billski
Active member
Date(s) Skied: 1/3/7 Wednesday
Resort or Ski Area: Loon Mountain
Conditions: Frozen Granular with some manmade. Fast.
Trip Report:
Loon was much, much better than I expected. Started to see natural snow roadside north of Concord NH.
They did a good job with snowmaking. It was FGR, fast, scratch, with a little bit of snowmaking snow here and there. All the open trails were fully covered. I only encounted a little dirt in one small spot. The FGR packed down fast, so sharp edges were critical. I need to re-sharpen already. Mid mountain was best – the narrow trails people stayed away from, they were nice. We skied pretty much everywhere. A lot more trails opened than I expected. It could be fairly said that 24 trails top to bottom, both peaks were running. They poured a ton of money into snowmaking.
Loon was making a lot of snow in earnest, even before the rain. There was about 3/8” of ice atop the snow. The cats ground it up, but it packed down fast from traffic. No moguls of course. Loon gets real tricky skiing in the afternoon, it shadows up fast and makes it hard to judge.
It was entirely all blues and greens open. The lower intermediate or beginner might have some difficulty on the scratchy snow, if you're not real good on your edges. The mid mountain section, narrow trails were the sweet spot. Lots of scraped off, packed FRGR, but it didn't seem to spook many people.
It appeared the beginner and easy slopes were fairly well covered. Lots of kids on break were out, handling it pretty well.
One patroller I skied with yesterday said Tuesday was horrible. Of course, the day after the rain. Groomers pause for a day to let the water drain before they head out.
There was a very large snowmaking staffing out for blowing last night. Their approach seems to be "damn the torpedos, full speed ahead", rain or no rain. bravo to them.
I expect soft spring skiing today and Friday. The temps Wed. were well into the 40s, I expect it warmer today. They seem to have a pretty good base and lots of skiing options.
The other "pluses" include: stress free driving, wearing my sneakers instead of boots, sitting outside in January.
I will be back there or elsewhere next Wednesday. Rain days will be saved for chores at home.
You can tell things are tough, Loon has extended their 2 for 1s to Tues-Wed-Thursday through Feb. 15th. last year, it was only one weekday, January only.
No Nastar, the course isn't covered, no park.
Resort or Ski Area: Loon Mountain
Conditions: Frozen Granular with some manmade. Fast.
Trip Report:
Loon was much, much better than I expected. Started to see natural snow roadside north of Concord NH.
They did a good job with snowmaking. It was FGR, fast, scratch, with a little bit of snowmaking snow here and there. All the open trails were fully covered. I only encounted a little dirt in one small spot. The FGR packed down fast, so sharp edges were critical. I need to re-sharpen already. Mid mountain was best – the narrow trails people stayed away from, they were nice. We skied pretty much everywhere. A lot more trails opened than I expected. It could be fairly said that 24 trails top to bottom, both peaks were running. They poured a ton of money into snowmaking.
Loon was making a lot of snow in earnest, even before the rain. There was about 3/8” of ice atop the snow. The cats ground it up, but it packed down fast from traffic. No moguls of course. Loon gets real tricky skiing in the afternoon, it shadows up fast and makes it hard to judge.
It was entirely all blues and greens open. The lower intermediate or beginner might have some difficulty on the scratchy snow, if you're not real good on your edges. The mid mountain section, narrow trails were the sweet spot. Lots of scraped off, packed FRGR, but it didn't seem to spook many people.
It appeared the beginner and easy slopes were fairly well covered. Lots of kids on break were out, handling it pretty well.
One patroller I skied with yesterday said Tuesday was horrible. Of course, the day after the rain. Groomers pause for a day to let the water drain before they head out.
There was a very large snowmaking staffing out for blowing last night. Their approach seems to be "damn the torpedos, full speed ahead", rain or no rain. bravo to them.
I expect soft spring skiing today and Friday. The temps Wed. were well into the 40s, I expect it warmer today. They seem to have a pretty good base and lots of skiing options.
The other "pluses" include: stress free driving, wearing my sneakers instead of boots, sitting outside in January.
I will be back there or elsewhere next Wednesday. Rain days will be saved for chores at home.
You can tell things are tough, Loon has extended their 2 for 1s to Tues-Wed-Thursday through Feb. 15th. last year, it was only one weekday, January only.
No Nastar, the course isn't covered, no park.
