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Driving through Jefferson on Route 2 passing by people ascending the stairs to their houses of worship, I spotted the white caked peaks of the Northern Presidentials dead ahead. While the faithful of small town northern New England filled into their neighborhood churches, the skiing faithful of New England descended upon the Mecca of backcountry in New Hampshire.

My church is the snow covered mountains and the stairs leading up to the church are skin tracks. I worship the snow and get down on my hands and knees to pray when I am ascending the steep boot ladders. My deity of choice is the Earth which brought me here and can take me out when ever it deems I have had my time to enjoy life. At which point I will rejoin the Earth and have my ashes dumped out across the mountains I worship. Today would not be that day though.

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Soon after waking up at 7am, I fired up my computer to check conditions. Things did not look too bad until I stuck my head out the door, and boy was it cold! I slacked off until about 9am when I decided that I might as well give it a shot. After my powder day at Saddleback on Thursday, I knew I was in for disappointment, but I figured it would at least be worth the drive. Not so much.

Jay Peak’s woods would not be very skiable after the rain compiled with a hard freeze. I still had a voucher for Loon and suspected a ski area with good grooming would be the best option. But not even Loon’s grooming could save the day!

Driving up to a relatively empty mountain was the first sure sign of trouble. Loon is never that uncrowded at 10am on a sunny Saturday morning. The Sherman Adams Lodge was sporting high school racers who either already finished their run or were waiting for their run, I could not tell. But I could tell that even these racers would rather be indoors than taking a free run, ouch.

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Anyone that firmly believes a bad day of skiing is better than a good day at the office does not get out on days like this. There definitely are days on which I would much rather be working than skiing, this day was one of them. The only day of the season i can recall thinking “I should have stayed home.” [I repeated this same thought nearly a week later at Loon, NH due to similar but slightly worse conditions].

The original plan for the weekend was skiing Mad River Glen on Saturday followed by either Tuckerman Ravine or Gulf of Slides on Sunday. After the down pour at Mad River Glen yesterday, I was still optimistic that the Ravine might be an option for Sunday until Saturday night when I checked the summit temperature of Mount Washington which was reading 17 degrees!!! And that was not even the coldest part of the night. With the winds howling, temperature falling, and potential new snow overnight, it just was not going to happen. If the Sherburne had still been open top to bottom and in good condition, I might have considered it as the Sherbie is always worth a day trip by itself. But not when you can not skin and ski top to bottom.

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Originally, I was planning on returning to Cannon Mountain for a Tuesday Two-fer, but changed plans to ski at Loon with Greg from AlpineZone.com. Having skied with Greg once before, I knew we would have a fantastic time skiing together despite the limited expert and natural snow terrain at Loon; which barely missed out on the foot and a half Cannon received over the weekend due to notch effect snow. The company more than made up for lack of challenging terrain as we ripped up the expert level groomers on Loon’s North Peak.

We started the morning by ascending the Seven Brothers Triple Chairlift and skiing down to the North Peak Express Quad where we would spend most of the morning skiing the groomed expert terrain the lift services. Skiing the trails Right to Left, we started by making a quick cruising run down Walking Boss before proceeding to ski under the liftline on Flume. Finally, we took Sunset to Angel Street and decided that Angel Street definitely was the most fun and had the best snow. We would return often to Angel Street throughout the morning.

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After nearly a three month recovery time from a broken elbow, I made my triumphant return to skiing this Sunday at Cannon Mountain. My recovery time eerily coincided with the snow fall of the season. October through mid-December were sensation early season months with copious amounts of natural snow fall with the biggest dump falling before the lifts even opened. After December 10th, fresh powder was slim pickings through the end of December, January, and February.

Enter the first week of March and a foot and a half of snow in Franconia Notch. Most of the snow fell Friday night and Saturday before my arrival unfortunately, so freshies were hard to find. But certainly not impossible for those who know where to look and are willing to sacrifice their bases for some of the best turns to be had. For a moment, I had doubted the accuracy of Cannon Mountain’s claim of a foot and a half of snow until I was knee deep in it, with an occasional unexpected balls deep shots where the snow drifted.

