March roared in like a lion on the first of the month dumping over a foot of fresh in ski country. By Wednesday morning, 20 inches of light fluffy powder had fallen on Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire’s Franconia Notch. When I arrived at Cannon on Thursday morning, I was greeted with reports of epic powder over the previous two days. Many folks claimed it was one of their best days of skiing ever. One even quipped it was “better than skiing out west.”
Unfortunately, my long weekend through vacation time did not perfectly coincide with the epic powder dump. As a result, I arrived to a mountain that already was pillaged of much untracked powder…. but not completely. Knowing some select and secret lines in combination with the Tramline opening for the first time this year combined for one of the more satisfying ski days I have had this year despite the conditions being somewhat less than epic.
I began the morning at the Tram Base and wasted no time in heading down a Brutally Groomed Taft Slalom trail and making my way up the Saddle. Taft Race Course was packed and scraped snow with bumps that have seen better days. It quickly became apparent that two days of skier traffic in combination with ferocious winds had left the mountain without much powder on the main routes. So I decided to duck into the trees and lesser known stashes and found boot deep fairly untracked fresh every where with not another soul to be seen or heard. Sweetness. I repeated said adventure down another shot to equal delight before heading back to Tram Base to switch over to rock skis. It was Tramline time.
Tramline first opened two seasons ago to much fanfare as being one of the steepest and nastiest trails in New England. Unfortunately, the trail is so nasty and rocky that it is hardly ever open! The first season it opened, I gazed up in awe at the rocks that promised mandatory air and severe injury if a mistake was made. I did not deem myself worthy two years ago, but have since improved to the point that I know without the slightest feeling of over confidence that I can ski any marked in bounds trail in the Northeast. Today I would test that knowledge on a trail I previously believed was my limit.
The trail begins with a rather thin entrance into an extremely nice and tight glade. The entrance is marked with a warning sign next to a skull and cross bones to convey the danger and extreme nature of the trail. The glade descends quickly and steeply and contained soft bumps and occasional powder. It was the best tree trail I have ever skied and also the best section of the trail. While skiing down the glade, I wished it had not bared to the left and opened out onto the wide expanse of the Tram liftline. Once out in the open, I quickly noticed that the trail is far less steep than it looks from the Tram base or while riding the tram. The initial pitch from just below tower 2 to just above tower 1 was a powder filled romp with occasional rocks poking through the powder at a decent but not excessively steep pitch. It was awesome powder skiing as the Tramline had previously been roped off during the two prior powder days.
Just above Tower 1 is a choke to skier’s right with a 5-6 foot wide section over and around some larger sized rocks. This section wasn’t excessively difficult with exception that lesser skilled skiers were side slipping down the pitch instead of making turns which was quickly scraping the scarce amount of snow clean. The move was still easy enough with a hop turn followed by two quick cuts left then right. A few more feet of powder below found me just below Tower 1 at the crux of the trail: a cliff band offering two decent options, both requiring mandatory air of at least four feet sandwiched in between huge boulders. I took my time in preparation but in hind sight should have just gotten up some speed and made hit. But I didn’t want to take too much air without knowing what was around the corner and below me. Once air born, I saw the lay of the land below me and made two quick cuts and two swooping turns around some rocks and was into the home stretch, the paradise of the trail. Copious amounts of powder stretched from just below tower 1 to the Tram Base. I trashed as much untouched fresh as I could while steering towards rock jumps and other such fun treats. It was a tiring run, but really fun rather than the novelty I had expected it to be. I returned to the summit via the tram for one more run down Tramline, this time opting for the old tram line section that offered deliciously tight and steep lines with various double fall lines on a trail no more than 4-5 feet wide. Yum!
I took one more over the Saddle that did not quite equal the morning romp but was still delightful. Lakeview Glades (Sprocket) opened for the first time this season and I found delightful lines and an abundance of powder in between hitting stumps and rocks. Two runs down Sprocket and one final run down avalanche were all I hit on the front face. A satisfying afternoon of skiing in which I realized my skiing ability and skills have improved leaps and bounds in just a few short years. I tackled trails with ease that just two or three years ago I deemed way beyond my ability.
