Category: 2023-2024 Season

2023-2024 Season, Cannon Mountain, Earned Turns, February, White Mountain BC

Tuckerbrook: Blue Bird

Lincoln & Lafayette

The forecast promised an amazing blue bird day in the mountains. With new snow sticking to the trees, it was guaranteed to be a brilliant day in the outdoors. The air was cold and crisp, and the views of views of the Franconia Ridge and Kinsmans were fabulous.

Kinsmans

The morning temperature was extremely cold. Skinning is always a great choice for these days as it is easy to stay warm. The lower mountain snow pack was much improved since my last skin earlier this year. But access to the ski trail was still quite thin and would require careful skiing during the exit.

Cannon

The skin was uneventful, the views amazing, and the skiing acceptable. The snow pack is still quite thin for the first week of February. However, at least the trail is now well covered (at least, above the nordic trail junction).

Tuckerbrook

2023-2024 Season, February, Jay Peak

Jay: Undercast, Not Underwhelming

Tram from River Quai

After what feels like weeks of cloudy darkness, it was wonderful to see the sun today. Despite the general lack of snow, I kinda felt that the sunny day was needed more than a powder day.

Conditions were not bad all around. A bit firm, but not hard pack or scraped. The undercast was beautiful and the weather was pleasant. Given the stillness in the air, I even rode the freezer today! A rare day, indeed.

2023-2024 Season, January, Ragged Mountain

Ragged: Not A Powder Day

Today was my first time skiing Ragged since my first visit over twenty years ago. Back then, Ragged had just installed the first Six Pack in New Hampshire. Since then, they have added another high speed lift up Speare Mountain, and a few more glades.

However, I would not be skiing those glades today. The new snow would normally constitute a “power day” tag. However, most of the new snow was groomed, or fell on bare ground. No “reservations” today, the new snow was not enough to entice even me.

Four generally unique routes were available from the summit, with a bit of natural (thanks to an earlier groom) on some of the trails. Unfortunately, all of the open trails got a groom at some point during the evening. So, no trails offered more than a few token inches. Still, it was nice to feel natural snow again, even if only a few inches of a chop.

2023-2024 Season, December, Jay Peak, Powder Day

Legendary: Jay

Bonnie Chair 50

It was quite an unusual morning at Jay. There was no wind and the sun shined brightly. A warm light fell upon the Bonnie and Chair 50, recently painted black and emblazoned with a skull and cross bones plaque, dedicated to the legendary Michael Pfaff.

Pfaff is a reminder that anyone can make a profound difference in the lives of others. No one told him to put in the extra effort, he just did it. It is something that many of us aspire to, but few of us fully realize. It is something that is unique to legends.

Encouraging a legend to, quite literary, let their flag fly is a testament to the community and culture at Jay. The Bonnie was a special place to start a powder day. And due to the culture at Jay, it will continue to be so.