2009-2010 Season, Cannon Mountain, December, Powder Day

Powder Day, Cannon Style

Monday evening I retired to the bedroom at approximately 10:00 P.M. Which is when the day dreams began. Visions of untracked powder dancing through my head for two hours during which sleep was entirely elusive. It was a secular snowy equivalent of Christmas Eve and I was an anxious child unable to sleep a wink.

It reminded me of my childhood on evenings just prior to family ski trips. Those were big occasions only under taken a few times each year. Friday nights were torture. It did not matter where we were going the next day. I could hardly sleep a wink in anticipation of the family ski trip. Not much has changed in twenty years. I am still that anxious kid that can’t hardly wait to hurry up and get to sleep so I can wake up the next morning and get to the mountain.

Cannon reported in with seven inches this morning. Much to the management’s credit, Cannon is often honest to a fault with snow total reporting and often errs on the side of caution and underestimates (especially when the snow is blowing). It may be, in fact, that Cannon did receive only seven inches of wind blown fluff. But it skied more like 8-12″. Suffice to say, it was more than enough to make skiing absolutely sensational.

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2009-2010 Season, Cannon Mountain, December, Powder Day

CANNON!

I love this mountain. Cannon rarely fails to deliver. And when it over performs, it is damn good and like no where else. Even when I was a pass holder at Jay, I still considered Cannon my home mountain. When it is good at Cannon, it ain’t worth driving any where else in the east.

Laziness has crept into my skiing routine lately due to excessive fatigue and not enough sleep. I took Thursday and Friday off from skiing. With non-crystalline precipitation en route for Sunday, I managed to drag my sorry lazy ass out of bed and drive north to Cannon for what I expected to be lack luster skiing at best.

What I found was an extremely pleasant surprise. I found my way to the Zoomer Chair in the morning per my usual pattern when there is no fresh snow. I found Avalanche whaled on skier’s left and awkwardly bumped on skier’s right. Not bad but not what I was looking for. So next run, I took Zoomer Lift Line which was sublime! Blow in from Zoomer snow guns along with some natural combined for very soft natural-ish snow with occasional bumps and slightly thin cover without fear of base damage. Turns were silky smooth. I lapped Zoomer Lift a while before heading for the summit for further exploration.

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2009-2010 Season, Cannon Mountain, December

Returning to My Roots at Cannon

While Rhode Island and southern Boston Metro was getting slammed with almost two feet of fresh, I decided to head to my home mountain for some non-powder skiing. After having considered a four hour round trip drive to the flatlands for powder, I declined the option based on the latest weather runs early Sunday morning.

These forecasts substantially decreased snow totals outside the I-495 belt leaving Wachsuett without much fresh. And with decreasing snow fall later in the morning, what little fell at WaWa would most likely be groomed flat by opening bell. That left one 300 vertical foot trail at Blue Hills that would be tracked out in two runs. Or, I could just drive to Cannon and enjoy a relaxing day of skiing close to home. I chose to stay local and am more than satisfied with my decision.

Despite no new natural snow in over a week, Cannon skied very well thanks to their snow making and grooming teams. These efforts were substantially beefed up when the new GM took over three years ago and continue to offer up a product far superior to the Cannon of old. Available terrain include The Links, Ravine, Cannon, Extension, and Spookie from the Peabody Quad, Gary’s, Mickey’s, and Rocket from the Zoomer Triple, and some beginner terrain in the Tuckerbrook Family area. Ravine was whaled up but no other snow making operations were apparent.

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2009-2010 Season, December, Mad River Glen, Powder Day

Opening Day of the Season at MRG Powder Style

After a November to forget, it seems like a December to Remember has finally commenced. Thanks to significant Lake Effect snow bands reaching all the way into Vermont and across New England, Mad River Glen was able to open this weekend unexpectedly. With Jay Peak having lift issues and my ski bud Nhski going to Mad River Glen, it was a total no brainer!

Due to the unexpected opening, Mad River Glen had advertised a 10am opening but actually had us on the lift by 9:30am. Seeing the mountain covered in powder and without moguls was stunning, a sight rarely seen at Mad River Glen except during the very early season. Tracks from turn earners blanketed the mountain from the past two days and this morning. But there was more than enough to go around. And the silky smooth lake effect powder was a sublime treat.

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Gear

Garmont Radiums: First Tour

My Garmont Radiums saw their first major day of touring this past Saturday at Cannon. Snow conditions during the tour included 12-18″ of very dense snow with occasionally significant wind buff. Suffice to say, conditions were challenging. Especially on a ski with only a 79mm waist. I know how my G-Rides would have performed on such conditions. Not very well.

Uphill touring performance was similar to the G-Ride. Others have suggested that the uphill has a better hinge and a better walk mode than the G-Ride/Mega Ride series. However, I am not so certain the difference is that substantial. I will say that I could not tell the difference in weight between the Garmont Radium and the Garmont G-Ride despite the Radium gaining a little more heft. Uphill performance was simply as expected. Though I did like the addition of the upper buckle teeth locks which ensure loose buckles do not fall out of the teeth.

But enough up the up hill. This boot was not purchased for its benefits on the uphill (Dynafit compatibility aside) but rather for better downhill performance. And boy does the Garmont Radium truly shine on the down hill. With its overlap construction instead of the plastic tongue of the G-Ride/Mega Ride series, the Radium has a much more progressive flex. Additionally, responsiveness is more readily apparent than my older G-Rides. I never felt I “hit the wall” with the Garmont Radium in terms of flex (which I always did with the G-Rides).

So it toured nice, fit well, and had an improved flex. But how were the turns? Superb to say the least. Despite the difficult conditions and my skinny skis, per the report posted above, I opened things up on my last run down Paulie’s Folly and really got after it. As close to charging as I could possibly go given the limits of my skis and the conditions. The turns were sublime.

Garmont Radiums are not an alpine boot replacement. The performance will never be quite as good as an alpine boot. But there will always be at least a slight down hill sacrifice in order to substantially reduce the uphill weight penalty of the beef boots. That said, the Radium is a breakthrough in AT boot design that is an amazing combination of uphill tourability with downhill performance. The Radium is as close as you will find to an alpine styled AT boot without giving up the weight penalty. TheSnowWay.com test and approved. It was worth paying nearly full price without a doubt in my mind.