Originally, the plans was to take it easy on my first day back. Slowly work my way up from beginner and intermediate groomers and generally stay away from natural snow trails. I figured I would take my chances. Armed with an elbow pad and mischievous grin, I attached the mountain from my first run. Taking Middle Cannon to Extension, I sampled some wonderful freshly groomed snow followed by choice dust on crust natural snow fall. Uh oh. A foot and a half is sensational normally, but the scraped crust underneath was not as fun to contend with. Much of the natural snow trails featured either dust on crust, dust on dirt, or the rather unpopular dust on rock. Worth the base damage for every turn!

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The epic early New England ski season marches on! Today was my eighth day of skiing for the current season and sixth day earning turns. Why pay over thirty dollars for crappy scraped up man made snow when New Hampshire’s best powder stash was begging to be pillaged? Instead of paying for the ‘privilege’ of skiing crappy snow, I opted to take one run for the price of none.

I have been fairly harsh in my criticism of Cannon Mountain’s decision not to open Thanksgiving Weekend as scheduled. However, I would like to offer a big ole’ thank you to Cannon management for keeping New Hampshire’s best powder stash off limits to any one not willing to earn their turns. Powder lasts for days on end when the masses can not access it, whereas it normally only lasts a few hours when the lifts are spinning. So here it is, thanks cannon! If cannon wants to join NELSAP, I might even be okay with that if this weekend is the result!!!

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Cannon Mountain was originally scheduled to open for the season on Friday November 25th. After receiving over a foot and a half of natural snow and having snow making temperatures for the better part of the week, Cannon Mountain decided to push their opening date forward one week and not open Thanksgiving Weekend. The mountain’s web site claimed a lack of snow making temperatures as the main culprit while also citing that the snow that fell was blown off the trails by wind. While I love Cannon Mountain and its amazing trail network both on and off the map, I have no tolerance for a management that lies to its customers. As I found out and the following trip report and pictures will attest, Cannon had no excuse for not opening this weekend in terms of weather, snow fall, or snow making temperatures.

Arriving at the Peabody Base Lodge at 9 A.M., I began suiting up when my skiing partners for the afternoon festivities arrived. We gathered together our gear and prepared for the skin up the mountain. From the base area, it was obvious the mountain had received ample amounts of snow in the amount of well over a foot.

We began our trek up Toss Up with two of us on skins and the other two utilizing slow shoes. A mostly sunny sky allowed for wonderful views of Mount Lafayette and Cannon Mountain. While I knew we would not be alone on the mountain, I was amazed at how many other groups we ran into beginning at the Toss Up/Middle Cannon intersection. No less than a half dozen groups were slowly working their way towards the summit utilizing various routes. Some clouds started rolling in as we began up Middle Cannon with more threatening clouds rolling in from the Northwest over Cannon’s Northern Shoulder.

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A reported three to four feet of white gold was dumped on Wildcat’s slopes during the last full week of October. With countless skiers and riders hiking to the summit for epic October powder descents, Wildcat decided on Wednesday, in the midst of a power outage, to give the weekend a shot. A dedicated and hard working management team began working the telephones from their homes to assemble a crew for bare bones weekend operations four weeks in advanced of the scheduled opening day. Wildcat pulled it out and was the first ski area in the east and the third in the nation to open for skiing and riding on Friday October 28, 2005.

Previously scheduled meetings at work had me tied to my desk while hundreds of East Coast skiers made first lift serviced tracks at Wildcat on Friday. Reports of epic bottomless powder at higher elevations began circulating the net Friday evening. I knew I would get mine on Saturday and I anxiously got my gear ready only to experience any skier’s worst nightmare that morning. After packing the car, I flicked the switch and the engine would not turn. Spending the better part of Saturday morning obtaining and installing a new battery, I knew I missed out on two of the best days of the season, in October no less!

Nothing could keep me from the slopes of Wildcat the following day and I anxiously sped away from home early Sunday morning. Too anxiously perhaps as my dedication to the first chair had me approaching the lift an hour early. Adjusting clocks for Daylight Savings Time is usually an activity reserved for the off season; though an essential activity for timely arrival at ski areas during early October openings. I was not alone in my excitement and forgetfulness as over 50 additional skiers soon formed a lift line awaiting the rope to drop at the Tomcat Triple. Ski patrol mercifully gave the nod 15 minutes early at a quarter of nine and loading commenced.

