Furnace Brook, Short Path, Fox Hill Loop (Blue Hills Reservation)

Furnace Brook, Short Path, Fox Hill Loop (Blue Hills Reservation)

Hike Type: Tracing Loopty-Loop

Distance: 5.30 miles

Elevation: 551 feet

Time: 2 hours, 35 minutes
Hiking Challenges: Blue Hills Winter Trace (2x), 52 Hike Challenge 2026; Blue Hills Grid

The Hike 

The plan for today was to ski at Magic Mountain, but with ambient temperatures of -10°F and forecasted wind, we decided we didn't want to drive three hours both ways to freeze. Instead, I have a lovely introverted day and made way back over to the Blue Hills, where it was a balmy 6°F! I had already completed the St. Moritz Area, so I planned to finish the trails east of Fox Hill/Little Dome today. Based on my last hike, I started in snow shoes, which were beyond necessary. There were no clouds, abundant sun, a fresh coating of 2-3" of snow, and just a slight breeze.

I am getting a sick joy in packing down a choppy trail, which is just what I did with the Shawmut Path and the connector to the Skyline Trail along Rattlesnake Hill (even though I tripped on myself and went down into 2' of unconsolidated snow). 

My Nano Puff came off in the Rattlesnake/Crags col. The only cold part of me were my toes, which warmed up after about 20 minutes. I did buy the snow gaiters, but they hadn't come in yet, so my ankles where already coated in snow. I also think I might buy some earmuffs...

There was a cold headwind on the Old Furnace Brook Trail but there was no breeze on the Short Path, which actually had me almost breaking a sweat! I found myself really enjoying these last few snowshoe hikes. I feel like they're helping build my confidence for when I get back up to the Whites (more on that soon...). Also, these COLD temperatures we've been getting in the Boston area have also been conditioning me.

There were MANY deer tracks all around Fox Hill, and it looked like the path descending off the summit was not yet broken out... I might go for it later... I passed the first people of the day at 11am and they were three snowshoers who were really cruising. Once I made it to the Great Dome Foot Path I noticed that it was 100% unbroken (well, 99%, one deer had traveled the path in the past week). I decided it was time to truly break trail for the first time!

I sunk about a foot with each step, but the snowpack was at about two feet, so the snowshoes were doing their job! To my delight, the single deer actually followed the foot path perfectly, which is crazy to me. I stumbled over a few logs and rocks, but otherwise it was smooth, slow sailing. I was starting to break a sweat, though! I descended to the Pine Tree Brook, carefully crossed it, and then truly stumbled up the embankment on the other side with my televators (and following the deer tracks still!). I was HUFFING and PUFFING at this point, but feeling good! It felt really cool to be surrounded by just a blanket of snow. 

There was one set of old tracks on the Pine Tree Brook Path, or I thought there were... it was another deer! More breaking out! Thankfully the snow wasn't too heavy. The White Tail Path was also untraveled, and I think I truly did a horrible job following the trail up. I basically zig-zagged up the shoulder and then did my best to follow the dotted line on AllTrails. I felt a huge relief once on the Fox Hill Path, which had a dusting of snow on a firmer trench. 

But don't worry, I was back to only deer tracks for my descent. I made it to the little knob before truly descending, and saw one of the deer in question! After that knob, the deer tracks fully disappeared and I was on my own. Again, I did the best I could, but definitely did not thrive. For the final steep descent I felt like I was basically moon walking down the hill! I did get a cool view of the Crags, which was nice.

The last stretch of trail I needed for the day was the little loops near the Pipeline between Wampatuck and Fox Hills, which were also mostly unbroken... I was tired! It was good to know how breaking trail felt and how it impacted my body. I did a little bit of retracing my steps at the end to avoid the Skyline Trail up and over the Crags, and then I was back at the car! My socks were soaked and snowballs were frozen to the tops of my boots. It was a toasty 19°F once back at the car, and I was feeling tired, but good!

Step-by-Step

- Park at Shawmut Path trailhead.

- Start hike at Shawmut Path.

- At Crags Foot Path (green), turn around.

- At jct., turn right toward Rattlesnake Hill/Skyline Trail.

- At terminus, turn left onto Skyline Trail. 

- In col between Crags and Rattlesnake Hill, turn right.

- At terminus, turn left onto Crags Foot Path (green).

- At jct., turn left onto Crag Trail.

- At 4135, turn left onto Indian Camp Path.

- At 4155, turn left onto Skyline Trail.

- After, continue left onto Crags Foot Path.

- At 4145, turn right onto Old Furnace Brook Path.

- At 4180, turn left onto Sawcut Notch Path.

- At 4133, turn left onto Short Path.

- At 4124, turn left onto Crags Foot Path (green).

- At 4142, turn right onto Furnace Brook Trail.

- At 4120, turn right onto Indian Camp Path (green).

- At 4090, turn left onto Great Dome Foot Path.

- At 4073, turn right onto Pine Tree Brook Path.

- At 4080, turn left onto White Tail Path.

- At 4096, turn right onto Fox Hill Path.

- At Fox Hill Summit, turn left and descend on path.

- At 4120, turn right onto Indian Camp Path (green).

- At 4135, turn right onto Pipe Line.

- Hike network of trails around the southern Pipe Line, then turn around and return to 4135.

- At 4135, continue off of Pipe Line onto Crag Trail.

- At terminus, turn right onto Crags Foot Path (green).

- At next jct., turn right.

- At terminus, turn left onto Skyline Trail.

- At next jct., turn right.

- At terminus, turn right onto Shawmut Trail.

- Follow Shawmut Trail to car.

Blue Hills Reservation Map

Photo Album

Skiing Pats Peak (Day 18/Indy Day 15)

Skiing Pats Peak

Saturday, February 7th, 2026

Runs: 16

Distance: 11.27 miles

Elevation: 9,245 feet

Max Speed: 27.9 mph

Avg. Speed: 11.0 mph

Moving Time: 1hour, 1 minutes, 38 seconds

Total Time: 4 hours, 29 minutes, 6 seconds

Time for Gen's return to skiing! After our Maine vacation last year, her granfather got injured, and then became sick, and then... well, you know, so her season was over without her really knowing. This year, she wasn't able to start skiing with the rest of us because of a wrist injury that required surgery, but she texted me asking if I'd be down to go skiing with her before vacation next week so she can dust off the cobwebs, and of course I said yes! We decided to hit up Pats Peak, one because of its accessibility (driving & skiing-wise), but also because that's famously where we were headed when my car flew off the highway last winter - redemption part two!

Our drive was dreadfully slow due to a surprise few inches of snow that New Hampshire seemed to ignore - it took us about two hours to get to Hooksett (and I was having a CODE: BROWN for the last hour, it was stressful!) with about three decently bad accidents on the way. Hooksett to Pats was much better, but the back roads to the ski area were still decently slippery. I did not get the princess parking I had last time, which was a bummer that I accepted. We waited in a long line of cars to park, grabbed our gear, got our Indy's, and then booted up in the Valley Lodge and left our bags outside - it was snowing the whole time, which was exciting! After a slow boot up we headed outside and had our eyes set on the Triple! We were on the lookout for Sarah, her Mom, her brother, and his girlfriend, too!

Snow Report

The hard work of our snowmaking team throughout the season, combined with nightly grooming, has the mountain in great shape for mid-winter skiing and riding. With colder temperatures, please remember to bundle up and protect exposed skin.

