Sunday dawned in the negative digits but without the wind of the previous day. I opted to stay close to home and reserve my remaining Jay vouchers for future storms. I assumed Cannon had been sacked just like Jay, so I waited for warmer temperatures and got a late start.

One benefit to having a season pass is the freedom of short visits. It would be wasteful to only ski a few runs on a voucher or a day ticket. But a season pass changes my decision making considerably. This was my first time skiing four days in a row since the 2014 Jackson Hole trip. And I am currently on pace to have the most ski days I’ve had in a single season since 2013-2014.

Cannon was indeed sacked. Hardly any loose powder was left and no untracked turns. The natural snow was hit hard and did not set up well. Snow conditions and thin coverage made for less than satisfactory turns, especially after I had just experienced 16″ of fresh at Jay with almost all options on the table.

Groomed terrain fared far worse. Snow surfaces were saturated with moisture before the freeze and seven inches was not enough to recover the frozen base layer. The result was frozen hard pack and scrapped conditions on many trails. The groomers had skied better on Friday before the new snow due to softer surfaces.

After four ski days in a row, my stamina faltered resulting in unsatisfactory turns. I could blame the thin coverage and snow setup. But the truth is that I am out of shape and I can no longer ski my body into shape. A year round conditioning program will be needed to keep my body and core up to par for future seasons.

I awoke to the pitter-patter of rain. Earlier in the week, it seemed like Friday afternoon was going to be “the day”. But the changeover to snow was delayed. Friday was now the calm before the storm. Late in the day, I drove up to Cannon to see if the two inch per hour snowfall would start before the mountain closed.

I arrived just as the rain changed over to snow. The snow was “premature”, so accumulations were minimal. Groomed trails were skiing surprising well despite the rain (or perhaps because of it). But I didn’t come to ski groomers. Unfortunately, the natural snow trails skied even worse than they had on Thursday.

Just before Cannon closed, the sky opened up with two inch per hour snowfall. The drive home was formidable, as expected. The changeover happened even earlier in Northern Vermont where the snowfall would also last longer. For Saturday, I would bypass Cannon and head further north.

With only three powder days to my season (and none of them deep lift serviced days), I am a part of the northeast’s powder deprived legion. Natural snow terrain and trees have been slow to open. This weekend’s forecast was a game changer… as long as the mountains were on the right side of the mixed precipitation line.

I opened a four day skiing weekend at Cannon. The wind was honking and surface conditions were quite variable. Three inches of new snow did nothing for the lunar landscape of natural snow terrain. There was no rope for Zoomer Liftline but no one ever made a single track. That tells you something.

I ripped high speed arcs on a few inches of fresh over groomed. I enjoyed myself but I was all set after a few hours. Especially after the wind picked up and constant goggle scraping was required due to freezing fog. Today was fun, but it was not the main event.