Cannon Mt., 3/23/02

[Lftgly]

As JOEGM lamented on Monday, 3/18, it WAS almost over, but it snowed every day since then (including Monday night). This resurrected the almost-over-season. After last weekend, I was sure Cannon would announce closing after this weekend, but they're now assuring us two more weeks of operations, until April 7. The TRAM is closed for the season. <BR> <BR>Skiing was unbelievably good Friday (snuck out of work for a few hours), and still very good Saturday 3/23. Both days, high winds had drifted deep or stripped bare most exposed un-groomed slopes, depending on which side you skied. This meant two-foot deep drifts on Vista Way skiers left, a foot of fresh on the sides of Lower Hardscrabble or Zoomer. The woods fared better, where there was still enough base: Paulies Glade looked tempting, but there was a good reason for the rope; first six turns are great, then bail out. Unfortunately the base was gone on many natural snow trails. Paulies was great for the first hour Friday, but all the new snow fell on bare dirt and rocks, so you had to make your turns in an obviously deep drift, or piles of snow from previous skiers. By mid-day Saturday, Zoomer was looking pretty thin, too (revealing much of what JoeGM saw Monday). All in all, it didn't get skied off as fast or badly as I thought it would. <BR> <BR>The Mittersil report: Baron's Run had good cover, if you avoid the usual suspects; first tracks Saturday were beautiful, with 4"-12" of powder, depending on wind loading. The base is now worse for wear on my rock skis, after a run down the Mittersil Liftline, but the top was worth it, as was Middle Meadows. And in the woods, Pony Direct top half was also untouched by 11AM, and hiding a good 8" of fresh; bailed out halfway down for another crack at Baron's Run, 'cause the lower half of Pony is undoubtably rocky. <BR> <BR>The Tuckerbrook report: Tuckerbrook was untouched by Noon, so I hit that. The top was awesome, as long as you favored the leeward side, with 6"-18" powder. It appeared to have been heavily tracked Thursday & Friday, but still plenty left, and the wind filled in a lot. The Troll Bridge traverse was if-y, but didn't hit any rock there. The rolls below there to Locals were a blast, with 6"-8" of powder. Lower slopes, near Locals and below, had obviously softened up Thursday, then set up under another 2"-3" of Friday's snow, but it was still quite skiable, not frozen tracks. From Locals (which I skipped) down the Carriage Road was increasingly thin, as it had apparently been down to or near bare ground before this week's new snow.