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Skinning up a foot and a half of fresh on Middle Cannon, I realized I was skiing Cannon the way it was originally done. Ski trails were cut long before the Tram began whisking skiers to the wind blown summit of Cannon Mountain. The truly devout skiers of the early 1930’s would make two or three ascents of Cannon on a good day following a big storm earning untracked fresh every run. I followed in their footsteps, earning turns on the best snow possible where ever and when ever it falls.

The development of Cannon as a ski area increased the mountain’s trail count and eventually widened many of its narrow and twisty classics. But the character and feel of the mountain still lingers including the dedication of its skiers. Nearly 70 years after the original Tram was constructed at Cannon, the die hards are still earning turns and being rewarded for their efforts. Our skin tracks paid silent homage to those early skiers who earned their runs without the benefits of short fatties, wicking clothing, and high tech touring gear.

An early season Nor easter materialized suddenly from the remnants of passing Hurricane Wilma. Weathermen scrambled to predict an erratic storm with unreliable models. The consensus developed that upper elevation terrain was going to be slammed by heavy snow. I canceled my Wednesday 2:30PM car appointment and changed plans to include dropping into a foot and a half of fresh. Tuesday evening the reports began boasting of snow fall measured in feet, not inches. The second major snow storm of October roared into New England much to the glee and delight of turn earners across the region.

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“Yes, there really is snow up there.” “No, I am not carrying my skis to train for next season.” “Yes, I really am going skiing today!” At one point while hiking down the Tuckerman Ravine Trail, I was so sick of answering questions that I told the next hikers I saw “yes, I really just skied” before they could ask. It was funny answering all the questions at first but it got old pretty quick.

Nearly a month after making my first ever turns in June, I returned to Tuckerman Ravine to make my first ever July turns. Recent reports online had very impressive amounts of snow remaining in the Ravine. Recent rains and high temperatures had washed much of the snow away but more than enough was left for July turns!

Chute sported a small patch of snow remaining below the choke but was hardly worth the effort for the four or five possible turns. Two other skiers decided to try the Chute snow patch and had great difficulty ascending the patch. At one point, one of the slides fell and took a slide but managed to recover before falling off the patch.

The preferred option with the most vertical was the long but narrow snow patch under the waterfall. The run paralleled the Tuckerman Ravine Trail for approximately 150 vertical feet. Up to twenty turns could be had if you really milked the run and even less if you opened things up a bit. Those twenty or so turns were heaven! Wow!

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My first ever June turns were had at Tuckerman Ravine. The big news in the Ravine today was a car sized rock falling off the headwall and nearly decapitating a skier. I was just clicking into my skis in Left Gully when a commotion of yelling and screaming could be heard from the Ravine proper. I could not see the action due to the gully, but when I reached Lunch Rocks, I was told that a car sized rock fell off the headwall and split into two pieces. The two pieces tracked in various directions with one hunk gunning for a person climbing up Chute. The rock looked to be heading straight down at first, but then started turning towards the bottom of the chute. word was the guy jumped at the last second and saved his life by two feet! The ravine cleared out pretty fast after that humbling experience was witnessed by most of the people up there.

The heat today was oppressive. The hike up to the bowl was easy enough. But once in the bowl, the sun came out and started baking everyone and everything. Even with minimal acceptable clothing for skiing the ravine for my standards, I was over heating. Having decided a warm up on the bottom part of Chute was in order first, I booted up below Lunch Rocks and began my ascent. While hiking up, a “river of snow” started sliding down the bowl next to me. How weird, cool, and concerning all at the same time! I only hiked up to the chock of the Chute as I wanted to conserve my energy for the hike up Left Gully. I clicked in and began making turns on the ridiculously wet snow. Making turns and stopping became a minor issue because the ski edges were cutting and sliding rather than digging in. It was okay skiing but left something to be desired.

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My first day of May skiing ever brought my season total up to 34 days which is just one shy the goal made months ago. My gear must have weighed in around fifty pounds in the morning. I did not have the heart to weigh it in the morning to verify but everything weighed in at 42 pounds at the end of the day (sans 3 liters of water, lots of food, my hat, my gloves, ski pants, and a fleece). Hiked up through the long switch backs before seeing some snow around the one third mark. After the second time seeing a long stretch of snow, I got the skins out and went for it. Not a bad decision as I only had to take the skis off about a half dozen times during the ascent. There were a few areas that I barely managed to navigate that will not be passable next weekend. Always glad when I do not have to lug gear up the entire way. I figured more of the Tuckerman Ravine Trail would be bare by now so I lucked out.

