Category: March

2011-2012 Season, Cannon Mountain, March, NE Ski Blogger Summit, Powder Day

NSBS Day 4: I Am Cannon

Sick Bird on Upper Hard
Sick Bird on Upper Hard

One unifying aspect shared by attendees of the Northeast Ski Bloggers Summit is passion. That passion is not only something that brings us together but also something we feed off. We inspire each other to further those passions. One of the things I am most passionate about is Cannon. I love the mountain.

I didn’t want my fellow bloggers just to ski Cannon, I wanted them to see if from my eyes. Not to adopt my perspective but to understand something very personal about me and my passion. Maybe they would not find Cannon to be a special place, but they would at least understand what makes Cannon special to me.

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2010-2011 Season, AlpineZone Meet Up, March, Sugarloaf

Sugarloaf: Following the Wind

Sugarloaf

Riding up the Superquad, I noticed that Spillway and Timberline were not spinning. After a quick rip down Lower Winter’s Way to Lower Misery Whip, I found out that King Pine was not spinning. And after a long run out on Cross Haul, I found out that Whiffletree was also not spinning. Looping up and over to the top of King Pine, I found that the new trails off the Brackett Basin ridge were closed.

Today was all about flexibility and patience. Quality snow and good turns could be found, especially after I got past my initial disappointment. With the singles line for the Superquad back to Double Runner, I decided it would be a Double to T-bar day.

Excellent wind loaded snow was found on skier’s left of many trails. The MO for the day was traversing looker’s left from the T-bar and skiing skier’s left on the trails. Spillway, Winter’s Way, Misery Whip, and Ripsaw all offered nice turns, scraped in some places and creamy in others. I found Bubblecuffer to be especially nice. But the run of the day was saved for last as we took Haul Back on Greg’s suggestion which yielded epic wind blown pow.

I was fortunate to meet up with some of the AlpineZone crew after lunch. Skiing solo was okay. But on such a day as this, the company changed the day from somewhat blah to incredibly fun. Skiing with a crew made my day and made the afternoon something special. Last chair came all to quickly and my legs gave out just as the lifts came to a stop.

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2010-2011 Season, March, Powder Day, Smugglers Notch

Smuggs <3

I am so up on Smuggs. I can’t even say the name without smiling and feeling better. Smuggs is one of only three or four ski areas that I connect with on an emotional level. Perhaps the honeymoon is not over yet. But I don’t think that is the case. Despite only having skied Smuggs four times, the connection already runs deep. It’s a special place.

The expansive tree skiing grabs me like no where else. The types of trees, spacing varieties, topography, and vertical all combine to offer an immensely pleasing experience. Much like other Northern Vermont areas, Smuggs tree skiing is a choose your own adventure and the best adventures are often off map. But by thinking outside the pack, there are so many seemingly obvious shots that remain untracked days after a storm.

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2010-2011 Season, March, Okemo

Okemo Shit Show

Rolling Thunder

Oh, the places The List has taken me. I will not likely return to any of them. But Okemo is reserved a special honor–a mountain you couldn’t pay me to revisit. A mountain I would even gladly pay to avoid. It is like my childhood feeder hill–Ski Bradford–with ten times the vertical and acreage and five high speed quads. That is Okemo. A royal shit show.

Okemo offers a massive and enjoyable visual on the approach from the east. But any pleasant thoughts regarding the view are quickly displaced by the offending traffic of Ludlow–a municipality that appears particularly devoted to being a ski resort town. The only thing I found enjoyable about Ludlow were slices at the aptly named Wicked Good Pizza.

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2010-2011 Season, Bromley, March

Bromley: The Corn Mountain

Blue Ribbon Quad

Sledhauler on Havoc

En route to Bromley, I experienced disconcerting feelings driving past Magic Mountain. The feelings were irrelevant since Magic wouldn’t have the sunny exposure needed for great corn snow and was closed regardless. But it still felt odd to drive past southern Vermont’s finest to frolic instead at the Sun Mountain. Bromley was the safe bet on guaranteed perfect corn conditions and it delivered with aplomb… and I have no disconcerting feelings about that.

I had not skied Bromley in more than eleven years. Perspective is an interesting thing. Back then I considered Bromley’s Blue Ribbon Quad area as “full of tough diamond runs” that are “nothing to laugh about”. The trails that schooled me then seem mellow now. I have had such an amazing journey in less than a dozen years. And to think that journey is only getting started…

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