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.
Arriving at Cannon at 8:00 A.M., I could not find my skiing buddy for the day, so I suited up and hit the Peabody Quad. With no sign of him at 8:30 when they started loading, I knew I could not wait… this was too good. From the unload station, I tracked down Big Link on probably the best snow I have ever skied on that trail, then skied down Middle Ravine, Gremlin, and Middle Cannon… all delicious. Dream snow it was. I made effortless and enjoyable turns all the way. Paulie’s was groomed, so I finished my warm up run with high speed GS turns down the steep smooth center trail of the Front Five.After a zip up the Zoomer Triple Chair, I banged out an awesome line on Avalanche. “Woo Hoo!!!” I exclaimed, as my skis found their own way through the soft and powdery, yet solid and well formed bumps. I barely caught the Tram at the Station… ah yes, this was going to be a good day indeed!
From the Summit, I banged out some turns on naturally covered Vista Way. Six inches of soft fluff on top of hard pack and ice. In some places it was the best, other places not so good. But the snow was excellent all around. Down Easy Link, back up the Cannonball Quad, and it was time to GET IT ON!!!
Taft Slalom had awesome snow during the AM with soft powdery bumps everywhere. Amazing. Best bumps on the mountain all day were had on Taft Slalom before 10AM. Tracked down Upper Hard with small powdery soft bumps up top and larger not so powdery bumps down below. Middle Hard was up next with excellent cover early in the day and good bumps with solid lines. Excellent!
Only trouble with the Hardscrabbles is that you need two lifts to run laps. I opted for the Peabody Quad and then tracked down Middle Cannon to Avalanche. When taking a picture of Mount Lafayette, a couple other skiers stopped and noted “Wow, what a view.” When seeing me take the picture, one skier noted “You should head over to Mittersill, you will get an excellent picture over there. “It is on the agenda,” I replied with a sly smile.
I had another amazing run down the quickly deteriorating Avalanche, and returned to the top of Paulie’s by way of the Zoomer Triple. I tracked down Paulie’s and took an awesome line down the left side of the trail. I caught a ski on something halfway down and yard saled hard core, even loosing my hat and goggles! YES!!! “If you are gonna fall,” as I like to say, “make it a good one.” So I did. Even the worst falls can be so much fun sometimes in soft powdery snow, so I continued to laugh widely as I recovered my gear, clicked in, and hucked myself straight down the fall line. I was in the zone.
Rocket had some inconsistent bumps down the right side, I hit them up. I needed more natural snow, I needed more steep terrain, I needed more bumps… so I passed on Gary’s. I knew it was time. Long have I wanted to visit the slopes of Mittersill; however, I never had a ski partner to ski out of bounds terrain safely. Surely, I could find a few skiers to partner up with at the summit! I returned to the lodge for a quick sandwich before venturing forth on my most grandest of adventures.
Back up the Peabody Quad and Cannonball Quad, upon which I noticed the dozen or so dots of skiers heading up to Mittersill. Down Taft I went again, clicked out, slung my skis over my shoulders, and proceeded to hike up to Mittersill. I was about to embark on the run and experience of a lifetime.
After returning from Mittersill, I summited again for some awesome tracks on the soft snow down Tramway. The Tram passed right over my head just past Tower 3 and I felt like I could have hit it with my pole. Some Patrollers were there too, and noted that they’ve never seen the Tram that low to the ground. Is it all the snow? Or is it all the skiers? Is the Tram lower to the snow or is the snow closer to the tram? Or both perhaps! Back up the Cannonball for another run down Taft and Upper Hard to Lower Hard. Lower Hard featured lots of loose snow and powder, and random bumps with no lines. Not the best run on the Mountain but the snow was wonderful! With my legs quickly tiring from the fast and furious bump action, I hit the lodge for lunch and reflected on the amazing runs that morning, including my epic journey down Mittersill.Before leaving the lodge, I stuffed an Apple in my jacket for a snack at the summit. It was time for another turn on Mittersill. Just before boarding the Peabody Quad, I heard my name called and turned around to see my skiing partner for the afternoon who was just taking lunch. Turns out he got to the mountain late. Mittersill quickly came up and it turned out to be a mutually desired destination for the next run. Taft was becoming quite nasty by now, and I hit no less than two rocks almost biting it both times.
After the short hike up Mittersill, I enjoyed a summit apple. I surveyed the view of the Franconia and Kinsman Ridges, paying particular attention to North Kinsman who beat me down on my recent hike over the summer, originally planned as double summit of both North and South. My legs proved to be tired by the second run down Mittersill. The narrowness and bumps of the Taft Race Trail challenged me this time around; where as the first time down I owned them. But they still rocked. I let out an exclamation of joy and let the skis go where they wanted to. Some scraped snow this time around, not the loose powder fantasy of the first run down.
Pausing for a breather at the old double station, we tracked down the traverse to Barrons Run. We took a similar line to my first run and had a ball. Gleeful exclamations of joy were expressed as I bumped and jumped in and around the trees, twigs, powder, and bumps. It was all over to quickly for the mind, but not quickly enough for the body.
Up the high speed quad we went, eying some old lift lines and roped areas not specifically on the map. The decision was made to check them out. I freaking nailed the first one with a width of no more than 6 feet. Perfect bumps and perfect line. I just let the skis slide back and forth in a rhythm. More Exclamations of joy. Next stash was a bit more hairy with some rocks and sticks to avoid, but a blast none the less.
Back over to the Triple for Rocket which had degrading consistency but good snow. And then over to Avalanche, which was officially disgusting by that time, where I took a huge dump and hurt my right leg on the recovery effort. Then onto the often overlooked Banshee Slopes for some fine soft powdery bumps down a narrow trail. Back up the Tram, we were first in line and got front row seats for a birds eye for of the new trail Tramline. I originally was licking my lips in anticipation of skiing this trail this winter. However, after seeing it covered with snow… I have doubts. I have never really feared any trail before, but this thing is just sick and dangerous. We saw tracks, and the liftie commented that those guys would not be doing that again any time soon. They got lift privileges revoked for the year! I am sure they thought it was a worth while poach though! I would return to easily handle the Tramline trail in just two more years time. It is amazing how perspectives on trails change as ability improves.
Down Vista Way again, my leg began acting up. Time for a rest. A delightful track down the slightly scraped and very bumpy Middle Cannon. Where I caught an edge, took a dump, and landed hard. Gathering my skis, I noticed my binding was busted. *KICK!* Popped it back into place, had a good laugh, clicked in, and back to the lodge we went.
I knew I had a few more in me, but with a sore right leg, the question was how many? We tracked down the excellent snow on Middle Ravine and down through the Turnpike Glade. Wonderful snow! Back up the high speed again, and it was time for the glory run. One last time down the unmarked stash. Every turn was desperate. Barely holding it together through the 6 foot wide stash, I could not slow it down. I held on though, and came out winded. Back down through Mid to Lower Ravine and called it a day!
One of my top three ski days ever, hands down. Only three things could have made it better. Bright sunny skies all day, having the stamina to make the second half of the day rock as much as the first half, and not getting a sore leg and needing to call it quits before the lifts closed. I had the run of my lifetime on Mittersill the first time down, skied great snow everywhere, enjoyed bumps all day, and just laughed, smiled, and had fun continuously. Simply Awesome.
