Cannon Lover's Thread

[Duke61]

The trails probably needed some widening to accommodate the ski traffic. I think the old Peabody took about 25 minutes of clanking to go 2/3rds up..... as modern lifts took over it probably doubled or more uphill capacity. So for you folks 45 or younger, we old guys wax nostalgic, but the snowmaking stunk, trails were narrow, there was limited grooming and you could die of exposure during the ride up......

 

[DoublePlanker]

I would much rather this 1941 layout. Can we please bring that back???

 

[BodeMiller1]

Further, yes the front five are so open the trees that are there take a beating. I like Paulie's Folly, nice double fall line. Agree, Avalanche should be left alone. As far as a butt tunnels better leave those in Canada. The Hardscrabble trails are great, as you guys know it's down in the ravine between Cannon and Mitt. The rundown to red ball and blue ball feels like you're deep in the woods, pretty consistent pitch so you can let 'em run.

When the visibility is poor it's nice to have trees so you know where the woods are. On a serious note, please see my latest invention (attached below). It's a multi - tube bong with a vacuum assist and actuators so the wind is always on the leeward... It runs on coal and Ravine Blood, I hope this will not be a problem.

I think that I will never see a billboard
as lovely as a tree. And if the billboards do not fall, I may never see a tree at all.​

 

[Duke61]

Further, yes the front five are so open the trees that are there take a beating. I like Paulie's Folly, nice double fall line. Agree, Avalanche should be left alone. As far as a butt tunnels better leave those in Canada. The Hardscrabble trails are great, as you guys know it's down in the ravine between Cannon and Mitt. The rundown to red ball and blue ball feels like you're deep in the woods, pretty consistent pitch so you can let 'em run.

When the visibility is poor it's nice to have trees so you know where the woods are. On a serious note, please see my latest invention (attached below). It's a multi - tube bong with a vacuum assist and actuators so the wind is always on the leeward... It runs on coal and Ravine Blood, I hope this will not be a problem.

I think that I will never see a billboard
as lovely as a tree. And if the billboards do not fall, I may never see a tree at all.​

I'd like to invest in that invention (leeward facing bong), I think you have a winner.....let it snow!

 

[BodeMiller1]

The trails probably needed some widening to accommodate the ski traffic. I think the old Peabody took about 25 minutes of clanking to go 2/3rds up..... as modern lifts took over it probably doubled or more uphill capacity. So for you folks 45 or younger, we old guys wax nostalgic, but the snowmaking stunk, trails were narrow, there was limited grooming and you could die of exposure during the ride up......

That's the thing, You have 8 packs with bubbles coming online. All things being equal you need boulevards to handle the traffic and you need to groom them every night.... I wonder how many deaths there were back in the 50s and 60s. I'm guessing not many, if any at all.

 

[Duke61]

That's the thing, You have 8 packs with bubbles coming online. All things being equal you need boulevards to handle the traffic and you need to groom them every night.... I wonder how many deaths there were back in the 50s and 60s. I'm guessing not many, if any at all.

On point. The level of skier fear hasn't changed, we were scared of launching ourselves from rocks/bumps/ice off a 20yd wide trail and dying, today I'm more worried about the adult male out of control about to send me to rotator cuff surgery (& it happened).....

 

[Abubob]

I would much rather this 1941 layout. Can we please bring that back???

Look how wide Avalanche is.

 

[Abubob]

That's the thing, You have 8 packs with bubbles coming online. All things being equal you need boulevards to handle the traffic and you need to groom them every night.... I wonder how many deaths there were back in the 50s and 60s. I'm guessing not many, if any at all.

Don’t forget the cringe worthy equipment back then.

 

[Duke61]

Look how wide Avalanche is.

True, imagine every beginner riding the tram in the 40's had to get down that bad boy. Grass sticking out, bumps and ruts....What cannon skier hasn't lost their nut at one point or another on Avalanche? Its a rite of passage.

 

[Former Sunday Rivah Rat]

You know what really sucks. Dodging young jerries on a narrow trail. Wide trails allow for passing and accommodating the MANY more people on them. You Boomers wax nostalgic about your narrow trails back when FDR was president At least you old folks know not to cut people off like the young jerries wearing their friggin hoods.

 

[Abubob]

You know what really sucks. Dodging young jerries on a narrow trail. Wide trails allow for passing and accommodating the MANY more people on them. You Boomers wax nostalgic about your narrow trails back when FDR was president At least you old folks know not to cut people off like the young jerries wearing their friggin hoods.

Most Boomers weren’t born yet when FDR was president. I didn’t learn to ski until LBJ.

 

[BodeMiller1]

The Women were just as hot back then. Although yoga pants were worn by men.

Best run was the guy who tucked Tuckerman Ravine in the top to bottom inferno race. Tie boots, bear trap bindings.

New Idea: Run the Tram from the bottom of some where to the top of no where.

 

[SkiingInABlueDream]

The Women were just as hot back then.

Mmmmm, I disagree.

 

[Abubob]

New Idea: Run the Tram from the bottom of some where to the top of no where.

 

[thetrailboss]

New Idea: Run the Tram from the bottom of some where to the top of no where.

