Cannonball
New member
Date(s) Skied: 12/7/2010
Resort or Ski Area: Cannon Mtn. and Bretton Woods
Conditions: Pow
Trip Report:
With the Pats obliterating the Jets while snow fell outside the window I went to bed with a smile on my face and dreams of first chair.
6am: Took the dog out and found 2-3" on the ground here in Lincoln. She is a powder hound of the truest kind and she was not going to be denied some face shots. So what I planned to be a 20 minute morning constitutional walk for her turned into a 2 hour trail run. So much for first chair.
Still, I was on the Peabody lift by 9:15. Cannon was reporting 10.5" in the past 24hrs. That was a stretch. The best pockets held around 6". Fresh lines were still found on trail edges. The only trails that didn't ski well were those that had been hit with the guns (esp. Middle and Lower Ravine) . It seemed like the blown snow mixed with the real stuff and eliminated in fluffiness. The front 4 were getting heavily poached and looked good although I didn't bother.
The problem with Cannon on a pow day is that Cannon skiers are all die-hard pow-hounds. We're all thinking alike and fresh lines get used up faster than sunscreen at the albino family beach party. But that's not the case everywhere......
So off to Bretton Woods at ~11:30. BW was reporting 10-16" and that was no lie. Huge swaths of untouched were in plain site. 8-10" was found everywhere that hadn't been groomed. Although the pitch can be a problem here it was ridable. After 4 fun, fresh runs on the lower mountain I finally realized that the Rosebrook chair was open. At the top was an early Christmas miracle. Upper Express was open, it had 12+ of fluff, and it looked like less than a dozen skiers had hit it. Thank you. I hit that 5 consecutive times. The fluff wasn't bottomless and the board took a few hits. But that's to be expected in early December and I had the right board for it. Unfortunately there is no decent cut back from there to Rosebrook Chair so those laps meant top-to-bottom and 2 chairs up. But the lower mountain was still in great shape so it was nothing to complain about.
At both mountains early season hazards are abundant. Water bars, man-made death cookies, and sharp stuff lurk beneath the fresh. So be on your toes. I got a stick wedged so far into my binding buckle that unstrapping at the bottom was a major ordeal.
Got back around 3:00 and the dog was ready for round two. So another hour and half on the trail and we just got back as dark settled in pretty solidly. I shot a good amount of vid today. But honestly I'm beat and trying to include that probably would mean no report at all. Maybe later.
Resort or Ski Area: Cannon Mtn. and Bretton Woods
Conditions: Pow
Trip Report:
With the Pats obliterating the Jets while snow fell outside the window I went to bed with a smile on my face and dreams of first chair.
6am: Took the dog out and found 2-3" on the ground here in Lincoln. She is a powder hound of the truest kind and she was not going to be denied some face shots. So what I planned to be a 20 minute morning constitutional walk for her turned into a 2 hour trail run. So much for first chair.
Still, I was on the Peabody lift by 9:15. Cannon was reporting 10.5" in the past 24hrs. That was a stretch. The best pockets held around 6". Fresh lines were still found on trail edges. The only trails that didn't ski well were those that had been hit with the guns (esp. Middle and Lower Ravine) . It seemed like the blown snow mixed with the real stuff and eliminated in fluffiness. The front 4 were getting heavily poached and looked good although I didn't bother.
The problem with Cannon on a pow day is that Cannon skiers are all die-hard pow-hounds. We're all thinking alike and fresh lines get used up faster than sunscreen at the albino family beach party. But that's not the case everywhere......
So off to Bretton Woods at ~11:30. BW was reporting 10-16" and that was no lie. Huge swaths of untouched were in plain site. 8-10" was found everywhere that hadn't been groomed. Although the pitch can be a problem here it was ridable. After 4 fun, fresh runs on the lower mountain I finally realized that the Rosebrook chair was open. At the top was an early Christmas miracle. Upper Express was open, it had 12+ of fluff, and it looked like less than a dozen skiers had hit it. Thank you. I hit that 5 consecutive times. The fluff wasn't bottomless and the board took a few hits. But that's to be expected in early December and I had the right board for it. Unfortunately there is no decent cut back from there to Rosebrook Chair so those laps meant top-to-bottom and 2 chairs up. But the lower mountain was still in great shape so it was nothing to complain about.
At both mountains early season hazards are abundant. Water bars, man-made death cookies, and sharp stuff lurk beneath the fresh. So be on your toes. I got a stick wedged so far into my binding buckle that unstrapping at the bottom was a major ordeal.
Got back around 3:00 and the dog was ready for round two. So another hour and half on the trail and we just got back as dark settled in pretty solidly. I shot a good amount of vid today. But honestly I'm beat and trying to include that probably would mean no report at all. Maybe later.
