The forecast depicted today as possibly the coldest day of the 2001-2002 winter so far. Given recent abnormally warm temperatures, this was not saying much. But given Cannon’s well earned reputation for fearsome winds and cold temperatures, I was prepared for the worst Cannon had to offer.
Much to my surprise and relief, the weather was not bad at all and quite pleasant at times! Winds were at their worst on the Peabody Express Quad. Winds seemed to only effect the north facing slopes of the lower mountain. Winds and temperatures were actually pleasant on the Cannonball Quad and the upper mountain trails which normally show Cannon at its worst.
Despite having less than a half dozen trails open two weeks ago (due to the abnormally warm weather pattern), Cannon has made possibly the best snow making rebound in New England. Cannon boasted over 70% of it’s terrain open; many of these trails on natural snow with no grooming. This natural snow made all the difference. Almost a dozen trails featured all natural snow with no grooming and these trails were the best!
Our day begin at 8:45 AM, a late start as we missed the first lift by 15 minutes. With a pair of trips up the Peabody Express Quad, we quickly tallied up most of the Peabody Slopes trails including Middle Cannon, Lower Cannon, Gremlin, Toss-Up, and Parkway. All these trails featured nice and soft packed powder and were great warm up cruisers. Snow guns were firing to spot scraped areas. On our third ride up the Express Quad, we tracked down Easy Link, with surprisingly great cover (scraped up later), to get to the Cannonball Quad to the summit. No snow making on Profile yet.
Probably the quietest and warmest trip up the Cannonball Quad that I ever had, especially considering the windy and cold weather on the lower mountain. From the summit, we took the blue square Upper Ravine. Upper Ravine was my personal favorite cruiser trail of the day with great soft packed powder (later scraped up) and its meandering fall lines. One short drop option on Upper Ravine built up some medium size soft bumps which were fun.
After finishing Upper Ravine, we continued onto Middle Ravine. Total ice rink! Now, I have been skiing for almost 20 years and have raced on a Ski Team for 6 of those years. One ski condition term that is way over used is Ice. What most people call ice is really just extremely scraped snow. What most people call scraped snow is worn off packed powder. That said, Middle Ravine had no snow on it at all. The trail had been groomed and then wind blown, and even at 10AM, this trail was dangerous. Ironically, this trail is listed as the “easiest way down!” After trying to show off my race carving ability on ice, I found I could hold an edge better than most, but I was still slipping all over the place and skidding while others were simply falling down. Sticking to the far left side of the trail yielded some grip and got us down to Lower Ravine and Turnpike which were pleasant pack powder.
Cannon’s Ski Patrol was watching the chaos of Middle Ravine and closed it soon after. They opened up Spookie which was ridiculously thin cover and littered with rocks. There was a reason it was closed in the first place! Spookie’s opening had a double disaster effect. First, all upper mountain traffic from both quads was now being funneled onto Lower Cannon/Toss Up which reduced cover to nothing and had beginners and intermediates sliding all over the place. Second, Spookie did not have enough cover to start, and within two hours, rocks were showing up everywhere causing falls and collisions on this 8 foot narrow corridor. Look for Cannon to be blowing snow on Middle Ravine, Spookie, and the Links this coming week.
After a brief lunch at the Peabody Base Lodge, it was onto the Front Five! Cannon’s steep Front Five that taunt drivers as they approach the mountain featured mostly natural snow with no grooming. Both Gary’s and Rocket featured wonderful bumps (unusual for these blue square race courses) making the Tram impossible to get to unless you wanted to ski through bumps. We hit Gary’s to the Tram Cutback for a ride up the Tram. Gary’s had been groomed to allow racing on one side, but bumps ruled the open terrain.
Snow was being blown heavily on Tramway which we did not ski (rumored to be very bumpy and thin cover) and Upper Cannon. Upper Cannon is narrow enough without having to dodge snow machines every turn (which we did ski).
Splitting from my ski partner, I made my way back to the Front Five hitting the Black Diamonds Zoomer, Paulie’s Folly, and my Run of the Day, Avalanche. All of these trails were top to bottom natural snow only with no grooming. Bumps Baby! Bumps! Most people avoided these runs, so the bumps were not scrapped or iced. Zoomer was my first mogul trail of the year, which resulted in poor form and desperate turns (I probably should not have picked the steepest fall line to ski on that trail, but oh well!).
Paulie’s Folly was next up. Paulie’s seemed less skied off, but had thinner cover. I was starting to get my legs under me, but almost threw a yard sale half way down.
For my Run of the Day and to top off my Trio of Black Diamond Bump Runs, next up was Avalanche. Avalanche featured sticks, twigs, rocks, and grass in numerous areas. But the run was virtually untouched and the bumps were not half as bad as they looked. I finally had my legs under me and tore into Avalanche. Superb! Props to Cannon for opening up so much terrain. Double Props to Cannon for opening up said terrain in Thin Cover and Natural Snow Conditions!
By 1PM, the crowds had skied most of the cover off most of the trails. Did I say crowds? Well, for a Christmas Break/Holiday Weekend, Cannon was very crowded. Heck, is Cannon ever crowded? Hells No! I can say it was more crowded than normal off the Peabody Express Quad; but expert skiers had almost a dozen natural conditions and thin cover trails on which to avoid the crowds. I have yet to see a crowd of significant proportions ever at Cannon.
What made today especially pleasant was Cannon’s fun, knowledgeable, and courteous staff. Normally, I do not pay much attention to mountain staff. As with most things; good jobs go unnoticed, while poor jobs are noted. However, Cannon’s staff was above and beyond good, they are great and I noticed that they do a lot of small things to go above and beyond. They help people and are genuinely concerned about their guests and they show that they are happy about their job. I have long ranked Wildcat and Cannon as tied for my favorite mountain in the East… however, with Cannon’s staff, I think they have the edge in my opinion.
