Cannon Trail Rollout

[riverc0il]

One has to wonder where Cannon would be without this past week of natural snowfall?

The other thought I had was what if snowmaking resources were diverted to Baron's Run to get a racing trail online? The fire power required to blow out Baron's top to bottom plus make the connections to Cannon proper would probably be equal to what it took to get Skylight and Upper Cannon open. I can't even imagine how much slower the trail roll out would have been if they tried to get Baron's open for race training.

Didn't make it up to Cannon today due to a sore knee still being on the mend. Think I'm gonna pass Cannon and head for Jay tomorrow.

 

[Cannonball]

Cannon must have been listening to all of the gripes because they upped their open terrain substantially. Of course they accomplished this by apparently having no care for whether the terrain actually should be open or not. Yesterday they had most of the mountain open. But I have never, EVER, seen trails with such thin cover open. Zoomer and Zoomer Liftline were perfect examples but certainly not exceptions. These trails were 90% dirt with a smattering of light natural snow on them. This is not like late season when there is deep base with some open dirt. This is zero base across the whole trail with a thin dusting over it. Then there were the trails that had snow making. Obviously much better coverage, but just absurd that they hadn't pushed the whales around but opened the trails. I don't think I've seen anything like it. On Avalanche, Paulie's, and Banshee cut through there were vertical drops of 6-8' that were unmarked and unexpected. Anybody hitting these would even a little speed would have been seriously, seriously hurt. I assume there were a few of those cases yesterday. I even had a patroller say to me "wow that's pretty crazy to navigate eh?". When I responded with "Yeah, WTF is going on?" he started with some song and dance about letting them drain. BS. a) it's been like that way longer than needed, and b) that doesn't justify having dangerous terrain open.

Anyway, I guess count me in on the bashing bandwagon for this season so far.

 

[Puck it]

My last run was down a connect the dots of powder on Rocket.

I can understand letting the whales drain for a day or two tops. But some of those runs were blown 3 or 4 days before.

Also, don't they believe in moving the guns at all!
At least Mid and lower Ravine will be open to allow another path to the base.

 

[bendzeeknees]

Bashing continued. I was up skiing at Cannon from the 22nd to the 1st ( longtime pass holder) and without a doubt I haven't seen anything like this. Lifts were breaking down with regularity,but got better the last two days. Snowmaking was limited to all to just a few runs and there was almost zero grooming at all. Those Whalebacks on Paulies were crazy, just like the monsters on the cut thru to Banshee. I cannot figure out what the thought process is for snowmaking /grooming this year. I suspect that there is some problem with the system just like with the lifts. I would really, really love to know what the vision is for Cannon in 10 years / 20 years down the road. I suspect there isn't one. Oh, and before they turn Mittersill into the bastion for the FSC, they may want to get the main mountain figured out first.

 

[riverc0il]

Ouch. Normally I'd be saying "simmer down" to anyone complaining about Cannon opening trails prematurely (they are conservative enough as it is!). But I know Cannonball and Puck It's preferences enough to know that you can both fairly judge if a trail is truly to early to go online or acceptable thin coverage. We've gone from famine to deathly obese on natural trail openings! Let's get a happy medium on that one!

 

[witch hobble]

I'll jump on the bashwagon a little too. They probably opened extra terrain because the amount of ready to go, snowmaking blanketed, was far too small to handle the crowds they wound up having. Lift frustrations for several days. Glad there was a contingency plan to run the tram, but poor communication and PR in sending people over there before the inspection had been done. Luckily, skiing with kids we don't mind ducking over to the Tucker Brook area, but my golly put an operator who can bump chairs over there. One guy was smiling and friendly as you scoot out and then just lets the thing slam you in the back of the knees, kids on the tail bone, no attempt whatsoever.

Speaking in general, there is more going on behind the scenes with regards to opening trails on natural cover than some people imagine. Patrollers have to weigh the potential resources (and liability and charges of gross negligence!) used if a 300 lb dude over estimates his early season skiin' skills and busts his femur, or has some other serious accident, and needs to be rescued and skied off of some trashy, skied off, dirt and rock mess that earlier in the day looked "sweet". I guess what I'm saying is that sometimes "the man" who is "keeping you down" is walking a finer line than you realize. :smile:

 

[bendzeeknees]

Totally agree. I love the mountain. I was glad to see them open terrain with just natural snow even if there were slabs of granite and grass showing thru. I just wonder why the snow making is off this year. Maybe it was just a fluke mechanical issue...at least I hope. I'm willing to overlook the lift issues because I believe it was probably just a bunch of little issues all gone wrong at the same time. I like Cannon the way it is (liked it more 15yrs ago) and I don't like seeing the "Cannon - privatize it" stickers floating around.

