Spring Skiing!
by Amy Patenaude
Outdoor/Ski Writer
Calendar Spring begins on March 19th! But dang, it is here in a big way. I want another big snowstorm but I think I have lost faith that snow will show up in time to do happy skiers any good.
We can’t ignore that the bad virus is the cause for events being cancelled left and right, even most ski races have been cancelled. I am saddened for my friend’s children and my friends that have had their ski championships cancelled. Some racers have been sent home right in the middle of their events.
As I type this column ski areas and Nordic centers are open. I think being outside is good medicine. The nights are still getting cold and the resort’s are grooming the trails and slopes.
Charlie and I went in search of good spring skiing. Our trip to Burke Mountain was sunny but it was cold, it never got above freezing and the same thing happened the day we took off to ski Cannon Mountain.
Thankfully we had sharp edges on our skis and we had a really fun time.
Burke Mountain in East Burke, Vermont is just less than an hour’s drive past Cannon Mountain. If you’re a season pass holder of another mountain they want to reward you by offering you a $45 lift ticket, no blackouts. Regular lift tickets are $75. Another special deal is Wicked Wednesday when three can ski for the price of one.
We parked at the Sherburne base lodge because we planned to have lunch at the Tamarack Pub and Grill. This is also the access for the beginner slopes. A little further up the road is Mid-Burke where the Burke Mountain Hotel and the access to the main mountain. High-speed quad chairlifts service both areas. Skiing between both areas is easy.
Burke has some wonderful straight down the falline slopes with nice big rolls and drops. It’s super fun to make big fast turns. Though there was still plenty of snow in the trees it was too firm for us to jump in the glades.
By midday the East Bowl had softened up enough so we could ski the ungroomed main trail.
We enjoyed nice views of Mount Washington from there. We skied all over the mountain on the other trails that had super groomed loose granular snow. I sure hope we get another chance at spring skiing here. In the Tamarack Pub we ate a late lunch of poutine and spicy chicken wings and a cold Vermont brew.
On Wednesday we skied Cannon Mountain. Wednesday is New Hampshire day, tickets are just $29 for NH residents. We drove up to Franconia in the rain on Tuesday night. It was below freezing when we woke up. But what the heck we decided to ski and we were at the Peabody lodge just past 9 am when the lifts opened. The summit was in the clouds but the rest of the mountain was getting a little sunshine.
Needless to say it wasn’t very busy the day after a big rainstorm but still quite a few others had decided to come skiing and snowboarding besides us. Cannon had waited until the snow had set up before they groomed so no frozen ridges, just loose frozen granular over a firm surface. Cannon certainly made a good recovery and we appreciated it.
We enjoyed skiing Skylight from the summit, the snow wasn’t spring soft but we still made plenty of turns on the flat groomed snow. At midday the clouds went away but it still stayed below freezing. Maybe winter will hang on. I hope so.
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.
