Skiing Cannon Mountain
Sunday, April 12th, 2026
Runs: 18
Distance: miles
Elevation: feet
Max Speed: mph
Avg. Speed: mph
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After a nice, but ultimately disappointing-due-to-Strava-technicalities morning hike, the sun worked its magic and warmed Franconia Notch into the 40s, so I made my way over to Cannon to help celebrate their closing day! The drive was expectedly super simple and I parked very close to the road on the Artist Bluff side. I did my chores at the car, reloaded my Indy online, and headed into the lodge to use the bathroom and start my adventure of the day! There were endless people outside on the deck just enjoying the day. Vibes were excellent!
Mountian Report
"If you're brave enough to say goodbye to this season, Cannon will reward you next season." - Paule Coelho
It is hard to belive that just a few months ago, we sat around the conference table with our Mountain Ops team planning out winter operations. There is a sense of hopeful optimism for the season that is to come. It energized our team as much as it energizes you. Writing this today, those conversations, that planning, that energy turns into nostalgia. This season will be talked about for years to come as "that one season where it snowed almost every day in January and February, it was consistently cold and DJ's Tramline was open for weeks intead of days." To everyone who skied with us this season, you are a character in the Cannon story, and we thank you for makung us part of your ski season. As we turn to the final page, today isn't about saying goodbye, it's about remembering this legendary season, about taking some laps in the sun, enjoying a cold beverage on the deck with friends and reenergizing our optimism for next season. Alright, I'm done pratting, let's go skiing.
Our final day of the 25/26 season, we are locked in with a classic New England spring skiing day. Temps are chilly this morning as we wait for the sun to warm us up. We are looking at highs in the mid-thirties at the summit and the high-forties at the base. Wind will be light and variable. We are starting the day with mostly clear skies.
Zoomer Triple, Peabody Quad, Cannonball Quad, and Tuckerbrook Quad will spin at 9:00am. Groomers were out on 26 trails overnight. Snow surfaces will be firm in the morning before softening up by mid-day.
Ski and ride with caution! The spring skiing hazards have returned, including rocks, ice, and bare spots. Please keep your eyes peeled and watch your speed. Conditions on trails can and will change over the course of the day.
Heads up: Our Cannon Mountain staff party will take place tomorrow afternoon in the Cannonball Pub. It's our way of saying thank you to all the folks that keep this mountain running every day! The pub will still be open for the public for our regular apres hours.
While you're here: Cannon Sports Shop is having their End of Season Sale, now thru Closing Day! Stop in, shop around and score 30% off all apparel! #treatyoself
Runs 1-4
Run 1: Peabody Express Quad - Easy Link - Missing Link - Spookie - Gremlin - Rock Garden - Mickey's Margin - Gary's
[1.48 mi; 8:35; 1,400 ft; 29.0 mph max; 10.3 mph avg]
Run 2: Zoomer Triple - Rocket
[0.39 mi; 2:10; 682 ft; 23.3 mph max; 10.7 mph avg]
Run 3: Zoomer Triple - Zoomer
[0.38 mi; 2:34; 689 ft; 26.4 mph max; 9.2 mph avg]
Run 4: Zoomer Triple - Lower Cannon
[0.63 mi; 3:37; 591 ft; 29.4 mph max; 10.5 mph avg]
It made me smile seeing so many people out and enjoying the day - it was such a picturesque spring ski day! I didn't have much of a plan today besides see how I feel. The first stop was the Peabody Express Quad - the skiing sounded great with a few harder spots. The link trails were a little bit of a mess of "here's what's left!," but all navigable. Big Link was half closed, Easy Link was full of cookies, and Missing Link was super bumpy with rocky troughs. Either way, I went down Easy Link to Missing Link and got some speed to get on Spookie, which was the only artery linking the upper and lower mountains. The last bit of Spookie was full of fun, soft bumps, and then I continued through the upper reach of Gremlin to Rock Garden, which was... just okay. Definitely was boilerplate ice this morning, but has softened up. I cut over to Mickey's Margin, which was in varigous stages of disrepair, but then had a GLORIOUS trip down Gary's! Soft turns that made me feel like a good skier - I giggled the whole last bit!
Music was playing at the bottom of the Zoomer and there were flocks of people skiing down what was left of the Zoomer Run, many in Hawaiian leis. I took Rocket down Run #2, which was just as wonderful as Gary's. Zoomer was a mixed bag - some nice slushy bumpy turns with two comically narrow chokepoints where a little bit of grass skiing was nearly mandatory. I made it down fine, maybe not glamorously, but fine! Run #4 was back up the Zoomer and down Lower Cannon and all the way back to my car to shed some layers and swap my goggles for Pit Vipers!
