Decided to spend the last day of 2014 on the only big ski mountain in NH that I had yet to try out. I grew up staying at Loon Mountain Hotel, right on the slopes. We ski Waterville, Cannon, Bretton.......all of them. But never Loon for some reason. I must say, Loon was a pleasent surprise, even with the mediocre conditions.
We got there at 830 and decided to park at south peak. GREAT choice. Nobody was over there and we parked right in the front row. The tickets and food were all in the lodge and it was so quick.
South Peak had some of the best runs. All of their trails were getting blasted as the day went on so they had the best conditions. Ripsaw, Jobber and Twitcher were my favorites. They were all ungroomed, the snow was perfect and there was no ice. Ripsaw was barely a double black. Only one headwall that could qualify it but still a fun trail. Jobber and Twitcher would most likely be blues at Killington or any of the other of the bigger resorts. But still awesome trails. Cruiser was a nice trail but way too icy. The guns came on for it in the afternoon. Boom Run was an awesome cruising trail but there was an army of guns blasting away on it which made it impossible to go fast. I really like South Peak, the trails are spaced out and there is no cut-thru trails which is awesome.
Most of Loon Peak consisted of nice, windy intermediate trails which were awesome to lap. My favorite trail on Loon Peak was easily Blue Ox. They were snowmaking on this trail giving it a nice coat. But Blue Ox was my favorite because it was very windy and narrow. It was just an interesting trail. Angel Street was my other favorite. Steep and had awesome views. But it was an Ice trap! They really need to focus their snowmaking on Big Dipper, Can't Dog, Rolling Bear and Angel Street because they should have not been open. Big Dipper was half gravel while can't dog was just a frozen waterfall. If they had good snow on East Basin, it would have been my favorite area on the mountain.
North Peak was awesome as well. Only three ways down but they were all great trails. Upper Flume and Lower Flume were my favorite. Great snow on this trail and it was steep. It reminded me a lot of Avenger at Attitash. Walking Boss was pretty sweet too. Sunset was another ice trap but had some of the best views on the mountain.
The crowds were a lot lighter than I expected. The only big lines today were found at the Seven Brothers Triple and the Gondola. I was pretty surprised to see sucha big line for the triple considering it's only open on the weekends. It was a main lift today! I really liked the carpet loading system, it worked very well and picked up some nice speed. The line moved quite quickly too.
I didn't bother taking the Gondola, the line was insane. I just did the triple to the east basin chair, much quicker. I would love to see them replace the gondola or the Kancamangus Quad with a six pack. This mountain is known to get packed, adding more capacity over where the gondola is now would relieve the giant line for the seven brothers.
I have succesfully gone to every big ski area in NH other than Sunapee. I put Loon at third place. Behind Ragged as my second favorite and Wildcat as my first favorite. Just a little better from Cannon which is 4th. (The conditions at Cannon sucked.)
I will deff be back at loon this season. Only a three hour drive from RI, same drive as Ragged, Gunstock and Sunapee. Loon has some great terrain and I can't wait to come back and check out all the glades, along with triple trouble.
Runs of The Day:
Upper Flume
Blue Ox
Twitcher
Of course I ended the day with a delicious Waffle at the Waffle Cabin
We got there at 830 and decided to park at south peak. GREAT choice. Nobody was over there and we parked right in the front row. The tickets and food were all in the lodge and it was so quick.
South Peak had some of the best runs. All of their trails were getting blasted as the day went on so they had the best conditions. Ripsaw, Jobber and Twitcher were my favorites. They were all ungroomed, the snow was perfect and there was no ice. Ripsaw was barely a double black. Only one headwall that could qualify it but still a fun trail. Jobber and Twitcher would most likely be blues at Killington or any of the other of the bigger resorts. But still awesome trails. Cruiser was a nice trail but way too icy. The guns came on for it in the afternoon. Boom Run was an awesome cruising trail but there was an army of guns blasting away on it which made it impossible to go fast. I really like South Peak, the trails are spaced out and there is no cut-thru trails which is awesome.
Most of Loon Peak consisted of nice, windy intermediate trails which were awesome to lap. My favorite trail on Loon Peak was easily Blue Ox. They were snowmaking on this trail giving it a nice coat. But Blue Ox was my favorite because it was very windy and narrow. It was just an interesting trail. Angel Street was my other favorite. Steep and had awesome views. But it was an Ice trap! They really need to focus their snowmaking on Big Dipper, Can't Dog, Rolling Bear and Angel Street because they should have not been open. Big Dipper was half gravel while can't dog was just a frozen waterfall. If they had good snow on East Basin, it would have been my favorite area on the mountain.
North Peak was awesome as well. Only three ways down but they were all great trails. Upper Flume and Lower Flume were my favorite. Great snow on this trail and it was steep. It reminded me a lot of Avenger at Attitash. Walking Boss was pretty sweet too. Sunset was another ice trap but had some of the best views on the mountain.
The crowds were a lot lighter than I expected. The only big lines today were found at the Seven Brothers Triple and the Gondola. I was pretty surprised to see sucha big line for the triple considering it's only open on the weekends. It was a main lift today! I really liked the carpet loading system, it worked very well and picked up some nice speed. The line moved quite quickly too.
I didn't bother taking the Gondola, the line was insane. I just did the triple to the east basin chair, much quicker. I would love to see them replace the gondola or the Kancamangus Quad with a six pack. This mountain is known to get packed, adding more capacity over where the gondola is now would relieve the giant line for the seven brothers.
I have succesfully gone to every big ski area in NH other than Sunapee. I put Loon at third place. Behind Ragged as my second favorite and Wildcat as my first favorite. Just a little better from Cannon which is 4th. (The conditions at Cannon sucked.)
I will deff be back at loon this season. Only a three hour drive from RI, same drive as Ragged, Gunstock and Sunapee. Loon has some great terrain and I can't wait to come back and check out all the glades, along with triple trouble.
Runs of The Day:
Upper Flume
Blue Ox
Twitcher
Of course I ended the day with a delicious Waffle at the Waffle Cabin
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