The Tram has been in its location since 1938 or so. It is really easy access to I-93. Hell, I cannot think of another ski area that is literally RIGHT OFF of Interstate 93 like that. Additionally, I think moving it to your proposed alignment may create more wind issues since the winds would be blowing out of the NW across that line.

I drove south to get to BOS this afternoon and passed Cannon. Holy shit batman I did not realize how bad the cover was on the Front Five. My wife heard me exclaim and was like "?" The line under the triple was pretty narrow. The rest of the mountain was socked in.

 

[Duke61]

The Women were just as hot back then. Although yoga pants were worn by men.

Best run was the guy who tucked Tuckerman Ravine in the top to bottom inferno race. Tie boots, bear trap bindings.

New Idea: Run the Tram from the bottom of some where to the top of no where.

No matter the decade, day or conditions, every time I've come off extension onto that off camber plate of snow onto avalanche I pucker a bit. I think your supposed to by design.

 

[raisingarizona]

The Tram has been in its location since 1938 or so. It is really easy access to I-93. Hell, I cannot think of another ski area that is literally RIGHT OFF of Interstate 93 like that. Additionally, I think moving it to your proposed alignment may create more wind issues since the winds would be blowing out of the NW across that line.

I drove south to get to BOS this afternoon and passed Cannon. Holy shit batman I did not realize how bad the cover was on the Front Five. My wife heard me exclaim and was like "?" The line under the triple was pretty narrow. The rest of the mountain was socked in.

He was obviously joking

 

[thetrailboss]

He was obviously joking

I am not sure of that.

 

[ceo]

Great discussion, in my 50 years dozens of 'islands' have disappeared and trail boss knows his shit. Unfortunately we lost alot of 'tree cover' from wind etc with all this. The front 5 are just mis-managed the WORST trail on the mountain is Cannonball, oh I think they call it 'profile' now. If you had that scar on your face you'd get plastic surgery. Gross. I cried when that t-bar came down it could run in any wind we were stupid enough to ski in. It's not just Cannon, its what managers thought skiers wanted, but for you younger skiers, ALL the trails at cannon are about double wide of what they were 50 years ago. The reality is when upper cannon was 25' wide you paid attention, if you have 300yds (cannonball) to gather speed you really launch when things go south. Grooming stunk, sno making was marginal I don't know if it was better or worse experience than today but it certainly was hairier and if you were a frequent flier, you were certainly going to ruin your 'best skis' sooner or later.

The only trails that even give you a sense of 'old cannon' today are the ravines, and middle hardscrabble. Over my lifetime upper/middle ravine has doubled or tripled in places. Here's a weird one for you folks, I still look for rocks that have been blasted/re-graded and long gone, especially at Taft..... I haven't forgot hitting them !!!!

So I've been skiing at Cannon for nearly 50 years, and I'm pretty sure Upper Cannon is the same width it always was, and I think Upper Ravine is as well. Middle Ravine and Middle Cannon were massively widened when the Peabody Quad went in, but that was necessary due to the higher ski traffic. The problem here is Cannon's very narrow-waisted trail layout; there's only 5 routes down from the top of Peabody, counting Spookie (and not counting Goat Path), and two (By-Pass and Lower Hardscrabble) are frequently closed.
Profile is a crime, no argument there. (They renamed it Cannonball for a few years and then renamed it back.)

 

[Duke61]

So I've been skiing at Cannon for nearly 50 years, and I'm pretty sure Upper Cannon is the same width it always was, and I think Upper Ravine is as well. Middle Ravine and Middle Cannon were massively widened when the Peabody Quad went in, but that was necessary due to the higher ski traffic. The problem here is Cannon's very narrow-waisted trail layout; there's only 5 routes down from the top of Peabody, counting Spookie (and not counting Goat Path), and two (By-Pass and Lower Hardscrabble) are frequently closed.
Profile is a crime, no argument there. (They renamed it Cannonball for a few years and then renamed it back.)

CEO, thanks for responding, memories fade & this discussion is super fun. I will say emphatically Upper cannon was about doubled in the late 80's. I'm skiing like phil mahre from memory, but the second left with the drop didn't used to have the pussy run out to the right to avoid the drop, it narrowed and forced skiers over the drop. You dropped in whether you wanted to or not before that. Once you did you were committed because it wasn't any wider or better groomed below. That drop itself got shaved and all the corner below had their belly's widened to reduce the pucker factor. In its day Upper Cannon was a MF, think bobsled run. I'd have to dig into the history, but around the time they installed that nasty cannonball lift, they 'modernized' the upper mountain, most of the tight corners on cannon/ravine got widened and a bunch rock got blasted on taft, cannon & vista way. IMHO the only positive was on vista which remains rocky, but back in the day was a rip your base out trail every day.

This was the same time the old coldbody was replaced with the current lift, t-bars were pulled....the entire middle mountain of the links and rock garden are now like a bad facelift. They were all very distinct and narrower trails. Rock garden which remains the most dangerous place on the mountain due to skier traffic, was completely torched, blasted and leveled and widened and its still dangerous.
I love Cannon.