NH/ME 2018-19

[MaineSkiLady]

Can you expand on the type of terrain that it accesses? I can look on the Sugarloaf site later, I assume they must have a description or some vidual representation of the area?

https://www.sugarloaf.com/Documents/Sugarloaf/Trail Maps/burntmtn_trailmap.pdf

Check out this map if you want to download the pdf.
It's all pretty expert stuff, with varying degrees of glades in terms of how thinned out they are. The main route, Androscoggin glade, is fairly cleared, unlike (lift-accessible) Brackett Basin, which is all trees, all the time.

 

[MissySki]

https://www.sugarloaf.com/Documents/Sugarloaf/Trail Maps/burntmtn_trailmap.pdf

Check out this map if you want to download the pdf.
It's all pretty expert stuff, with varying degrees of glades in terms of how thinned out they are. The main route, Androscoggin glade, is fairly cleared, unlike (lift-accessible) Brackett Basin, which is all trees, all the time.

That looks really fun! There is a video on the site as well that shows a little bit of the experience.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

That looks really fun! There is a video on the site as well that shows a little bit of the experience.

For comparison purposes, Brackett and Burnt would be equivalent at Sunday River to glades like Flying Monkey.

The first two named glades in Brackett Basin, which parallel far east side resort runs, have a cliff about 3/4 of the way down. There is one sign: Caution: Cliff Ahead. Height of it varies from 8 to 12 feet depending on snow depth.

I don't believe Burnt Mountain glades have any cliffs? Will know more soon - my son is doing the cat trip today. The tightness of glades varies a great deal.

This is a huge amount of area. Think that big glade off of Lollapalozza (forgot name) x 10, minimum. And steeper. Only 16 people can access Burnt at a time via the cat. Lots of space.

 

[MissySki]

For comparison purposes, Brackett and Burnt would be equivalent at Sunday River to glades like Flying Monkey.

The first two named glades in Brackett Basin, which parallel far east side resort runs, have a cliff about 3/4 of the way down. There is one sign: Caution: Cliff Ahead. Height of it varies from 8 to 12 feet depending on snow depth.

I don't believe Burnt Mountain glades have any cliffs? Will know more soon - my son is doing the cat trip today. The tightness of glades varies a great deal.

This is a huge amount of area. Think that big glade off of Lollapalozza (forgot name) x 10, minimum. And steeper. Only 16 people can access Burnt at a time via the cat. Lots of space.

Ah I love Flying Monkey! And wow on sizing comparing to Blind Ambition (off Lollapalooza). That all sounds amazing, but definitely no mandatory cliffs!!

 

[canski]

@marzNC - Cannon has 2-for-1 every Tues and Thurs....if you are looking for regular deals.
They have received lots of snow - but yes, they do leave the whales for a while, and not always in the most convenient places, and tend to make their own cloud/fog with the snowmaking early season.

 

[marzNC]

Saw in another thread that Loon actually has two demo days in Dec. A ski shop has one on Fri, Dec. 7. Loon has a demo day on Sat, Dec. 15, which is the only one mentioned on the Loon website.

 

[MsWax]

Cannon conditions were the best they've ever been this weekend! Saturday was a "top 10" day for sure. We even skied in the wind and rain on Sunday until the lifts shut down for the wind, just to enjoy the snow before it all turns to ice. We're not skiing this weekend due to other obligations, so I'm hoping they have enough time to recover it all before the 15th!

 

[diymom]

I just posted this in the Skiing on the Cheap thread, but since it is in NH...

This Sunday, Dec. 9 is Cares & Shares day at Sunapee. Bring 5 non- perishable food donations and ski for $35.

 

[diymom]

Friday, January 4 Cranmore has a rollback day- all tickets online and at window $10 from 9-4.

 

[marzNC]

Looking pretty good for the upcoming week. I'm starting out skiing in NH and then spending the weekend at Sunday River. There is a MOTH thread. If you have a Diva account but can't see it, then you need to post a bit more. Or send me a PM (look for the Inbox to start a Conversation) if you want to know more ASAP.

Must admit, I'm fine with temps in the 30s for some early season skiing in the northeast with friends. Not driving in a snowstorm has it's advantages too. My sense is that the coverage and amount of open terrain is much better than my only other early season ski safari in NH/ME a few years ago.

Forecast for Bethel, ME

 

[marzNC]

Had a good time at Loon today. The choice of where to ski between Boston and North Conway was simpler given that I decided to get an Ikon pass for my trips out west.