Runs 1-3

Run 1: Peak Triple Chair - Breeze - Zephyr - Blast

[1.08 mi; 5:56; 751 feet; 19.4 mph max; 10.9 mph avg]

Run 2: Peak Triple Chair - Backdraft

[0.43 mi; 2:33; 289 feet; 17.3 mph max; 10.2 mph avg]

Run 3: Cascade Basin Triple Chair - Crosswind - Zephyr - Zephyr Woods - Blast

[1.25 mi; 6:05; 827 feet; 21.1 mph max; 12.4 mph avg]

Run #1 and Goal #1 was for Gen to remember how to ski (and have a good time getting down the hill!). We followed the easiest way down down Breezy, Zephyr, and Blast. To my delight, the snow was absolutely wonderful! We'd ski one segment at a time and see how it goes. The first third of the run Gen skied super cautiously but started to get her groove back for the second half. The runout of Blast is beautiful with some tree islands, but otherwise pretty flat and slow, so nothing crazy there!

It was after 10:00am when it was time for Run #2, so we headed down Backdraft to Cascade Basin, which was a mistake! Everyone else had our idea, so we waited in a long line for the Cascade Basin Triple and then skied back via Crosswind, Zephyr, Zephyr Woods, and Blast. Since I was going slower waiting for Gen (not mad about it in the slightest!), I was really focusing on making good turns in both short and wide radiuses (radii?) - the snow was NICE. The Zephyr Woods were even easier than last time since the trenches were filled in - I love that they're a signed double black - they're flat and WIDE open. I guess a good deterrent for fearless kids, though (maybe...)!

Runs 4-6

Run 4: Hurricane Quad Chair - East Wind - Lower East Wind - Lower Tornado

[0.86 mi; 4:22; 758 feet; 24.1 mph max; 11.9 mph avg]

Run 5: Peak Triple Chair - Breeze - Squall Line - Lower Tornado

[0.97 mi; 4:43; 751 feet; 22.2 mph max; 12.3 mph avg]

We found Sarah and company at the top of Run #4! They were all super excited to see Gen since it had been so long. Initially we thought about skiing together, but I told them we were going to be slow slow and to not wait for us. Mom said we could all rendez-vous at the bottom. We went down Gen's first blue of her great return - East Wind, and it went well! She said it was a good challenge. I enjoyed it for the deeper snow on the edges of the trail. We maneuvered our way down and I was going to tell Sarah and family to not wait for us and we'd see them later, and they got the memo because they were already on the lift! I waved to them as they went up.

Run #5 was our final run on this side of the hill (aside from the black runs) - Breeze to Squall Line to Lower Tornado. It was a solid run! Snow was still good, the hill wasn't TOO crowded, and Gen was having fun! We skied across the lodge area and ended up at the Turbulance side for a few more runs before lunch.

Runs 7-8

Run 7: Valley Double Chair - Puff - Glades - Puff

[0.56 mi; 2:55; 348 feet; 19.8 mph max; 11.6 mph avg]

Run 8: Turbulance Triple Chair - Turbulance

[0.48 mi; 3:08; 400 feet; 22.7 mph max; 9.3 mph avg]

In the spirit of avoiding parks, we hit just two runs on this half of the hill. Run #7 was up the Valley Double and down Puff (I took a detour through the glades, which was similarly wildly easy), and then we went up the Turbulance Triple and followed Turbulance back to the Valley Lodge, which was a wonderful run with immaculate show! Gen had a good time dodging the lift towers.

Lunch involved sitting, hydrating, and eating my cold breakfast sandwich (our bags were buried in snow being outside all day). Gen was feeling good and said the words "I like skiing," which wasn't a surprise, but good to know that it still reigns true!

Runs 9-13

Run 9: Hurricane Quad Chair - Backdraft

[0.44 mi; 2:57; 292 feet; 20.6 mph max; 8.9 mph avg]

Run 10: Cascade Basin Triple Chair - Cascade Brook

[0.43 mi; 2:19; 371 feet; 18.8 mph max; 11.0 mph avg]

Run 11: Cascade Basin Triple Chair - Blizzard - Blizzard Woods - Cascade Brook

[0.40 mi; 2:40; 364 feet; 19.2 mph max; 9.1 mph avg]

Run 12: Cascade Basin Triple Chair - Temptest (Black)

[0.37 mi; 1:39; 371 feet; 26.7 mph max; 13.4 mph avg

Run 13: Cascade Basin Triple Chair - Crosswind - Zephyr - Lower East Wind - Squall Line - Lower Tornado

[1.28 mi; 6:23; 853 feet; 25.2 mph max; 12.0 mph avg]

Now that we were in the afternoon, it was time to get back to Cascade Basin! It was also at least 10 degrees colder than it was before, which was surprising and uncomfortable. Run #9 was up the Hurricane Quad and down Backdraft, which was still in great shape. Runs #10-13 were all on the Cascade Basin Triple, and all lovely! Cascade Brook continues to be a favorite, although I wish it was longer. Gen and I went down Blizzard, and I jumped into the Blizzard Woods, which was closer to a more traditional glade, but it was at low tide which made for some surprising turns. Run #12 was down Temptest (I encouraged Gen to go down the black side, especially because it was eaiser than many blues she's done at Jay, but she was psyched out - it was FUN), and finally we made the long return trip down Crosswind back to the main area. 

Runs 14-16

Run 14: Hurricane Quad Chair - Duster - Squall Line

[0.68 mi; 4:05; 699 feet; 22.2 mph max; 10.0 mph avg]

Run 15: Vortex Double Chair - Cyclone - Squall Line

[0.61 mi; 3:21; 682 feet; 21.4 mph max; 11.0 mph avg]

Run 16: Vortex Double Chair - Tornado - Squall Line

[0.62 mi; 4:01; 738 feet; 27.9 mph max; 9.2 mph avg]

At this point, we were cold and tired. Gen called her two more skip the last and I said "eh maybe." Sarah was able to meet up with us for this run, so it was nice to share Gen's last run with her! For Gen's final run we followed Duster to Squall Line. Duster had some excellent bumps on the right side, but a kid was going super slow so I had to bail on them halfway down. The middle was a bit skied off, but overall it still was a solid run. We said goodbye to Gen, and Sarah and I decided to hop on the Vortex Double to hit a couple steeps before I called it (I was COLD). Run #15 was down Cyclone, which was a little scratchy, but it was fun to go fast! My final run, Run #16, was down Tornado since we saw some bumps from the bottom, and we didn't regret it, but we didn't jump for joy either... The upper half was scratchy and the bumps were skied out in the middle, which made for some adventure skiing. 

Afterwards, Gen and I booted... off? and we got a famous BIG cookie (it was DELICIOUS). We did our chores, hit the gift shop (I got a sticker and immediately lost it...) and we slowly made our way back home, with a quick stop to Taco Bell in Lawrence. It was so good to have Gen back, and she seemed to enjoy it just as much, if not more!

Map of Pats Peak

St. Moritz & Green Loop (Blue Hills Reservation)

St. Moritz & Green Loop (Blue Hills Reservation)

Hike Type: oooO Loop

Distance: 4.35 miles

Elevation: 371feet

Time: 1 hour, 51 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes moving)
Hiking Challenges: Blue Hills Winter Trace (2x), 52 Hike Challenge 2026

The Hike 

After a wonderful day at Waterville Valley yesterday, I needed a quiet, introverted day. I somehow took another sick day and decided to spent part of the day back at the Blue Hills to continue tracing the Quincy side of the park. It was a sunny day in the mid 20s and I made it to the Shea Memorial Rink parking lot a little after 10:00am. To my dismay, a Quincy Trial Court van popped up with folks doing what I assumed to be court-mandated community service by chiseling out the snow bank blocking the Skyline Trail entrance. To avoid any akward intersactions, I followed a broken out side path down alongside the tennis courts to the dam between the St. Moritz Ponds. I meandered my way to minichiello Path and then onto the Pipe Line, which had a nice trench going.

I made the decision to finish up the St. Moritz area before crossing Wampatuck Road, so I made my way down Murphy Path and then hit the Ski Jump and Obbatineway Paths on the return trip, all which needed snowshoes. I decided to keep the shoes on for the rest of the hike, even though it felt goofy walking across Wampatuck Road in them (I was just too lazy to take them off and put them back on again! The bit of the green loop that paralleled Wampatuck Road was in brutal shape, mostly made up of frozen, postholed slush.

