Read skier and snowboarder-submitted reviews on Cannon Mountain that rank the ski resort and mountain town on a scale of one to five stars for attributes such as terrain, nightlife and family friendliness. See how Cannon Mountain stacks up in the reviews, on and off the slopes, from skiing and family activities to the après scene. Read up on pros, cons and other comments in reviews left by fellow skiers and riders. Don't forget to submit your own Cannon Mountain review! Scroll to the bottom of this page to let other travelers know about your skiing and resort experience.
Reviews for Cannon Mountain
Total (3.2)
A ski resort's overall star rating displayed here is not calculated based on a simple average but takes several factors, including the age of a review, into account.
I've been a pass holder at Cannon for 3 seasons as an employee. I've ridden over 40 areas mostly in the western US (12 US states total) and a few in Canada and in France. Cannon is icy most of the time. Even if powder shows up it won't last long because it's going to get ski'ed off, blown away by the wind, rained on or melted by the next thaw cycle. It's very windy a lot of the time at Cannon. Even after a good snow I've found zero powder on parts of the trails on the upper part of Cannon because it gets blown off and then there will be pockets of pow in other places.
Most of the terrain is steep.
There's not much fun rolly terrain. That steep terrain gets icy fast. Hardly any snowboarders are on this mountain. We just did a rail jam and had 50 contestants and like 5 snowboarders. Why is that? IDK but it's like a ski racers mt. If you like steep fast icy mts you'll love it.
Mid-mountain choke point
One of the lamest things about the mountain is the mid-mountain choke point because you've basically got 2 options at mid-mountain of where to go: Middle Ravine or Middle Cannon. Both have walls of jagged rocks on the sides where they dynamited which are kinda sketchy. This season Middle Cannon is a little better as snow they made drifted over there a bit more to cover some of the rocks. But middle Ravine has a tall wall of jagged rocks on the side that's real sketchy. It would be better if they tried to fill it in some so it creates more of a bank.
Fix
What I think they should do is start blowing snow into the lower hardscrabble area and turnpike area early but they don't do that until late in the season like in Feb. There's more interesting and diverse terrain down in there.
Employees
I find a lot of employees here don't actually ski or ride much or at all. It's just a job for them.
That goes for the lifties, groomers, snowmakers, etc. Their general stoke level is low. After working out west I came back here and a lot of them seemed like downers. Not everyone as some are cool, but must be a boring job as I wouldn't want to do it. I asked one of the lifties, "hey what happened to so and so lifty," who seemed cool to me and they said he was riding when he wasn't supposed to be so they fired him.
And with the lifties I've heard for two seasons now that they are understaffed and some of them are getting fired. I think with the lifties you got to give them some ride breaks because that's tough work standing there all day.
I think if you have people working there that don't ski or ride then quality is going to go down hill.
Ice.
It doesn't snow much here.
Cannon claims 160 inches a year. I follow the reports they got about that last season '24 and probably close to 25% of that came in the last 2 weeks. There was like a month plus of no snow and warm weather. The other year '21 I was here they got around 130". This year they got 72" so far on January 19th.
I thought their marketing campaign with the yeti was pretty funny, other mountains have yeti's too, but the yeti personality trying to keep people out of Cannon was funny. Yet to say it's 'not icy' and that's a myth is a stretch. 160" inches of snow on a steep windy ski area equals ice.
NH skiing/riding is icy and Cannon is probably icier than other nearby resorts probably because it's steeper and gets more wind. It's not crowded like Loon although I think Loon's terrain is fun as it's more rolly. But Loon and Bretton woods are more corporate and Cannon's better that way.
At Cannon I've worked in rentals, trail crew and in the terrain parks.
I can tell you a lot about the parks as that is what I like to do. They don't put much of an emphasis on parks here and only one guy is grooming them by machine and building them. The crew last year was the manager, myself handshaping and a couple of teens on the weekends.
Park positives
On a positive note he does a pretty good job maintaining them with grooming. I've worked at mountains that had really poor park grooming (sometimes not at all) and others that did a pretty good job. Although some features are a little beaten up I know the manager built most of the rails and boxes which is cool as most other mts buy them. The parks tend to have more jumps than rails which I like so if you like rails then go to Loon.
Park negatives
Negatives I'd say is that the parks are a little boring for me. They aren't that inventive and the jumps tend to be all similar. It's a little cookie cutter. Kinda similar stuff to other parks where they build a knuckle and put a wedge on top step down style. Jumps in a row. Everything in a straight line.
The little huckerbrook park for kids and the jumps there often don't have landings and they'll get flattened out. The parks are pretty similar year after year where stuff is made in the same locations and in the same style. I think if you don't ride the parks anymore then it becomes a disconnect and stuff gets stale and you care less about them.
I think i went riding one day with my boss in '24 and I rode the mountain like nearly every day that season.
The parks are on Huckerbrook and Tossup and smts on Parkway. I think they should play around with putting them on different trails. I've mentioned this and mentioned lots of other stuff that rarely gets through.
Cannon
Cannon is not a resort and it's not glitzy. i like that. If u want lodging and fancy new amenities then go to Bretton Woods or Loon. Although sometimes I like those mountains because they are not as steep. Steep is great if there is powder on it but that's rare at Cannon. If it is a good snowday then I think others would say Cannon is better.
There's a lot of glades and hidden trails at Cannon if you are into that, but again the lack of snow really limits the time you can get into them. And a lot of them are tight as this is the east coast and the vegetation and trees are dense. Working on trail crew last summer I found a lot of trails in the woods I never knew about, but haven't been into them yet. I like a base before going into the woods so I am not hitting rocks and stumps but if you have rock skis or don't care then it's all you.
