I debated posting in the TR vs general forum, but decided this is more a PSA on what to expect (or not) expect at Loon. I had heard about the Loon stereotypes: "crowded" "lack of challenging terrain", "groomers", etc... As Boyne passholders for many years, we had talked about trying Loon for a number of years, but never got around to it with Sugarloaf & SRiver closer to home. Despite the stereotypes & other options closer to home, we committed to a long weekend for our first ski trip to Loon.
Arriving on Friday afternoon, we were only able to ski a few runs on primarily groomed trails with firm very scratchy conditions. At this point, my expectations were still in check, because I am not going to fault the mountain for the hand mother nature dealt. The next day we were able to see more of the mountain, and YES it was crowded but still my expectations were in check (as I fully expected the crowds on Saturday). As we skied more & more terrain, I began to discover EVERY trail is the same: groomed flat. I expected lack of challenge at Loon, but I didn't expect lack of ANY challenge....I was fully expecting to find some bumps here & there on some trails, some spots on the edge where you could ride the groom line to mix it up; however nothing. Finally on Saturday, I was able to break away from the family & explore in search of something "different". Headed over to East Basin chair, and at last I saw some bump runs (or should I say 1/2 of a bump run) on Bigger Dipper & Triple Trouble, but I was crushed when I saw the rope across the trails...While the conditions may have not been ideal, the trails were definitely skiable, and couldn't understand why they'd be roped.
I decided to go into the ski patrol "shack" to see if I could "convince" them to open the trail or allow me to ski it. Upon entering the "shack", I was shocked at how nice the "shack" was....You'd swear I had walked into a two bedroom townhouse: Carpeted, nice comfy furniture, painted & decorated nicely....Most ski patrol shacks I've seen are exactly that: a shack with barely a seat to sit in & barely suitable for animals. The 2nd observation which stood out to me was the sheer number of patrol just sitting around the townhouse (or shack)...It was the most ski patrol personnel I'd seen congregating in one area (there had to be at least 10 or more patrollers). At this point, I felt out-numbered & out of place, so needless to say the interaction did not go as tactfully as I'd hope. I proceeded to ask why the trails were roped & if there was any chance to ski them...The first answer was "Well they are closed", so I followed up with a "why"....They then proceeded with this BS of explaining to me while some may be able to ski the trail, they felt the conditions were dangerous enough that people could get in over their heads & get hurt. I followed up with well isn't that why you have trail designations of Expert to alert people to those type of conditions...And they continued on to tell me that it is really not safe for me or anyone to ski the trail....blah blah blah...so I asked if they would allow me to ski it & they said they would take my pass. At one point the ski patrol said, "we are an intermediate mountain", which kind of surprised me that they would admit it (even though it is obvious). I proceeded to ask is there anywhere here where I go to ski something other than a totally flat groomer...The response from Patrol was: "go to Cannon". Seriously? I should have responded with "and you will always be an intermediate mountain with that attitude, and by never giving your patrons any options to challenge themselves". I proceeded to ask the group if they offered boundary to boundary skiing while most responded with "no" one patroller said "yes"...At that point, I stormed out of the "shack" saying well one of you said yes & that is all I need to hear. I did not ski the closed trails, but proceeded to sneak in the woods to ski Walking Boss woods...while it was not great conditions in the woods, it was satisfying to ski something different.
Needless to say, the third day of my trip was pleasant, since I had now lowered my expectations even more, and the mountain received an inch of snow which made the groomers more pleasant...after 2+ hours of skiing early morning, I had enough packed & the car to head home. North Peak & South Peak chairs/trails were "fun" for a while & primarily ski on the chair, but it is not something I would go back for....And WTF is with "North" peak being south of "South" peak, I guess that should have been a clue for what to expect at Looney.
Arriving on Friday afternoon, we were only able to ski a few runs on primarily groomed trails with firm very scratchy conditions. At this point, my expectations were still in check, because I am not going to fault the mountain for the hand mother nature dealt. The next day we were able to see more of the mountain, and YES it was crowded but still my expectations were in check (as I fully expected the crowds on Saturday). As we skied more & more terrain, I began to discover EVERY trail is the same: groomed flat. I expected lack of challenge at Loon, but I didn't expect lack of ANY challenge....I was fully expecting to find some bumps here & there on some trails, some spots on the edge where you could ride the groom line to mix it up; however nothing. Finally on Saturday, I was able to break away from the family & explore in search of something "different". Headed over to East Basin chair, and at last I saw some bump runs (or should I say 1/2 of a bump run) on Bigger Dipper & Triple Trouble, but I was crushed when I saw the rope across the trails...While the conditions may have not been ideal, the trails were definitely skiable, and couldn't understand why they'd be roped.
I decided to go into the ski patrol "shack" to see if I could "convince" them to open the trail or allow me to ski it. Upon entering the "shack", I was shocked at how nice the "shack" was....You'd swear I had walked into a two bedroom townhouse: Carpeted, nice comfy furniture, painted & decorated nicely....Most ski patrol shacks I've seen are exactly that: a shack with barely a seat to sit in & barely suitable for animals. The 2nd observation which stood out to me was the sheer number of patrol just sitting around the townhouse (or shack)...It was the most ski patrol personnel I'd seen congregating in one area (there had to be at least 10 or more patrollers). At this point, I felt out-numbered & out of place, so needless to say the interaction did not go as tactfully as I'd hope. I proceeded to ask why the trails were roped & if there was any chance to ski them...The first answer was "Well they are closed", so I followed up with a "why"....They then proceeded with this BS of explaining to me while some may be able to ski the trail, they felt the conditions were dangerous enough that people could get in over their heads & get hurt. I followed up with well isn't that why you have trail designations of Expert to alert people to those type of conditions...And they continued on to tell me that it is really not safe for me or anyone to ski the trail....blah blah blah...so I asked if they would allow me to ski it & they said they would take my pass. At one point the ski patrol said, "we are an intermediate mountain", which kind of surprised me that they would admit it (even though it is obvious). I proceeded to ask is there anywhere here where I go to ski something other than a totally flat groomer...The response from Patrol was: "go to Cannon". Seriously? I should have responded with "and you will always be an intermediate mountain with that attitude, and by never giving your patrons any options to challenge themselves". I proceeded to ask the group if they offered boundary to boundary skiing while most responded with "no" one patroller said "yes"...At that point, I stormed out of the "shack" saying well one of you said yes & that is all I need to hear. I did not ski the closed trails, but proceeded to sneak in the woods to ski Walking Boss woods...while it was not great conditions in the woods, it was satisfying to ski something different.
Needless to say, the third day of my trip was pleasant, since I had now lowered my expectations even more, and the mountain received an inch of snow which made the groomers more pleasant...after 2+ hours of skiing early morning, I had enough packed & the car to head home. North Peak & South Peak chairs/trails were "fun" for a while & primarily ski on the chair, but it is not something I would go back for....And WTF is with "North" peak being south of "South" peak, I guess that should have been a clue for what to expect at Looney.
