Category: Cannon Mountain

2002-2003 Season, Cannon Mountain, January

Superbowl Sunday at Cannon Mountain, NH

Super Bowl Sunday Two-Fer at Cannon Mountain. Whereas last year’s Super Bowl crowd was minimal this year people packed the parking lots. Two major differences exist between the two seasons. Last year was a horrible snow year and the New England Patriots were featured in the Super Bowl whereas this year has been a great snow year so far and the teams involved in the Super Bowl are of little interest to New Englanders. Despite the crowds, wait times for chair lifts never exceeded two to three minutes and the Tram was generally only a one or two Tram wait. Cannon’s staff did an excellent job filling every chair and directing traffic in the lift corals.

Conditions started off as a groomers paradise. Almost the entire mountain had been groomed and the morning snow was hard, fast, edgable, and mostly enjoyable. By 11 A.M., good quality snow required some searching. I found it on skiers’ right of Rocket in the form of soft and loose snow with occasional bumps.

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2002-2003 Season, Cannon Mountain, January

Cannon Mountain, NH

Cannon from Mount Jackson

Plans for an über cold weekend included Cannon Mountain on Saturday and Burke on Sunday (discount Burke tickets provided by First Tracks!! Online Ski Magazine). For the evening in between, I made a rare stay at an inn. I choose the Dunroamin Inn located in Whitefield, NH and I give them VERY high marks. Recently purchased by an engaged couple from Rhode Island, the Inn was completely renovated and looks amazing. No expense was spared (except on the rates, very cheap!) in refurbishing this excellent getaway just up Route 3 from Cannon Mountain. I stayed in a small B & B style room. The Innkeeper, Phil, gave me a full tour of the Inn and showed me the other rooms available. Further; he gave me excellent dinner recommendations, directions, and made me feel very welcome. I was rather impressed with their standard double bed rooms. Considering the offer of a free Kayak rental, I will be back during the Summer during hiking season. This Inn carries my highest recommendation, so please consider the Dunroamin Inn if you are looking for lodging in the area.

Cannon was not as cold as predicted, but the morning runs still left some warmth to be desired. Snow was hard and fast in the morning which also left something to be desired. Up the Peabody Quad I went and tracked down my standard first run: Middle Cannon to Paulie’s Extension to the Front Five. Paulie’s Extension had huge frozen whales that have since been plowed that were not fun! I opted for Avalanche to the Banshee Slopes so I could access the Tram. It was a cold, so it was definitely a tram morning. Avalanche has really suffered from high skier traffic and not enough replenished snow. Normally one of my favorite runs, even first thing in the morning Avalanche was iffy. Headed over to Banshee slopes and opted for the delightfully narrow Banshee Lift Line. This often overlooked gem offered short quick turns on some natural fluff over hard pack. Some bumps here and there, just enough to jump off and have some fun.

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2002-2003 Season, Articles, Cannon Mountain, January, Powder Day

A Mittersill Pilgrimage

Hiking the Saddle

Long have I anxiously awaited my first opportunity to ski Mittersill. I have always heeded the Backcountry safety maxim: never ski alone. And I almost always ski solo. So I waited. However; on this trip to Cannon, I knew before I even pulled into the parking lot that this was to be the day. During my first trip up the Cannonball Quad, I noted several people making the hike up Mittersill. I knew I could find someone to partner up with and stay safe. It was time to pop my proverbially Mittersill Cherry… I was to be a Mittersill Virgin no more!

From the summit of Cannon, I tracked down the quickly deteriorating but still excellent bump lines of Taft Slalom. Gathering up all the momentum I could, I flew as far up the col between Cannon and Mittersill as possible before slowing to a stop. I clicked out of my skis, slung my skis over my shoulder, and began my maiden voyage up the snowy stairway to skiing heaven and snowy bliss.

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2002-2003 Season, Cannon Mountain, January, Powder Day

Cannon Mountain, NH

Taft Slalom

I am not even sure where to begin. How do I put into words the type of day I had at Cannon? Suffice to say, it was one of the top three skiing days in my life. I had what I consider to be my best and most memorable run ever. I have never smiled, laughed, whooped, yelled, giggled, and all out had such a fun six hours in my lifetime. It was pure bliss, euphoria, uncontrolled hysteria. I was a kid again, carefree and fun loving. I had a ball.

I began my day with my customary early wake up time of 5:30 A.M. for the two hour drive to Cannon. Roads were still a little slick and drivers had an attitude. Not a fun drive up. As I laid eyes on the notch, I got an awesome feeling. The whole notch was cloud free… except for Cannon. The top 750 vertical feet of Cannon were socked in. It was the proverbially cloud over the head of Angry Old Man Cannon that followed him where ever he goes. As I drove through the notch, and smiled at Cannon’s personification and stammered my favorite mountain saying “Cannon, you big grumpy old man you!”

I was the polar opposite of that grumpy old man, I was a giddy smiling little kid. The weekend storm had dumped over half a foot of fluff on the broad shoulders of Cannon Mountain, and I was about to hit the candy store.

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2002-2003 Season, Cannon Mountain, December, Powder Day

Cannon Mountain, NH

If only everyday could begin like this day. I awoke at the Hiker’s Paradise, a hostel in Gorham, NH. After a short drive down the road, I pulled over to the shoulder of Route 16 to take a picture of Mount Madison and Mount Adams, the northern most peaks of the Presidential Range. Amazing. After a brief drive around the Presidential’s and into Franconia Notch, I entered the parking lot of Cannon Mountain with a wonderful view of its trails.

In the lodge, I met fellow NELSAP’er and SnowJournal’er MadRider. We quickly set off up the Peabody Express Quad. The wind was hollowing ferociously, as one can often expect at Cannon. We tracked down Middle Cannon on pleasantly groomed snow and made our way to the Front Face. Upon seeing Zoomer filled up with 4-6 inches of powder, MadRider’s face lit up like a kid in a candy store. For myself, I was an awful powder skier at the time. I was about to tell MadRider I was going to opt for the tamer Rocket, but he was already riding down the pow. So onward to Rocket I went, not expecting to find what I did.

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