Cannon makes you work. Great skiers routinely get spanked in the trees at Cannon. Unlike almost any other mountains save perhaps Mansfield, you really suffer for the best turns at Cannon. That type of rigor elevated my skiing as I was developing my tree chops and skiing Cannon more than any where else. But I don’t ski Cannon much any more. And it shows whenever I return to my home mountain.
Despite a claimed twenty four hour total of eleven inches, I immediately had trouble finding snow deeper than my boot buckles. I started on Mittersill in hopes that the lift being closed yesterday would have kept traffic to a minimum. The limited fresh felt nice but my favorite slot on the mountain was already well bumped and deeply troughed from yesterday. It was time to go into the woods in earnest and employ noontime plans just after the opening bell.
Epic descents were had and up to eight inches of fresh was slayed. I worked. I sweated. I fell on the hard pack outside the Tram Summit Station and busted the toe piece on one of my bindings. Oops. I made it work. Just like the mountain was making me work.
One discovery was made today. A glade I long suspected but had never sought out the entrance. And what a ball buster of an entrance it was! But much like everything else at Cannon: well worth the effort. My last two runs were down an extensively long tree shot that I hadn’t skied in years. Phenomenal. My second to last run was epic with mammoth effort and super human turns. My inspired turns were juxtaposed as I passed two skiers hacking it out. I thought it would be my last run but I wanted one more, it was too good. And then I was the skier that was hacking. Cannon has a way of doing that to you.
Despite the holiday weekend, the Mittersill Double was ski on all day. While across the ridge, the Peabody Quad was bulging under considerable crowding (by Cannon standards). But the Singles line sported only a few minutes wait. Off piste, the mountain got hit hard. Since Cannon groomed almost every acre save Middle Hard, Vista, and small bumped segments of select Zoomer area trails, those seeking powder were decidedly limited to the glades, Mittersill, and off piste.
I was flabbergasted that the Mittersill Double would be so underused on a busy holiday weekend and powder day. If it is not going to have a line today, it’s never going to have a line given all other lifts are spinning. Perhaps the lack of lift lines says something about holiday crowds?
Or perhaps it suggests that even the day after a snow storm, that Mittersill is pretty scraped and beat down and folks don’t care for that type of experience. I sure don’t. What used to take a week or two now happens in an hour or two. The biggest culture shock was seeing bumps under the liftline during my first ascent. One of the draws (for me) to Mittersill was powder skiing without bumps. Due to the long lift cycle time and most folks skiing Baron’s Run, most of Mittersill rarely bumped up except some tight tree slots and Baron’s.
Many folks were still hiking the saddle with the expressed intent of skiing Mittersill. Perhaps some folks forgot to check the lift report and assumed the Double was closed. But more likely, they are Cannon skiers. Hiking the Saddle is the way its always been done. And it beats skiing down to the beginner area and riding the Tuckerbrook lift. Plus you get to ski the Taft. It’s still the best way to get to Mittersill even if it’s not the path of least resistance.
Especially if it is not the path of least resistance.
11 thoughts on “Cannon: Thank you, sir. May I have another?”
Love your blog.
I was also at Cannon today with my daughter, 13, and son, 10. Cannon’s always held an appeal for me, though I’ve only skied it 6 or 7 times in my life – always, except once after a fresh early spring snowfall with light crowds and little/no exposed ice, it’s given me a run for my money, and today was no exception.
We enjoyed the fluffy stuff after 4 enjoyable, but crusty days at Tremblant earlier in the week. Conditions today on most trails provided a hard-to-predict fluctuating surface of fluffy powder and fluffy bumps interspersed with ice. No doubt due to the nice fresh snowfall being skied up early. We made the best of it, and it certainly challenged us. I found it sometimes difficult in the transitions from ice to powder, whereas earlier in the week at Tremblant, drive and carve, drive and carve – very predictable, if somewhat tiresome. Wish we’d looked a little harder around Mittersil to find the fresher stuff. We skied that late in the day, mainly the bumps under the lift, and it was definately a blast, but did not bring out my best turns.
Earlier in the day, we skied DJ’s Tramline after listening to someone downplay it’s level of difficulty (I’d never skied this trail in any previous visit, and in fact am not sure I’ve ever seen it open). Possibly the most treacherous terrain I’ve ever skied – through those rocks – my kids made me proud, but I’d not have taken them down if I’d known what was in store. We’ve routinely skied glades all over the east, and double blacks elsewhere – but this was definitely a step up. There were a handful of extremely bold boarders taking some serious risks while we were there. Fun to watch, since they nailed every landing – wouldn’t want to be around when they don’t.
If folks reading this blog haven’t given Magic Mountain, VT a try, I’d strongly recommend it – had a great day there with my daughter earlier this season. Probably best when there’s lots of cover, since the snowmaking is limited. Nice mellow old-school feel. Also, they’re struggling and could use the support.
