Loon 1/13/13

Date(s) Skied:
January 13, 2013

Resort or Ski Area:
Loon

Conditions:
First couple of hours: Icy
Rest of the day: Spring-like

Trip Report:

Trail Map:
http://www.loonmtn.com/images/LOON_TrailMap_1112_FINAL.gif
I woke up at 5:30 am, was out the door at 6:20 am, and on the gondola at 7:55 am for my first ever day at Loon. I came with two goals in mind: explore the ski area and document all the ski lifts...remember I am a ski lift geek. I am excited to say that I accomplished both! The day started out with very icy and hard conditions that were difficult to get my edges in. However, it soon warmed up and the snow softened. The problem was that confounded fog was preventing me from photographing the ski lifts! Early on I managed to take half way decent photographs of North Peak Express and East Bowl double, but the lower elevation lifts weren't worth using precious camera battery life. I headed over to South Peak where it was chilly and foggy at the bottom. However, at the top it was 50 degrees and sunny and the liftie was wearing shorts! By 11:00, the fog was going away so I started documenting Seven Brothers. However, by time I got over to Kancamagus Express and Kissin Cousin, the fog was coming back which was annoying. I had lunch and then went back to South Peak just to document the two lifts. Fortunately there was no fog there anymore.

As expected, the toughest lift to do would be the four passenger gondola. While I could take the easy way and photograph the line from the inside of the cabin, I wanted to get the best quality photographs possible. Finally around 2:30 the crowds started to taper off and slightly before 3 pm I got a gondola cabin to myself. I held the camera out of a little roof on the ceiling and photographed the entire line.

After that, I skied North Peak and touched up my photos of that lift and East Basin. I finished off the day with a couple runs at Kancamagus Express since that stayed open 15 minutes later than the "summit" lifts and got a chair one minute before the lift closed (3:54). The last couple of runs were in thick fog that had come back. Overall a solid day!

Here is a sample of some of the photos I took:




Tote Road Quad (2007 Doppelmayr):


East Basin (1968 Hall with new Doppelmayr Drive Terminal (1982) and CTEC chairs (1986)


Gondola (1988 Doppelmayr with resused 1966 PHB Hall tripod towers of original gondola...not including tower in picture)

Nice TR.
Was there Sat. Similar conditions. Brutal first thing, softened up nicely. East basin chair & south peak chairs are the best IMO. No waiting.

I have yet to ski South Peak. Too bad Loon is so expensive and with hardly any discounts to be found. I have some buddies that have Boyne passes but I'm always reluctant to go w/ them since it's much more expensive and I perceive there to be massive lines on the wknds.

My company is participating in the Briefcase Race on March 2nd though and I get a free ticket so will be there then.

xwhaler said:

I have yet to ski South Peak. Too bad Loon is so expensive and with hardly any discounts to be found. I have some buddies that have Boyne passes but I'm always reluctant to go w/ them since it's much more expensive and I perceive there to be massive lines on the wknds.

My company is participating in the Briefcase Race on March 2nd though and I get a free ticket so will be there then.

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Nice long trails on that side and even on a crowded Saturday last March there weren't any lines for the HSQ. Just wish I could get there when the snow is better...

I take it you are a lift afficianado?

xwhaler said:

Too bad Loon is so expensive and with hardly any discounts to be found. I have some buddies that have Boyne passes but I'm always reluctant to go w/ them since it's much more expensive

Click to expand...

Yes, season passes to the three Boyne ski areas are rediculously expensive (unless you are a college student, woo!) and you have to ski something like 10-15 times to make it worth it (more if you get a frequent skier card, ski early and late season days, and use Liftopia when the savings are greater than with a frequent skier card).

bdfreetuna said:

I take it you are a lift afficianado?

Click to expand...

Guilty. Are you?

Only in the sense that I prefer some over others. I have a soft spot for old double chairs, not a big fan of six packs. Trams are fun.

xwhaler said:

I have yet to ski South Peak. Too bad Loon is so expensive and with hardly any discounts to be found. I have some buddies that have Boyne passes but I'm always reluctant to go w/ them since it's much more expensive and I perceive there to be massive lines on the wknds.

My company is participating in the Briefcase Race on March 2nd though and I get a free ticket so will be there then.

Click to expand...

If you are close enough to Woburn, MA, there's the Nacski bus at $77 a head including bus ride and lift ticket after their $5 Facebook coupon savings. For me, even if I'm splitting a ride with someone else, it's worth it as it saves me 170 miles on my car and about 7.5 gallons of gas, which is about $25 these days over the mileage for me to go to Woburn. Once you consider wear and tear on top of the gas and the ability to relax, it's a compelling enough of a deal for me. It's even more compelling when you talk about Stowe, Jay, or Sunday River.