The Pipeline on the other side of Wampatuck Road only had a cross-country ski track in them, so I had a flirting with breaking trail which was just uncomfortable. I ended up taking my puffy and fleece off for this stretch (and most of the rest of the hike). It got a little better after the Skyline junction, but it was FAR from a superhighway!

I clumsily navigated some blow downs, which was tricky in snowshoes, but it was wildly satisfying to look back at the neat trail behind me. There were occasional deer tracks in the trench and criss-crossing the trails, which was fun to see. 

If this hike taught me one thing it was that I really needed to buy snow gaiters (purchased immediately after the hike) - my socks were SOAKED. Thankfully they were not cold! The green loop once off of the Pipeline was more traveled but wildly choppy and unconsolidated, so the snowshoes continued to stay on for the remaineder of the hike. I only passed one person near the end of my travels. I took the snowshoes off to cross Wampatuck Road for the second time and bare booted it back to the car. Overall a solid hike, and I was learning to enjoy the snowshoes!

Step-by-Step

- Park at Shea Memorial Rink.

- Follow footpath from west corner of parking lot to St. Moritz Ponds' dam.

- At dam, turn left onto Skyline Trail.

- At jct., turn right onto Minichiello Path (green).

- At 4205, turn left onto Pipe Line. 

- At 4202, turn right onto Murphy Path.

- At 4220, turn sharply right onto Pipe Line.

- At 4205, turn right onto Ski Jump Path.

- At terminus, turn left onto Murphy Path.

- At jct., turn left onto Obbatinewat Path.

- At terminus, turn righ tonto Pipe Line.

- At Wampatuck Road, cross Wampatuck Road.

- Continue on Indian Camp Path (green).

- Follow green dots all the way back to the dam.

- At dam, follow path back to west corner of the parking lot.

Blue Hills Reservation Map

Photo Album

Skiing Waterville Valley (Day 17/Indy Day 14)

Skiing Waterville Valley

Wednesday, February 4th, 2026

Runs: 11

Distance: 12.19 miles

Elevation: 13,743 feet

Max Speed: 38.2 mph

Avg. Speed: 14.2 mph

Moving Time: 54 minutes, 50 seconds

Total Time: 4 hours, 48 minutes, 55 seconds

A few months ago, Indy Pass launched the "Learn to Turn" program, which granted participants three days of beginner lessons, lift tickets, and rentals for $189 (or $149 if they knew someone with an Indy Pass like me!). I mentioned this to Ray and he was immediately on board - yay! We wanted to redeem his first lesson at Jay Peak a couple weekends ago, but the -30 forecast deterred us (and the mountain ended up shutting down for the day). We couldn't make any weekends work, so we opted for a week day! Emma and Patrol Sarah drove down from Vermont to join us, too!

Ray and I had a relatively pain-free drive up to Waterville Valley, arriving soon after 9:00am. We got into the lodge and I got Ray all set up with clothing before we went over to the rental shop to get his gear. We got him a "1st Day of School" sign to take photos with, which was an EXCELLENT touch! Once he was booted up we went back into the lodge for final preperations, and that's when Emma and Sarah landed! We got some family photos, walked him to the lesson rendez-vous spot, took a few more photos, and then dropped him off with his instructor, St. Nick from the North Pole. Since it was a Wednesday, he got a private lesson with the man himself!

After we dropped him off, the three of us went inside to boot up and get some runs in. We were on the lifts around 10:15am with beers in pockets and ready to have a super fun day! It was chilly, but the sun was poking through snowglobe skies.

Alpine Snow Report

Current Weather: 13F, Snow Showers. Updated 8:41AM February 04 2026

This morning we have received a surprise inch of snow with flurries still coming down! Don't forget to check our Ski & Stay packages we're running through February - get discounted lift tickets included with your stays making it easy to book that trip to Waterville! Lifts open today at 9am.

Trails and Lifts: We plan to open with 58 trails on 252 acres of skiable terrain. For lifts we anticipate spinning: Tecumseh Express, Green Peak Triple, Valley Run Quad, Exhibition T-Bar, High Country T-Bar, Lower Meadows, and the Lower Pasture Carpet.

Anticipated Lift Hours: Tecumseh Express 9am-4pm. Valley Run 9am-4pm. Green Peak 9:30am-3:45pm. Exhibition T-Bar 9am-4pm (4-5:40pm for PRHS training). High Country 9:05am-3:45pm. Lower Meadows 9am-4pm. Lower Carpet 9am-4pm.

Snowmaking and Mountain Operations: Snowmaking is shutting down the system for the rest of the season this morning. Shoutout to our snowmakers! Without the hard work of our mountain operations teams day in and day out and night in and night out, we wouldn't have the excellent skiing conditions we're enjoying today.

Conditions and Weather: We anticipate partly cloudy skies today with temperatures expected to reach a high of 21 degrees at the base and 13 degrees at the summit. Northwest winds are expected to reach 14-20 mph at the base and 20-35mph at the summit.

Terrain Parks: The Exhibition Terrain Park is open, featuring 6 rails, 2 medium jumps, and 2 large jumps! The Fun Run, Banked Slalom Course, and the Boardercross Course are open. The High Country Park rails are now removed leaving 2 medium jumps. We also have 2 small rails and 2 small boxes on The Pasture! Finally, there is a terrain park being built over the next week on Stillness!

Runs 1-4

Run 1: Tecumseh Express - High Country T-Bar - Hassle - Oblivion - Upper Valley Run - Valley Run

[2.02 miles; 6:11; 2,113 feet; 37.4 mph max; 19.6 mph avg]

Run 2: Tecumseh Express - Tangent - Periphery - The Boneyard - Lower Periphery - The Pasture

[1.50 miles; 6:48; 1,765 feet; 24.3 mph max; 13.2 mph avg]

Run 3: Lower Meadows - Stemtation

[0.23 miles; 1:25; 177 feet; 24.3 mph max; 9.7 mph avg]

Run 4: Lower Meadows - Baseway

[Not on Strava]

Our first run of the day was simply to be good friends to Ray. He had bough a full-mountain lift ticket becuase he wanted to ski after his lesson, and his pass only came with carpet access. We took the six-pack up and then the T-Bar to the tippy top, skied the skier's right side of Hassle down (which was not a park run, just a groomer), and then took the easiest way down via Oblivion. I remember the initial entrance to this run being daunting as a beginner, and the headwall was an additional challenge. The snow was in GOOD shape, and depending on how the lesson went there was a chance we would bring him up here... to be determined! We absolutely bombed it down Oblivion and Valley Run, which felt fun to go fast after a bunch of days of more technical skiing.

Run #2 went down the other side of the mountain. We hopped on Tangent because it said natural snow and... it sucked. Periphery was scratchy, but the bumps on the right side of Boneyard were mostly good! We followed Lower Periphery and hoped to catch Ray mid-lesson on The Pasture, but instead we found an empty slope and a baby park. Naturally, we all hit the two boxes. We figured he must be at the Lower Meadows double, so we skied down there and found him! He didn't seem thrilled to see us, but St. Nick said he was doing a great job!

Run #3 was down Stemtation with the only goal to ski the fresh corduroy, and Run #4 was down Baseway to get back to the six-pack. Ray had about an hour left in his lesson.

Runs 5-6

Run 5: Tecumseh Express - Sun Run - True Grit - Fun Run - Rock Island

[1.20 miles; 4:50; 1,703 feet; 31.8 mph max; 14.9 mph avg]

Run 6: Tecumseh Express - Upper Bobby's Run - Lower Bobby's Run - Sugar Shack Glades - Rock Island

[1.22 miles; 9:23; 1,640 feet; 25.8 mph max; 7.8 mph avg]

Our next two runs were our adventure runs! Run #5 brought us down True Grit, which was steep and either scrapey or wonderful. I might need to get my edges done before I go to Maine... I'm still on an upwards trajectory with my technique, but it's slow and steady and steeps are typically where my carving goes back to skidding. We finished this run on "Fun Run" which had some nice banked turns and then Rock Island, which was... alarming? Firm ungroomed base which led to endless hard mini jumps and then a few rollers that were basically actual jumps... Exciting!