While I was set on going into the bowl, various factors at HoJo’s suggested alternative plans. A misty rain and occasional sprinkle was developing with wetter weather not entirely out of the question. Ski patrol was suggesting limiting skiing to the left side of the bowl. Due to the questionable weather, I opted for Hillman’s as it allowed for the quickest descent without need of down hiking. If weather turned foul, Hillman’s allowed an easy ski onto the Shurburne without hiking.

Hillman’s was still covered with exception of a small open stream near the bottom of the gully which required some careful foot placement and a lot of luck to cross high and dry. I managed the crossing on the ascent but ended up with a submerged boot on the way down but no leaks thankfully!

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Today was my first time up to the Ravine for skiing (not counting my ski down the Sherburne Ski Trail earlier this year). I should have bailed on Cannon the day before as my legs were shot from skiing mashed potatoes and scraped snow on Saturday. I had debated not even going to the Ravine on Sunday but I knew days like this don’t happen often enough and I would have been missing had I not gone. Additionally, it was likely my last whack at skinning without hiking as well as skiing all the way down to the Route 16 via the Sherburne (though just barely).

The skin up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail was sweet with only one or two bare spots. However, coverage is going quick in a lot of areas. Bridges were exposed fully. I suspect the trail will not be skinable top to bottom without removing skis at least once or twice by next weekend. I was really really tired by the time i reached HoJo’s and had developed painful blisters on my right arch and right hand. I made some adjustments to my equipment to better handle friction locations but the damage was done.

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Last week before the rain storm Saturday morning, the entire mountain was fully covered. This week there was barely any snow on Paulie’s and no snow under the Zoomer Lift with lots of bare spots showing on Avalanche and Zoomer. Not totally unexpected but the damage is considerable when you take into account just how deep the snow cover was a few weeks earlier.

Brian and I met at the Peabody Lodge to share some turns today on this late season foray. The snow surface froze hard overnight and was teeth chattering frozen granular in the morning. I stuck to the groomers which skied okay but were begging for some sun. Things didn’t warm up as fast as i had expected, but around noon time, every trail on the mountain was gold. But by early afternoon, it was mostly mushy mashed potatoes.

Pick of the day was Vista Way for nice soft bumps and fine views with hardly any clouds. Yet another fantastic day at Cannon! I have had more good weather days than bad this year at Cannon, it has been an amazing year. Honorable mention goes to Middle to Lower Cannon for a great run to let the skis run. It is how I opened my season at Cannon and how I closed my season at Cannon.

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Today was a perfect day to take advantage of a free ticket to Loon. My dad and I arrived at 8:30 A.M. to a nearly empty parking next to the mountainside rentals building. Governor Adams base lodge was similarly vacant. My expectations of a light weekend crowd due to the holiday proved correct with ski on lift lines all day on the Kancamagus Quad with only the ticket scanners holding up the line. Ski on lifts all day on the East Basin Double and ski on past noontime on the North Peak Quad with very short waits before noon. Gondola was walk on until 9 A.M. and a four minute wait at 9:30 A.M. Given the short lift lines, the trails still exhibited quite a bit of traffic. I can not imagine this place on a weekend!

Loon is amazingly dedicated to the bumps and puts a lot of mountains to shame with the amount of bump coverage, especially considering their resorty image. That said, most of the bumps sucked this afternoon. Bumps on skier’s left of Lower Flume were firm and scrapped. Same for bumps over on Lower Rumrunner where lines were better and less scraped but still poor conditions. The short bump pitch under the Gondola on Picaroon was a cool idea for introducing bumps to the intermediate skier. But this short bump shot was also scraped and firm. Bumps under the Double Chair lacked good lines and were spread out (i.e. slip slider formed bumps) so I stayed skier’s right under the lift where the snow was softer. Triple Trouble was a treat with good lines. Bumps were on the larger size and still rather firm but not too bad. Definitely the best bumps of the day. Triple Trouble reminds me a little of Middle Hardscrabble at cannon with its twists and unrelenting bumps.

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