Glade Country

Glade: A tract of land with few or no trees in the middle of a wooded area where skiing is done back and forth through the trees.


Few are as photogenic as a Phish-friendly, Ben & Jerry enjoying, modern-day liberal Vermonter. This burly left-leaning boarder offered to take my picture but I insisted that I take his. Vermont holds a storied snowboarding history with founders like Jake Burton of Burton Snowboards hailing from Londonderry, Vermont and the first National Snowboard race held near Woodstock, Vermont in the early 1980's. But snowboarding and skiing aren't the only activities Smuggs has to offer.

Nola and I kept pace today with tube sliding, snowshoe tours, speed skiing, cross-country skiing and even ice skating. I also found time to click off a few shots of the family 'FunZone' entertainment center, lap pool, hot tubs, village stores and many restaurants.

After dark, a small stone hearth just outside our condo is lighted for roasting marshmallows and staring at the stars. Smuggs is a romantic vacation paradise deep inside a cavernous valley of tall pines and frosty peaks. Mount Mansfield, the highest peak in the Green Mountains and a range of surrounding hilltops silhouette against a full-moon. There lingers the smell of woodstove wafting in the crisp chilly air and, call me crazy, but I'd pick this poison over sticky sunshine any day.

Even the personalities at Smuggs are inviting. Oliver, the Glade Architect (not shown here) has a background both in logging and ski instruction, so he knows which trees to preserve and which to remove. His job requires months of mapping, precision cutting, heavy hauling and testing. Only after Oliver approves every square inch of ungroomed terrain is the glade allowed to open to the public. Last month, even the Weather Channel found Olivers story compelling enough for a full-blown feature.

The great outdoors builds an appetite so by 6pm my crew of 3 stops for reservations at a fabulous log restaurant 1 mile from Smuggs called The Three Mountain Lounge. Owners Colleen and Steve Blood prepare us a traditional dinner of hearty classics like Chicken Pot Pie, Rainbow Trout and North Atlantic Halibut. This was but a subtext for a dollop of homemade Vermont Maple Walnut icecream split three-ways and devoured in seconds.

Since romance is the subtext of Vermont, Valentines would be the perfect time for you and your sweetie to find some respite as well.