Run #6 was down Upper Bobby's, which was still set up for a mogul competition with a groomer track on the left side. The groomer track was actually in awesome shape. We dipped into the woods at the bottom at the Sugar Shack Glades, which were fine. We found the mythical Sugar Shack (we didn't know about it until we found it), skied through it, and then bailed as the woods got very tracked out and lowkey miserable afterwards! We finished with another bumpy lap down Rock Island.

We finished the run at 11:58am, which was perfect! We skied down to collect Ray and they were just a minute after us. St. Nick gave us the full parent report of how he did. He said Ray did a great job! He comically said "since you're patrollers I know you won't take him to the top of the mountain" while we were fully planning on taking him to the top... He also told stories of crashing at Brekenridge and going 70mph down the Jet at Jay. Santa! We collected Ray and all went in for lunch, which involved a pendant beverage and food from the Freestyle Lounge. 

Runs 7-8

Run 7: Green Peak Triple - Chandler's Way - South Street - Bourbon Street - Baseway

[1.10 miles; 5:52; 1,066 feet; 25.3 mph max; 11.2 mph avg]

Run 8: Green Peak Triple - Chandler's Way - Upper Valley Run - Valley Run

[1.03 miles; 6:09; 1,086 feet; 29.9 mph max; 10.0 mph avg]

After a long lunch it was time to get back out there! We asked Ray if he wanted to go back to the double or hit the Green Peak Triple, and he was ready to level up! I remembered the easiest way down from the triple was genuintely easy, just longer than what he'd been doing. I was ready for some sleepy introvert time, so I sent Ray on the chair with Sarah and Emma and I rode solo. We congregated back at the top, and it was time to shred! The run was good, and Ray was doing great! Emma would give some pointers and ski ahead, and rinse and repeat! The only challenging part was that there were whales at the Wayne Wong Way intersection for Ray to navigate and that Chandler's Way was closed with whales at the end of Wayne Wong Way, so Ray had his first blue run - South Street - which was a perfect soft level up for him. Emma and I got a little silly and tried hugging and spinning while skiing to moderate success? We all got back to the triple eventually, and it was time for another!

Run #8 brought us back down Chandler's, but then we brought him to Valley Run. He initially said "oh my" at the "headwall," but he was completely fine once he did it. The rest of the run involved Ray making it down successfully, Sarah disappearing into the woods, and me really focusing on dropping my hip to carve. We checked in with Ray near the bottom, and he said he was feeling good! We proposed going all the way up, making note that there is one more difficult section, and he said he was game!

Runs 9-11

Run 9: Tecumseh Express - Oblivion - Upper Valley Run - Valley Run

[1.57 miles; 6:47; 1,729 feet; 34.8 mph max; 13.8 mph avg]

Run 10: Tecumseh Express - Obilivion - Upper Valley Run - Fun Run - Rock Island

[1.52 miles; 5:25; 1,709 feet; 32.2 mph max; 16.8 mph avg]

Run 11: Valley Run Quad - Upper Valley Run - Valley Run

[0.82 miles; 1:58; 755 feet; 38.2 mph max; 24.9 mph avg]

We hoped to get a drink at the Schwendi Hutte, but it was closed by the time we got there (~2pm on a Wednesday). Time to ski! Ray (and Sarah) were big fans of the cozy seats and the bubble on the 6-pack! Ray initially paused at the top of Oblivion, but I told him the worst part is looking at it and just to get going, and he agreed. He absolutely crushed the upper portion and then got a personal coaching with Emma down the headwall. I told him to say "wheeee!" - I like to believe I helped most. We had a nice run down Valley Run, which is actually a wonderful trail when it's not inundated with weekend crowds. 

Run #10 was just as good as #9, but Ray was a bit stronger on Oblivion - yay! Sarah, Emma, and I got a little ahead of him, and apparently two ski racers were skiing like jerks and were joking about the guy taking up the whole trail and cutting him off (which is a dick move but only a little funny becuase someone was equally annoyed with Gen when we were learning two years ago). Afterwards, we all decided after this run we'd do our two-more-skip-the-last on the Valley Run Quad. I went down the Fun Run and Rock Island while Ray continued on Valley Run. We all rendez-voud'd at the quad for one more lap!

We got BLESSED with chair #69 for our final run, and we all had a power run going down! Emma and Sarah FLEW down. I blased off to the best of my ability while trying to continue working on my turns. Ray crushed it with his pizza turns and traverses! 

After our final run, Ray returned his rentals and we all got changed before a nice and easy drive home. We had Hooksett dinner and Ray was already asking about buying his own equipment... Heck yeah!

Map of Waterville Valley

The White Mountain Sampler of Hikes (White Mountain National Forest)

The White Mountain Sampler

I had a mission - bring Christien to the White Mountains and ideally spark an obsession with how beautiful this region is and hopefully, selfishly and selflessly, inspire a new peakbagger! I initially wanted to bring him to Mt. Pierce. Since he has hiking experience is is no stranger to Type II fun, I thought that would be a perfect first hike in the whites. Moderate grade throughout, spectacular view at the end, a little bit of zest with winter going strong. The problem was that it was going to be cold, windy, and cloudy, so I made the executive decision to pivot from one big hike to a sampler of smaller hikes, which would also show him more of the region by doing the I-93, US-3, US-302, Kancamagus Highway driving loop. We talked gear, he did some shopping, and with a 4:45am wake up, we were off!

Our drive up north was nice and easy - he was sleepy, but he was a solid trooper. We got breakfast at Hooksett (I gave the building a nice christening), and we continued on up. The sun was up by the time we reached the White Mountain Region, and the Mt. Tecumseh complex was illuminated in a stunning morning pink. I gasped when I saw the clear Franconia Ridge from the highway (and was a little cranky about doing smaller hikes, but I reminded myself it would be MUCH colder up high!), and we soon made it into the Cannon/Artsit Bluff parking lot. While everyone was trying to park closest to the lodge, I happily drove to the back of the massive parking lot and parked right at the trailhead. It was a balmy 2° out. We took our time getting suited up, and soon we were off!

Hike 1: Artist Bluff Loop

Hike Type: Loop

Distance: 1.43 miles

Elevation: 374feet

Time: 1 hour, 13 minutes (50 minutes moving)
Hiking Challenges: 52 Hike Challenge 2026

He soon learned that I am insufferable with my camera, stopping every few feet to take photos. We rambled along the trail that paralleled the parking lot, mostly making comments about how beautiful the trees were. I was checking in with him frequently about how he was feeling and making sure he wasn't too warm or too cold. At the sharp turn, I took off a layer before the steep but short climb to Artist Bluff!

It was a bit of a luge from folks buttsliding, but I was able to kick my spikes in to get a good enough grip to climb. About halfway up, he stopped to tell me that he needed to christen the woods immediately. I thought he was joking at first, but he was so serious. I happy threw down my pack, offered some advice, and sent him on his way, postholing through knee-deep snow to a safe place to be his most vulnerable. Not even I have had to christen the woods in the winter! Naturally, we also saw the only person of the hike during this episode, too.

After that we resumed our climb - I always forget how steep it is! I was winded, but he was fighitng a bit harder than I was. I was trying my best to balance my summit fever, the need for the climb to be over, but also being a mindful hiking companion/essential a guide. We soon made it to the top, said hello again to the other hiker, and spent a moment enjoying the view into Franconia Notch. It was sunny out with a frigid breeze and the tops of the peaks had some morning summit fog, but overall it was an absolutely stunning day!

