Cannon Mt 3/1
- Thread starter salida
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riverc0il
New member
Saturday was my third time at Cannon this season. Considering I buy a pass instead of skiing on a season pass, the fact that I still ski Cannon instead of skiing Jay says something. Last season I also got three days at Cannon (again, a Jay season pass year). The year before that, I broke my elbow and was out for three months and still managed to ski Cannon five times despite Jay being my home mountain for the first time that year. 04-05 and prior (when I averaged half as many season total days compared to post move north, no less), Cannon was my home mountain, thus the higher percentage of good powder day reports from Cannon that season and prior. Your notation of my skimpy amount of reports does not detract from the quality of skiing at Cannon but merely notates that switched home mountains three seasons ago and need justification to pay money for a day ticket versus skiing on my pass.
Regarding one time this year (as noted, this was my third day skiing Cannon this year), I have actually made some bad decisions regarding my skiing locations. See my most recent report from Mad River (stellar day by the way) on which Cannon picked up more snow than MRG (which showed this Saturday since most of it was untracked since Wednesday). There have been other days too I would have been better served staying local. Though this year is an abnormality which has really favored Cannon.
Joegm, I don't disagree with you, Cannon needs snow to ski well and often does not get an abundance of natural. You just asked where all the great reports from the past five years have been and I provided. You seemed to think this was a one day abnormality and I just provided some links to amazing skiing from the past five years..... which is not inclusive of all great Cannon days but merely the days I decided to go to Cannon or could actually get there, I missed some of the better days there over the last few years... even when I was a regular. You can dismiss Cannon, but only out of ignorance for what the mountain has to offer beneath the surface. Cannon is what it is... and it can be nasty without fresh snow.... but like I said in my report from Saturday, when it has the goods there is no place I would rather be and I would have a pass at Cannon if it averaged NoVT snow fall.
Regarding one time this year (as noted, this was my third day skiing Cannon this year), I have actually made some bad decisions regarding my skiing locations. See my most recent report from Mad River (stellar day by the way) on which Cannon picked up more snow than MRG (which showed this Saturday since most of it was untracked since Wednesday). There have been other days too I would have been better served staying local. Though this year is an abnormality which has really favored Cannon.
Joegm, I don't disagree with you, Cannon needs snow to ski well and often does not get an abundance of natural. You just asked where all the great reports from the past five years have been and I provided. You seemed to think this was a one day abnormality and I just provided some links to amazing skiing from the past five years..... which is not inclusive of all great Cannon days but merely the days I decided to go to Cannon or could actually get there, I missed some of the better days there over the last few years... even when I was a regular. You can dismiss Cannon, but only out of ignorance for what the mountain has to offer beneath the surface. Cannon is what it is... and it can be nasty without fresh snow.... but like I said in my report from Saturday, when it has the goods there is no place I would rather be and I would have a pass at Cannon if it averaged NoVT snow fall.
joegm
New member
steve , your the one guy who has credibility with the cannon thing... i know you have skied there quite a bit and dont have to prove anything...the post is filled, however, with lots of love muffins being thown at the place from people who i never see talk about it at all and are making it out to be some sort of hidden or consistently passed over gem....and that it ain't
Patrick
Well-known member
Tony Crocker":2jbroja1 said:
As I'm planning a powder day tomorrow, I read this comment. :-k
Sorry Tony, there are things that your numbers don't show. Your Eastern experience is too limited to total grasp how things work here in the East. How do you explain that most Easterners here, including myself, disagree with your general comments.
Tony Crocker":2jbroja1 said:
I cannot comment specifically on Cannon's numbers, however these would included things like Kingsbury(?), Tramline and Hardcrabble. There are definitely interesting trails (although I haven't skied the first two as they didn't exist at my last visit at Cannon).
But main trails in the East are generally the ones that are open and that have snowmaking. Tiny natural snow trails OR trails that end up close due to lift closure at the end of the season would explain why there aren't so many 100% in the Spring time. Tremblant and MSA shutting down part of the mountain are a prime examples. There is also the fact that some areas are very conservative before opening trails - this is also due to high traffic ski areas.
joegm":2jbroja1 said:
I can only talk about myself and my personal experience.
Cannon is a classic.
Do I included it in my top 10 in the East? No. Top in NH, yes!
