Cannon Trail Rollout

[Puck it]

Yes, it was top to bottom. One thing that Cannon really seems to lack is modern gun technology besides the fan guns scattered around the mountain. All the other guns seem to be portable ones on stands. Do they have any tower guns?

Yes on the mid mountain, they have some older low e guns.

 

[steamboat1]

Yes, it was top to bottom. One thing that Cannon really seems to lack is modern gun technology besides the fan guns scattered around the mountain. All the other guns seem to be portable ones on stands. Do they have any tower guns?

They have tower guns top to bottom on Superstar at Killington. They haven't used them for several years (maybe they don't work anymore). What is used is old style noisy portable snow guns & lots of them. Superstar trail at Killington is known for having the deepest base in the east come spring. I don't think it's necessarily technology that makes the difference.

 

[skiberg]

Skied this weekend. The place is really falling apart. First snowmaking is pathetic. Second conditions have stunk. Zoomer Peabody and the tram have all broken down for extended periods. Often on the same day. The food service has been terrible. Takes forever. Seem disinterested. 10:05 am I asked for an egg sandwich and was told no more breakfast. At least 10 people in line for breakfast at same time told cant have it. Not sure what's going I but making me think about moving to Burke or Jay. Very sad to see this.

 

[Puck it]

Skied this weekend. The place is really falling apart. First snowmaking is pathetic. Second conditions have stunk. Zoomer Peabody and the tram have all broken down for extended periods. Often on the same day. The food service has been terrible. Takes forever. Seem disinterested. 10:05 am I asked for an egg sandwich and was told no more breakfast. At least 10 people in line for breakfast at same time told cant have it. Not sure what's going I but making me think about moving to Burke or Jay. Very sad to see this.

What the hell is JD thinking? This is just giving Threecy fodder!!

 

[skiberg]

You know JD generally has done a good job it just seems like this year something's bit right.

 

[skiberg]

Not right

 

[riverc0il]

You know JD generally has done a good job it just seems like this year something's not right.

Agreed. Blaming poor snow making on the inversion last month seems like a red herring. I hope they get it together. I know operations don't like to publicly out themselves and say that they messed up, but some sort of explanation would be nice. No organization sets out to make mistakes and disappoint customers. But it would be nice to know the logic behind the process this year and what steps are being taken to address the issues at hand.

This incoming storm (perhaps a pair?) will really help Cannon just when it needs it most. Otherwise, they would be starting off the new year way behind the competition.

 

[Cannonball]

Skied this weekend. The place is really falling apart. First snowmaking is pathetic. Second conditions have stunk. Zoomer Peabody and the tram have all broken down for extended periods. Often on the same day. The food service has been terrible. Takes forever. Seem disinterested. 10:05 am I asked for an egg sandwich and was told no more breakfast. At least 10 people in line for breakfast at same time told cant have it. Not sure what's going I but making me think about moving to Burke or Jay. Very sad to see this.

I can see dogging on them for things that they are mismanaging. But I don't understand the the part about the tram being broken down for extended periods. It hasn't even opened for the season has it?

 

[SIKSKIER]

Glad to see people are finally seeing what I've been talking about.This is nothing new.All of us regulars piss and moan every year.Nothing changes.Today Loon has 5 times as much terrain open.Not acceptable.The lifts are another story.Saturady the HSQ went down.Sunday again it went down while I was sitting on the deck.A very appropriate song came on through the outside speakers.It was a raggae song with the same words repeating "Its the same old..same old...story".The irony was not lost on us.So they open up the tram supposedly with a shuttle to get people from the Peabody base to the tram to access the upper mt.My friend takes it over there only to be told they were not running it because they need to do tram inspection.He gets back on the shuttle back to Peabody.Unbelievable.The Doppylmayer guy showed up late morning and got it fixed.This was after the Zoomer broke last week along with Brookside.At least they finally rolled out Upper Cannon and today Skylite.Things are looking up for later this week mostly thanks to a sizable snowstorm on the way.

 

[Puck it]

Loon is up to 38 trails that inversion killed them. They have the North Peak fully open now except the glades.

 

[bobbutts]

They are and have always been outgunned by Loon for snowmaking and grooming. For me Cannon is one of the last places I'd go when there's no natural snow. They jump way up on the list when it snows thanks to being steeper and having better terrain variety.

 

[Puck it]

They are and have always been outgunned by Loon for snowmaking and grooming. For me Cannon is one of the last places I'd go when there's no natural snow. They jump way up on the list when it snows thanks to being steeper and having better terrain variety.

Okay and out gunned by Sunapee and started later.


Wait

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And even Gunstock with nearly half open!

 

[deadheadskier]

What's interesting about the Gunstock comparison is that they are both publicly run areas.

The lament on Cannon being publicly run is that it's never profitable. Seeing how terrible last season was, I expressed a similar concern to some long term employees and long time Belknap county residents regarding Gunstock's profitability and if leasing to a private operator was on the table. All whom I asked said that only a handful of times in Gunstock's 75 year history have they operated at a loss and had to use non-revenue funding from the county for resort operations.

I wonder what they're doing at Gunstock to be able to run a profitable operation and have better snowmaking than Cannon. They definitely have some excellent equipment for mid-sized area.

 

[Edd]

Like a lot of ski areas Gunstock works on being a 4 season mountain. I think the newly installed zip line was a great success last year and they do events regularly. A couple of their services that sound unusual are a Segway tour and they also have a campground on the property.

Above all I think location serves them well. They are an easy drive for a large population when compared to Cannon.

 

[Puck it]

Right off the interstate not an easy drive?

 

[Cannonball]

Right off the interstate not an easy drive?

Stop bitch'n and get on the freaking road. Lots of yellow on the Google traffic maps, might be a long drive. Only about an inch so far in Lincoln but it's coming down pretty hard. Also REALLY blowing. You can pick up the well deserved bashing after logging some serious miles today.

 

[SIKSKIER]

A whopping 47 acres open today.I can't find any other ski area that is open with less terrain.

 

[SIKSKIER]

Here are the nearest competitors
WV-131 acres
Wildcat-207 acres
Loon-200+ acres
BW-430-acres
And Cannon-47 acres
What a joke.

 

[Puck it]

Temps in the 20's and they are only blowing Avalanche, Paulies, and cattracks on the Front Five. I have a pic from last with all of the front five lit up! Something is not right in Mudville!

http://forums.alpinezone.com/showthread.php?105867-Cannon-Front-5-Love

 

[Cheese]

Frozen pipe?

If they're blowing at all then their pumps are functional and the pond isn't dry. If they didn't blow earlier due to inversion then their snow making budget is still plentiful. Curious ...