We continued on the loop while the other hiker went back down. I forgot that there was still a bit of climbing to do after the bluff! We slowly made our way up to the first knobby view, and I definitely went faster than I should have, the poor guy was gassed (as was I, in fairness). Thankfully, the view was quiet and lovely. We descended and rose to the next knob and view, and then descended again through absolutely stunning forests to the junction with Bald Mountain. We decided to skip it - I personally didn't want to worry about 1) navigating the slabs and scrambles and 2) worrying about him navigating the slabs and scrambles. Our final descent was quick and easy and soon enough we were back at the car!

Hike 2: Mt. Willard

Hike Type: Out-and-Back

Distance: 3.27 miles

Elevation: 909 feet

Time: 2 hours, 3 minutes (1 hour, 29 minutes moving)
Hiking Challenges: N/A

We got back on I-93 and onto US-3. Naturally, I was yapping about the mountains surrounding us and dropping small stories of when I climbed certain ones. He said he enjoyed the first hike, which was a huge win! I screamed when I saw the northern Presidentials from US-3, completely cloud-free with bluebird skies behind them. First, becuase they were absolutely stunning, but two, because I wanted to be up there! Again, reminding myself that the weather would still be gnarly up there... Crawford Junction was reasonably busy with cars, but nowhere near summer levels. A few parties of hikers went onto the Avalon Trail, but they all must have gone up to Avalon/Tom/Field, since we never saw them again. We got booted up for round two, I put on fresh socks and a dry buff, and we were off!

I hadn't hiked Mt. Willard in years, and I remember it really gassing me out during the climb. I was delighted to see that I am in significantly better shape and neither of us got too out of breath throughout this one. We crossed paths with hikes on their way out every few minutes, but it never felt too crazy. The monorail was in excellent shape and spikes were all that were needed. We enjoyed light conversation and each others' company as we climbed on up, passing the partially frozen Centennial Pool (we weren't sure what the sign said, so we took turns throwing snowballs at the sign until it revealed itself). 

We passed a larger group once on the final plateau and they delightfully told us that we were about to have the viewpoint to ourselves! The final bit of trail was through a spectacular winter wonderland of mostly-flat trail and soon led to the literal light at the end of the tree-tunnel. 

The view was absolutely stunning and I was blown away (he was too, but he's less crazy than I am with views and for some reason did not scream). The towering walls of Jackson/Websiter and Willey/Field hugged us in while US-302 and the Conway Scenic Railway traced a wiggling line out through the notch. The sun felt warm, there was no breeze, there were no clouds, and it truly was perfect. I took a bunch of photos, got my magsafe tripod to get a photo of the two of us, and poked around some more before my camera battery died from the cold. Around the left corner of the view we caught a nice view of the Presidentails, including Mr. Washington himself! We had hot chocolate curtosey of my JetBoil with some Rum Chata and just enjoyed being there with each other. After a nice break, a few people began to show up, and that's when we started to wrap thing up and get a move on.

The trip down felt much colder, likely due to the headwind and descending versus ascending, but it was nice and simple. We crossed paths with a few more on their way up and passed a few folks that we saw earlier who were taking their time on the descent. Soon enough, we were back crossing the trail tracks at Crawford Depot and getting ready for the scenic drive into North Conway (and to get some food!). We ended up at the Scarecrow Tavern where we got poutine as an appetizer, I got cheese steak egg rolls, and he got a grilled cheese pulled pork situation with french onion soup - we mighttttt have over indulged. We were both stuffed and sleepy afterwards, but there was more exploring to be had!

After lunch we conitnued down NH-16 and then turned onto Kancamagus Highway. I had the Lower Falls and Rocky Gorge as possible stopping points, but neither had been recently plowed, so we decided to take a peek at Sabbaday Falls. The parking area was plowed, we grabbed just our spikes (no backpacks for this short one), and got to it!

Hike 3: Sabbaday Falls

Hike Type: Lollipop Loop

Distance: 0.90 miles

Elevation: 98 feet

Time: 30 minutes (23 minutes moving)
Hiking Challenges: N/A

The Sabbaday Brook Trail was another super highway up to the falls, which were just a few minutes from the parking area. The lower viewpoint at the bottom of the falls was mostly frozen with a few windows into the moving water below and you could carefully meander around and peek into the gorge, which was really unique and beautiful. The boardwalk proper was closed for the winter, and there were a bunch of young adults up there without any foot traction. For legal reasons, I will say we did not go around the fence, but I can imagine it would have been really cool with slippery stairs. The frozen water falls would be relatively quiet except for a distant hissing of falling water through likely feet of ice, surrounded by icicles. Well worth a wintertime visit! I imagined the upper stretch of the boardwalk was trickier to navigate with snow drifts, and I can say the part of the Sabbaday Brook Trail that connects to the upper boardwalk was less-traveled, but walking towards the parking lot became more and more traveled until we were back at pavement! I did not pay the $5 day use fee, because it seemed like they were not charging in the off-season. 

Back in the car we go! We drove past the three scenic overlooks, only the middle of which was slighty plowed. The Hancock Trailhead overlook was fully plowed with a commanding view of the Osceola Complex. I continued to yap about the moutains and Christien said "so do I need to start working on these lists now?" to which I let out a maniacal giggle. Our final stop of the day was to the Lincoln Woods Trailhead, where the plan was to see the bridge and then walk until it was time to turn around! The parking lot was reasonably empty for a Sunday evening in the dead of winter. I paid the $5 fee (good thing, too, because there were two police cars there handing out tickets), we used the WARM bathrooms, and got going!

Hike 4: East Side Road & Pine Island Viewpoint via Lincoln Woods

Hike Type: Out-and-Back

Distance: 1.92 miles

Elevation: 105 feet

Time: 57 minutes (45 minutes moving)
Hiking Challenges: N/A

We used our spikes to get to the suspension bridge which had just a wonderful view of the frozen East Branch of the Pemigewasset River. There was one guy finishing up a nordic ski and a few other folks taking photos - just beautiful! Christien kept saying "I love a water feature!" which made me giggle. I opted to go for a walk along the East Side Road, since I'd never gone that way before and assumed it would be similar to Lincoln Woods. It was similar in that it was flat, but it did not hug the river like Lincoln Woods did, so we missed out on some of the views. That was okay, though, because we opted to explore the abanoned Pine Island Trail (which was tracked out) and found a really wonderful view looking at the river flowing downstream. We stood here for at least 10 minutes just enjoying each others' company, the stillness of the air, and the sound of the river. He loves a water feature! The trail up to there was well traveled, but snowshoes would have been helpful.

We did continue on the Pine Island Trail for maybe 10 yards, which was comprised of unconsolidated snow. We turned around at our designated turn-around time, made our way back to the East Side Road and then to Lincoln Woods. 

This was truly such a wonderful day in the mountains. The only change I think I would have made is swapping Artist Bluff for Lonesome Lake (oh, and having a lighter lunch). We stopped at the Tilt'n Diner on the way home (excellent food for excellent prices with excellent portions) and continued all the way back to Boston. He likes hiking and he likes the Whites! A fantastic day.

Photo Album

Skiing Black Mountain (NH) (Day 16/Indy Day 13)

Skiing Black Mountain (NH)

Saturday, January 31st

Runs: 17

Distance: 12.96 miles

Elevation: 13,503 feet

Max Speed: 30.7 mph

Avg. Speed: 12.2 mph

Moving Time: 1hour, 2 minutes, 58 seconds

Total Time: 6 hours, 47 minutes, 57 seconds

After the big snowstorm last weekend, Sarah and I decided it was time to make one of our pilgrimages up to our favorite little hill, Black Mountain! It was supposed to be a borderline perfect day and the mountain was going to be 100% open, including three new double-blacks that they were cutting the ribbons on at 11am (I was not sold on going to them, Sarah wanted to). We got to the mountain around 8:30 after a long drive up NH-16, got our Indy passes right away, enjoyed the newly reorganized lodge, and got to work on our chores! The ticket area was the same, but they moved the rental station down and there is now a proper gift shop where the old rental station used to be - it was nice! Sarah asked an employee where to leave our bags and she said "whereever you want - how it should be!" (we left them in the car since we had princess parking in the already small parking lot). We booted up and excitedly got right to work!

