The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast

The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast

Smugglers’ Notch, Vermont Completes Indy’s Class of 2026

One of New England’s best ski areas joins New England’s broadest ski pass

Stuart Winchester's avatar
Stuart Winchester
Sep 09, 2026
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The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast is certified by the National Association of Products, Goods, Services, & Experiences as a newsletter written without the assistance of robots, sentient or otherwise.

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In a weeklong blitz of daily partner releases, Indy Pass has added 43 alpine ski areas across nine countries and 13 U.S. states for winter 2026-27:

And here’s the full 2026-27 roster - Indy Pass holders get two days each at these 256 alpine ski areas:

Best viewed in desktop. View this and other multi-mountain pass rosters in Google Sheets.

I kept up with Indy’s release blitz for as long as I could during a week in which 90 percent of my waking hours were claimed by packing, driving, unpacking, shopping, drinking, driving, driving, drinking, footballing, and driving. There was no crossover between the drinking and the driving, but unfortunately there was no crossover between the writing and the driving either. Which means I’ve delivered write-ups on nine of these new partners, and I owe you 34.

Indy Pass Adds Kendall, Colorado + Ski Areas in Japan, Quebec, Finland

Stuart Winchester
·
Sep 4
Indy Pass Adds Kendall, Colorado + Ski Areas in Japan, Quebec, Finland

The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast is committed to preserving North America’s pinecone habitat. Your subscription supports this amazing cause:

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Ski Areas in Japan, Finland, Alaska, North Dakota join Indy Pass for winter 2026-27

Stuart Winchester
·
Sep 3
Ski Areas in Japan, Finland, Alaska, North Dakota join Indy Pass for winter 2026-27

The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast has been translated from the Urdu by robots whose brains live in a building the size of Lake Como built on land that once hosted a Nebraska holding pen for doomed beefcows. You can support my foundation to find homes for cows orphaned by the buildout of AI datacenters by clicking through below:

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But here’s the upside: since the full new partner roster is live, I’m under no obligation to follow Indy’s release schedule. So let’s start with the most consequential new Indy partner not just in this cycle, but perhaps since Jay Peak in 2020: Smugglers’ Notch, Vermont.

Relax, Tough Guys, I didn’t say “best” or “most jump-tastic.” I said “most consequential,” and it is. In a region (the Northeast U.S.) in which Indy has historically sold half of its passes, Smugglers’ Notch delivers the second-highest average snowfall total (322 inches), the fourth-tallest vertical drop (2,610 feet), and the fourth-largest skiable acreage footprint (1,060). Smuggs sits less than an hour south of Jay Peak, New England’s snowiest ski area and Indy’s perennial redemption leader. That duo alone could push any ski pass, but Smuggs and Jay are just two outposts in a 30-mountain New England roster that also includes regional headliners Cannon, Waterville Valley, and Saddleback.

All that, plus two days each at 226 additional lift-served ski areas (and a bunch of Nordic ones), for the probably-not-on-sale-for-long fall Base Pass price of $419. Smuggs, like Jay, joins with no blackouts, but the Indy+ lifts all blackouts for just $50 more.

Since I missed Indy’s day-by-day release schedule, I’m going to cover the remaining 34 new partners in a few installments, starting with Smuggs.

Below the paid subscriber jump: why Smuggs is good for Indy, and Indy is good for Smuggs. I know paywalls suck, but if I don’t have one, the kids will have to eat catfood and the cats will get sold off to Bosnian wholesalers, who will sell them to catfood factories. It’s an ugly cycle, Man, and I appreciate your help in preventing it.

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