Bar hop: Trip back in time on Jeffersonville’s Mountain Road

I also heard from Nancy Rock who remembers the Salty Dog Thursday happy hours, “25 cent drafts going up 5 cents per half hour until they reached 50 cents per draft.” She also said on that big April snowstorm when she was in college, “Smuggs stayed open until May — was tough to take final exams that year — choosing between taking your final or skiing!”

Findholt also pointed out that the Salty Dog was built and operated by Wayne Roberts. In the late 1960s Wayne and his wife moved to Vermont and established the Red Fox Ski Dorm in Jeffersonville and then added the Salty Dog in the 1970s. Roberts also developed another Smuggs après ski spot, the Brewster River Yacht Club.

That establishment has continued, although the name has evolved as it changed ownership, known over the years as The Brewski or the Brewster River Pub & Brewery. My understanding is that it’s currently being renovated again. Wayne Roberts died last fall at 79.

Going back to when Smuggs was called Madonna, the après ski options were more limited. We used to stop at the Haus and Heim Ski Lodge, which really wasn’t a bar. The lodge was run by an older couple, Adolph “Al” Soucek and his wife Vera. They left their native Czechoslovakia after World War II and eventually immigrated to Burlington.

There they established a restaurant and catering business called The Continental. In the late 1960s, they added Haus and Heim. Al and Vera always seemed a little overwhelmed by the influx of beer drinking skiers that filled the small bar space on weekends. But they were always good sports as we drank and watched The Killy Challenge on TV.

In the 1970s, the après options expanded. As mentioned earlier, the Salty Dog came on the scene. Marvin Crozier and Karen Cutler renovated an old barn and opened a bar called Mateymuckers. It featured entertainment, including John Cassel and Downpour.

In researching this column, I found out that mateymucker is an Australian term for “close friends.” I never knew that when I was drinking there. The name — and I assume the ownership — changed in 1973 to Jefferson City.

In 1974, the Haus and Heim came under new management and the name changed to L’Auberge Chez Moustache with Horst Thomke as chef, manager and entertainment. Thomke was an accomplished pianist and entertainer. A fire in August 1975 destroyed the building, but they saved Thomke’s piano.

Thomke would take over the building that had been Mateymuckers and start Chez Moustache restaurant and bar. This became a go-to spot on the Jeffersonville Mountain Road. Stancliffe got recruited by Thomke to be a bartender at the Moustache. She wasn’t sure she was qualified, but with the help of the bartenders’ “bible” and some coaching, she took the job. She must have done well because she would make the move to Stowe and bartender at Whiskers, Three Green Doors and the Shed. Eventually she ran her own bar called Ladies Invited.

Horst Thomke died in 1981 at the age of 48 and the restaurant would change hands. His wife Barbara Thomke says, “I managed to keep it aloft myself (with good staff, of course) for another year after Horst’s passing and then sold it.” If you ever ski Smuggs, you can find a Thomke ski trail near the top of Sterling in memory of Horst.

There’s one more watering hole on the Smuggs’ side I feel I should mention. That would be The Bucket in the Smugglers Notch Inn. I never actually used it as an après ski stop, but it does hold a place in my heart. In 1976-77, I was living in Smugglers Village and commuting to Essex Junction.

On snowy nights coming back late from work, getting up the hill from Jeffersonville on 108 could be a challenge, particularly if it hadn’t been plowed or sanded. The Bucket became a convenient waiting place until the road was plowed. Quite often there would be quite a few of us waiting and yes, drinking, until someone announced that the state plow had just headed up the hill.

This ends another Retro-Ski season. Thank you to all my readers. I appreciate your feedback; it keeps me going. This year I’ll wrap up the season with a quote from Klaus Obermeyer: “The longer you ski, the longer you live!”

Greg Morrill is a retired computer programmer and college professor. A special thank you goes to Barbara Thomke for her help with this column.