Cannon
It was an uninspired early season day skiing at Cannon.
The writing for this season was already on the wall.
Category: Cannon Mountain
Cannon: Opening Weekend
Cannon’s opening weekend was impressive considering warm November temperatures that pushed the first day back into December. The end of November storm definitely helped. But Cannon’s firepower clearly did the overwhelming majority of the work.
Upper mountain trails included Tramway, Upper Cannon, Upper Ravine, and Taft Slalom. The Links, Middle Cannon, Middle Ravine, Spookie, Rock Garden, and Gremlin were all open at mid-mountain. Everything funneled into Lower Cannon and Lower Gremlin.
I started on the upper mountain and lapped the Cannonball Quad until a line developed. Then I skied back down to the Peabody for more ski on lift rides until the Cannonball Quad emptied out. It was good practice for staying ahead of the crowd.
Due to the previous night’s rain/freeze, conditions were hard and firm. The upper mountain was pleasantly edgeable until mid-morning. Lower mountain was decidedly loose granular and serviceable but not much fun. I called it after a few hours.
Cannon: It’s Still Home
I briefly considered Jay. Two years ago, that would have been the play. Jay received a bit more accumulation and offered plenty of “reserved” untracked. But I wanted to hike and ski, not ride lifts and duck ropes. Over the years, Cannon’s Front Five has consistently provided some of the best early season powder skiing. Fall storms always seem to over deliver at Cannon. And, after all these years, it’s still home.
The lack of cars was surprising. I followed the usual skin track up Banshee to an almost untouched Avalanche. First turns of the season were sublime. It never gets old. Snow depth was just enough (8-10″), but I occasionally bottomed out onto slick fast grass. It is a shame Cannon blows snow on Avi, the natural skis so well. I went back up for first tracks down Paulie’s and Zoomer. Neither compared to turns down Avi, but both were enjoyable runs.
Cannon: The End.
Cannon closed for the season last weekend with barely enough mid-mountain snow to operate. Sure enough, as soon as mountain shut down, mother nature queued up one last hurrah after a few stormless months. It was supposed to be a big one, maybe the biggest of the season. I put in for a day off and planned to end the season just like I begin the season: hiking at Cannon.
It was a total bust. A nasty season’s final insult. Cannon got one to two inches, which was just enough to cover up all the junk, but not enough to make it fun. I enjoyed being outside during a rip roaring storm, despite the lack of snow. But the skiing was tentative and my turns were atrocious with near constant vigilance for rocks covered over by a dusting to two inches.
The 2020-2021 ski season is done and dusted as far as I was concerned. Mount Washington’s siren song called my name. But the road bike called harder. After a winter of indoor training, I was riding faster than ever before, setting personal best times on all of my usual routes (during my first month on the riding season, no less). The feeling of getting stronger and more powerful was addicting. Spring skiing was not in the cards for me.
Today was a fitting end to a lack luster season.
Cannon: The End?
Cannon barely made its closing weekend target. But, they made it. Spookie and the Links were patched together with mandatory rock and dirt patch connections by mid-day. Zoomer had some decent bump lines down low, but the lower mountain was not worth dealing with. The Cannonball Quad was where it was at: Profile was the theater and Cannon’s rowdiest brought the show. Irregular spaced out bumps with patches of hard pack and ice in between. Access the stage by crossing a semi-frozen mud and rock field: get it.
I couldn’t complain. At least I got a solid day of spring skiing before the season collapsed. My first vaccination was a week ago. The ski season was mostly a write off. The weather was perfect for a COVID year, during which I was unable to travel to Vermont. Very few storms, no significant dumps, consistently cold but nothing to get excited about. I didn’t miss much, and it was hard to care about something so insignificant as a ski season.
It was nice just to get out a few times, make a few turns, and call it a season.