NSBS 2.0, Day Four: Getting the lion's share at Cannon

Despite his camoflage jacket, Matt still looks good working the edges

This firm once existed, I'd have you to know,
Messrs Lion, Wolf, Tiger, Fox, Leopard & Co;
These in business were join'd, and of course 'twas implied,
They their stocks should unite, and the profits divide
Jefferys Taylor
"The Beasts in Partnership"

By Day Four of the NSBS, we were ski beasts in partnership, seeking to unite our stock of knowledge and skill and divide the profits. When March came in like a lion at Cannon on Thursday, the last ski day for the NSBS bloggers, the profits were plenty: a thin winter was completely transformed by fresh snow. Snow that kept falling all day, making conditions better and better as we skied. As the liftie at the the Cannonball Quad opined as we boarded, "it's cool to see the big sticks come out."

Steve cruises the bumps of Upper Hardscrabble

As much as I enjoyed our days at Attitash and Wildcat, I felt instantly at home at Cannon. Maybe it was the weather: windy, snowy, blustery, the kind of day that made you tuck your chin into your collar and hold a glove over your face on the lift. It was a Jay Peak kind of day and the mountain measured up to it; big, brawny and hard to see in the gloom of blowing snow. There was a crowd of skiers on big skis, ready for some kind of snow event. We had the advantage of local knowledge. One of our own crew was a Cannon regular and Steve's intimate knowledge of the mountain and its moods paid off in spades. We skied the drifts on one side of Vista Way and beautiful natural snow bumps on Upper Hardscrabble. He advised us to hold off on the hike to Mittersill until after lunch, when there would be more snow. We worked the sides of runs, milking the new snow and finding the fresh patches. It was a powder day for the creative and Cannon delivered the terrain. With flowing cruisers like Vista Way, steep natural snow challenges like Upper Hardscrabble, tight glades like Global Warming and the "sidecountry" of Mittersill offering something for anyone with a sense of adventure, Cannon is a true skier's mountain.

Matt skis hot in Global Warming Glade

Don't ask me which mountain I liked the best on the NSBS 2.0 tour. Each was fantastic and in a serendipitous way, the day was perfectly appropriate for each destination. Attitash had the fresh snow on perfectly groomed cord; Wildcat had the clear view, fast cruising and crazy trees; then Cannon finished it up with a blast of winter, a little powder and some very interesting terrain. The ski history of the Mt. Washington valley added a nice flavour and New England hospitality kept the ball rolling.

Thanks, New Hampshire, I had a great week, my ski universe has been expanded and I definitely want to come back for more.

The ridge hike to Mittersill

Cannon Mountain from Mittersill

See you next time, Cannon

NSBS 2.0, Day three: Leap Day at Wildcat. Purrrfect!

Jake, our tour guide, celebrates Leap Day in the appropriate manner

With a mountain named Wildcat, I suppose the trail-namers couldn't help themselves but go with a kitty-based theme. Today I found myself skiing runs like Upper Wildcat, Polecat, Lynx Lair, Catapult, Feline and Catenary, to name a few. And we never did make it to Hairball, which, if my experience with cats is any indication, was probably a little boney anyway. But that is another story.

Wildcat is right across the street from George and his various ravines.

After a hearty breakfast at the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center, our intrepid crew of bloggers headed over to Wildcat Mountain. Despite the snow in the forecast, the day started clear and sunny, which made the views of Mount Washington pretty spectacular. After a warm-up run down a trail with the word "cat" in its name, we met up with our new pal Thomas, his buddy Jake and the Wildcat videographer, Tom. Thomas was sporting even fatter skis than the ones he ran yesterday and Jake was on 194 cm Rossi RC 112s. I looked down at the 78 mm waist Salomon carving skis I had chosen for the day and wondered whether or not I should go back to the car and grab the Sir Francis Bacons. Did they know something we didn't know? Probably.

I stuck with the Salomons, which was ultimately a good decision. Tom was shooting for the Wildcat Video Update so we happily cooperated, skiing for the camera, standing around, skiing for the camera, and for some us, waxing poetically right on queue. I guess this gang of bloggers passed a test of some sort, because we were led into a special stash and skied a very steep, tight tree ran that had no cat references. Fortunately, there were no catastrophes. We topped this off with a couple of non-stop top to bottom cruises down the uncrowded (thankfully, given the speed we were skiing) classics Polecat, Lynx and the Catapult/Wildcat/Bobcat combination. I asked Matt, the ski instructor in the group, for a pro-tip on carving and worked the rest of day on holding an imaginary basketball between my legs. It really did help but by the end of the day my legs felt like a deflated basketball.

And so the day went, alternating between twisting, fun and definitely carveable groomed runs and moderately bumped-up natural snow runs sporting real Eastern conditions. What a blast! Wildcat's location in the White Mountain National Forest limits development: there are no hotels, no slopeside condos and nothing else to do but ski. What is at Wildcat? Great skiing, an unbelievably scenic setting, classic eastern trails, a palpable vibe of welcoming enthusiasm, a horde of silver-haired rippers (mid-week at least) and a supremely funky but highly functional base lodge with good food. Wildcat is my kind of place.

Ski area architecture at its finest. Seriously, I love it.

The view from the top is even better.

Of course, everybody had to take a picture.

Tom, the happiest videographer on the planet.

The camera guy never gets first tracks but he does get to ski a lot.

Wildcat has rabbit holes too. Matt heads down.

Matt lept as well and Tom obviously has nine lives.

NSBS 2.0, Day two: awesomeness at Attitash! The need for speed is fulfilled.

George dominates the landscape.

Having never skied in New Hampshire before, I decided to approach this trip with an open mind and not have any expectations. Sort of a "clean slate" frame of reference. And since I am definitely "not from around here," I really had no idea what to expect at Attitash. To say I was pleasantly surprised today would be a massive understatement. We had a day of unexpected awesomeness, combining high-speed groomer lappage with a few fun runs in some, uh, off-the-map terrain.

First run was on "Elevator Shaft."

The thing with Attitash is that you can't really see the whole mountain from the road, so it is hard to get an idea of the great terrain that awaits. The bloggers started the day on Bear Peak, the most easily accessible terrain from the Grand Summit Hotel. The original thought was that we might take a run or two there, then head over to Attitash. Not so! The consistently pitched fall-line cruisers, freshly groomed with a skiff a fresh snow, were insanely fun. With drops, rollers, swoopy turns and very few people on the trails, the collective consciousness of the posse agreed: open it up! We skied fast; up and down, up and down until we needed to head over for our meet-up with Thomas Prindle, the Attitash "marketing guy," and get a guided tour of the mountain. Little did we know that he would be charging and we would be following. Don't ask me the names of the runs we skied -  I was just playing follow the leader. The Attitash side was just as fun as Bear Peak but with a higher elevation, and after the sun came out, some spectacular views of Mt. Washington.

Continuing the tour with Thomas, we headed back to Bear Peak. At the top of the lift we ran into a friend of Thomas who offered to share some of his local knowledge. The result? Several runs in a beautiful medium-angled glade with several inches of fresh snow and so few tracks that I found untracked spots from the storm on Saturday.

All in all, it was a fantastic day on a new mountain with a revved-up group of great skiers. What more do you need on ski day?

There was a nice refresher of snow over the immaculate grooming.

MadPat getting into the high-speed cruising.

The slide ride is closed, I guess.

This is novel. One lift crossing over another!

A fine Harv-slarve.

A little late afternoon goodness in the trees.

NSBS 2.0: Day one, the drive.

After much deliberation, the bloggers of the NSBS decided to visit New Hampshire this year. I arrived today, a day late to the party, so sadly have no ski report. I can report that was an easy, though very long drive and the White Mountains of New Hampshire have a very different feel to them. They are big, broad, brawny and even though Mt. Washington was mostly shrouded in cloud, it completely dominates the landscape. 

After driving through the spectacular Crawford Notch, I arrived at the Attitash Grand Summit Hotel, our home for the next few days. Tomorrow, we ski Attitash, so stay tuned.

Last chance to turn off to Jay Peak - I am torn.

A view of Jay I rarely see - the drive-by.

Even obscured by clouds - the scenery in Crawford Notch is impressive.

The Grand Summit Hotel - if you go out the back door, you are on the slopes.