I've visited Cannon 5 times and don't recall a bad experience. There was one amazing early April powder day (1997?) included in that total in which the trip wasn't planned according to the forecast. It was a combo Easter weekend which included Smuggs (didn't ski - it was pouring rain) and Cannon the next day on Easter Monday. My wife remembers it well, it rained up to 1 mile from the ski area and we ended up in a Northeaster :wink: all alone on the mountain making fresh tracks all day.
Why only 5 times? Because the world is too big and it's almost 3hr from Montreal (and I live in Ottawa). I love Mt.Orford (not top 10 either), however it took me more than 20 years to revisit the place a few years ago.
riverc0il
New member
Bingo. Part of why Cannon sits around 80% so often is that so many of their trails are more rocky and steep than other mountains in New England. Tramline and Kinsman Glade have failed to open during entire seasons at least twice since they first opened to the public five or six years ago. If you compare to other nearby areas such as Bretton, Loon, or Waterville... you are not comparing apples to oranges.Patrick":2l8ks4uv said:
Also, as far as percentage open, you will notice a much higher percentage now that Cannon has ballooned their trail count up to 60 over the last few years. Used to be about 48ish or so before Tramline, Kinsman, MH Cut, and Tuckerbrook, not to mention all the short additions they have added such as Mickey's, David's, Lower Hard Headwall, and all that crap. Percent open does not tell the whole story.
Further, even with all the snow Jay gets, even Jay is not 100% all that often. The Face, Tux Chutes, and the stuff dumping off the Freezer (Passage, Staircase, Everglade) often get closed down mid-season when there has not been much new snow recently. 72/76 is Jay's average without new snow recently. But it is the friggin Face for crying out load. Does that made Jay's 100% more elusive than say flat as a pancake Bolton? I think so.
icelanticskier
New member
joegm":3o0j1w0x said:
last year joey? maybe it was an aweful year where you were vinny da bumpin it up at loon. whatever joey.
rog
Nice thread and I appreciate the comments.
I do understand that steep areas can be harder to keep 100% open, and can see from having been there why Jay is often in the 90's but not at 100. Same type of terrain, less snow at Cannon, that typical 80% makes sense.
My basic opinion has not changed. Cannon is SO like Mt. Baldy, both in the passion of its devotees and the frequency with which they can take advantage of it.
And just as I don't depend upon Baldy for most of my skiing but try to jump on it when it's good, Riverc0il has exactly the same strategy for Cannon.
I do understand that steep areas can be harder to keep 100% open, and can see from having been there why Jay is often in the 90's but not at 100. Same type of terrain, less snow at Cannon, that typical 80% makes sense.
My basic opinion has not changed. Cannon is SO like Mt. Baldy, both in the passion of its devotees and the frequency with which they can take advantage of it.
And just as I don't depend upon Baldy for most of my skiing but try to jump on it when it's good, Riverc0il has exactly the same strategy for Cannon.
Don't let salida fool you, these pictures were not taken at Cannon, they're all from Jay Peak or somewhere in Vermont.
not secret enough, when you can see it from the parking lot...salida":10jts122 said:
Thanks, patrick. The photo-journalist in me used to enjoy posting the TRs, but it started to feel like I was posting naked pictures on the internet of the love of my life and bragging about the great sex we had last weekend.patrick":10jts122 said:
my anti-marketing campaign is paying off. Like joe says: Cannon is rocky, icy, windy, and cold. I don't know why anyone would ski at Cannon. Now if only the USFS will kill the Mittersill land swap...joegm":10jts122 said:
riverc0il
New member
I fight with that constantly. A half dozen years ago, not only was I posting naked pictures of the love of my life and bragging about the great sex, I was practically inviting people to an orgy with her. My reports and hopefully my pictures have grown decidedly less precise and more vague. Sometimes I don't pull out the camera any more when I always used to before. The balance is tough between reporting conditions, capturing the moment, and the enjoyment of documenting great days versus bragging and leading people you don't even know into your play ground. I think it is good to open other people's eyes the way my eye's were once opened, but there is a balance to be had for sure.Lftgly":2wbx29sj said:
Now there is a difference between Cannon and Baldy. When Baldy is only doing 50,000 visits during an epic year, I figure I'm helping out with online publicity when it's good. I'd like to see them develop the 2,000+ vertical backside, for which they have permits but inadequate $.