Snow Report & Daily Conditions

Saturday - January 31st

6AM - You can expect a near-perfect mid-winter bluebird day at Black Mountain. With almost zero wind and warming temps into the low 20s, it is going to be a downright heatwave compared to what we have been dealing with the past few weeks. We will be spinning the Summit Double, East Bowl Triple, Platter Pull, the Fluffy Cow Handle Tow, and the Historic J-Bar all day. 100% of terrain is open.

While the weather will be near perfect, the mountain is actually in perfect shape. Grooming has been out in force all week cleaning up from the mega storm, but there area still tons of fresh turns in very soft snow to be found. Most trails have had the fresh snow worked into perfect corduroy, and the winch cat has been busy on Roller Coaster and at the summit.

Make sure you are at the summit for our ribbon cutting at 11am, as we open our extreme hike-to trails: "Back Out," "Black Out," and "Champagne Problems" for the first time ever. We suggest a backpack to carry your skis or board to make the climb to the summit of Black Mountain, otherwise go old school and just sling them over your shoulder. Either way, this new extreme terrain is not to be missed. We will be taking a commorative group photo with the first group of skiers and riders to make the march to the summit.

We are bringing back the "Noon Groomer" today on Jackson Standard. Look for a full re-groom of the trail around noon. Rumor has it there will be free cookies shortly after.

The DJ Party at the Alpine Cabin will be in full force today. Rumor has it there will be Champagne sprayed. We have a full lineup of live music starting at 11am and going all the way to 9pm. The Base Lodge Kitchen starts with a yummy breakfast at 8am, powers through lunch, and serves a full dinner menu till 9. Our hot food and salad bar are back as well.

We are freeing up a bunch of additional parking spots today with our staff parking off-site, and this allows us to open a few more lift tickets for sale today. As always, please watch your speed coming through town, adn enver park on the state highway. Rumor has it the big chief is watching.

Thanks for being here.

Erik

Runs 1-3

Run 1: Summit Double Chair - Upper Black Beauty - Black Beauty - Juniper

[1.26 miles; 4:19; 1,129 feet; 28.8 mph max; 17.5 mph avg]

Run 2: Summit Double Chair - Upper Maple Slalom - Maple Chute - Upper Speedwell - Lower Speedwell - Valley View - Jubilee

[0.95 miles; 3:59; 1,129 feet; 27.8 mph max; 14.3 mph avg]

Run 3: Summit Double Chair - Upper Maple Slalom - Maple Chute - Sun Valley - Roller Coaster - Farmer A - Ninow

[0.83 miles; 4:05; 1,093 feet; 25.0 mph max; 11.8 mph avg]

There was virtually no line when we started skiing just after 9:00am and fresh corduroy was all around the mountain! We gasped at the unload area at how insane Mt. Washington looked in its dramatic blanket of white draped against a winter-blue sky - aboslutely stunning. The ravines were looking mighty fine, too. Our first run was down Upper Black Beauty to Black Beauty to Juniper, which was just excellent. I remember Upper Black Beauty getting a little dicey the past few times I'd been to Black Mountain, so it was nice to get it while it was good!

Run #2 followed the looker's left side of the mountain, which similarly in delightful shape. We hit a new trail for us, Roller Coaster, on Run #3, and the snow was the best there! Roller Coaster partially followed the double's lift line, and then an unnamed narrow steep bit dropped off and connected to Farmer A - it was fantastic and just a little challenging! We followed Farmer A to Ninow to wrap this one up.

Runs 4-8

Run 4: East Bowl Triple - Sugarbush - Juniper

[1.06 miles; 4:08; 804 feet; 26.6 mph max; 15.1 mph avg]

Run 5: Summit Double Chair - Upper Black Beauty - White Knuckle - Sugar Loop - Sugarbush - Sweet Dreams - Sugarbush - Juniper

[1.23 miles; 5:59; 1,093 feet; 21.5 mph max; 12.1 mph avg]

Run 6: East Bowl Triple - Chute - Unmarked Woods - Upper Jackson Standard - Runaway - Dire Gamble - Lower Jackson Standard

[0.70 miles; 5:35; 784 feet; 26.0 mph max; 7.0 mph avg]

Run 7: Summit Double Chair - Upper Maple Slalom - Maple Slalom Chute - Sun Valley - T2 - Valley View - Bob O Link - Valley View - Jubilee

[0.94 miles; 5:12; 1,093 feet; 25.0 mph max; 10.1 mph avg]

Run 8: Summit Double Chair Mid Station - Maple Slalom Chute - Sun Valley - Roller Coaster - Ninow

[0.76 miles; 3:38; 820 feet; 30.7 mph max; 12.2 mph avg]

Now that we got some groomers under our belts, we wanted to start exploring some of the glades and ungroomed runs. They groomed most of the mountain since the storm, but there were still some pockets left au naturale! I wasn't sure if I wanted to join Sarah on the new trails, so I proposed hitting the blue glades, then single black, and then double black just to size them up. Run #4 was over to the Sugar Glades, which either don't exist or were closed? It was unclear, but we ended up just skiing the lovely green run "Sugarbush" to Juniper. We also saw the "Sugar Shack," which is on the map, but it looks not yet open nor done being constructed.

Run #5 brought us back to the top and we followed the double-black run "White Knuckle," which was narrow and bumpy, but the steep spot was short. The most challenging part of the trail was just the conditions, which was hard pack bumps and ice. On the powder day, this trail would have been super fun! It was also good to know that a double black non-tree run at Black Mountain is 100% in my skill set. Afterwards, we hit Sugar Loop, Sugar Bush, and Sweet Dreams, with Sweet Dreams being a favorite.

Run #6 was back off of the Triple due to length of lines at the double (we got chair #69, which was fun), and we were looking for some woods over near the Jackson Standard. We found our way into a short, narrow single track that was apparently a set of unmarked woods and overall not too pleasant to ski. THEN we found the actual glades off of "Runaway." We dipped into Dire Gamble, which in good conditions would be 100% in my skillset and easier than many of the glades I've done at Jay, but this was 18" of powder on a nonexistent base, so most of the time in there was spent dodging rocks and logs. I popped out onto S-Turns for a moment, but decided to commit to the rest of the run. If they get another dumping, those woods would be fun!

We gave the woods one more shot on our seventh run. We got off at the top (gawked at Mt. Washington again) and went down Upper Maple Slalom to check out the Carter Notch Glades (double black). They were definitely steeper than anything I had done before, but I did think I could do it. Thankfully, Sarah simply did not want to do it. It was tracked out and looked a little "sendy" to get below the cliff band, so we side stepped out of there and continued on down towards the T2 glades (single black), which were more friendly. Little tracked out with a few rocks and logs to dodge, but otherwise fine. We both said we were food with woods for the day, and Sarah no longer felt compelled to go to the new runs. We did hit Bob O Link for the first time, which was a fun windy spit!

We got stuck on the double for about five minutes (plus lines were now about 10 minutes long) before skiing Run #8. Comically enough, we ended up being music nerds and trying to figure out what the solfege syllables were for "99 bottles of beer on the wall," and the SECOND we figured the full thing out the chair started moving again - it was pretty poetic, stupid, and incredible. We opted to get off at the mid-station since we had to pee, were hungry, and simply wanted to be off of the chair. We split up for this run since my lunch was in the car and Sarah was going straight to the lodge. We had a wonderful break, even eating in the sun outside!

