Smuggler's Notch Help

I'm planning to go over to Smuggler's Notch from Lake Placid on Thursday with my son to meet some friends. I've never been there and was wondering if anyone could provide some helpful tips.

First, what's the best route to follow to get there? Should I "stay on the road", and go up to Rouse's Point and then come down I-89, or would I be better off getting the Cumberland Head Ferry? (my primary concern is time ... I want the quickest route)

Looks like if I "time it right", the ferry would be the better option, but I guess the question is whether or not there's a long wait to cross from NY to VT early on a weekday morning ... say at around 7:00 am. Is there typically a line of cars waiting, or can I expect to drive right on?

Once I'm there, are there any "don't miss" trails I should get to?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

you are going to have so much fun.

When I was making that run I would alwasy take 74 into Ft. Ticonderoga and take the bridge over---that was back in late 80's so I'm sure traffic flow has chamge greatly since then.

As far as must hit trails, hit everything off of M1, it's all good. Doc's, Robins Run, Black Hole, Sallies Alley, Liftline, Freefall etc, etc. of course that all depends on snow. If you're lucky enough to hook up w/ a local maybe you could convince them to take you back into the Birthday Bowls.

Enjoy, the place is special. I'd rather ski there than Stowe--PERIOD.

The bridge will take much longer.  Take the ferry from just a couple exits north of Plattsburgh on 87 which takes you to Grand Island.  The bridge would add about an hour.  That time of the day there are at least 3 ferries running so the wait is 5 mins max.

But if you were going to Jay Peak instead then you take the Rousses Point Bridge.

I have nothing (useful) to add, but I'd really appreciate some posted pics from Smuggs. I'm very interested in that place.  

do what CoachZee posted.  Ferry is fastest option.   Rouses Point Bridge is the Jay Peak route.  

I've only skied there once and it was a long time ago...  

Hit up Piecasso pizzia joint on 108 in Stowe.  Our bro George manages the place.  Great Pizzia!  Cool place.  

http://www.piecasso.com/

Smuggs to Stowe is a real pain in a car, but Piecasso is a good place.

I really like Smuggs. Seriously, bring warm clothes and mittens though. Those are cold long fixed grip double chairs, lots of vert in a single shot. M1 is crazy steep, too!

One other thing---DMC drum roll please......


You may have wind hold on M1----happens frequently

Thanks all for the help ... looks like the ferry is going to be the way to go.

Harv, I'll see what I can do about pictures.

Unfortunately, it looks like I'm not going to be hitting it at its best, but, that's life!

Snow in the forecast every day, they should be able to get some of that stuff open.

ScottyJack wrote

do what CoachZee posted.  Ferry is fastest option.   Rouses Point Bridge is the Jay Peak route.  

I've only skied there once and it was a long time ago...  

Hit up Piecasso pizzia joint on 108 in Stowe.  Our bro George manages the place.  Great Pizzia!  Cool place.  

http://www.piecasso.com/

You can not get to Stowe from Smugg's in the winter the road is closed and its about 75 mins to drive around to the other side

Coach Z wrote

ScottyJack wrote

do what CoachZee posted.  Ferry is fastest option.   Rouses Point Bridge is the Jay Peak route.  

I've only skied there once and it was a long time ago...  

Hit up Piecasso pizzia joint on 108 in Stowe.  Our bro George manages the place.  Great Pizzia!  Cool place.  

http://www.piecasso.com/

You can not get to Stowe from Smugg's in the winter the road is closed and its about 75 mins to drive around to the other side

You can ski over

Think you're gonna hit it good

from Smuggs via FB


"‎6 to 9 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours and we are expecting another 4 to 7 inches of snow in the next 24 hours! We now have 73 trails open! Photo taken February 20th, 2013 in the Black Hole by Hugh Johnson."

campgottagopee wrote

Think you're gonna hit it good

from Smuggs via FB


"‎6 to 9 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours and we are expecting another 4 to 7 inches of snow in the next 24 hours! We now have 73 trails open! Photo taken February 20th, 2013 in the Black Hole by Hugh Johnson."

Sweet!!! Thanks for the update ... hope the drive over won't be too bad!

Oh man, wish I could be at Smuggs tomorrow. You are going to have such a great time!

Work is really cramping my style. :(

15" overnight, still snowing!!

Ok, I'm ready. HOW GOOD WAS IT?!??!?!?!

Sorry for the delay ... just got back a little while ago.

The good and the bad ...

The good ... there was a good amount of light fresh powder, I'd say anywhere from 8 - 12 inches, maybe even a little bit more.

The bad ... it was so badly wind-blown, that you could go from knee deep light powder, to boiler-plate, back to knee deep powder, all in about 50 feet of trail!!!

The friends we were meeting are not the "best" skiers, and since we were their guests, and they got us free lift tickets, I didn't feel right about "ditching" them (even on a powder day), so we didn't ski it the way we would have if it was just me and my son. Having said that, we (my son & I) still had a really good time today.

The following is just my opinion, so just bear that in mind before you bash me for it.

My overall impression of Smuggs, is that if you don't hit it on a powder day, and/or if the glades aren't in good shape, it's a very intermediate mountain at best. Many of the trails just traverse back and forth across the fall line, and for those trails that do go down the fall line, the steep shots are very short. There's definitely some really steep stuff, but for the most part, one, maybe two turns, and it's over.

We skied a bunch of glades, but by no means, all of them. My favorite was Doc Dempsey. There was a ton of fresh powder in there, and it was VERY widely spaced ... you could really just zip through there without giving it too much thought. My second favorite, was Bootlegger's Woods (this one reminded me & my son of Cloudsplitter Glades at Whiteface, only Bootlegger's was a lot longer). I only skied it once, which was a mistake ... I really should have tried to get in there a second time. Shakedown was also really nice.

There was no one there at all ... we skied right onto the lift every time we came down. It think the longest we waited to get on was 2 chairs!

Not too much else to say. We definitely had a great time, and I'd certainly go back, but I'd probably be really careful about timing my visit to snowfall.

Thanks again for everyone's help. I didn't take too many pictures, and I haven't looked at the ones I took yet. I'll check them out tomorrow, and if there are any good ones, I'll post them.

By the way, the ferry was definitely the way to go. Travel time from Lake Placid to Smuggs was 2 hours 30 minutes. Return trip was exactly the same.

Glad you had a good time. Too bad you couldn't get into the good stuff. Being a WF skier I can see why you would think it's an itermediate mountain, but with snow it ain't. As for the steep stuff being short, well, if you can take the headwall on liftline or freefall in one or two turns you are an ANIMAL!!!

campgottagopee wrote

Glad you had a good time. Too bad you couldn't get into the good stuff. Being a WF skier I can see why you would think it's an intermediate mountain, but with snow it ain't. As for the steep stuff being short, well, if you can take the headwall on liftline or freefall in one or two turns you are an ANIMAL!!!

^NAILED IT!^

Face, when you ski WF, do you ever climb the troll road... cause you be TROLLING!

Sorry you had some beginners to show you around. The tough stuff, the unmarked woods, and the bc are all really cool, and it's no intermediate mountain. That's like saying you skied WF, but didn't make it to the upper mountain because it was all on wind hold.