Cannon closed today with slightly better cover than last year's 4/15/01 closing date. Last year had more than twice the snowfall, but it went fast. This year, winter made a comeback in mid March, though we had lost most of our base. <BR> <BR>Though another beautiful sunny day, it never warmed up enough to soften up much. The front five got halfway there, especially the bottom half of Gary's. Rocket was thin. Zoomer (formerly Cannon's bump slope, now a victim of "family friendly" marketing and groomer operators who like cruisers) had baby bumps that stayed rock hard. Avalanche had cover top to bottom, with a promising section of corn snow at the top, though it finished with icy patches separated by piles of loose granular. With some luck, a Mothers Day Slalom on Avalanche may be possible! <BR> <BR>Up top, Vista Way had decent cover, some packed powder remained, and scratchy spots could be avoided. Vista Way snowfields never filled in as well as previous years, but there were still a few good lines up top. Some diehards were seeking out what new snow had drifted in the trees down lower. Tramway had probably the best snow up top. Upper Cannon was icy by Noon. Profile never opened, for good reason. Upper Ravine was OK. Skylight was a luge run. TAFT was good all day, and even the ledges halfway down were covered. <BR> <BR>Mittersil still has good cover top to bottom. OK, "thin cover"; but for natural snow, that's still good cover. There was an inch or two of new snow in spots. We skied Barons Run to end the day/season. <BR> <BR>God save Mittersil from DRED. I pray it never gets lift serviced. The two times they groomed it this winter, it was just another ski slope. Any magic was bulldozed, like the trees the groomers flattened at the top of Mt. Jackson. I hope the $$ isn't there in DRED's budget to back up rumors of a new lift going in this summer from the Mittersil parking lot to Peabody, with accompanying trail. It'll be the beginning of the end for Mittersil as we know it and love it. Amen. <BR> <BR>Still plenty of hike-to skiing to be had, even though the lifts are closed for the season. See you on the slopes!
Cannon Mt., NH - closing 4/07/2002
- Thread starter Lftgly
- Start date
riverc0il
New member
i also ventured to cannon for their last day of skiing operation for the 2001-2002 ski season. i've had an amazing time at cannon this year, some of the most fun skiing i've had in my life came to me this year at cannon. despite rapidly deteriorating conditions on the Front Face, this past Sunday was no different. <BR> <BR>the above report covers everything VERY accurately. cannon probably had enough cover on everything except zoomer to keep it all open another week, but it probably wasn't worth it. <BR> <BR>although i dunno about zoomer not being cannon's bump slope any more... everytime i ski cannon it always has bumps. but as stated above, the bumps never softened up much (maybe just a bit by 3, not by much though). best bumps were definately on avalanche before 1PM or so before it got scraped up half way down. <BR> <BR>and as an aside, i for one can't wait until mittersil gets lift service (again). please remember this mountain was originally lift serviced and essentially that means it's being restored to what it once was. while i understand the appeal the select few may have of skiing a private stash, it's kinda selfish to horde it to yourself and hope no one else gets access to it (for example those of us that ski alone, e.g. me, and won't go out of bounds alone for safety sake). <BR> <BR>full report and some great pictures at my web page: <BR><A HREF="http://www.stormloader.com/theway/pictures/cannon2002b.htm" TARGET="_top">http://www.stormloader.com/theway/pictures/cannon2002b.htm</A>
I agree with the first writer above, God save Mittersill from development!!! I hate it when the groomers go over and RUIN the best natural snow skiing you can get from a lift served area. I have been a season pass holder at Cannon for about a dozen years and would hate to see lifts and grooming done at Mittersill. To the second writer I say that skiing the trails at Mittersill is never something that has to be done "solo", I go over all the time by myself and usually always see others there at the same time. If you wait around for a few minutes I'm sure you would be able to go with others that are going over there.
riverc0il
New member
skier, i'll have to try that next year. <BR> <BR>i should clearify... i'm looking forward to lift development over there. i am NOT NOT NOT looking forward to groomers and snow making. my favorite trails at cannon are the one's left relatively untouched. hopefully if developed, only the easier and calmer terrain will receive grooming and most will be left as natural as possible. <BR> <BR>*fingers crossed*
Went back last weekend. After heavy rains, it cleared Sunday afternoon, April 14. I hiked up the first 600 feet of Barons Run from Peabody, then skinned up the rest of the way to the top of Mittersil (aka Mt. Jackson). Took this shot of the cover on Taft, Upper Ravine, Skylight, and Profile (R to L). <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus2/messages/8/1602.jpg" ALT="Taft from Mittersil"> <BR> <BR>Hiked down from the saddle over bare rocks, and skinned up Taft to the summit. Then skied top to bottom, though I had to jump over a couple small bare spots along the way. You could still get around the ledges halfway down Taft, by staying over on the skier's left. Upper Ravine had wall to wall cover back to the Cannonball Quad. At the junction of Middle ravine, the sight of several bare spots ahead lead me to take a chance on Spooky, over to Middle/Lower Cannon. The rain and sun had melted much of the cover on Lower Cannon. I squeezed by the NASTAR start, and Toss Up had great cover through the remains of the terrain park, all the way to the bottom of the Eagle Cliff triple. <BR> <BR>It's all gone now, after a week of record highs and more rain. Wednesday night, April 17, I hiked up Avalanche, and got ~800' vertical by sidestepping over the grass in two places. The snow was terrible, only about six turns were nice corn snow, even though it had been in the 70s or higher that day. Most of it was hard scalloped, glaciated mix of ice and snow. I looked back at the bottom, and my turns hadn't even left a mark. There was no point in taking a picture. <BR> <BR>Hey, riverCoil, great Cannon photos at your site!