Thanks for your comment and your readership! That is terrible that someone downplayed the difficulty level of Tramline. For top skiers and riders, it is certainly not excessively difficult, especially in comparison to many other lines at Cannon. But it is certainly one of the more difficult trails on piste in New England and not for any one not comfortable skiing near rocks on a steep pitch and a sometimes difficult crux. I haven’t skied it in a few years. I’m hoping I’ll get to it sometime this season as I’d love to try airing out some of those rocks which was below my ability level when I last skied it.
Readers of this blog should be familiar with Magic and it has my endorsement as a great mountain to ski with excellent terrain and vibe.
Excellent report as usual. We were also there on Friday and Saturday. GW trees were surprisingly fresh even late in the day. We ended with 2 laps on Bunny and were surprised at how many fresh lines remained even at 4pm.
I was looking into some older Cannon reports to remind myself of the history and development of some of the Cannon lines I’ve come to love. I stumbled on these and thought you’d get a kick out of reading these old posts of yours on Snow Journal from almost 10 years ago. Times have changed eh?…
“Posted: Jan 23, 2003 – 6:09 AM GMT
i noticed that exit to BD. i really don’t do glades unless they are fairly spacious, so i won’t be venturing down there any time soon!”
“Posted: Jan 24, 2003 – 7:25 AM GMT
haven’t had any powder to work on it recently, lol! i’m solid in loose and packed powder, but haven’t had a chance to work much in the deeper and fluffier stuff. i don’t like tight glades either, so i’ll probably pass.”
My last two runs on Saturday where my turns were epic the first time and I got spanked the second time were down BD. Not a run I take very often. It gets played quick. Great line though, I should make it a point more often. Sorry, I fixed the quotes since they contained directions. I’d fix the source if I could. I know its out there, but I don’t want to further contribute.
It definitely amazes me how quickly I progressed from not being able to ski powder and trees to those aspects of skiing being the highlight of my season. It is a testament to how quickly you can learn and develop and become a better skier.
I began skiing bumps in March 2001. Two years later, I got my first taste of powder and narrow corridor skiing. It only took another two years before I was getting into tight trees and dropping cliffs. Sometimes its easy to forget what a short period of time that all encompasses. It reminds me that I have so much more ahead of me.
Steve,
As for old quotes and directions, a Google search of specific line names will turn up old posts on SJ, 1stTracks, and T4T. They can possibly still be deleted or edited if you wanted to. It’s kind of funny reading these old posts. Especially on T4T some of the harshest recent critics of sharing info were the biggest offenders just a few years ago. (I don’t mean to suggest that you are in that category, you’ve always been pretty consistent).
As for finding tight and tasty Cannon lines, if you ever want to meet up for some exploring let me know. Work circumstances have aligned this year so that I’m in Lincoln, NH full time and skiing/riding Cannon almost every weekday (although not this week). We may be able to enjoy some mutually known lines, share some personal stashes, or explore some lines better not done solo. I have been skiing Cannon and Mitt for over 20 years, but this year I’m consistently finding better and better lines.
Having read your posts for a long time I’d say we’re pretty compatible in terms of ability and the types of terrain that we find appealing. I ski/ride about 50/50. When the going gets steeper/tighter/deeper I tend to prefer the board. But I’m just as happy to ski and that is my BC/AT option.
-Alex (Cannonball on some boards)
Well met, Alex aka Cannonball! I’ll drop you a line next time I am at Cannon or in the area of Cannon. Would love to meet up and share some turns! I usually ski solo and it generally sucks even though it has its moments at times. Most of the rest of the season, I’ll be using up my remaining vouchers in VT. But I am hoping to tag Cannon at least once more time before the lifts close and I’ll be in the area for more after the lifts close. I’ll keep you posted.
Yea, I know the info is out there if searched for and as noted above, one such post is even attached to my handle. But if you don’t know the name to search for, you don’t get any results. 😉
Thanks for the comment, Woods Hippie!
Nice post! Cannon definitely has some gnar terrain…my “home away from home” mountain and I love it. Having a lift on Mitt is bittersweet but hopefully it draws some more people to Cannon’s scene.
Sounds great. FYI: I also have 6 Burke vouchers I’m looking to use up before the end off the season. So I’ll be logging some days there as well and would glad to meet up for some exploration.
Cool. I plan to hit Burke again at least once before the end of the year, I’ll let you know!
Steve, I’m sorry I haven’t followed your writing lately. I’m glad to see you’re still writing passionately about skiing. I skied Cannon Sunday and hiked to Mittersill for my first time. What a pleasure. The new lift next to the old T really brings up feelings. The skiing over there is tough!
Great to hear from you, Josh! I am surprised to hear that Sunday was your first time skiing Mittersill! I am glad you had a great day. Hope all is well with you and the Mrs!