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(Cold) Powder Day @ Cannon

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sledhaulingmedic
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Posted: Dec 21, 2004 - 1:02 AM GMT

Headed North straight from work this AM. The roads were fairly crappy, but still was on the slopes by 10:30 or so and hooked up with a fellow sledhauler and his son for some fun in the fresh snow.

Cannon had rec'd about 5-6" of VERY light and fluffy stuff. They only ran the Peabody and Zoomer Chairs, but given the temps and the wind higher up, that was fine. THere was almost no one there, so the edges stayed relatively unspoiled. Gary's and Rocket were the berries. With the Temp dropping sub zero (down to about -10F by the time we called it quits) we were only good for a few runs, then needed a break. Still well worth the trip. After 8 days of groomed cruisers, this was a welcome change.

Despite the very low temps, they ahd the guns howling on Profile. I expect they'll be top to bottom tomorrow.

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brn4353
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Posted: Dec 21, 2004 - 1:33 AM GMT

I hit Cannon 12/19 and I have to say I wan't too happy w/ the conditions. It seemed as if they didn't groom the trails from the day before. As early as 9:30 am, much of the machine groomed stuff was scraped off and only hard snow left. Enjoyed the trail setup there and liked the feel of the mountain. I'll be back, but how does cannon usually do w/ snow quality? Yesterday, the entire mountain could have used a mid-day grooming. Any input?

riverc0il
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Posted: Dec 21, 2004 - 1:35 AM GMT

nice report. front face on a powder day is always magic.

i doubt top to bottom until sunday, cannon has been rediculously slow opening terrain this year despite adequite cover and snow guns going like mad. they seem to have put off opening new terrain until the weekends so far this year. waste not, want not?

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WoodCore
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Posted: Dec 21, 2004 - 1:41 AM GMT

Sweet Pictures Sled!!! Especially the picture showing the upper mountain engulfed in a manmade "Jay" cloud! .... Awesome! Thanks for sharing.

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riverc0il
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Posted: Dec 21, 2004 - 1:41 AM GMT

brn4353, the snow sucked on 12/19 largely due to the weather the day before on saturday. there was a fierce wind that blew most of the snow clear of the mountain. they had to close big/short link and mid/low ravine because conditions were so dangerous and posted experts only signs on the quad for the uplift on to mid/low cannon. it was about as nasty as cannon ever gets with only gary's really worth skiing, and even that had suspect groomed snow due to what i would guess is the composition of the snow (moist with several freeze-thaw periods). essentially, sorry bro but you pick a really bad weekend to sample cannon.

in general, cannon needs some fresh snow for the cover to feel really great. even then, the main drags such as big/short link and mid cannon get scraped off quickly. but once the mountain is mostly or fully open, there's usually good snow to be found somewhere. essentially, it's hit or miss unless there has been good recent snow, in that case there's no place else i'd rather be. natural snow trails usually fair better than the high traffic groomers, but of course no natural open yet up there.

give cannon another shot after a good snow storm and no wind. it's a completely different beast when the snow is right.

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sledhaulingmedic
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Posted: Dec 21, 2004 - 4:03 AM GMT

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Sweet Pictures Sled!!! Especially the picture showing the upper mountain engulfed in a manmade "Jay" cloud! .... Awesome! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, WC. That shot was quite impressive, but hardly does the in person visual justice. While it looks like the snow is going everywhere, most of it was landing on Profile. It was so cold and dry, that the guns, at times would push a fog down the mountain.

brn4353: As Riv said, cannon is a matter of timing. Two days ago you were skiing on boilerplate, today we were often knee deep in pow along the edges of what limited terrain they had open. WHen Cannon's good, it's outstanding.

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brn4353
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Posted: Dec 21, 2004 - 11:49 AM GMT

Riv, Sled...

Thanks for the input. I had a feeling is was just a crappy day. I will be back there I found out as the drive was less than an hour. It's great being around so many mountains! I've done most of my skiing in the Berkshires, central/western NY and PA, looking forward to what NH/VT has to offer!

riverc0il
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Posted: Dec 21, 2004 - 11:57 AM GMT

nice being close to the mountains! when cannon is scraped up and wind blown, a ~50 minute drive north yields burke with nearly as good trails but almost always better snow conditions.

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