Category: 2004-2005 Season

2004-2005 Season, Cannon Mountain, January

Cannon Mountain, NH

Upper Cannon

Unfortunately, I was tied up at work on Saturday the 15th, so I missed the better day of the week in which skiers trashed what little remained of a few inches of snow. Sloppy seconds were the order of the day on Sunday on the Front Face with slightly better snow conditions at the top of the mountain. Overall, the groomers were generally in sad shape, especially the beginner terrain which was scraped up from over grooming and lack of natural snow from the get to.

Began the morning taking the Eaglecliff Triple to the lake side, but was stopped by a patroller at the top of Rocket warning me that the Zoomer Triple was not running yet. Really appreciated Cannon having a plan in place to alert skiers to the problem. I took the cut back and grabbed a tram to the summit. I was amazed by the utter lack of wind at the top of Cannon. Out of my four rides on the tram, the car only bumped once and it was very minor. Very rare is the day that the tram docks at the summit without even a slight bump! Incredible!

Upper Mountain left much to be desired but it was better than the previous week. Profile, Skylight, and Upper Ravine were edgable hard pack from the get go and Tramway was quite scraped off later in the day. Down on mid-mountain, Bypass was scratched up but skiers right into Paulie’s Extension had some swell bumps and decent snow. I skied down skiers right of Extension and dropped steeply into Avalanche still keeping skiers right to witness a frighteningly thin covered trail. Early in the morning, there was some left over powder to be had far skiers right at the top of Avalanche, but it quickly deteriorated and soon everything not groomed on Avalanche was half grass and half bumps. It was challenging and occasionally fun but far far from ideal conditions.

(more…)

2004-2005 Season, January, Wildcat

Wildcat, NH

Madison & Adams from Wildcat

After earning turns across the Notch on the John Sherburne Ski Trail via skinning up the Tuckerman Ravine Trial, I ventured across Route 16 to Wildcat Ski Area to capitalize on the $20.00 Sunday Afternoon Cruise ticket. Despite knowing the snow would be disappointing compared to the excellent natural snow conditions of the Sherburne, I believed it would be worth the money for several additional two thousand vertical foot runs from the summit. Boy, was I wrong!

The sound of the day that afternoon at Wildcat was “Scraaaaaaaaape!” Despite the 2-3″ of fresh snow that fell the evening before (the Snow Report on Wildcat’s web page claimed an unbelievably over hyped lie of 4-7″), nearly all of Wildcat’s trails were unmercifully scraped down by my first descent around 1 P.M. Even the sides of the trails had little to nothing to offer where normally loose snow and powder piles are to be found. If my legs had not been so tired from skinning for two hours earlier that morning, I may have found it more bearable. But scraped hard pack was hardly what I was looking to end my day on.

(more…)

2004-2005 Season, Earned Turns, January, Mount Washington, Sherburne Ski Trail

Introduction to Alpine Touring on the Sherburne

Hojos Panorama

Awakening from a night of restless sleep at the Hiker’s Paradise in Gorham, I casually stretched out on my bed and debated when I should rise for the day of skiing. I considered a late start to be worth while as the bank sign across the street was reading sixteen degrees. Packing up my gear and gathering my clothing choices for the afternoon, I was eagerly looking forward to and imagining my first foray into the realm of backcountry skiing on my new Alpine Touring rig. After a scrumptious breakfast served downstairs, I packed up my gear and drove south into the Notch.

I arrived at Pinkham Notch Visitors Center around nine and noticed I was not alone in considering today an excellent day to earn turns. Die hards of all sliding persuasions including alpine, AT, telemark, and snowboard were all gearing up at their cars. Snow enthusiasts on the Tuckerman Ravine Trail were evenly split between hikers and snow sliders.

The John Sherburne Ski Trail was ideal for my first foray into the Back Country for many reasons. I desired natural snow and during this lean snow year, Pinkham Notch has faired surprisingly well with recent online trip reports indicating the trail had decent cover, all things considered. Additionally, I was skiing alone and desired a popular trail in which I would hardly be alone despite not having a partner. The busy Tuckerman Ravine Trail provides safety in numbers for the solo skier. Finally, with 2000 vertical feet down a classic ski trail cut by early trail blazing pioneers, I was assured of an excellent decent on a legendary trail.

(more…)

2004-2005 Season, Cannon Mountain, January

Cannon Mountain, NH

Tramway, Upper Cannon, & the Tram

The Tram was in operation for the first time this ski season on Saturday. Additionally, Saturday saw the opening of several trails due to the snow maker efforts including Bypass, Avalanche, Zoomer, and the Tram Cutback. Despite a harsh early season at Cannon, skiing on Saturday was fantastic all around with the mountain making an unofficial opening of the real ski season with all lifts running and most of the Front Face open.

After punching in a quick warm up on Middle Cannon which was delightfully edgable fast packed snow in the early morning hours, I wasted no time in tearing down skiers right on Paulie’s Extension heading for Avalanche. Avalanche had man made powder covering the right half of the trail with the groomed option to the left. I naturally wasted no time in trashing the edgable yet soft 3-4″ of man made powder on skiers right. I began the morning proper by cycling the Zoomer Chair optioning Avalanche and Zoomer which hosted huge ungroomed whales down the center with delicious man made powder over thin cover on skiers right with excellent man made powder between the woods and the whales on skiers left that skied like buttah.

(more…)

2004-2005 Season, Crotched Mountain, December

Crotched Mountain, NH

After making a couple powder turns on Gallows Hill in Salem, MA after a sizable coastal dump, I went in search of fresh at the closest big mountain I could find. After having a great initial experience at Crotched Mountain the previous weekend, I anxiously set off in hopes that the mountain scored some fresh snow. I met up with the Marketing Director Chris Bradford to say hello before hitting the slopes.

I immediately noticed that the wind had blown most of the fresh powder off the mountain by the time I arrived. However, the groomed snow was an excellent packed powder with occasional fresh snow snow pushed off to the side of the trails. From the Summit, Satellite had great fresh snow skier’s left that bumped up quite nicely. Skier’s right also had some fresh snow on Satellite which continued on the right side of Cosmic Blast. Continuing down skier’s left of Meteor there was additional nice loose powder on skier’s left. I tried ducking into an unmarked glade to sample the woods which looked decent from it’s entrance; however, I quickly discovered that looks were deceiving as I immediately began bottoming out and scraping all sorts of nastiness.

I cycled these runs from the summit quad four times then headed inside to refresh due to the high wind which generated a cold skiing experience. I went back out and cycled another four runs before packing it in for the day. Pluto’s Plunge turned out to be decent in places with some loose powder on the edges and Equinox also proved to be a decent powder stash. However, the little powder that was available was little and far between. This would have been an excellent day of skiing for late November or early December. But for my eighth day on skis after dropping turns in foot deep powder in the morning, it left an immense amount to be desired. Crotched Mountain is shining like a diamond amongst New Hampshire areas struggling through the conditions. But without natural snow, skiing just isn’t the same no matter where one skis. Hopefully the new year will bring some sizable snow dumps without the rain-freeze-thaw cycle New England has experienced so far this winter.