Date(s) Skied: 02/04/07
Resort or Ski Area: Cannon Mountain, NH
Conditions: PP
Trip Report:
My first trip to Cannon. I just started skiing last year, but ever since I can remember I have looked at those trails on Cannon Mountain as I drove by or as my parents drove me by years ago and thought to myself "someday I want to ski there". It wasn't until I actually took up skiing that I found out it's considered to be one of the harder mountains around. I've kind of been working towards improving to the point where I thought I could handle a tougher mountain. Today was the day and I had a great time.
Got there a little before 9:00 and it was crowded. The lodge was bustling with people gearing up. 2 for 1 special on Super Bowl Sunday, great weather, snow last night -- it all adds up. Took our first ride on the Eagle Cliff Triple for a warmup run down a green, then took the Peobody and Cannonball to the summit to find out if I was ready for Cannon.
First run was down Upper Ravine. Narrow, twisty as heck, and crowded, but nice snow and the steepness wasn't bad at all. We did that run a few times to get our legs under us then went over and tried Tramway. Vista Way was open and we wanted to hit that, but it had a "thin cover" sign and looked pretty bumpy. A guy on the lift told us it was all natural snow. I'm sure many of the posters here would love it, but that stuff wears me out in a hurry.
After that we ducked into the summit cafe for some soup to warm up, then went back out and did Upper Cannon. It was 11:00 and the trail was pretty icy around the corners (and it has LOTS of corners). Again, not really too steep, but narrow, icy, and very crowded. After that we took the Cannonball Express one last time. Went back to Upper Ravine, then down Middle Ravine to Turnpike. We got to the top of Turnpike and stopped. My wife and I and about a dozen other people were all standing there looking down Turnpike with the same thought in our heads "how the heck is that not a black diamond?". Most of us decided to continue down Middle Ravine. We took a little cut through over to the lower part of Turnpike and down to the main lodge. I thought it was intersting that the only wide green trail, Lower Turnpike, can only be accessed from hard blues and black trails. Didn't look like too many people used the little cut through we found.
At this point we decided not to ride up the main mountain again. We weren't tired, but the snow was getting very scraped up and, for us at least, a little treacherous. I didn't fall all day, but almost did about 5 times on that last run. So, we decided to scope out the Tuckerbrook area for when our 4 year old is comfortable on skis. Fantastic learning area. Free lift-served trail that would be perfect for someone just learning, or, $25 gets you full access to the learning area which has some short, but very nice green and blue trails. We had fun just tearing down the blues over there just for kicks. The snow was great and all the kids were on the green trails.
After this we had lunch on the patio where we kept trying to convince ourselves that it really wasn't that cold. Inside was wall to wall people. Hit the shop for a sticker for the car and hit the road. As a second year skiier I feel a great sense of accomplishment in having skied Cannon well enough to enjoy myself there. With good conditions and not too cold, windy, or crowded I can see myself having a blast on those trails. Beautiful place, great atmosphere, challenging. I'll be back for sure. I took some pics that I'll try to post later.
Resort or Ski Area: Cannon Mountain, NH
Conditions: PP
Trip Report:
My first trip to Cannon. I just started skiing last year, but ever since I can remember I have looked at those trails on Cannon Mountain as I drove by or as my parents drove me by years ago and thought to myself "someday I want to ski there". It wasn't until I actually took up skiing that I found out it's considered to be one of the harder mountains around. I've kind of been working towards improving to the point where I thought I could handle a tougher mountain. Today was the day and I had a great time.
Got there a little before 9:00 and it was crowded. The lodge was bustling with people gearing up. 2 for 1 special on Super Bowl Sunday, great weather, snow last night -- it all adds up. Took our first ride on the Eagle Cliff Triple for a warmup run down a green, then took the Peobody and Cannonball to the summit to find out if I was ready for Cannon.
First run was down Upper Ravine. Narrow, twisty as heck, and crowded, but nice snow and the steepness wasn't bad at all. We did that run a few times to get our legs under us then went over and tried Tramway. Vista Way was open and we wanted to hit that, but it had a "thin cover" sign and looked pretty bumpy. A guy on the lift told us it was all natural snow. I'm sure many of the posters here would love it, but that stuff wears me out in a hurry.
After that we ducked into the summit cafe for some soup to warm up, then went back out and did Upper Cannon. It was 11:00 and the trail was pretty icy around the corners (and it has LOTS of corners). Again, not really too steep, but narrow, icy, and very crowded. After that we took the Cannonball Express one last time. Went back to Upper Ravine, then down Middle Ravine to Turnpike. We got to the top of Turnpike and stopped. My wife and I and about a dozen other people were all standing there looking down Turnpike with the same thought in our heads "how the heck is that not a black diamond?". Most of us decided to continue down Middle Ravine. We took a little cut through over to the lower part of Turnpike and down to the main lodge. I thought it was intersting that the only wide green trail, Lower Turnpike, can only be accessed from hard blues and black trails. Didn't look like too many people used the little cut through we found.
At this point we decided not to ride up the main mountain again. We weren't tired, but the snow was getting very scraped up and, for us at least, a little treacherous. I didn't fall all day, but almost did about 5 times on that last run. So, we decided to scope out the Tuckerbrook area for when our 4 year old is comfortable on skis. Fantastic learning area. Free lift-served trail that would be perfect for someone just learning, or, $25 gets you full access to the learning area which has some short, but very nice green and blue trails. We had fun just tearing down the blues over there just for kicks. The snow was great and all the kids were on the green trails.
After this we had lunch on the patio where we kept trying to convince ourselves that it really wasn't that cold. Inside was wall to wall people. Hit the shop for a sticker for the car and hit the road. As a second year skiier I feel a great sense of accomplishment in having skied Cannon well enough to enjoy myself there. With good conditions and not too cold, windy, or crowded I can see myself having a blast on those trails. Beautiful place, great atmosphere, challenging. I'll be back for sure. I took some pics that I'll try to post later.
