The joke was on skiers this April Fool’s Day. Two day out prognostications looked epic but subsequent forecasts shifted the storm further and further east. By last chair on Friday, the ten hour total for Cannon was only four inches. It was still snowing when we left, but totals will surely fall short of predicted amounts. Maine is no fooling this weekend while the rest of New England looks like chumps.
While today was not a powder day, we more than made the best of great late season conditions at Cannon and had an awesome day. Early turns were best on moderate angle groomers that had collected an inch or two of fluff over firm. Steeper pitches yielded variable patches of fluff and scraped hard pack. Bump troughs also were firm hard pack. The best snow was on open trails of gentler pitch.
After lunch we went exploring and found good snow in the upper mountain trees. Bumps in the trees still had firm hard pack troughs with occasional scrape but were easy to manage. Excellent tight tree skiing was had and the day began improving with every run. We explored further afield and found packed and loose powder delights.
Earlier in the day, I pondered why exactly do I love Cannon so much. What connects me so deeply to this specific mountain? I still can not put a firm finger on the reason. But by the end of the day, I was hooting and hollering with delight as I rediscovered a narrow chute that I hadn’t skied in a dozen years. The conditions were not epic but my turns flowed poetically down an aesthetic line that got me turned on to tight chute skiing years ago. It was as good of an answer as I may ever get; it is always good to come home.
5 thoughts on “Cannon: Jokes On Us, but We Are No Fools”
Great day indeed, that just kept getting better. Every trip to Cannon is a new experience, it was fun to explore some new trees (in APRIL!) and with mixed emotions, ride the mitt chair for the first time.
Coverage look fantastic. The website is showing 240 inches this year. What’s the seasonal average?
170ish is Cannon’s seasonal average. A few years ago, they set a record for their second snowiest winter ever and that was something like 215-220. But I haven’t seen anything mentioned about a record this year even with 240, which is surprising. Skiing on April 1st, it definitely didn’t seem like it was a top three record year. Significantly better than average for sure, but top one or two ever? I don’t see it.
Haven’t been to Cannon in eight years and want to go back.
What, no rant about Mittersill?
I have ranted enough about Mittersill. The lift is built. Now it is all about adapting. The new lift reconfigures my traditional game plans a little bit. It has some benefits despite mostly drawbacks (e.g. snow condition deterioration and bump fields on what was previously non-bumped natural snow). It is what it is and like any change, it is what you make of it.