# turkeys, Cranmore, Wildcat 11-22-14



## Cannonball (Nov 22, 2014)

Bonus day!
The weekend before Thanksgiving has always been the least likely weekend of the whole year for me to get on the slopes.  I've had more days in June than on this November weekend.  For my whole adult life the weekend before Thanksgiving has been all about killing and preparing turkeys for the holiday.  Usually about 700 per year.  But last year was the end of the family's full farm operation.  This year we only did enough for ourselves.  Out of habit I showed up at dawn to get things started.  It was a sucky 19 degrees, but it's been worse and there's really no choice.  We got he birds moved out of the pen, cleaned the pen, and got prepped for the kill.  But then we discussed the forecast, and the fact that there were only 25, and the fact that there was some pie coming out of the oven.  And for the first time in my memory....we put it off.  We went and ate pie, and talked about past years, and talked about the plan for tomorrow.  There's plenty of work to do tomorrow, including 25 birds that don't know what's coming......











But that meant I was 100% free at noon on a Saturday in November.  Holy @#$# what a concept.  I seriously didn't know what to do with myself.  I thought about Christmas shopping in North Conway.  But as I rolled into town I could see a white strip down Cranmore.  Yeah, I know It's Cranmore, but it's a whole lot better option than the misery of retail.  The place was dead!  Did they announce that they were opening?  But the snow was nice and it had turned into a sunny, 32 degree day.  They snow was very friendly and Mt Washington looked pretty majestic off there in the distance...






As good as it was, the flatness and the pull of Mt W was just too much to take.  So after a handful of runs I bolted for the Notch.

But of course the Notch is fickle.  By the time I got to the Pinkham lodge strange things were happening.






I rolled into Wildcat still in my snowboard boots, still in all my gear.  I hustled to the lift because I knew the weather and daylight were limited.  I had pretty low expectations for 3pm snow on a cold, dark, windy day.  But Wildcat didn't disappoint at all.  Conditions  were firm but edgeable.  And the 2K of vert was a blast after the 540' of Cranmore.  Washington had a nice cap on and I squeezed in 2 T2B runs before full on night set in.  Good enough for me on a day when I expected nothing at all!


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## yeggous (Nov 22, 2014)

I was at Wildcat today. The snow this morning was amazing. You could really open it up and lay it over. You can't say enough good things about how sweet it was.

Having Lynx and Polecat top to bottom was a nice touch too.


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## deadheadskier (Nov 22, 2014)

What's next on the snowmaking docket?  Catapult?


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## yeggous (Nov 22, 2014)

deadheadskier said:


> What's next on the snowmaking docket?  Catapult?



That would be my guess. That or they fill in some trails like Tomcat on that side. As of last week they had not decided. They will need the rest of next week to fully bury Polecat.


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## deadheadskier (Nov 22, 2014)

plenty of water in the pond?


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## yeggous (Nov 22, 2014)

deadheadskier said:


> plenty of water in the pond?



Eh? Maybe after Monday. It's not empty but it is down about 6 feet.


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## Cannonball (Nov 22, 2014)

I wonder how much they'll have to concentrate on resurfacing the stuff that's already open.  Temps are going up quite a bit, and while the coverage is good it's not deep.


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## yeggous (Nov 23, 2014)

Good question. They had some pretty big piles on Lynx.

Fyi 302 in Bartlett is closed right now due to black ice. I just snuck through behind a salt truck. Several accidents near Attitash.


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## yeggous (Nov 23, 2014)

Thinking a bit more about it I think they have sufficient depth on Lynx where they have some large piles. Lower and Middle Polecat is going to need some more love.

I'm at Bretton Woods right now. They are definitely going for terrain expansion at the cost of base depth. They have some pretty thin sections but impressive acreage covered.


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## Cannonball (Nov 23, 2014)

yeggous said:


> Fyi 302 in Bartlett is closed right now due to black ice. I just snuck through behind a salt truck. Several accidents near Attitash.



Coming over the Kanc at 7am this morning was pretty intense!


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## Brad J (Nov 23, 2014)

Was at Wildcat today, great snow , plenty of coverage , may need to push some around but should be good to for some time. Wildcat deserves a Big thumb up for there efforts, they may not have the most acreage but they have put down an exceptional product. What a difference a year makes.


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## yeggous (Nov 24, 2014)

They are being very upfront on the status of things. They need to bury Lower and Middle Polecast some more before moving on. They remain undecided on what comes next. They also seem to be optimistically happy that it's raining today so that they can get some water in the pond.


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