Presidents weekend+ 2/14/19 Cannon, 2/16 Pico, 2/17 Black (NH), and 2/18 Skiway
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Saturday skied with a buddy at Pico (my home mountain). Also very good coverage, firm in some spots and more packed snow in others. Started out with a lot of gray and some wind at the top but no holds and the winds calmed and the gray brightened somewhat. Parking lot and lodge were very busy but once you got away from the Golden Express lines were not bad at all. Most of the mountain was open which really helps spread people out. All the lifts were going too.
They had guns running on 49er and Mid Pike which I was surprised to see on a holiday weekend. I didn’t get into the glades since my friend is a solid blue skier and has no interest in pushing beyond the occasional black. Coverage looked good though.
Sunday I finally hit Black Mountain in NH. I like low key places with an old school vibe and Black is hard to surpass in these categories. Beautiful blue bird day, no wind, temps in the high 20s. Parking lot and lodge again were jammed pack. But they had the triple and double going. Double was a few chairs wait at most when I hit it. While not a giant mountain the terrain was fun. The naturals were pretty firm. I had to leave around 2 but they never seemed to soften up much. Groomers were firm in places but not solid. I really enjoyed skiing on such a nice day on a holiday weekend with such a low key day. I think the most memorable non skiing aspect was the lift on the triple at the top playing his guitar with the amp outside the booth. It just seemed to blend right in with whole scene.
Monday was the Skiway. Snowed all morning nice fluffy snow on top of a mostly groomed base. Only did the morning ticket and no lines at all. I had two people tell me the day before was as busy as they have ever seen it. I tend to hit the Skiway on holiday Mondays. The open both sides, the lines are minimal, and they have a morning ticket. Great way to end the long weekend and still make it back to Boston before dinner. The ungroomed trails were mostly pretty solid. The new snow will help but only so much.
I crammed the weekend with skiing and really never waited more than a few minutes for a chair. I don’t miss big resorts often and never on holiday weekends.