Cannon, nh: 02.21.04

[riverc0il]

arrived at 8am to a wind hold, however they were loading the chairs onto the haul rope so it was a good sign. all lifts were a go by 8:45 or so. me and my sliding partner wasted no time in heading for the summit that was less breazy than the base! <BR> <BR>powdah on skiers left taft slalom! woo! headed over to mittersill. how depressing. the cover over there hasn't been the best this year, but it's gotten SO so much worse since my last report ~2 weeks ago. rocks previously unexposed were showing through and the snow condition was just terrible. the new snow was blown off in most places with this crusty hard pack junk featured in lots of places. i returned later for a run down barron's which was thin and had probably the best snow at mitt, but still leaving MUCH to be desired. <BR> <BR>okay, the standard run down: bumps on avalanche were blah, paulie's which has previously been a thin cover dream is done for until we get more snow (at least previously the snow condition was excellent despite the cover, today it sucked), zoomer had crazy huge ass bumps under the lift line and skiers right (no thanks! too big, scraped, and irregular!), rocket had okay soft bumps just to the left of the bump line (decent), and gary's was good chopped PP after the masters finished racing. <BR> <BR>up top, vista way sucked, nothing on skylight worth mentioning, taft was great all day but best in the AM with good natural snow, upper hard was thin but pockets of good snow, middle hard was awesome if you could avoid the rocks and thin spots (challenging at times), lower hard had not much to offer. red ball, heh... i previously slammed this trail in another no bull report but today it was fun! <BR> <BR>snow estimates were WAY over exagerated friday night. if cannon got much, it was blown off or packed down quickly. too many thin spots to indicate more than a few inches AT BEST. was snowing when i left, so maybe there is still hope but doubtful. this storm was a dud if today was any indication. however, tomorrow should be better weather and better snow than today i'd guess, so don't let this report stop you! it was still turns and i guess i can't complain. <BR> <BR>wait, yes i can. i have been going forth in typical new england fashion making the best outta what i've been given. but this is getting rediculous! every ski day for the past month and a half hasn't been quite as good as the previous one. conditions are suppose to get better after december not worse! perhaps the groomers are doing alright, but natural snow trails are really hurting right now. at least in previous trips to cannon, it was thin but with good snow quality. not that it was horrible skiing, but we're a weeek away from march and we're still awaiting the big one, ya know?

 

[Frankontour]

Let's hope that the big one come soon... cause if not, it's the FTO gang that will have to come visit me in Quebec <IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=""> (joking) <BR> <BR>report to come soon on my side

 

[cancat]

Cannon has gotten a decent amount of snow this year, unfortunately, after a great start we got that nasty four letter word starting with r for two weeks straight, and the rest of the time we have gotten snow, we have also gotten the four letter word starting with w. Actually, wind can be good sometimes, but it has to be from the east or west quadrants. If it is from the north or south, the snow just gets stripped right off the hill - that is why Mittersill is getting worse even though it has been snowing - we have gotten mostly north/south winds. Also, with a north or south wind we don't get the snow-loading of the normal pockets. Wind will scrape Middle Cannon no matter which direction it comes from, but an east wind will drop that snow into the Hardscrabble Drainage and a west wind will put it onto the front five. A north wind just sends it to Lincon and a south wind (the worst) will, if it is cold enough, put the snow on your car, but most of the time it will just melt it at warp speed. Snow FORCASTS for this storm were way off, but we did get about 2" or so, it just got blown around by the south wind that came with it. The groomed trails are in very good shape compared to Loon etc, but I agree, as an expert skiier, it is tough to get very excited about a trail that is just as flat as it was last time you skiied it.