SKIING/BOARDING: Cannon's Opening Day, December 3, 2005

[awf170]

i think zowi might be referring to the latest news on cannon's homepage:

Guns started last Friday, but have been quiet for the last few days due to temperatures that got into the 50's. It is snowing right now, but opening day is in doubt. Keep checking this site for the latest information about opening day.

though it is not official, saying opening day is in doubt three days away does not bode well. i don't understand this at all. cannon is going to pick up a decent amount of snow in the next 48+ hours and snow making temps will be adequet for covering mid- to lower ravine per the normal opening procedure. cannon has generally had a rather reserved snow making push since i have been skiing there but this is the pits if they can't make their opening day. pending i see snow on cannon's slopes driving through the notch on thanksgiving, i might be up there on friday for earned turns any ways if the don't open. i suspect the summit could do quite well with this storm, hopefully the lower slopes will do like wise.

theres a very simple explanation of why there not opening, and it only 2 words... state run

it does stink though, I was thinking about going up friday. I would hike up but my parents sure wont.

 

[bvibert]

i think zowi might be referring to the latest news on cannon's homepage:

Guns started last Friday, but have been quiet for the last few days due to temperatures that got into the 50's. It is snowing right now, but opening day is in doubt. Keep checking this site for the latest information about opening day.

though it is not official, saying opening day is in doubt three days away does not bode well. i don't understand this at all. cannon is going to pick up a decent amount of snow in the next 48+ hours and snow making temps will be adequet for covering mid- to lower ravine per the normal opening procedure. cannon has generally had a rather reserved snow making push since i have been skiing there but this is the pits if they can't make their opening day. pending i see snow on cannon's slopes driving through the notch on thanksgiving, i might be up there on friday for earned turns any ways if the don't open. i suspect the summit could do quite well with this storm, hopefully the lower slopes will do like wise.

Well it didn't say that when I posted. The blurb under "Latest News" still said they were shooting for the 25th...

 

[thetrailboss]

Zowi--so you're saying they are NOT opening??? :x That would really PI$$ me off.

 

[thetrailboss]

So let's hope for lots of snow, lots. It is snowing hard in NNH right now...keep it going...and tomorrow is set to be cold.

 

[riverc0il]

cannon is reporting that after 8" of snow and three days straight of snow making weather with 9" forecasted for base elevations on thanksgiving that they will not open on friday turkeys!!!! they are currently suggesting the potential for "limited" operations over the weekend. if they can't open mid/lower ravine after three to four days of below freezing temps and what is likely to add up to at least 20", something is SERIOUSLY wrong.

in either case, i'll be at cannon this weekend open or not and skiing from the summit which definitely won't be lift serviced in either case.

:beer:

nice to see you at burke to Mr. Trailboss!

 

[thetrailboss]

I saw that too....just lame. :evil:

Sunapee is going to beat them

 

[salida]

I'll be there Saturday... lift or not!

 

[thetrailboss]

And it gets worse. I was trying not to laugh as I listened to the snow phone...absolutely pathetic. "We're suffering from a temperature inversion right now...the south wind is lifting temps to 26 F on the mountain." Puleease. Anybody from this neck of the woods knows that the mountain has a NORTHERN exposure and the prevailing winds today in 'the Kingdom were from the NW with cold air and snow. Are they SERIOUS?

They get a foot of snow, plus what they had made, and THEY CAN'T open? Or do they NOT want to open? :-?

It's tough guys...real tough...Sunapee is opening a day early because of this 'bad weather...' pretty bad when someone 50 miles south and almost 2000 feet shorter beats you.

Argh.

 

[salida]

I understand the frustration TB but like I said before I'll be there lift or not. Definitely be there Saturday AM, prolly around 8, skining up from the peabody base, and I might be there tomorrow morning!

Drop a PM if anyone wants to join

 

[riverc0il]

it is official, cannon is THE biggest winnie of a mountain in new england:

Snowmaking is in progress, and Mother Nature has tried to help, but it has just not been quite enough to safely open this weekend. The mountain looks great from the bottom, but is just not ready to open. We plan to open for full time operation next Friday, December 2nd.

cannon could not have had more optimal weather during thanksgiving week for a thanksgiving weekend opening. if cannon is not committed to this opening day, i strongtly suggest their management select a first weekend in december opening going forward. there is NO excuse for this based on this week's weather. 15" in 72 hours and snow making temps for the majority of the week and they could not open one route down from the high speed quad? pansies.

i will report back tomorrow on the accuracy of their statement that with mother nature's help, they could not open this weekend. porter- i'll see you at peabody slopes bright and early.

 

[thetrailboss]

I was trying not to laugh again...it was really pitiful hearing the snow reporter today...

Cannon is a real mountain...

Yeah, right :roll: A foot of snow plus and you CAN'T open.

