February 23, 2021, Cannon Mountain Ski Report
Conditions today were vastly better than a week ago. Two small snowfalls returned the trails back to packed power with a nice dusty top. There was little ice and any ice found was manageable. My skis performed well everywhere – me, I need some work.
We got a late start due to two required stops in Manchester and Boscawen. We hit the top of Tuckerbrook at 10:45 and I spent the morning working with my wife. We made some progress and I think some day she will actually be able to carve a turn. At 12:15 we headed into the lodge for lunch. After lunch, she went back to Tuckerbrook and I headed for the summit.
I’m embarrassed to say that today was the first time this season that I have ridden up the Cannonball Express to the top of the mountain. I have some good excuses; lift closed, Profile run closed, low ceiling – socked in fog, just to name a few issues, but still, I admit… pretty lame.
Today was my opportunity. Good visibility, no crowds, decent snow. Go for it. Before heading up, I swapped my yellow goggles for a pair of sunglasses. This didn’t work out as well as I had hoped – the permanent cloud that seems to always hang out on Cannon Mountain was back within an hour of my change in eyewear. I took two runs down Profile. Conditions were good and I had nice runs turning short, fast turns on the steep slope. I then took a run down Upper Ravine, which is not such a great trail. It meanders around, gets kind of off camber-y and then stops too soon, ending on a long run out back to the lift. I made another run on Profile and realized the urgency of my eyewear situation. The light had gone flat and I needed those yellow goggles. I decided to go down the east side of the mountain, get back to the parking lot, and get the goggles. I went down Upper Cannon, to Bypass, to Extension and then down Avalanche, ending up at the Zoomer lift. Zoomer (the trail) looked nice from the chairlift, so I made one quick run down that before riding up again and then down to the base of the Eagle Cliff chair.
There’s nothing like skiing on Tuesdays. Despite our late arrival, we had found a parking spot in the second row of the upper parking area – a very short walk from the Eagle Cliff chair. In less than five minutes, I had my goggles on and was on the Eagle Cliff chair riding back up. At the top, I crossed over to Rocket, one of the “front five trails”. The trail has some nice, small moguls on the right and I figured this would be a good place get some bump practice. My efforts only proved my need for practice. I struggled in the larger bumps and had to slide over into the “baby bumps” more to the center of the trail. I kept at it, making a half dozen or more runs on Rocket and Zoomer. At 3:30 my legs were pretty shot and I figured my wife had probably already given up, so I called it a day. I skied down under the Eagle Cliff chair, and then made the short walk to the car. My wife had just gotten to the car minutes before I arrived.
All in all, a solid day of skiing. As always, I have work to do on my skills and technique, but progress is being made.