Category: 2022-2023 Season

2022-2023 Season, Cannon Mountain, March

Cannon

Today featured “day after the storm” powder hunting. Given how ravenous skiers were the day before, untracked lines would be hard to find. But I know Cannon pretty well, and found some damn fine cut up powder in the off map woods.

Thankfully, I found a kindred spirit while riding the Cannonball. After our first ride, we split up seeming to have slightly different agendas. As chance would have it, we soon found ourselves paired up again on the Cannonball. I am not a believer in fate or cosmic plans. But, when these types of things that don’t necessarily happen-for-a-reason happen, you gotta go with it.

We made for excellent skiing partners and lift conversation was smooth and easy. We had a shared love of cycling and woods skiing, and both appreciated similar skiing aesthetics and locations. And we paired up well ability wise as well (always a concern when going off map with someone you just met on the lift).

After some fine powdery off map woods, we hit almost every tree line at Mittersill except Bunny. They were all skiing well, though the overall lack of base depth from a poor snowfall season was showing, despite the recent storm. The lesson for today is to keep reaching out to find ski partners. They are out there and they want the company too.

2022-2023 Season, Mad River Glen, March, Powder Day

MRG: Jackpot (Finally)

MRG Trees

This season has left much to be desired. I had skied only two times through the end of February. Northern New England ski areas were averaging one storm every two months with little in between. President’s week featured a powder day that felt like a late season weekend. Conditions were so terrible that even a holiday powder day could not bring the crowds out.

But you can never completely write off a season. It just takes one storm to get things going again. One exceptionally good storm to make you forget about months of misery. And at Mad River Glen, we finally got that exceptional two-footer, and it put most lines on the table. And the off map trees were skiing phenomenally due to the think and dense nature of the snow.

The storm brought out the crowds, leading to one of the longest lines that I have ever seen for the Single (easily a 40-minute wait). But the nature of the Single is that even hours after opening, there are still untracked lines all over due to the low density and low uphill capacity. The lines thinned out by noontime, and I didn’t last much longer than that. Only on my third day and charging hard, my legs called it quits long before I wanted to.

2022-2023 Season, Cannon Mountain, February, Powder Day

Double Day, Part Two: Cannon

Candyland

Continued from Part One

While driving home from Jay, after only a few hours of lackluster skiing, I was replaying my helmet issue in my head. Why wouldn’t the ear pads fit into my helmet? What made them pop out without warning?

As I approached Franconia, I recalled that I had two helmets. Perhaps they had different ear pads and I had jammed the wrong set into my helmet? While driving, I rummaged through the pockets in my boot bag. And, sure enough, I found another set of ear pads. What a fucking idiot.

I started the approach to Franconia Notch and Cannon loomed large. By now, I had compared snow reports on my phone, and I knew Cannon had received more than three times the few inches that Jay had received. It was almost two o’clock, not much time left for the lifts. But, I had the sudden urge to stop at Cannon and resume my ski day, with my helmet and with leftovers from a foot of fresh.

I was glad I stopped! The skiing at Cannon was phenomenal. While I was many hours late to first tracks, I used my knowledge of the mountain to find the best snow and enough untracked to justify a powder day tag. It was only the second day I have ever skied two areas on the same day, and certainly the first time I had done so without planning it that way.

2022-2023 Season, February, Jay Peak

Double Day, Part One: Jay

U.N.

Today featured an unplanned dual visit to Jay and Cannon.

The ski day got off to an unfavorable start. I bypassed Cannon and drove on to Jay thinking that Northern Vermont would do better than Cannon during the storm. As I continued north, the driving got easier and the snow banks got smaller. Clearly, I made the wrong destination selection, but I was committed.

After booting up, I went outside to start my day when I noticed that the ear pads to my helmet had fallen out. Try as I might to reconnect the pads, I couldn’t figure out how to jam them into the helmet. It was far too cold to go without ear pads, and I certainly wasn’t going to buy a replacement helmet. So, I elected to ski with a hat only.

It has been more than twenty years since I last skied without a helmet. I felt exposed and uncomfortable. Despite the half foot of fresh, I opted to stay on open trails only. No woods for me today.

Well, at least until I met a first timer on the lift. The dude had just come back from skiing The Dip, not realizing he was following tracks to Route 242. He obviously had a sense of adventure, and I appreciated his idiosyncrasies. We hit it off and I wanted to show him the best of Jay, off map in the woods. Just one run. 🙂

We had a good time, but he went back in for lunch. Without a partner and without my helmet, I thought I had pushed my luck far enough. The skiing was fun, but not as fun as it could have and should have been. I decided to call it a day. But little did I know at the time, that my ski day was just beginning…

Part Two