2004-2005 Season, Earned Turns, January, Lost Ski Area, Mount Watatic

Mount Watatic, MA

Base of Mount Watatic

Skinned up Mount Watatic in Ashby, Massachusetts after my plans to drive to Magic Mountain were scrapped due to early morning car difficulties. After fixing the the vehicle’s dysfunction, it was too nice of a day to not get some turns in, so I turned to NELSAP for suggestions. Mount Watatic fit the bill for a less than two hour drive to a mountain with a decent but not over whelming vertical drop. I decided it would be a perfect mountain for a late afternoon skin. I quickly packed up the gear and set off for Route 119 leading towards the New Hampshire border.

Despite having closed down in 1984, Mount Watatic’s old ski trails have not grown in much. This has much to do with the high amount of activity on the mountain I found out. Snowmobilers and Winter Hikers alike were out in strong numbers on this Saturday afternoon enjoying blue bird skis and distant views from the summit. A summit access road exists for four wheeled vehicles during the Summer, but my turns would have to be earned by skinning up the old ski trails.

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2004-2005 Season, January, Mad River Glen

Mad River Glen, VT

Fall Line

After a week of below zero temperatures, Mad River Glen decided to offer up an amazing deal too good to pass up. The Glen slashed prices in half all weekend for a promotion called “Freeze Your But Off Weekend” which allowed for 8 hours of skiing for only $25! Combined with the fact that MRG has more open terrain than any other area (100% open this weekend) made the decision on where to ski a no brainer.

My first visit to Mad River Glen in 2003 was a fun but ugly affair. The conditions were “dust on crust” which skied very poorly. Additionally, I was still developing my bump and natural snow techniques so I got showed up by the mountain pretty badly. I had planned to do a four day tour in the Mad River Valley, but was hurting so bad after two days of skiing that I packed it up and headed home. Despite less cover and a general lack of snow, my adventures at The Glen this time around were much improved.

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2004-2005 Season, Cannon Mountain, January

Cannon Mountain, NH

Upper Cannon

Unfortunately, I was tied up at work on Saturday the 15th, so I missed the better day of the week in which skiers trashed what little remained of a few inches of snow. Sloppy seconds were the order of the day on Sunday on the Front Face with slightly better snow conditions at the top of the mountain. Overall, the groomers were generally in sad shape, especially the beginner terrain which was scraped up from over grooming and lack of natural snow from the get to.

Began the morning taking the Eaglecliff Triple to the lake side, but was stopped by a patroller at the top of Rocket warning me that the Zoomer Triple was not running yet. Really appreciated Cannon having a plan in place to alert skiers to the problem. I took the cut back and grabbed a tram to the summit. I was amazed by the utter lack of wind at the top of Cannon. Out of my four rides on the tram, the car only bumped once and it was very minor. Very rare is the day that the tram docks at the summit without even a slight bump! Incredible!

Upper Mountain left much to be desired but it was better than the previous week. Profile, Skylight, and Upper Ravine were edgable hard pack from the get go and Tramway was quite scraped off later in the day. Down on mid-mountain, Bypass was scratched up but skiers right into Paulie’s Extension had some swell bumps and decent snow. I skied down skiers right of Extension and dropped steeply into Avalanche still keeping skiers right to witness a frighteningly thin covered trail. Early in the morning, there was some left over powder to be had far skiers right at the top of Avalanche, but it quickly deteriorated and soon everything not groomed on Avalanche was half grass and half bumps. It was challenging and occasionally fun but far far from ideal conditions.

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2004-2005 Season, January, Wildcat

Wildcat, NH

Madison & Adams from Wildcat

After earning turns across the Notch on the John Sherburne Ski Trail via skinning up the Tuckerman Ravine Trial, I ventured across Route 16 to Wildcat Ski Area to capitalize on the $20.00 Sunday Afternoon Cruise ticket. Despite knowing the snow would be disappointing compared to the excellent natural snow conditions of the Sherburne, I believed it would be worth the money for several additional two thousand vertical foot runs from the summit. Boy, was I wrong!

The sound of the day that afternoon at Wildcat was “Scraaaaaaaaape!” Despite the 2-3″ of fresh snow that fell the evening before (the Snow Report on Wildcat’s web page claimed an unbelievably over hyped lie of 4-7″), nearly all of Wildcat’s trails were unmercifully scraped down by my first descent around 1 P.M. Even the sides of the trails had little to nothing to offer where normally loose snow and powder piles are to be found. If my legs had not been so tired from skinning for two hours earlier that morning, I may have found it more bearable. But scraped hard pack was hardly what I was looking to end my day on.

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2004-2005 Season, Earned Turns, January, Mount Washington, Sherburne Ski Trail

Introduction to Alpine Touring on the Sherburne

Hojos Panorama

Awakening from a night of restless sleep at the Hiker’s Paradise in Gorham, I casually stretched out on my bed and debated when I should rise for the day of skiing. I considered a late start to be worth while as the bank sign across the street was reading sixteen degrees. Packing up my gear and gathering my clothing choices for the afternoon, I was eagerly looking forward to and imagining my first foray into the realm of backcountry skiing on my new Alpine Touring rig. After a scrumptious breakfast served downstairs, I packed up my gear and drove south into the Notch.

I arrived at Pinkham Notch Visitors Center around nine and noticed I was not alone in considering today an excellent day to earn turns. Die hards of all sliding persuasions including alpine, AT, telemark, and snowboard were all gearing up at their cars. Snow enthusiasts on the Tuckerman Ravine Trail were evenly split between hikers and snow sliders.

The John Sherburne Ski Trail was ideal for my first foray into the Back Country for many reasons. I desired natural snow and during this lean snow year, Pinkham Notch has faired surprisingly well with recent online trip reports indicating the trail had decent cover, all things considered. Additionally, I was skiing alone and desired a popular trail in which I would hardly be alone despite not having a partner. The busy Tuckerman Ravine Trail provides safety in numbers for the solo skier. Finally, with 2000 vertical feet down a classic ski trail cut by early trail blazing pioneers, I was assured of an excellent decent on a legendary trail.

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