The snow forecast was a bust with barely an inch of fresh. But the forecast wasn’t for much more and I hadn’t planned on a powder day. Word on the ‘net was that Smuggs was solid packed powder despite not much new snow during the last two weeks. So I did as I do when the snow is packed and the powder has long since been tracked: I go exploring.

Exploring at Smuggs can be extremely hazardous. Unintentional sucker tracks abound leading into non-existent lines, blowdown choked gullies, and the occasional cliff out. Even with good woods sense and a solid lay of the land, you can easily find yourself in no man’s land. Less skillful skiers might actually find lines far beyond their ability or a line only skiable with deep base and fresh snow, and even then just barely.

But the adventures skier that is ready to take a few branches to the face and slide under some blow downs and have a few “fuck me” runs will eventually be rewarded if they don’t hurt themselves first. It is my kind of mountain. A mountain where you can find lines that even I think are ridiculous. But given the conditions, I had my exploration meter turned down fairly low. Today was no day for aggro lines.

The Smuggs Extreme Skiing Challenge was setup on Liftline’s steepest pitch, arguably the steepest and nastiest on map line in the northeast. Conditions looked miserable and I would not have bothered skiing Liftline if it were open to the public. I noticed an abundance of ski patrol and safety equipment, with so many skiers going big on such a big line and in such poor conditions, it seemed inevitable at least one skier would probably get hurt.

I didn’t bother watching the comp as the skiing was quite good despite the packed nature of the snow. I hit some old favorites that I haven’t skied in a while and I returned to a few lines that I hadn’t skied in years. The trees at Smuggs are absolutely amazing. The trees at Mad River come close. The trees at Jay not even.

I skied until my legs couldn’t tolerate another run, my thirst for adventure was quenched.