Smugglers' Notch

Infobox ski area
name = Smugglers' Notch Resort

picture = Smugglers-2004-0410b.jpg
caption = Smugglers' Notch as seen from the access road
location = Jeffersonville, Vermont
nearest_city = Burlington, Vermont
lat_degrees = 44
lat_minutes = 34
lat_seconds = 22
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 72
long_minutes = 46
long_seconds = 34
long_direction = W
top_elevation = 1111 m (3650 ft)
base_elevation = 323 m (1090 ft)
vertical = 796 m (2610 ft) [ [http://www.snocountry.com/snowclient/displayinfox.php?action=mountainstats&from=profile&permcode=802016 Smugglers' Notch Ski Reports, Snow Conditions and Weather - SnoCountry Mountain Reports ] ]
skiable_area =
number_trails = 78
miles_of_trails =
longest_run =
liftsystem = 8 (6 chairlifts, 2 surface lifts)
fast_quadchair =
quadchair =
triplechair =
doublechair =
lift_capacity =
terrainparks =
snowfall = 7.3 m/year (288 in./year)
external_link = [http://www.smuggs.com www.smuggs.com] |

Smugglers' Notch is a ski area in Jeffersonville, Vermont. 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 notch (mountain pass) running adjacent to Sterling Mountain, which smugglers used many years ago.Fact|date=November 2007

History

Smugglers' Notch was founded 1956, by a group of Vermont skiers. The first lifts were two pomas (or platter lifts) on Sterling Mountain.

In the early 1960s, Tom Watson, Jr., Chairman of IBM, became involved with mountain. 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. It is said that Watson placed the bottom of the Madonna I chairlift several feet below the lodge to obtain the honor 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 some of his business holdings and sold Smuggs to Snider and Stanmar, who operated the resort for years. At that time Terpstra and Morrow constructed a large in-ground pool and 24 four-bedroom, four-bath, pool-front luxury condominiums. Terpstra is still a very active property owner at the entrance of the resort. 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.

Area

Smugglers' 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 1920s, using the same caves as a cache for smuggled Canadian beer, wine, and spirits.Scenic Smugglers' 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 Vermont Route 108 winds through switchbacks below, connecting Smuggler's Notch Resort with adjacent Stowe Mountain Resort a few miles to the south. The road is closed to cars November–April, but open to snowmobilers and winter sports enthusiasts.

Conditions

"Smuggs" claims the second highest snowfall average in Vermont behind Jay Peak. A fleet of Hall double chairlifts service a variety of terrain, including novice trails at Morse Mountain and The Village area and intermediate and expert terrain on the main mountains, Sterling and Madonna.

ummer

In addition to winter activities, Smugglers' Notch offers swimming and day camps in the summer.

External links

* [http://www.smuggs.com Official website]
* [http://www.smuggs.com/pages/winter/snowReport/ Smuggs snow report]
* [http://www.smuggs.com/pages/winter/skiride/trail-map.php Ski map]

References