 

[Puck it]

The Tirade continues.

What ski area blows wet snow from a stand gun in the low 20's. I bought the farm on lower Ravine skiing through a wet gun. I know guys, it was a $hit show for me after the beers. But my skis came to a complete stop and rolled a somersault at a pretty good clip. I did not expect it to be saturated like that but should have known better the way this year has gone. Then the whales on the next run got me. Wet snow on goggles and did not see the whale had a 8 foot drop of the backside of it. Double ejection. All the snowmakers that I have seen look like young kids. BTW.

Grooming now is on the hit list.
They must want to keep the mileage down on the new groomer. Avalanche, Paulie's, and Extentsion finally groomed after 5-6 days of draiining. WTF! They left huge chucks of ice on the cat track from Zoomer to Paulie's

And trails open with grass only and others on the upper mountain not open with good powder. Lower Hard for one.

I know I sound like Highway Star. But what is JD doing?

 

[riverc0il]

It certainly seems odd because the last couple years, Cannon has really shined.

 

[Puck it]

It certainly seems odd because the last couple years, Cannon has really shined.

I do not know what is up with JD.

 

[Puck it]

Just looked at them trail report. Zoomer, Zoomer Liftline, and Rocket are open and are grass. Vista is closed iwth much better coverage! Another WTF!

 

[riverc0il]

Vista is a weird trail. The natural really loads up on one side and then the other side is all rock. I can sympathize with the person to have to make that open/close call.

Drove by Cannon on my way home from Jay (amazing) this evening and the grass on the Front Five natural snow trails was substantial as seen from the highway. Nothing they can do about that (well, besides blowing some snow) but the juxtaposition of open to closed trails when the closed is skiing better than the open is interesting.

I still haven't skied Cannon yet this season. VT has been too good these past few weeks. I really want Cannon to catch up. No place like it when it has the snow. No place like it when it doesn't. :lol:

 

[Edd]

Got a weekday pass there but the TRs haven't motivated me to go yet. Soon...

 

[Puck it]

Vista is a weird trail. The natural really loads up on one side and then the other side is all rock. I can sympathize with the person to have to make that open/close call.

Drove by Cannon on my way home from Jay (amazing) this evening and the grass on the Front Five natural snow trails was substantial as seen from the highway. Nothing they can do about that (well, besides blowing some snow) but the juxtaposition of open to closed trails when the closed is skiing better than the open is interesting.

I still haven't skied Cannon yet this season. VT has been too good these past few weeks. I really want Cannon to catch up. No place like it when it has the snow. No place like it when it doesn't. :lol:

I love the place, but I would like to know what is going on! Sale? Meant lease?

 

[bendzeeknees]

Better conditions this weekend, though I dont know why trails that were open the previous weekend (vista way, upper ravine, Tramway) were closed this weekend when they supposedly picked up additional snow over the course of the week, oh well at least the hike was worth it. It will be nice when the snowmaking on the terrain park is complete and they can show a little attention to trails like Zommer and Rocket, but hey, got to keep the kids happy. I keep seeing these "Cannon - Privatize it!" stickers being placed around the hill...and the culprit seems to have a weird affinity for placing them in the mens bathroom at the top of the tram.

 

[Puck it]

Better conditions this weekend, though I dont know why trails that were open the previous weekend (vista way, upper ravine, Tramway) were closed this weekend when they supposedly picked up additional snow over the course of the week, oh well at least the hike was worth it. It will be nice when the snowmaking on the terrain park is complete and they can show a little attention to trails like Zommer and Rocket, but hey, got to keep the kids happy. I keep seeing these "Cannon - Privatize it!" stickers being placed around the hill...and the culprit seems to have a weird affinity for placing them in the mens bathroom at the top of the tram.

They were blowing snow on them.

Most likely threecy!!!!


Zoomer chair broke down again yesterday. I heard it is a breaker problem not relatching.

 

[Nick]

..and the culprit seems to have a weird affinity for placing them in the mens bathroom at the top of the tram.

Most of the AZ Stickers are in the women's bathrooms 8)

 

[LiquidFeet]

Most of the AZ Stickers are in the women's bathrooms 8)

... and how do you know that?

 

[AdironRider]

Considering threecy's campaign has a whopping 43 likes on Facebook, I think its safe to say the overwhelming majority of NH citizens have zero interest of going private.

 

[Puck it]

... and how do you know that?

He sits to pee!