4aprice
Well-known member
Road trip to New Hampshire for the Eastern High School Championships at Cannon Mountain. Drove up Thursday through the snow taking the long way from Jersey to Castleton Vt to see the daughter then basically drove out of the snow, on to Littleton, New Hampshire.
Friday: Dropped the boy off at the Franconia Ski Club's Ernies Haus near the bottom of Zoomer Lift for a day of practice. Got all the necessary registration bs out of the way and climbed back in the car for the 9 mile drive down to Loon. Cloudy but could see a distinct cloud line and blue skys to the north with darker clouds to the south. Loon was in marvilous shape. Pretty much walked on to the gondola each run. Started with all the classic t2b gondola runs groomed to the max and fun to cruise which the wife really likes. Worked our way over to North Peak via Angel Street and hit some of the bumps over there. After a brief lunch we returned up to East Basin where we skied Big Dipper and the highlight of my day Triple Trouble. I believe it had been at least 25 years since I had been there when that trail was open and I just ate it up. Got into the trees on Mike's Way which was in great shape and a really fun run and hit some other small tree runs. The one thing I had sights on but didn't ski was the Upper Gondola lift line which had tracks on it but I had no one to go down it with. Did not get over to the South Ridge area so a return trip will be in order some day. I know the place has a bad rep on the weekends but on a Friday it was just great and I'm still a big fan. Also had alot of fun with the Great B riddle in the Gondola Base Building. A stellar Loon Day.
Woke up Saturday to crystal blue Northern New Hampshire skys and nice temps. Got to Cannon early and dropped the boy off then went up to Peabody Lodge and caught an early chair. All I can say in my best valley girl accent is OMG. I had skied Cannon before and always liked it but it was spectacular this weekend. All those praises that guy's like Puck It and Riv and other Cannonistas on this board brag about are true. What a great mountain. The mixture of weather and snow, (and trees and bumps) was incredible. I fell in love. My feeling was it was as classic as New England skiing can be. Everything skied great. Got to do Middle Hardscrabble which I had never done before. Reminded me of Castlerock at Sugarbush. Checked out as much as I could but only stood on the sidelines of DJ's and Kinsman Glades and Mitt because I had no one to go down them with (the wifes not doing those and the boy was racing). The front 5 were great and Banchee Slopes were fun too. My only consolation is that now at least I've got a good excuse to make a return trip. My only hope is that I find conditions as good as they were this weekend. The view off Taft Slalom was spectacular from Killington to Sugarbush to Stowe to Jay Peak. Tram Operator told us it was the best weather day of the year. Sunday was almost as nice too. IMO the Snowbird of the east. All in all a Five Star weekend.
Alex
Lake Hopatcong, NJ
Friday: Dropped the boy off at the Franconia Ski Club's Ernies Haus near the bottom of Zoomer Lift for a day of practice. Got all the necessary registration bs out of the way and climbed back in the car for the 9 mile drive down to Loon. Cloudy but could see a distinct cloud line and blue skys to the north with darker clouds to the south. Loon was in marvilous shape. Pretty much walked on to the gondola each run. Started with all the classic t2b gondola runs groomed to the max and fun to cruise which the wife really likes. Worked our way over to North Peak via Angel Street and hit some of the bumps over there. After a brief lunch we returned up to East Basin where we skied Big Dipper and the highlight of my day Triple Trouble. I believe it had been at least 25 years since I had been there when that trail was open and I just ate it up. Got into the trees on Mike's Way which was in great shape and a really fun run and hit some other small tree runs. The one thing I had sights on but didn't ski was the Upper Gondola lift line which had tracks on it but I had no one to go down it with. Did not get over to the South Ridge area so a return trip will be in order some day. I know the place has a bad rep on the weekends but on a Friday it was just great and I'm still a big fan. Also had alot of fun with the Great B riddle in the Gondola Base Building. A stellar Loon Day.
Woke up Saturday to crystal blue Northern New Hampshire skys and nice temps. Got to Cannon early and dropped the boy off then went up to Peabody Lodge and caught an early chair. All I can say in my best valley girl accent is OMG. I had skied Cannon before and always liked it but it was spectacular this weekend. All those praises that guy's like Puck It and Riv and other Cannonistas on this board brag about are true. What a great mountain. The mixture of weather and snow, (and trees and bumps) was incredible. I fell in love. My feeling was it was as classic as New England skiing can be. Everything skied great. Got to do Middle Hardscrabble which I had never done before. Reminded me of Castlerock at Sugarbush. Checked out as much as I could but only stood on the sidelines of DJ's and Kinsman Glades and Mitt because I had no one to go down them with (the wifes not doing those and the boy was racing). The front 5 were great and Banchee Slopes were fun too. My only consolation is that now at least I've got a good excuse to make a return trip. My only hope is that I find conditions as good as they were this weekend. The view off Taft Slalom was spectacular from Killington to Sugarbush to Stowe to Jay Peak. Tram Operator told us it was the best weather day of the year. Sunday was almost as nice too. IMO the Snowbird of the east. All in all a Five Star weekend.
Alex
Lake Hopatcong, NJ
