Cannon 2/11/12

NeedhamSkier

New member
Crazy thought it seems, I think there was a lot less skiing going on in the North-East this weekend than you would think, even after one of the bigger storms in recent history. I think a lot of people planning to head up on Friday were unable to, partly because of the weather but more because of the driving ban, which took a lot of people by surprise. So unless you are in position by Friday morning, it was tough to take advantage.

For me personally, I thought long and hard about making the trip on Saturday morning (wondering if 24 inches of powder would justify a “critical need” in the eyes of a state trooper). In the end, I decided late on Friday to put off my trip until Sunday, knowing the weather would be better, but the powder would be gone. It was also a good investment in family relations for future trips – leaving the wife and kids at home to dig out from 2 feet of snow could have seriously reduced the goodwill bank…

So I headed up with a few friends to Cannon on Sunday. Although the more southern resorts might have got more snow from the storm, once the powder was gone there was no appetite in our group for cruising the trails with the masses at Sunapee, for example. The roads were clear and empty, with bright sunshine – perfect driving weather. (Two hours and 15 from Boston, for those who know the drive) Extrapolating from my jonesing to get out there, I was expecting a mob scene on the hill, but the lift lines were actually very reasonable. Apart from one poorly timed midmorning ride on the tram, where the line was out the door and we had to wait about 20 minutes, most of the lines were 5 minutes or less, again evidence that a lot of people decided not to, or were unable to get out this weekend.

Both my assumptions about Sunday turned out to be the case. The weather really was perfect – 25 degrees, bright sunshine, 60-mile views and not a breath of wind (really the only conditions when you want to hit Cannon). We heard from the tram operator that the wind was pretty strong (40-45mph) the day before. Trail conditions were good but not awesome, even after 12” of snow – I guess the wind played into that. By midmorning there are already some scraped-off patches, but these could be avoided by sticking to the quieter trails and staying on the edge of the trail. The best skiing of the day for me was in the meadows past Avalanche above the tram station, where the snow was still soft and not bumped up. I often find good snow in that area at Cannon, which sees less traffic. Upper Ravine and Hardscrabble were also pretty good – soft, medium bumps and nice banked turns. We sampled a few of the woods which looked nice, but the base is not there still – we were hitting rock or branches just about every other turn. My hope was that Mittersill might be open, but it was still closed due to insufficient base, which was difficult to argue with given the state of the glades elsewhere.

No action shots, but just one of the tram to show how good the weather was.

Cannon.jpg


We skied until the closing bell and then headed home. Traffic was also very light on the trip back, without even the usual delays on the southern part of I-93, further suggesting that a lot of people were trapped at home this weekend.

No regrets, but I sure wish I could have found some way to be out there on Saturday… (so I guess that counts as one regret)
 
Yes, mid-morning it did get busy - that's when we had our long wait at the tram, so I can imagine the chairs were similarly busy around then. But nothing too bad in comparison with other good-weather days at most New England areas and it was definitely quieter in the afternoon - walk-on to the tram all afternoon. All depends on your frame of reference I guess. The photos on your friends post show the trail conditions pretty accurately.
 
NeedhamSkier":6251qoub said:
...leaving the wife and kids at home to dig out from 2 feet of snow could have seriously reduced the goodwill bank…

I read this last night on my phone and just had to laugh. The parallels in the thought process with mine are precise.

Except for two little details. I did head to the mountains Thursday night to be in position. And my wife only had to deal with about 6 inches of snow.

I was watching the radar as much for rain in NJ as I was for snow in the mountains.

[-o<

Nice report.
 
Thanks. I was just trying to balance the two passions in my life - with only 6 inches to dig out from my choice would have been the same as yours, I think.
 
NeedhamSkier":3hxkv426 said:
Thanks. I was just trying to balance the two passions in my life - with only 6 inches to dig out from my choice would have been the same as yours, I think.

Yea - except that I had no idea that only six inches would fall in the flatlands. Forecast was (no shit) from 0-20 inches.

Lets face it I'll never be father/husband of the year!
 
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