Category: January

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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2001-2002 Season, Articles, Burke, January, Powder Day

The Burke Mountain Experience

Willoughby Quad
Willoughby Quad

Getting There

Many great things have been said about Burke; and the mountain has been on my list of places to visit since it’s re-opening. After several years of poor management and closings, Burke re-opened last season and remains one of Vermont’s best kept secrets.

I woke up early on Saturday morning around 4:50 A.M and quickly grabbed a bite to eat, packed the car, and had the wheels rolling by 5:20 A.M. The darkness at this early time seemed greater than normal even considering the time of the year. Gloomy clouds were promising socked in peaks and they delivered on their promise.

Having never driven to the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, I opted to drive through the Franconia Notch on I-93 in New Hampshire instead of taking I-89. I believed this would be the faster and more interesting route and this proved to be a sound assumption. Although most of the peaks were socked in the clouds, I-93 through the Franconia Notch still remains one of my favorite drives even when the weather does not cooperate. Franconia Notch had a localized snow storm that made driving on the Parkway interesting. But the storm relented as I passed Cannon, as I looked longingly at Avalanche, Paulie’s Folly, and Zoomer.

Total mileage to Burke Mountain via this route from the New Hampshire boarder was 170 miles and took just under three hours. Upon reaching Burke Mountain, I by-passed the lower mountain Base Lodge and headed to the Mid-Burke Lodge which allowed quick access to the better terrain. The Lodge was populated with racers from both the Burke Mountain Academy and The New England Masters circuit along along with some locals.

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1999-2000 Season, January, Loon Mountain, Racing

Loon Mountain, NH

The UMass Lowell Ski Team held races at Loon on the weekend of January 29nd-30th. Due to skier rotation, I was only to race in the GS on Saturday. Thus, I had the day off from racing on Sunday to explore Loon. Loon has well earned it’s reputation as one of the most crowded resorts in New England. On Saturday, I nearly had a heart attack waiting twenty minutes in line for the Kancamagus High Speed Quad, minutes before I needed to prep for a race! Sadly, Loon’s proximity to the Boston Metro area and low priced season pass means the over crowding of Loon will continue.

This is disappointing, because Loon does offer up some fun Expert Terrain in it’s East Basin area. Trails such as Flume, Triple Trouble, and Angel Street are super runs and glades such as Mike’s Woods are amongst New Hampshire’s finest. However, with Loon’s tendency to be quite crowded, these slopes can get skied off very quickly. They are best enjoyed mid-week after a significant snow storm. But for a slightly longer drive, better options abound for mid-week powder days!

Fortunately for myself, on Sunday (my off racing day), a rain/ice storm had moved in creating abysmal skiing weather. Why you ask was this fortunate? Because it kept skiers away from the mountain! The warm weather and rain softened up the scraped and icy snow, making for some fine skiing conditions. I was actually quite happy to have the day off on a Slalom day any ways!

Serious skiers at Loon should avoid the Kancamagus High Speed Quad and Gondola at all costs. Trails off the chairs in the East Basin offer up the best trails on the mountain. Trails off the Quad and Gondola are almost exclusively blue square cruisers that attract the most skiers.