Monthly Archives: February 2012
Attitash, NH: Groomers and Trees
I didn’t know what to expect from Attitash. I had a general sense that it was a tamer place than Cannon, and that we’d be skiing groomers, but beyond that, to me the mountain was an unknown.
Attitash Mountain Resort is two peaks: Attitash and Bear Peak. Bear Peak was added to the mountain in the 1990s, nearly doubling the size of the mountain. Since we were staying on the Bear side, we started our day on that peak riding the Flying Bear high speed quad.
Cannon, NH: Man and Mountain
Cannon has a wild feel and it’s a beautiful, inspiring place to ski. The mountain is big, rugged and the Franconia Ridge is a stunning backdrop to everything you ski and do.
The Northeast Ski Bloggers Summit chose New Hampshire as its base of operations for this year’s meeting. Our first day was spent at Cannon; arguably the state’s most challenging lift-served mountain. With the reopening of Mittersill, the mountain has a little bit of everything.
Jason’s Weather: Storm Call 2/24/12
This week’s storm presents a rare case: a disturbance tracking to our west is going to produce a measureable snow storm. This is due in part to some redevelopment off the coast, but the primary driver of this event is a vigorous upper-level low.
The map above is the surface forecast for 10pm tonight. Note the tightly wrapped low over Lake Ontario. As far as accumulations, the last model run has backed off the qpf and I’m calling for 2-4 inches of snow in the Catskills, 4-10 in the Adirondacks, and 6-12 along the top half of the Green Mountain spine in VT. Models are showing from .5-1 inches of liquid equivalent.
There may be some more on the backside snow in favored upslope areas. As is often the case with storms on the east coast, wind will be a issue late Friday and Saturday and may effect lift operations.
A Mature Approach to Bump Skiing
I love to ski bumps; however I’ve had to modify my approach as I get older so that the repeated impact doesn’t wear me out. While I can ski a “zipper line” of bumps, I find that it’s much harder on my body. I try to avoid the much bigger absorption that skiing directly into the front of the trough requires.
This discussion assumes that you can already ski short-radius turns on a black slope. If not, you can revisit my previous post on short turns. With those skills in-hand, there three keys to mastering the bumps: pressure control, pole usage, and tactics.
Pressure control in the bumps is the flexing and extension of your legs to keep your skis in contact with the snow over uneven terrain. As you ride up onto the bump, allow your legs to absorb the impact starting with your ankles. Keep your core strong and don’t break at the waist. As you come off each bump, extend your legs so that you can absorb the next bump. I see skiers forget to do this and after a few bumps, they “explode” as they have no way to absorb the terrain.
Pole usage in the bumps is essential. You must touch every bump you ski with a pole. This helps your timing and flow, and allows you to stabilize your upper body.