Runs 5-10
Run 5: Peabody Express Quad - Easy Link - Big Link
[0.15 mi; 189 ft]
Run 6: Cannonball Quad - Taft Slalom - Upper Ravine - Spookie - Gremlin - Rock Garden - Gremlin - Lower Ravine
[1.60 mi; 2,000 ft]
Run 7: Peabody Express Quad - Easy Link - Big Link
[0.15 mi; 189 ft]
Run 8: Cannonball Quad - Upper Ravine - Spookie - Gremlin - Lower Ravine - Chute - Lower Ravine
[1.60 mi; 2,000 ft]
Run 9: Peabody Express Quad - Easy Link - Big Link
[0.15 mi; 189 ft]
Run 10: Cannonball Quad - Upper Cannon - Big Link - Easy Link - Missing Link - Spookie - Gremlin
[1.60 mi; 2,000 ft]
My next series of runs focused on the Cannonball Quad and top-to-bottom runs. Runs #5, #7, and #9 were up the Peabody and down Easy to Big Link, which seemed to be the least popular route off the Peabody, which is why I preferred it! Run #6 was down Taft Slalom which was a DREAM - so much fun to cruise down making wide, slushy turns. The second half of Upper Ravine was also an absolutely springtime delight. I flew up into Spookie, Gremlin, Rock Garden, and then found an open cut-through back to Gremlin and then Lower Ravine to finish strong. I was giggling the whole way down!
Run #8 brought me down the entirety of Upper Ravine, which again, was a DREAM. So much fun. The trail itself is delightfully windy, and it just became even more fun with the playful snow. From the end of Spookie, I noticed that there was a bit of Gremlin that was technically closed, but very skiable and many others were taking it, so I took it to skip Rock Garden, and it was great! This time, I turned onto Lower Ravine and finished on Chute.
Run #10 brought me to the other side of the upper mountain. Upper Cannon is cut very similarly to Upper Ravine, but it was much more frozen than Upper Ravine. Nonetheless, it was still super fun! I followed the Links to Spookie and then followed Gremlin all the way back to the Peabody.
Runs 11-14
Run 11: Peabody Express Quad - Easy Link - Big Link
[0.15 mi; 189 ft]
Run 12: Cannonball Quad - Profile
[0.48 mi; 880 ft]
Run 13: Cannonball Quad - Tramway - Big Link - Easy Link - Big Link
[0.63 mi; 880 ft]
Run 14: Cannonball Quad - Vista Way - Big Link - Easy Link - Missing Link - Spookie - Gremlin - Rock Garden - Lower Cannon - Gary's
[1.67 mi; 8:53; 2,110 ft; 29.9 mph max; 11.3 mph avg]
#11 was back up the Peabody and Easy/Big Link, and then I noticed the opened Profile! I was wondering about that. It looked VERY hard and frozen when I first took the Cannonball, but now that it was open folks were harvesting the corn quite nicely! I followed a comically narrow entrance chute to a shockingly delightful run! There were two choke points that were pretty easily navigable. By far the best run I'd ever done down Profile!
I got back on the Cannonball for #13 and went down Tramway, which was similarly as frozen as Upper Cannon - still fun though! Tramway spat me onto Big Link, which I wiggled onto Easy Link and then back to Big Link.
Run #14 was down another run that had JUST opened - Vista Way. It had the famous "thin cover" sign up, and boy, they meant it! There were some really nice turns to be had. and also a little bit of truly unavoidable grass. As I was literally walking across the grass in my skis, I saw a patroller who said without prompting, "I was not the one to open this." I was glad they did! Still a fun little spring adventure. Once I survived, I followed the Links to Spookie and then cut over all the way back to Gary's to start my farewell tour!
Runs 15-18
Run 15: Zoomer Triple - Rocket
[0.39 mi; 2:05; 564 ft; 25.4 mph max; 11.3 mph avg]
Run 16: Zoomer Triple - Lower Cannon
[0.53 mi; 1:51; 505 ft; 29.0 mph max; 17.3 mph avg]
Run 17: Peabody Express Quad - Easy Link - Big Link
[0.15 mi; 189 ft]
Run 18: Cannonball Quad - Taft Slalom - Upper Ravine - Spookie - Gremlin
[1.73 mi; 5:21; 1,926 ft; 28.0 mph max; 19.4 mph avg]
Gary's was still a dream, as was Rocket. So much fun!! If it wasn't Sunday I would have rallied for more... alas... Run #17 was back up the Peabody and I wrapped up with a final full-mountain run connecting some of my favorite trails of the day. I flew down Taft Slalom wiht a smile on my face and giggled on the winding Upper Ravine. I shot up Spookie and skied all the way down Gremlin, both the closed and open stretch.
It was definitely bittersweet to be there for their closing day. The skiing was so fun and the vibes on the whole mountain were just immaculate but it's sad to say goodbye! Thankfully, Jay plans to be open until at least May 10th unofficially, so more weekend to be had! Now, time to work my way home for the last week before break.
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