Forgot my camera so didn't stop for many pictures. Plus it was cold with temps in the teens. The snow conditions were very good for early December. Even had a couple inches of fresh snow that dropped over night. New England powder skiing, meaning a few inches on top of ice. A few flurries mid-morning on the west side then cleared up completely.

On the first ride up North Peak I was behind what seemed to be two older couples. I'd seen them in line for the gondola earlier. It was about 10:00. Both women had BP88s. Since they took their time deciding which way to go, I said hello. They were very friendly. I ended up skiing with them all morning. They live in Franconia and mostly ski Cannon but also have season passes to Loon. I get the feeling that they ski almost every week day. All very good skiers. One woman is active in the midweek Adaptive program at Cannon. The other woman had a knee replacement relatively recently. She's happy with the results since not only does she ski, she also loves to play tennis.

In the early afternoon I explored the trail off the Kancamagus lift. It wasn't open yet when I was at Loon in early season for a couple days several years ago. Snow guns were on for a couple of the blues. Big whales. Will be plenty of coverage by the weekend.

 

[marzNC]

Looking down at Governor Adams Lodge at Loon, from Coolidge Street (blue)


Mt. Washington Hotel with a clear view of the top of Mt. Washington

 

[marzNC]

Heading to Wildcat this morning and Attitash in the afternoon since they are on the same lift ticket. Appreciate that the Wildcat daily update is done at 6:00am. Not going to forget my camera today.


14 trails were groomed out overnight. I know I promised that Cheetah would be groomed for today, but alas, operations plans change all the time. It's still ungroomed with whale backs on it. We're going to let patrol take a pass and maybe if we all ask nicely, they'll drop the rope on it. We'll see! Our snowmakers have been crushing it and taking advantage of these temps and kept the guns on Alley Cat as well as Lower Catapult. They'll keep it going as long as they can, but we're expected to see a decent warm up these next few days so they'll take a few shifts off after today. They definitely deserve it as they've been working 12 hours a day (and night) for about 3 weeks straight now.

That's all I got for now. If you're on the fence about whether to come up or not, I hope that this report has changed your mind. It's a classic beautiful New England December day that's not to be missed! Unless you're stuck in your office in Boston. Then you should just move up here and ski all the time. You won't regret it.

I'll see you on the mountain!

-Nate

Please note, all natural and/or ungroomed terrain is considered experts only.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

DH was at Sunday River yesterday aft and said conditions were very nice. Lots of snowmaking on Sunday Punch, lots of soft whales. You will have nice conditions for the weekend. Heads up, though: weekends are BUSY there. Head "west:" Aurora is a good "hiding" place.

 

[diymom]

Sunday River is having a women's retreat (including skiing, of course) Jan. 4-6.- called the Holiday Hangover. Along with the skiing they will have yoga, demos from Coalition, sunrise hike up and ski down.

 

[MissySki]

Sunday River is having a women's retreat (including skiing, of course) Jan. 4-6.- called the Holiday Hangover. Along with the skiing they will have yoga, demos from Coalition, sunrise hike up and ski down.

I saw this and was tempted, except that I have the whole holiday week off so wasn't sure I want to take the first Friday back.. There is also now the complication that the Patriots might have to play that weekend (wildcard), and if that happens I'll be at the stadium either Saturday or Sunday. Definitely tempted depending how things work out though.

 

[marzNC]

Wanted to note before I forgot that Sunday River has night skiing. I can see why that would be of interest for families who drive up on a Friday afternoon. I knew about night skiing at the smaller mountains in NH, but didn't realize SR had some slopes lit too.

 

[marzNC]

Left Sunday River yesterday after a great day of skiing. Ended up deciding to stay in Franconia. Not skiing today because it's just too cold and windy. Not even worth a few hours at Loon on the Ikon pass.

Forecast for Lincoln, NH. Colder and windier up on the mountain at Loon. Gondola and North Peak Express on wind hold as of 11:30am.

 

[MissySki]

Left Sunday River yesterday after a great day of skiing. Ended up deciding to stay in Franconia. Not skiing today because it's just too cold and windy. Not even worth a few hours at Loon on the Ikon pass.

Forecast for Lincoln, NH. Colder and windier up on the mountain at Loon. Gondola and North Peak Express on wind hold as of 11:30am.

View attachment 9785

Brrrrr that's a lot of wind chill

 

[marzNC]

Apparently the Attitash triple has been down since Dec. 17 when a squirrel caused a power outage. Major work is being done, but the lift was not reliable during the holiday weeks. A complete re-build was done Dec. 27-28. It's a power problem, not a mechanical problem. Auxiliary diesel was used to off-load guests a couple times.

https://www.attitash.com/blog/lifts/summit/