TLDR:
Cannon is a steep icy windblown east coast mountain. It doesn't snow much here. Many of the employees don't ski or ride. The vibe is boring and I am so bored with it. The parks that I worked in are decent but I am bored with that too.
Nathan Smith
I love skiing Cannon! It was an amazing place to develop my skiing technique and really grow from being a beginner/intermediate to an advanced skier. There are lots of natural-ish trails, such as Vista Way, with gorgeous views. And challenging blacks.
Sometimes I feel they’re too conservative with opening trails and glades (mid-mountain Bypass was still closed on closing weekend even though there was fresh pow and great conditions). Would also be nice to have more meandering greens from the top, or advanced terrain in other areas. In terms of icing though, I’m sure that conservative trail opening has helped, since I’ve never found Cannon as icy as Waterville Valley. I almost think that icy cannon reputation is old and no longer warranted.
Overall, incredible mountain that I will be sure to visit for years and years!
Jim Hunt
We love Cannon. A skiers mountain without the big crowds and fuss of other resorts. Great when there’s fresh snow. Can be a bit cold and icy when there’s not enough natural snow. Overall, one of our favorites.
Bob H
I ski Cannon quite a bit. I love the steep terrain. It's a ton of fun. The grooming this season has been good. However the last few weeks they have been really skimping in that area. Some trails aren't groomed for days and others have a tiny strip 25% groomed, with 75% ungroomed. People always talk a big game about how they love un groomed pow, that's a load of BS. 99% of the traffic is on the groomed areas and it gets skied up in an hour because they do not groom enough terrain.
Dude Nice
I am 39 years old, I live in NH and learned to ski last year.
I'm on my second season now, and I have spent a lot of time at Bretton Woods, and gotten a feel for many other local ski resorts. Cannon has been on my radar, but up until yesterday, I avoided out of fear. Like all the reviews here have stated, this is a no frills place, but what does that mean really? At the end of the day, this place is all about the SKIING.
The best way I can describe it, skiing at a resort feels like a leisure activity, skiing at Cannon is like going to the gym.
That being said, could you come here as a beginner? ABOSLUTELY!
The learner's area is unmatched, here's the catch: those that know their limits will be rewarded, those that try to advance too soon will be punished. Everybody learns at their own pace, but I can't imagine I would have been able to manage coming down from the main lifts without becoming comfortable skiing parallel down blues everywhere else. I have always scoffed at the comment, "the greens are blues!", but here it's actually true.
The runs are incredible, the snowmaking impressive, and the views are spectacular - on the weekend, you have the place to yourself.
There's history here, there's grit and a get down to business attitude. You can feel it, this is the place where legends were built.
For practice, I can think of no better NH mountain than Cannon. Bretton Woods has the comfort, the luxury, and that has it's place, but I'll save that for trips with others. Cannon will now be my practice mountain for the foreseeable future.
Greg Kellogg
East Coast and New Hampshire. Where is all this mythical powder that other reviewers are lamenting the "over-grooming" of? Cannon can get icy and it needs grooming to keep the mortality rate down. It offers tiny crowds at mid-week and reasonable ones on the weekend; beginner terrain where I can leave my not-a-skier wife; windy, narrow, steep trails with spectacular views; and an old-school state park vibe like where I learned to ski 50 years ago. I love Cannon.
Kurt Morgenstern
I skied Cannon for many years up to 2019/2020, including before the Mittersil chair, snow making and grooming. Not to mention, the elimination of the best free ski run in NH, currently called Baron's (total ice slick). The place is totally overgroomed and any powder runs are closed and accessible only to the local good boys club, so ducking ropes becomes the norm to get pow turns. I currently ski Arapahoe Basin 3 days a week which is ungroomed and totally wild extreme skiing. Yes, they drop ropes and encourage you to help make pow tracks to mark routes on the steeps. Cannon was among several NE ski areas that promoted natural snow conditions but has become another Loon except with a racer crowd attitude. Remember, Bodie learned on the old Cannon, wild and ungroomed! I have lots of fun memories of Cannon but am thrilled to be done with the place. Enjoy and get good at skiing the 1ft edges to find any soft turns. Otherwise, bring ice skates and pretend to be Bodie.
Craig
The "Living Legend" is an appropriate name. A true skiers mountain. No glitz and glam, just a pure skiing experience on one of the East's most dramatic ski mountains.
Learn ToTurn
Cannon is classic. It has an old New England feel, a skier's mountain. No hype. NO CONDOS!!!! People go to Cannon to SKI. It doesn't have as much terrain as the really big New England resorts but it has something for everyone. I don't know if I could spend five days in a row there but whenever I go out for a one-day trip it's always Cannon. And when they have enough snow to get most of the trails up -- Middle Hardscrabble, the glades at Mitterskill, Vista, the glades off Zoomer, etc. an advanced skier can have an absolute blast.
It's run by the State of NH. Despite being somewhat of a libertarian, I have to say I find it extremely refreshing having a ski area run like a state park where they are just trying to break even and provide recreation for the population instead trying to make take every last $ from you and make money selling and reselling condos.
Kseez73
The crowds are almost always thinned out by Waterville and Loon. Also the mountain doesn’t have condos or hotels very near which also helps with crowds. After a storm there are few mountains in the Northeast that can compare to Cannon; it’s as tough as you want it to be. True skiers mountain with very little frills.
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