Runs 9-11

Run 9: Summit Double Chair - Upper Black Beauty - Black Beauty - Galloping Goose - Juniper

[1.19 miles; 4:22; 1,086 feet; 24.9 mph max; 15.7 mph avg]

Run 10: Summit Double Chair - Upper Maple Slalom - East Bowl - Valley View - Galloping Goose - Runaway - S-Turns - Raceway

[0.93 miles; 4:01; 1,099 feet; 25.7 mph max; 13.0 mph avg]

Run 11: Summit Double Chair - Lostbo - Upper Black Beauty - Spruce - Cross Cut - Juniper - Goose Pitch - Juniper

[1.07 miles; 4:00; 1,063 feet; 25.9 mph max; 15.4 mph avg]

Runs 9-11 were our "lets cleanse our pallets post-lunch and enjoy some easier trails" runs. Run #9 brought us back up Upper Black Beauty, which was acting a little scrapey now and much busier, and then we meandered our way down to Galloping Goose, which became an instant favorite! It was just a touch steeper than the greens and was just a delightful cruiser with good snow! Run #10 brought us back to Runaway to hit S-Turns, which was ungroomed but in very nice condition. We finished out on some fun rollers on Raceway. Finally, #11 we went down the double-black Lostbo from the top, which was just descending a frozen man-made snow cliff... From there we went back down Upper Black Beauty, eventually landing on Goose Pitch, which was another fun one!

Runs 12-14

Run 12: Platter Pull - Jubilee - Kinda Flat

[0.23 miles; 2:00; 200 feet]

Run 13: J-Bar - Whitney's Hill

[0.16 miles, 1:37; 125 feet; 14.4 mph max; 6.0 mph avg]

Run 14: J-Bar - Eno's Trail

[0.20 miles; 1:30; 125 feet]

The next batch were some of my favorite. Sarah and I love hitting a beginner area/surface lift. Run #12 brought us to the Poma Lift and we used that to get over to the J-Bar via Jubilee and "Kinda Flat," which was more just a snowmobile trail for mountain ops, but it worked!

We rode the historic J-Bar, which was super cute and followed Whitney's Hill, which had some untouched powder! It felt super silly to ski untouched powder almost a week after it fell off of a J-Bar on a green slope, but we giggled the whole way down!

We rode the J-Bar a second time to get back to the double via Eno's Trail, which was a bit longer than Whitney's and plenty of fun.

Runs 15-16

Run 15: Summit Double Chair Mid-Station - Maple Slalom Chute - Sun Valley - Roller Coaster - Farmer A - Ninow

[0.70 miles; 4:29; 804 feet; 22.1 mph max; 9.4 mph avg]

Run 16: Summit Double Chair - Upper Maple Slalom

[0.20 miles; 1:00; 252 feet; 24.0 mph max; 10.0 mph avg]

We had planned to take the double to the top, ski partway down, and enjoy a drink at the Alpine Cabin (where the resident DJ, Erik, who is also the GM and owner of the Indy Pass, was doing a set of wild EDM music), but I managed to pop my goggle lenses off and they fell into my lap, then onto the chair, then onto my boot, then onto my skis, and then to the ground. The girls behind us shouted "DO YOU KNOW YOU DROPPED YOUR LENS?!"... yes... yes I knew. We got off at the mid-station, borderline cackling, and skied down Roller Coaster to get them, including the steepest pitch that had a child fully splayed out unmoving on it (the dad was right there staring at the child...). We eventually got the goggles, though! It was a VERY silly sun and Sarah had a BLAST watching me ski with the lens-less goggles on.

Run #16 was redemption! We rode to the top, waved to George, and skied down Upper Maple Slalom to the Alpine Cabin, which was absolutely alive with music and good vibes!

Run 17

Run 17: Alpine Cabin - Chute - Valley View - Maple Slalom - Upper Jackson Standard - Lower Jackson Standard

[0.55 miles, 3:50; 804 feet; 29.5 mph max; 13.0 mph avg]

I got a hard iced tea and Sarah got a hot cider with rum. We sat outside and enjoyed our drinks and the music and the wonderful weather (it was sunny and barely over 15 degrees). It was a perfect day! We both agreed that the problem with coming to Black Mountain on a day with good conditions is that you have to choose whether you want to ski or hang at the Alpine Cabin! When conditions are horrible, it's so much easier to spend a good chunk of the day at the cabin, but we didn't want to stop skiing! Tragic! We wrapped up around 3:45 and skied down in an attempt to beat the 4:00pm crowd. 

We changed at the lodge, bought new matching hoodies (the gift shop lady was an absolute delight) and made our way to the Applebees in North Conway for a quick and easy dinner (I was feeling sleepy and didn't want to be so far away late in the day with low energy). We had a long drive back, but it was so worth it! I was excited to get home because a new character, Christien, was coming over and we'd be spending tomorrow up in the Whites for his first visit!

Map of Black Mountain (2025-2026)

Skiing Cannon Mountain (Day 15/Indy Day 12)

Skiing Cannon Mountain

Tuesday, January 27th, 2026

Runs: 16

Distance: 10.86  miles

Elevation: 16,073 feet

Max Speed: 29.2 mph

Avg. Speed: 10.1 mph

Moving Time: 1hour, 9 minutes, 23 seconds

Total Time: 4 hours, 39 minutes, 3 seconds

Apres-Pow Day! I woke up super excited for what was in store at Cannon! I wouldn't be able to ski the whole day due to plans in the afternoon, but I was itching to make the most of the time I had! I am upset that I didn't get a screenshot of the snow report, but it did a nice job hyping up the day! I did get their end-of-day post, which I'll write at the bottom of this.

Runs 1-3

Run 1: Peabody Express Quad - Easy Link - Missing Link - Middle Ravine - Lower Ravine - Gremlin

[1.05 mi; 3:36; 1,381 ft; 29.2 mph max; 17.4 mph avg]

Run 2: Peabody Express Quad - Middle Cannon - Gremlin - Parkway

[1.10 mi; 5:27; 1,460 ft; 24.8 mph max; 12.1 mph avg]

Run 3: Peabody Express Quad - Big Link

[Not on Strava]

I drove by myself and planned to get to the lodge for 8:00am, but landed just after 9:00am due to some residual snow snowers and wildly slow drivers. Linnea and Andrew were going to join Sarah and I along with Sarah's Mom! Linnea and Andrew made it much earlier than we did, but I booted up quickly and we got our first run in once Sarah and Mom arrived. The three of us got a nice groomer run in down Easy Link, Missing Link, Middle Ravine, Lower Ravine, and Gremlin. The snow was NICE. I am always humbled by fresh corduroy because while it is easy to control speed and what not, I can REALLY tell when I am not carving correctly, and I was not, but fun was being had!

Run #2 was still just the three of us, even though Sarah and Mom were almost ready. Andrew spotted some mostly untouched stuff on Parkway, so we headed that way, and it was soft, delightful, and fun! Again, I did not ski my best, but I was having so much fun! It was also just fun to be skiing with these two again!

We saw Sarah and Mom on the lift on our way down, so we all agreed to meet up top for Run #3. We said our hellos, and took Big Link down to the Cannonball Quad to get to the tippy top for some bathroom, photos, and some runs before it gets skied off (which we were emotionally ready for based on past experiences on Cannon). 

Runs 4-7

Run 4: Cannonball Quad - Upper Cannon - Big Link

[0.60 mi; 3:20; 1,010 ft; 19.1 mph max; 10.8 mph avg]

Run 5: Cannonball Quad - Profile

[0.48 mi; 3:10; 994 ft; 14.7 mph max; 9.0 mph avg]

Run 6: Cannonball Quad - Vista Way - Big Link

[0.60 mi; 4:44; 997 ft; 21.4 mph max; 7.6 mph avg]

Run 7: Cannonball Quad - Taft Slalom - Upper Hardscrabble - Middle Hardscrabble - MH Cut Thru - Red Ball

[1.60 mi; 12:13; 2,208 ft; 24.8 mph max; 7.9 mph avg]

Now that we were all together, we congregated up at the Tram house for a photo and bathroom break (the cinnamon rolls smelled AMAZING). It was cold and windy up there (no surprise), so after we did those chores we went down Upper Cannon, which was super fun and silly. Some hard pack, some ice, and lots of powder - kept things exciting! Andrew said it was like skiing out west - I was just having a blast! Run #5 was down Profile, which was similarly either windblown or deep. I forgot how steep Profile was! The deep stuff was so fun and silly to ski in, and definitely more of a workout than I was used to! I'd get a few good turns in and then fully forget how to ski, which made for many breaks and lots of fun.

