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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2004-2005 Season, Cannon Mountain, January

Cannon Mountain, NH

Tramway, Upper Cannon, & the Tram

The Tram was in operation for the first time this ski season on Saturday. Additionally, Saturday saw the opening of several trails due to the snow maker efforts including Bypass, Avalanche, Zoomer, and the Tram Cutback. Despite a harsh early season at Cannon, skiing on Saturday was fantastic all around with the mountain making an unofficial opening of the real ski season with all lifts running and most of the Front Face open.

After punching in a quick warm up on Middle Cannon which was delightfully edgable fast packed snow in the early morning hours, I wasted no time in tearing down skiers right on Paulie’s Extension heading for Avalanche. Avalanche had man made powder covering the right half of the trail with the groomed option to the left. I naturally wasted no time in trashing the edgable yet soft 3-4″ of man made powder on skiers right. I began the morning proper by cycling the Zoomer Chair optioning Avalanche and Zoomer which hosted huge ungroomed whales down the center with delicious man made powder over thin cover on skiers right with excellent man made powder between the woods and the whales on skiers left that skied like buttah.

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2004-2005 Season, Crotched Mountain, December

Crotched Mountain, NH

After making a couple powder turns on Gallows Hill in Salem, MA after a sizable coastal dump, I went in search of fresh at the closest big mountain I could find. After having a great initial experience at Crotched Mountain the previous weekend, I anxiously set off in hopes that the mountain scored some fresh snow. I met up with the Marketing Director Chris Bradford to say hello before hitting the slopes.

I immediately noticed that the wind had blown most of the fresh powder off the mountain by the time I arrived. However, the groomed snow was an excellent packed powder with occasional fresh snow snow pushed off to the side of the trails. From the Summit, Satellite had great fresh snow skier’s left that bumped up quite nicely. Skier’s right also had some fresh snow on Satellite which continued on the right side of Cosmic Blast. Continuing down skier’s left of Meteor there was additional nice loose powder on skier’s left. I tried ducking into an unmarked glade to sample the woods which looked decent from it’s entrance; however, I quickly discovered that looks were deceiving as I immediately began bottoming out and scraping all sorts of nastiness.

I cycled these runs from the summit quad four times then headed inside to refresh due to the high wind which generated a cold skiing experience. I went back out and cycled another four runs before packing it in for the day. Pluto’s Plunge turned out to be decent in places with some loose powder on the edges and Equinox also proved to be a decent powder stash. However, the little powder that was available was little and far between. This would have been an excellent day of skiing for late November or early December. But for my eighth day on skis after dropping turns in foot deep powder in the morning, it left an immense amount to be desired. Crotched Mountain is shining like a diamond amongst New Hampshire areas struggling through the conditions. But without natural snow, skiing just isn’t the same no matter where one skis. Hopefully the new year will bring some sizable snow dumps without the rain-freeze-thaw cycle New England has experienced so far this winter.

2004-2005 Season, December, Gallows Hill Park, Powder Day

Gallows Hill Park in Salem, MA

Gallows Hill Park

On the eve of Sunday December 26th a long awaited double storm barreled into New England. The temperature was cold and the moisture was immense and a light fluffy snow began falling heavily. The snow parking ban for Salem went up with Police driving the roads warning residents to move their cars or be towed away. After digging out and removing my girl friend’s car to Gallows Hill Park down the street, I realized this was the perfect storm for any powder lover with one important exception: the storm would fall only in south eastern New England and the jackpot was reserved for areas furthest removed from the mountains: the coastal areas.

“When live gives you lemons…” as the saying goes, so that is just what I did. When my morning alarm clock began buzzing, a quick peek outside revealed what I suspected the night before: that work would soon be called off due to treacherous driving conditions leaving the afternoon open for skiing. The only problem was that none of my favorite ski areas up north received much for snow fall. I grabbed my gear and drove around the corner to access Salem’s biggest and steepest vertical drop figuring I might as well take advantage of some of the deepest powder in New England even if it is in my own backyard.

Gallows Hill in Salem, MA is so called since it was the location of the Witch Hangings that resulted from the Salem Witch Trials (which actually took place in nearby Peabody, MA). A small park now rests upon the hill’s flat summit area with another park and parking area below the hill’s southern slopes. It was from this parking lot that I began my ascent of Gallows Hill.

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Book Reviews

Backcountry Skiing Adventures by David Goodman

Backcountry Skiing Adventures: ME & NH Backcountry Skiing Adventures: VT & NYRecently revised and split into two volumes, David Goodman’s Backcountry Skiing Adventures are the indispensable guides to backcountry skiing and riding in New England. The two books remain essential guides for numerous classic backcountry ski tours and a solid introduction for any aspiring backcountry skier or rider. Once the decision has been made to earn turns, the snowy hills become an boundless and limitless playground in which ascents and descents are only limited by imagination and determination. The gates to adventure and powder bliss are thrown wide open and you no longer allow ski areas to dictate the length of your season. The solid foundation that David Goodman provides offers everything from a gentle introduction on flatter locales to above tree line madness accessed by nearly 10 mile approaches. An essential pair of guides for any backcountry skier, Backcountry Skiing Adventures comes in two volumes: Vermont & New York and Maine & New Hampshire. Happy turn earning!