 

[riverc0il]

in all fairness, it was a foot of light powdery snow which is horrible for base building and doesn't amount to much when compacted. but it sure helps! they certainly couldn't open trails with 12+" on natural powder snow as it would get skied off too quick. i am most concerned that cannon couldn't blow enough snow this week to open one simple route down from the HSQ. they just can't blame bad snow making temps... look at all the other open ski areas in new england this weekend!? even WaWa in the much warmer state of MA opened today with more acrage than mid/low ravine. the foot plus of snow only adds insult to injury. i just wanted to clarify that no one is expecting cannon to open on 12" of light powder. but it certainly didn't hurt potential snow making efforts that didn't happen. now that i think about it, i didn't even see snow making clouds when i drove by on thursday morning or friday morning...

 

[riverc0il]

hey, the thought just occured to me: cannon is the only ski area in new england with exception of burke and MRG that has either 4000' summit elevation or above and/or 2000' vertical gain that is not open. mad river glen is understandable since they only have like 1 snow gun and open on natural snow and burke is still finishing up improvements to the mountain and has not begun to blow yet (these two areas have later set opening dates any ways. so cannon is the only area with a 4000' summit or 2000' vertical with an opening day this weekend or prior that has not been able to open sorry to hammer this one home but i am beyond baffled why my favorite mountain isn't spinning the quad tomorrow :-?

 

[Zand]

even WaWa in the much warmer state of MA opened today with more acrage than mid/low ravine.

Wawa opened on maybe 18 hours of snowmaking and about 4" of wet natural snow. There was not one bare spot on any open trail today, so it doesn't take much to fully cover a trail like mid-low Ravine to open. I don't understand some of those areas up north. Gunstock, Ragged, Bromley, Attitash, Wildcat all delaying their openings (some of them till next week) due to "weather", yet both Jiminy and Wawa are both open with outstanding early season conditions and Sunapee and Crotched, 2 southern NH areas with similar weather, are also open. Some areas with planned Black Friday openings need to really try for it if the weather is as good as it has been.

Riverc0il, if you want to ski, drive south a couple hours and you can ski in great snow and warmer temps. Killington is looking like it wins the Thanksgiving Award this year. 60 trails already open, AMAZING.

Also sad that Mohawk in CT is opening tomorrow. Unreal.

 

[riverc0il]

Riverc0il, if you want to ski, drive south a couple hours and you can ski in great snow and warmer temps. Killington is looking like it wins the Thanksgiving Award this year. 60 trails already open, AMAZING.

i wouldn't ski kmart past thanksgiving unless i had a free ticket. and even then, only on a blackedout day or mid-week. if i want to ski cannon tomorrow, i'll ski cannon tomorrow. lifts or not i didn't move up here just to drive back down south to go skiing certainly not when over a foot of powder is sitting in my backyard

 

[thetrailboss]

Hey Riv--how did Cannon look as you drove by yesterday?

 

[awf170]

Riverc0il, if you want to ski, drive south a couple hours and you can ski in great snow and warmer temps. Killington is looking like it wins the Thanksgiving Award this year. 60 trails already open, AMAZING.

Hah, why would you drive south. If I was going to go skiing(I'm not because I dont have insurance, I do have my license though) I would of went to cannon. I would rather hike up and ski then wait in like for an hour to ski one crappy icy run with 1,000 other people.



About Cannon, did this really suprise you guys. Last year at wildcat me and my dad talked to someone who used to be a cannon snowmaking and quit because working for them is the most frustrating thing and he couldnt take it anymore. I'm not sure but I think he nows works for wildcat. Cannon is just known for doing stuff like this. Atleast when they have $40 tickets this wasnt a big deal, but when there charging $54 atleast try to make a decent amount of snow.


And Steve, saddlebacks summit is 4,120 ft and there vertical is 2,000 and there not opening until the 17th

 

[Zand]

Hah, why would you drive south. If I was going to go skiing(I'm not because I dont have insurance, I do have my license though) I would of went to cannon. I would rather hike up and ski then wait in like for an hour to ski one crappy icy run with 1,000 other people.

Name me one mountain that you could say that about today. Oh wait, you can't. Nearly every mountain open today had nice powder/packed powder and small crowds.

 

[awf170]

Name me one mountain that you could say that about today. Oh wait, you can't. Nearly every mountain open today had nice powder/packed powder and small crowds.

That fact is though, at cannon you will have untracked powder, everywhere else you will have mostly groomed trails. Dang I wish I could join porter and steve.

 

[Zand]

Not a fact. Killington is grooming about 20 out of 60 trails. You're bound to find untracked powder there. The Loaf has 41 trails open, and I'm sure at least a few of them are untracked. Even Wawa had powder for a few runs today.

And BTW, groomed vs ungroomed is a lot different than your previous claim of hour long lift lines, sheet ice, and short crappy runs. :wink: