Wednesday 1/8/25

https://newenglandskiconditions.com/viewreport.php?reportid=3742

Despite the frigid weather, there was good skiing to be had at Cannon yesterday! While many areas across New England had to close their upper lifts due to wind, the Cannonball Quad ran all day for those that dared to brave the -20 to -30 degree windchill at the summit. Peabody Express, Zoomer, Tuckerbrook, and the handle tow were also running, along with the Eagle Cliff Triple in the afternoon ( I never saw anyone riding it). The Valar T-Bar and Taft Training Slope (and Time Zone) were in use for race training, but there is no skiing between the main mountain and Mittersill yet. Unfortunately the Tram doesn’t seem to be running on weekdays this season; it would have definitely been nice to have yesterday!

I started out with a couple runs in the Tuckerbrook area before spending most of the day in the Peabody Express trail pod and the Front Five. Groomed terrain was a firm hardpack, but most trails had some powder on top from the 1’’ of snow they got overnight, and/or from snowmaking on an adjacent trail. Some nice soft turns could be found at the edges of trails where powder had accumulated. Of the Front Five, Zoomer and Gary’s were the best. Avalanche was decent apart from some ice at the top, but could only be accessed from Extension since Zoomalanche isn’t open yet. Banshee Cut-Thru was tricky to get to (required skiing through a thinly-covered area on Avalanche) but Banshee itself was good. Did not try Jasper’s Hideaway due to the tram being closed.

Many trails in the Peabody Express area such as Middle Ravine, Lower Gremlin, Big Link and Easy Link had snowmaking whales which generally skied quite well. Upper Ravine and Chute were closed but had sizable whales and should be able to open soon. Snowmaking was running all day long on Lower Cannon (open), Parkway and Taft Slalom (both closed), and a few other areas near the base.

I did three runs from the summit over the course of the day. The wind was blowing uphill parallel to the Cannonball liftline and was bearable on the ride up (wind was hardly present on the mid/lower mountain). Upper Cannon was okay while Tramway had some very nice windblown powder on skier's left.

Visibility around the mountain was mostly decent (though the flat light was non-ideal) and all lifts were ski-on all day, despite the two closest lots to the lodge filling up. Probably about 1’’ fell gradually over the course of the day. I took multiple breaks to warm up but still got over 20 runs in. Lifties and other employees were cheerful and friendly despite the cold temperatures. While I thought it would be a blunder going here on a near-subzero and windy day, Cannon did not disappoint!

Huckerbrook and the summit in the background

Turkey Trot

Upper Gremlin

Lower Gremlin

Upper Cannon

Rock Garden

Gary's

Banshee

Tramway

Middle Ravine