SKIING ONE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE’S BEST MOUNTAINS
At long last, today I finally took my talents to Franconia Notch in New Hampshire to ski Cannon Mountain. Back in 2021, when I was still relatively new to skiing, I visited Cannon Mountain for work in the summer. Since then, this is a place I've wanted to ski. I remember the majestic views, and the challenging-looking terrain. I’m happy to report that both of those things are just how I remembered them.
The ski area seen from the parking lot.
*Just a heads up that I don’t know this mountain well, so most pictures don’t have captions.*
Some say this is the best mountain in New Hampshire. I haven’t skied all the major mountains in New Hampshire, in order to say one way or the other, but what I do know is that this is a big mountain offering diverse terrain. It also has some elite views of the Franconia Range, and other surrounding mountains. Put it all together, and you have one epic ski area.
I skied with Pro Skier Darren White and Bryan from New Hampshire. Pro Skier Darren White is, of course, the “East’s Most Decorated Athlete” and the “Glade Master” himself. Cannon is actually Bryan from New Hampshire’s home mountain, and we call him the “Cannon Whisperer.” This guy knows the mountain like the back of his hand, and he skis it effortlessly. Who needs the winter games over in Europe when you have these two putting on a display of sheer athleticism right in from of you? Not me.
Pro Skier Darren White navigates a run.
Bryan from New Hampshire navigates a run.
With it being my first time at Cannon, the Cannon Whisperer gave me a grand tour of the ski area. We started off by heading up to the summit of the mountain and we skied a few runs off the Cannonball Quad. This lift is said to be among the coldest in the East, and I must admit it was pretty cold today, with wind barreling down for most of the ride. We skied a few runs off the Cannonball Quad and all were fun, windy, New England-y style trails. Conditions were great. No complaints from me. There was packed powder everywhere, with a firm spot here and there.
From there, we headed to the fabled Mittersill Mountain. To make a long story short, Mittersill was once its own ski area. Now it’s firmly a part of Cannon Mountain. Outside of the groomers, the terrain here is challenging. Some of the runs through the forest and the glades are fairly tight.
Conditions-wise, the trees and the narrow runs through the forest were okay. It was definitely skiable, I just would’ve had more fun if I wasn’t on skis that were just mounted last week. Still, though, it opened my eyes to the possibilities of this part of Cannon, and I hope to one day hit it when conditions are awesome. There was some natural terrain that was really well-covered, like the run under the lift and some of the terrain down low. All of this was a lot of fun, especially the terrain in the North Slope area.
I think this is the Turnpike Glade.
After Mittersill, we headed back to the main mountain to tear up some groomers and natural terrain, as well as dip our toes in some trees for the remainder of the day. Coverage on the groomers was, of course, good, as was the natural snow trails and the trees. The natural snow trails were covered in soft, manageable bumps, and the one glade we skied, which, admittedly, was a blue glade, was well-covered and pretty fun.
Never Quit Skiing,
Lincoln