While driving home from Jay, after only a few hours of lackluster skiing, I was replaying my helmet issue in my head. Why wouldn’t the ear pads fit into my helmet? What made them pop out without warning?
As I approached Franconia, I recalled that I had two helmets. Perhaps they had different ear pads and I had jammed the wrong set into my helmet? While driving, I rummaged through the pockets in my boot bag. And, sure enough, I found another set of ear pads. What a fucking idiot.
I started the approach to Franconia Notch and Cannon loomed large. By now, I had compared snow reports on my phone, and I knew Cannon had received more than three times the few inches that Jay had received. It was almost two o’clock, not much time left for the lifts. But, I had the sudden urge to stop at Cannon and resume my ski day, with my helmet and with leftovers from a foot of fresh.
I was glad I stopped! The skiing at Cannon was phenomenal. While I was many hours late to first tracks, I used my knowledge of the mountain to find the best snow and enough untracked to justify a powder day tag. It was only the second day I have ever skied two areas on the same day, and certainly the first time I had done so without planning it that way.