First Trip to LOON

[thetrailboss]

I got a call from a rep at WBZ newsradio on Thursday informing me that I had won two tickets to Loon for this Saturday (bus ride included). Now I know that many of you have skied there, so please, give trailboss some advice here :wink: . Good terrain? Any recent visits? Suggestions?

As said before, I am an expert skier and Ms. Trailboss is a high intermediate. I like a little bit of everything for terrain and she likes cruisers.

Thanks!

 

[Greg]

I got a call from a rep at WBZ newsradio on Thursday informing me that I had won two tickets to Loon for this Saturday (bus ride included). Now I know that many of you have skied there, so please, give trailboss some advice here :wink: . Good terrain? Any recent visits? Suggestions?

As said before, I am an expert skier and Ms. Trailboss is a high intermediate. I like a little bit of everything for terrain and she likes cruisers.

Yes, there are a number of us that have skied Loon. I think you'll like the terrain. There are trails for all abilities so both you and the woman should have fun.

If you go later in the season, you should find a number of manmade bumps runs on intermediate terrain which is great as you can play in the bumps while the woman skis the groomed sides. There are a few steeper trails (Angel Street, Flume, Upper Walking Boss). Nothing crazy steep, but certainly challenging. Triple Trouble is a great purely natural snow trail. There is a also ton of fun intermediate terrain off the Kanc Quad.

There are probably others here that know the Loon skier traffic pattern better than me, but I've found that starting on the Kanc Quad first thing in the morning works well. At 10:30 AM or so when the Quad starts to back up head over to the East side/North Peak and ride either the new North Peak HSQ or the East Basin Double. I very rarely ride the gondola as it can back up even mid-week.

I haven't skied Loon on a Saturday in a few years, but many say the weekend crowds can be tough. However, in my experience the lifties are usually very friendly and keep things moving in as quick and orderly a fashion as possible.

I really like Loon and will be staying slopeside mid-week in March. There's some fun terrain and the mountain has great views of virtually every major White Mountain range. Wait until the mountain's close to 100% and after some natural snowfall and you'll have a blast, especially if you go on a weekday.

 

[Greg]

Oh. Duh. I just noticed your tickets are for this Saturday. Hopefully going there on a Saturday with less than ideal conditions won't taint your view of the mountain as it is quite good under the right conditions.

 

[Vortex]

My 2 cents. (my home mountain)Take the Kanc Quad to the North Peak Express Quad 1s thing. Ski Walking Boss, Flume, and then start skiing the East Basin double. The lines will be much easier to handle. If you go to the bottom stay out of the Gondola line take the Tripple up to grap the upper mountain lifts again. For lunch try Camp 3 outside very nice, but go early. If you head back out at peak lunch time lines shoten up quite a bit for the rest of the day, If you want more info (pm) me.

 

[riverc0il]

solid advice here. definitely hit the kanc quad early before lines build up (i've waiting 20+ minutes during the afternoon time before) and plan on bringing lunch up to one of the upper mountain lodges. later in the day, ride the double (HSQ if the line isn't bad, i have no idea what that change of lifts did to traffic patterns). avoid the gondi at all costs. okay, ride it once early for the novelty but don't plan on using it for a regular lift throughout the day.

 

[beswift]

Loon

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

 

[bigbog]

.......

trailboss,
Make sure ya' have sharp edges, then just go ski it 8) ....ditto on arriving early...

 

[ctenidae]

Saturday weather's actually shaping up decently for Loon- snowmaking temps all week, and it looks like two or three days of real snow. Of course, the way the weather's been, that will change by tomorrow to 85 degrees and tornadoes for the rest of the week.

Edit, 2 minutes later- Snow Thursday, and good temps, we'll see what it says in 15 minutes.

 

[blankout]

As a season pass holder at Loon for years, I've had plenty of experience fighting the weekend crowds. However, once you get the hang of it, you can get quite a few runs in with minimal line waiting. Here's how:

1) Show up early and catch the gondola up. Do not return to the gondola after this! The lines at the Gondola are far too crowded --more so than any other lift! From the gondola Ski down to the North Peak Quad (the lift farthest to the East).

2) Do several runs looping back to the North Peak Quad until around 11:00am. (There's plenty of ways to do it, so you won't get bored.) By that time the North Peak Quad lines start getting too long, so you'll want to avoid it for a couple hours. You can, however, sneak a run or two in on the East Basin Double (which runs close by the North Peak Quad but slightly westward). By around 11:30 the double will be packed too --so you should avoid it.

3) By 12;00pm work your way over to the Kanc Quad. It seems around lunch time that the crowds on the mountain tend to thin right to left (if you're facing up hill). Therefore, you can sneak a few runs in on the Kanc Quad (the lift farthest to the West) for an hour or so without running into any crazy lines.

4) By around 1:00pm everyone returns from lunch so the place gets packed again. There's no avoiding lines at this time. However, skiiers tend to drop like flies at this point. I think it has something to do with the beer at lunch kicking in.

5) By around 2:00pm the lines at the East basin have dwindled and you should consider the North Peak Quad and East Basin Double open for business again.

6) By 3:00pm the lift lines disappear completely and you can work just about any lift you want without a wait.

Hope this helps.

 

[thetrailboss]

Thanks again for all of your advice (and for the invite, BobR). Please find my trip report in the report section! :wink:

 

[Vortex]

Good review and see ya next time.