider and Stanmar, who operated the resort for years. They hired AT&T's Bill Stritzler, who owned a home at Smuggs, as the Managing Director of the resort. When Snider retired, he sold the resort to Stritzler.
[edit] Area
Smuggler's Notch namesake comes from the smugglers almost 200 years ago, who used the thick forest on the mountain range and the caves and caverns along the Long Trail to transport illegal or embargoed goods across the Canadian border. The notch was most likely involved in bootlegging during the prohibition-era of the 1920's, using the same caves as a cache for smuggled candadian whiskey, rum, and other liquors.
Scenic Smuggler's Notch proper is comprised of the Sterling Mountain/Spruce Peak ridgeline to the east, and Mount Mansfield to the west. Extremely steep terrain drops down into the notch where VT route 108 winds through switchbacks below, connecting Smuggler's Notch Resort with adjacent Stowe Mountain a few miles to the south. The road is closed to cars November-April, but open to snowmobilers and winter sports enthuisiasts.
[edit] Conditions
"Smuggs" is blessed with the second highest snowfall average in Vermont behind Jay Peak. A fleet of old double-chairs accesses the terrain. While these antiquated lifts are slow and low-capacity, they manage to keep the on-hill crowds well regulated on the descent. While Morse Mountain and The Village area are geared toward the family market, the main mountains- Sterling and Madonna- pack a punch. Very steep, rocky terrain and glade skiing prevails on the upper reaches of these mountains, spilling out on to classic New England intermediate cruisers below.
Smuggs primary drawback is location for those coming from regions to the south. Thus, only during peak vacation weeks are there any noticeable crowds. With proximity to Burlington, locals enjoy its classic feel, challenging terrain, and good snow coverage- and weekend crowds, though nothing compared to southern VT, can exist to some degree after a big dump.
