A blustery start to the morning had Cannon Mountain on a wind hold. Chairs were being loaded onto the haul rope as I booted up and chairlift opened at 8:45 A.M. My sliding partner and I wasted no time in heading for the summit which was actually less breazy than the base!
Some minor powdah on skier’s left of Taft Slalom got the morning started proper. Natural snow adventure skiing was suspect and continuing to decrease in quality as the weeks tick by without additional snow. Rocks previously buried in snow were beginning to show and the snow conditions were generally just terrible. The new snow was blown off in most places leaving an old crusty hard pack. Baron’s featured some of the better natural snow on the mountain but still left much to be desired.
Else where on the mountain, bumps on Avalanche were blah, Paulie’s is toasted unless we get more snow, Zoomer had crazy huge bumps on Lift Line and skier’s right. I declined these scraped and irregular bumps. Rocket had okay soft bumps and Gary’s was good chopped packed powder after the New England Masters finished racing.
From the Summit, Vista Way sucked and Skylight was very lack luster. Taft was great all day but best in the morning with good natural snow. Upper Hard was thin but held pockets of good snow whereas Middle Hard was awesome if you could avoid the rocks and thin spots. Lower Hard had not much to offer. Finally, Red Ball offered a quick natural snow delight that was fun.
Snow estimates were extremely exaggerated Friday night which was cause for disappointment today. If Cannon received much snow, it was blown off or packed down quickly. The excessive amount of bare and thin cover spots on the trails indicates no more than a few inches at best fell. It was snowing when I left, so maybe there is still hope but I am doubtful. This storm was a total dud if today was any indication. Tomorrow should offer better weather and better snow conditions than today.
While trying to offer a stoic New England attitude in regards to this season, I am beginning to loose patience and am becoming restless. Every ski day for the past month and a half has been worse than the previous ski day. Conditions are suppose to get better after December not worse! Perhaps the groomed trails are doing alright but the natural snow trails are really hurting. At least in previous trips to Cannon this season the snow quality was good despite the thin coverage. With only a week before March, we are still awaiting the first big snow storm of 2004.