My birthday present today was a powder day at Cannon Mountain with Gianni. We awoke at 4:30 am and drove up from Paul's in pretty heavy snow. Luckily there was little traffic. We made first tram at Cannon, 8:30 am. I was expecting 2-3 inches. When we arrived at the top, I knew something was odd - there was snow everywhere and it was dead calm, a rare occurrence at Cannon. We dropped in for our first run and had fresh tracks top to bottom. I was knee deep the whole way and grinning. It was a strange morning, one of the strangest of my life on skis. No one was there. I think most folks who were up for the holiday weekend left early due to the storm, or maybe the difficult driving conditions kept people away. We enjoyed a couple of hours of powder, seemingly to ourselves (we wouldn't see another skier on the trail with us). By mid morning enough skiers arrived to track things out, so we stopped for a picture and slowed the pace. You can see Mount Lafayette in the background. The rest of the day continued to be a peaceful and enjoyable one, as we turned in early and made it home at a reasonable hour. I hope that I am fortunate enough to enjoy may more birthdays adventuring with Gianni.