This past week has been nerve wracking. Where to go when it snows? The storm was complicated and many forecasters discussed the difficulties of pinning it down. Doubt was prevalent about the storm right up until the storm commenced. Prognosticators suggested Northern Vermont would get the jackpot with heavy up slope. But I have seen this pattern before. Watching the radar loop last night, I observed a huge gash on moisture attacking south western Maine before slamming into northern New Hampshire and changing over to snow. I had good vibes about Cannon. And those vibes were accurate.

As we drove north on I-93, I was stunned regarding the lack of snow along the highway. Thonton, Lincoln, Woodstock, entering the Notch, into the Notch. There was nothing on the ground at all. Not even a trace amount of washed away snow. Just as we passed the Flume, Ma Nature threw a switch and suddenly two inches appeared. Gradually increasing all the way to Cannon where we stepped out of the car to find a foot of snow at the base.

A skin track was set up the Banshee Slope and we hooked up with another skin track to ascend to the top of Avalanche and then onto Spookie and Upper Ravine. Snow on the mountain was more than a foot but less than two. Generally, most parts of the mountain had around 16″ with some drifts as deep as three feet. The Upper Mountain faired worse than the Lower Mountain due to high winds. The snow was severely wind buffed with half the trail deeply drifted and half the trail bare rock.

We opted to take Taft down to Upper and Middle Hard. There was a ten foot wide path on skier’s right of Taft featuring very grabby dense snow. Keep those tips up and don’t get too far forward! Upper Hard yielded some good turns but wind protected Middle Hard continued to be grabby dense snow that meant we had to earn our turns going down as well as up. Coverage and base depths were ample with no rocks visible or hit while skiing.

We skinned back over to the Front Face where we probably should have stayed and lapped instead of skinning to the summit. The snow on the Front Face was still dense but not as wind loaded nor as grabby. Turns were much less work and one could ski much more aggressively. Rocket was sensational skiing allowing for a bobbing back and forth rhythm. Back up for another run and I was in favor of Paulie’s Folly, Cannon’s steepest trail this side of the Tram.

I remarked at the top of Paulie’s that this may be the best coverage Paulie’s sees all season. No base? No Problem. Paulie’s skied phenomenally well, especially the middle section where I really opened the skis up and charged hard. The only issues were three massive water bars including one that I failed to jump correctly which wheelied my skis and sent me flying–laid out flat sideways style. Ample vocal approval was provided in the form of hoots and hollers. I dare say I was literally yelling verbal praise at one point. An awesome run that may go into my top ten runs for the season when all is said and done.

Suffice to say, it was a wonderful day and Cannon toured spectacularly well. Overall coverage ranges from 12-18″ throughout the mountain with deeper drifts as deep as three feet (we found one that was as tall as a ski pole). The snow was generally dense and provided bottomless rock free skiing despite the lack of previous base. If Cannon can blow some snow and take advantage of one or two more storms this coming week, next week will be sensational.