While the main mission of this morning’s outing at Cannon was a never-ever learn to ski package for my significant other, I had other objectives in mind during my free skiing time. Despite the cold and windy weather on this second day of the busy February holiday week, my significant other was jonesing to give skiing a second chance after being a ski widow these past four years. Her excitement was admirable but her timing for picking up the skiing bug was less than perfect.
We arrived around 9:30 A.M. along with the hordes of other skiers setting their sights on Cannon. Having last taken a lesson over a dozen years ago and having last rented equipment when I was too young to understand the process, I was feeling somewhat silly walking my significant other through the lesson and rental package. Lines in the Cannon rental shop were out the door and it took almost forty-five minutes to purchase the package, get the equipment, and miss our preferred lesson time. After waiting another half hour, I walked her over to the lesson meeting location and headed up the Peabody Express Quad for mission number one. After checking in post lesson and taking a few bunny slope turns, I ran off to the summit for mission number two.
Both top to bottom runs were stunning in their challenge, pitch, and degree of difficulty. The first run left me breathless and sweating heavily. The second run had me reconsidering what I considered steep and tight tree skiing. After two years of being a season pass holder at Jay, I have gone somewhat soft after cutting my teeth at Cannon for several seasons. The mellow and open powder full glades at Jay are incredible but can make a skier’s ability soften considerably. These two runs humbled me as only a top to bottom tree exodus off Mad River Glen’s Single Chair can. Cannon remains a spiritual home even if the powder falls less copiously than my beloved Northern Greens.
2 thoughts on “Quality Over Quantity: Tight Tree Skiing at Cannon”
Hi RC, this is John Lehmann. Good to see your putting in the time with your significant other. I introduced golf to my wife and she’s hooked. During the 3 seasons we play 2 d/wk together and a few other times separately. We vacation in myrtle beach , sc and golf like crazy. (my parents come and watch our 2 yo. They think Bryan is a tv show) We’ve skied once before on a semi powder day and she went right for the pow on the edges and loved it. We just need the time in the Winter to ski more. Put in the time with your SO to the best of your ability and I’m sure it will pay off in the long run. Cheers, John.
John- Thanks for dropping a line. You may be one of the longest continual readers of my web page, glad you are still reading and always enjoy hearing how things are going. You getting any more ski time this season? Tough getting up with the kids, I bet. My SO will never quite match my ability level but it will be nice spending some time during the weekends with her instead of leaving her at home and only seeing her just before bed time. We were definitely lacking a shared winter activity and I am really glad she decided to give sliding a shot. She likes it too, who knew!!?
Cheers,
-Steve