ceo
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Date(s) Skied: January 23, 2011
Resort or Ski Area: Cannon
Conditions: powder, packed powder, really frickin' cold
Trip Report:
Got a late start yesterday morning and arrived just before noon, so Benjamin (6) got an afternoon lesson and I got a half-day ticket. He got a private lesson out of the deal, as nobody else showed up for the Green Group (and the class list on the counter had maybe 3 other names total on it). I'd gotten him a set of long underwear the previous day, which he was very grateful for. We did a run on Tuckerbrook before scarfing a quick lunch and dropping him off at Brookside.
The major reason I'd come up for a half day in the brutal cold was because Kinsman Glade and DJ's Tramline were both open; I'd been wanting to ski these ever since they were cut but never managed to get to Cannon when they were open. So after dropping him off I was A Man On A Mission, though I decided during the ride up Cannonball that I was going to give that lift a miss for the rest of the day. -12 at the top; was wishing I'd put on the extra fleece jacket I'd brought.
Kinsman reminded me quite a bit of Paradise at MRG, only steeper, narrower and about 4 times as long. It well and truly kicked my flabby little ass; I generally have no trouble on things like Zoomer and Paulie's, but having not been on my bicycle in over a month, my thighs and lungs were ready to go on strike before I was a quarter of the way down. That's when an instructor and a couple of 10-year-olds came rippjng past me; the instructor told me he had 26 kids coming (!). Fortunately, that's where he stopped to wait for everyone, which must have taken a while; I was almost to the bottom before they caught up to me again.
So of course, being barely able to stand up and with steam pouring out of my jacket (changed my mind about that extra layer pretty quick), now it was time for Tramline, That was a similar beast to get down, swapping the trees for great big rocks and the occasional cliff, plus an audience every 10 minutes. I've looked at that cut almost every winter for 35 years and always thought "you'd have to be nuts to ski that", and I wasn't wrong. Was pleasantly surprised to make it to the bottom within a single round trip of the tram, but I haven't yet dared to examine my bases.
It looked like I still had time to try out the new Mittersill chairlift before Benjamin's class ended, so I booked it to Peabody base and headed down the Fleitman Trail, which turned out to be partly uphill through the Tuckerbrook area. Once past that, I headed down a long steep slope, over a bridge and back up the other side of a ravine... where I met 3 kids hiking back, who told me the lift was closed. Would have been nice if they'd put a sign at the top of the trail to that effect. So we had us a nice stiff bootclimb back up to Tuckerbrook.
While I was getting my breath back, who should come down Turkey Trot but Benjamin and his instructor, Ian. Benjamin said he was tired and cold and wanted to go home, so I skied with him and Ian down to the Tuckerbrook lift, and from the top of it we headed down to the Brookside building, ending his lesson a little early. A hot chocolate for him and a beer for me later, we headed out; he was fast asleep before we exited the Notch.
He was skiing a lot better than he had been when we went last month, I've been really impressed with his progress; this was only his eighth ski day ever (and the first was a half-day), and I think it took me a couple of years of going skiing a lot more often to get to where he is now.
Resort or Ski Area: Cannon
Conditions: powder, packed powder, really frickin' cold
Trip Report:
Got a late start yesterday morning and arrived just before noon, so Benjamin (6) got an afternoon lesson and I got a half-day ticket. He got a private lesson out of the deal, as nobody else showed up for the Green Group (and the class list on the counter had maybe 3 other names total on it). I'd gotten him a set of long underwear the previous day, which he was very grateful for. We did a run on Tuckerbrook before scarfing a quick lunch and dropping him off at Brookside.
The major reason I'd come up for a half day in the brutal cold was because Kinsman Glade and DJ's Tramline were both open; I'd been wanting to ski these ever since they were cut but never managed to get to Cannon when they were open. So after dropping him off I was A Man On A Mission, though I decided during the ride up Cannonball that I was going to give that lift a miss for the rest of the day. -12 at the top; was wishing I'd put on the extra fleece jacket I'd brought.
Kinsman reminded me quite a bit of Paradise at MRG, only steeper, narrower and about 4 times as long. It well and truly kicked my flabby little ass; I generally have no trouble on things like Zoomer and Paulie's, but having not been on my bicycle in over a month, my thighs and lungs were ready to go on strike before I was a quarter of the way down. That's when an instructor and a couple of 10-year-olds came rippjng past me; the instructor told me he had 26 kids coming (!). Fortunately, that's where he stopped to wait for everyone, which must have taken a while; I was almost to the bottom before they caught up to me again.
So of course, being barely able to stand up and with steam pouring out of my jacket (changed my mind about that extra layer pretty quick), now it was time for Tramline, That was a similar beast to get down, swapping the trees for great big rocks and the occasional cliff, plus an audience every 10 minutes. I've looked at that cut almost every winter for 35 years and always thought "you'd have to be nuts to ski that", and I wasn't wrong. Was pleasantly surprised to make it to the bottom within a single round trip of the tram, but I haven't yet dared to examine my bases.
It looked like I still had time to try out the new Mittersill chairlift before Benjamin's class ended, so I booked it to Peabody base and headed down the Fleitman Trail, which turned out to be partly uphill through the Tuckerbrook area. Once past that, I headed down a long steep slope, over a bridge and back up the other side of a ravine... where I met 3 kids hiking back, who told me the lift was closed. Would have been nice if they'd put a sign at the top of the trail to that effect. So we had us a nice stiff bootclimb back up to Tuckerbrook.
While I was getting my breath back, who should come down Turkey Trot but Benjamin and his instructor, Ian. Benjamin said he was tired and cold and wanted to go home, so I skied with him and Ian down to the Tuckerbrook lift, and from the top of it we headed down to the Brookside building, ending his lesson a little early. A hot chocolate for him and a beer for me later, we headed out; he was fast asleep before we exited the Notch.
He was skiing a lot better than he had been when we went last month, I've been really impressed with his progress; this was only his eighth ski day ever (and the first was a half-day), and I think it took me a couple of years of going skiing a lot more often to get to where he is now.
Last edited:
Very impressive.
