Plenty of Snow For Everyone To Enjoy
by Amy Patenaude
Outdoor/Ski Writer
We did a lot of playing in the snow over the holidays and the snow storms came just in time to dress up the slopes and trails. Pushing fresh powder or gliding on fresh set tracks made for a wonderful time for all.
It isn’t too late to make your New Year’s Resolution to get outside more this winter. Skiing, snowboarding and cross country skiing are all wonderful winter fun. Or go snowshoeing, snowtubing, zip-lining, ice skating, snowmobiling, fat-biking! I confess I’ve never gone ice fishing but the guys at work love it. There is so much to love about winter.
Cross-country ski trails are open across the state from Gunstock to Great Glen and everywhere in between. Many kilometers are groomed and tracks are set. Cold nights make for fast skiing in the morning and the warm days make for softer snow in the afternoon.
Charlie and I cross country skied at the Bretton Woods Nordic Center and we saw many of our winter friends on the trails. We skate skied and we did classic–kick and glide skiing too. Before the new snow fell the skate skiing was fast and fun. I especially like skate skiing when the snow is firm and I can make my skis glide far and fast. Following the trails up and down the foothills of Presidential Range and flying through the woods while glimpsing at our state’s highest mountains is enchanting.
Charlie enjoyed classic skiing after the storm and he found a kick wax that produced the perfect kick with a fast glide. In the new snow the groomers set nice tracks and the soft snow worked wonders for people with no wax or skin skis too.
We start out together but since Charlie is faster and often likes to ski longer than I do we often split up and take different routes along the trail system. Sometimes we pass each other going in opposite directions and this happened on the Dark Forest Trail. We gave a quick hello as we passed by one another.
One afternoon I went down to meet a friend at Jackson XC and we skied the Boggy Brook Trail, part of the Prospect Farm Trails at the end of Carter Notch Road. We used our no-wax skis and we classic skied up the tracks set on both sides of this wide forest road and the middle is groomed for skating. This is a lovely out and back ski and at the far end of the trail is a nice peek above the forest of the tip top of Mount Washington.
Of course the new snow made for some super duper powder skiing at the ski areas. Seriously, the snowmakers had many good cold nights and really made some magic and lots of terrain had been open but nothing beats a powder day. And not much beats a powder day at Cannon Mountain.
Charlie and I were waiting in the lift line early so we would be among the first to make tracks. Cannon’s Tramway opens 15 minutes earlier so those folks would claim first dibs over those of us waiting for the chairlift at the Peabody Lodge. But we weren’t worried about the early tramway skiers and riders because they aren’t able to track it all up in just 15 minutes. But I was a little jealous.
We skied the smooth soft blanket of snow covering Paulie’s and Avalanche, two of the steepest trails at Cannon. We rode the Zoomer chairlift and skied these trails repeatedly until all the snow was pushed into soft piles. It was a super fun time.
It is a well known fact that playing in the snow makes hot chocolate taste extra good and feels wonderfully warm.
Have fun.
Amy Patenaude is an avid skier/outdoor enthusiast from Henniker, N.H. Readers are welcome to send comments or suggestions to her at: amy@weirs.com.