Run #6 was per my request - Vista Way. It had been closed every other time I'd been to Cannon, and it was wonderful! The view was spectacular of Franconia Ridge and the skiing was, to no surprise, super fun!

Mom wanted to hit the Taft Slalom, which skied fast and firm, and they went on Hardscrabble for an adventure run. The good parts were GOOD. Upper Hardscrabble was pretty much all fun, big bumps. Middle Hardscrabble had the trickiest section where we had to think about dodging some ice flows, but again, still fun, and I did not feel like I was over my head at all (which was a little fear). Once we finished with the challenging sections we followed MH Cut Thru and Red Ball which were fun and ungroomed the whole way down. 

Runs 8-9

Run 8: Fleitman Trail - Deer Run

[0.30 mi; 3:02; 157 ft; 20.7 mph max; 6.0 mph avg]

Run 9: Tuckerbrook Quad - Rabbit Path - Baron's Run

[0.40 mi; 1:49; 341 ft; 23.9 mph avg; 13.2 mph avg]

After our run down the Hardscrabbles, we went inside for a quick snack/lunch before making our voyage over to Mittersill. Only Mom had been over there before, so we were all pretty excited! Run #8 was from the Peabody Lodge across Fleitman Trail (a dreadful cat track) and then down Deer Run (we should have taken Brookside all the way down) to the Tuckerbrook Quad. From the top of Tuckerbrook, we followed Rabbit Path to Baron's Run, which had some fun, soft, mellow bumps, eventually landing us at the Mittersill Double!

Run 10-12

Run 10: Mittersill Double - Skyline - Ridge Run - Mittersill Lift Line - Dragons Drop

[0.81 mi; 5:39; 1,407 ft; 23.2 mph max; 8.6 mph avg]

Run 11: Mittersill Double - Cannonball - Dragons Drop

[0.79 mi; 5:44; 1,388 ft; 22.2 mph max; 8.3 mph avg]

Run 12: Mittersill Double - Baron's Run - Way Back - Raven Ridge - Huckerbrook

[0.92 mi; 5:56; 1,237 ft; 25.1 mph max; 9.3 mph avg]

Andrew and I rode up the double for Run #10 making endless jokes about being the best skier on the mountain, and we all had our sights set on a run labeled on the map as "Idiot's Delight." Naturally, we wanted a picture with the sign, but the sign was nowhere to be found! We found the entrance to Idiot's Delight and Candyland, but it looked more like it would be a gladed run instead of normal one, and personally I was not feeling THAT adventerous. We got a little intel from a local who skied by us, and all decided to continue to Ridge Run, which was mostly groomed and flat, and then the Mittersill Lift Line, which was narrower and bumpy and fun! Andrew followed the lift line all the way down while the rest of us went onto the lower stretch of Dragons Drop, which had the deepest snow we'd found all day. It was wildly fun to ski through and I had not a single clue of what I was doing, it was a blast!

Run #11 was down the narrow Cannonball, which had one scratchy spot near the end of it, and then down Dragons Drop the rest of the way, which was similarly delghtful. Run #12 brought us down Baron's Run, which was just a snowy playground! There were powder-covered whales on skier's left with the usual deep powder in the middle and right. We all had a field day in there. I continued my pattern of a few good turns followed by acting like I'd never skied before and we giggled the whole way down. We followed Way Back to get back to the main side, skated across Raven Ridge, and we hit a few boxes and "jumps" in the Huckerbrook park before hopping back on the Peabody Express.

Runs 13-16

Run 13: Peabody Express Quad - Bypass - Extension - Paulie's Folly

[0.91 mi; 6:48; 1,526 ft; 22.4 mph max; 8.3 mph avg]

Run 14: Zoomer Triple - Zoomer

[0.39 mi; 3:04; 689 ft; 24.2 mph max; 7.6 mph avg]

Run 15: Zoomer Triple - Rocket

[0.39 mi; 3:05; 689 ft; 25.4 mph max, 7.7 mph avg]

Run 16: Zoomer Triple - Lower Cannon

[0.50 mi; 1:42; 591 ft; 24.6 mph max; 17.5 mph avg]

I was in my last hour on the hill, and I wanted to make sure to get over to the front side of the mountain to hit those steeps with this snow before I left! Sarah ran in to use the bathroom, but I wanted to keep moving so the four of us got back on the Peabody Express and followed Bypass to Extension, which was mostly fun with some ice and rock scattered about, and then went down Paulie's Folly, which was a an absolute blast and a bit ridiculous for me to get down. It was steep, but the snow was so deep and bumpy I couldn't go fast if I tried - it was so much fun! Sarah caught up with us as the trail passed Zoomalanche.

Run #14 was down Zoomer, which had small bumps on the part that has man-made snow and usually groomed, and the ungroomed/natural side was equally a blast. It was possible to get some speed on the skier's left side, but the right side was so deep I would come to a screeching hault. Again, so much fun! A girl also dropped her phone from the lift during this run, screamed bloody murder, and then loudly lamented that it was the second time it had happened today.

Run #15 was down Rocket, so a little less steep than Zoomer, but still just an absolute blast. We were all feeling a little cooked at this point, and I was skiing absolutely horribly, but it was so much fun! Run #16 was my final run of the day down Lower Cannon - it was fun to end on a fast run! I said goodbye to my friends, they got a few more runs in, and it was back to reality soon after!

Mountain Report

"It's only cold if you're standing still." - Unknown

Good afternoon, Cannon skiers and riders. I hope you were here for it, because it was another banner day! The best part is it's not over, there is a chance for more snow showers this evening and throughout the night. Another possible system moves in come morning bringing a chance for more snow and flurries, start up your snow dances! Expect tomorrow's temps to be hovering around 0 up top and climbing the single digits throughout the day at the base. With the wind coming out of the NW at a moderate pace. It seems like we have another killer day on the forefront, Be here for it!

9 lifts will spin at 9:00am tommow. Groomers will be out over 43 trails pressing in the fast track. Expect conditions to be machine groomed with packed powder on the sides. Heads up: DJ's Tramline and Kinsman's glade close at 3:00pm and the Saddle closes at 3:30pm. Come on down and get your plans on the most open terrain in NH!

Snowmaking: With almost all of our terrain open and Mother Nature delivering some additional snow this week, our snowmakers are taking a temporary break.

Winch Operation: Taft Training Slope, Profile, Rock Garden, Avalanche, Zoomer, and Extension.

Parks: A pop-up park will be on Lower Gremlin with a couple of new rails added recently. The Huckerbrook Park will be open with 9 features. A future park on Tossup is now under construction, so look fo rmore fun features coming soon! Huckerbrook Under the Lights will run every Friday and Saturday from 4-6pm through February. The park crew put in extra hours to bring you an entirely new park on Huckerbrook, with more features, a more technical line and a guaranteed good time.

Racing: Training on Taft Training Slope

Patrol would like to remind everyone: DO NOT DUCK ROPES. They are there for an important reason: your safety! Hikers heading up Kinsman Ridge and planning to ski or ride down MUST have a valid Cannon season pass or lift ticket to access our trails.

Uphill: FULLY OPEN. The route is as follows: Lower Ravine > Middle Ravine > Upper Ravine > Taft Slalom > Summit.

Map of Cannon Mountain