Spring is certainly here (it's blue and sunny and 62F out right now... why am I inside??). Prime time for hiking and paddling and all sorts of outdoor fun.

And that includes downhill skiing.

Don't let the non-winter get you down. Our New England mountains still have snow, albeit mostly man-made. But the skiing is good. Quite good actually. So don't pack away the boards just yet.

I was over at Cannon Mountain last Saturday for the first time in years. Even though the mountain was a little less than 2/3 open, what was available was great. A few of the upper steeps that we came to ski were closed, but we still enjoyed some good terrain.

Upper Ravine was loads of fun with its wide, sweeping turns. Vista Way (which may or may not have been open--can't remember) had some beautiful snow on it (or so I'm told). And the front five trails--those that face Franconia Notch--such as Avalanche, Zoomer and Rocket, were a complete blast.

Post apres-ski, we stopped in at the New England Ski Museum and poked around the Hannes Schneider exhibit and came away chock full of NE ski trivia. If you haven't been, it's definitely worth a visit.

Saturday evening, sixteen of us (most of the others had been out hiking in the area) packed into the Shapleigh Bunkhouse at the AMC Highland Center at Crawford Notch.

The bunkhouse is inexpensive and includes a killer all-you-can-eat (that's AYCE for you ravenous AT thru-hikers out there) breakfast (at the lodge). There's hot showers, a kitchenette, living room and best yet--the bunks come complete with cozy flannel sheets, blankets and pillows. Now that's some kind of camping out now, isn't it?!

The main lodge is beautfully appointed with high ceilings and exposed beams and a comfy sitting area with a big fireplace. It was a nice place to hang out and relax, read and chat.

Sunday's mission was to sleep in, take in the big breakfast (yum!) and head for Wildcat Mountain at Pinkham Notch and the $20 noon-to-4 ski special (every Sunday afternoon--what a deal!).

And so we did.

With the Wildcat Express chair shooting us up the mountain from base to summit in 6 minutes, it wasn't long before we had gotten in many thousands od vertical feet of excellent skiing (each run nets you 2,100 feet).

Whew!

To slow things down a bit, and to add some spice to the day, we slid off piste into the woods along Pole Cat and found some excellent out-of-bounds skiing through the trees and down narrow chutes. Totally legit, by the way. You just need to be careful.

I took a number of good diggers, including a yard-saler down an icy wall, but it was fun nonetheless.

A long traverse led us back to civilized skiing where we grabbed a few more runs and called it good. What a day! And all within sight (off and on) of Mount Washington. Love it.

Cannon was 63% open, according to "Bill" in the parking lot, which still made for plenty of good skiing.

The Tram was closed for the season, but the Peabody Express made quick work of getting us up the mountain.

The upper mountain was shrouded in fog most of the morning.

On Vista Way, peering through the clouds towrds the Franconia Range.

Skiing the "front five" trails as they are known. Echo Lake below.

The New England Ski Museum, located at the base of Cannon, was awesome!

The new AMC Highland Center at Crawford Notch was beautiful, if not a little high brow.

Us poor ski bums stayed in the comfy AMC Shapleigh Bunkhouse across from the center.

On the way to Wildcat, I was bummed that Story Land was closed.

There's nothing like Wildcat Sunday afternoons... noon to 4 for $20.

The Wildcat Express zips you to the top in six minutes! You can get lots of vertical in in a day at that rate!

The bulk of Mount Washington was in and out of view all day from the slopes of Wildcat.

Skiing out of bounds (legit) on the north slope of Wildcat was very exciting.