Franconia, New Hampshire- One of the rarest terrain openings in New England’s ski industry is at Cannon Mountain. DJ’s Tramline is a black diamond trail with a steep drop and many boulders. With no snowmaking, it needs sufficient natural snowfall to be open to the public. Kinsman Glade, located next to DJ’s Tramline, also rarely opens, but that’s a story for another time.
This past weekend, Cannon received 22-30″ inches of powder from the blockbuster storm, allowing the New Hampshire ski area to briefly open DJ’s Tramline. However, because of rainier weather and the trail being tracked out, DJ’s Tramline is now closed again.
Eric Labrie was among the first to ski down it on Sunday. His video shows off the various aspects of the trail, and he even hucked some cliffs.
I got to ski this run back in 2014, and it was a memorable experience. Getting around the boulders is challenging, and there are hidden hazards everywhere. It’s probably the most challenging run I’ve skied on the East Coast, with Goat at Stowe being a close second.
Video description via Eric Labrie: “Cannon reported 30″ of snow at the top. I knew DJ’s would be open for the first time this season. I got 2nd-row parking at 7:15am. Waited a bit for the lifts to start and met Craig on the first lift up. Then lost him on the first run down to the tram. Halfway up the tram ride I turn around and there’s Craig again. He was the last one on the tram. We start discussing some glades and we see people coming down DJ’s. I said ‘We need to hit this first.’ Dj’s isn’t always open every year and the last time I skied Dj’s was in 2019. This time it was better. We got some fresh tracks down and I could send it off just about anything. It was AWESOME! We got on the 3rd tram and on our way up there had to be about 30-40 people trying to make their way down DJ’s. When we went down Dj’s there was nobody else on it all the way down. It was time to hit some off piste stuff now.”
Image/Video Credits: Eric Labrie, Cannon Mountain