Loon - 12/23/11

[speden]

Figured I'd get in a day at Loon before my pass goes into blackout. Turned out to be my best day of the year so far. They have one hell of a snowmaking operation there, and Loon made out well with a reported 7" of fresh last night. Seemed more like 5" to me, but no point splitting hairs; it was nice and soft in the morning.

Temps were low 30's, minimal wind, overcast and flurries all day. It was noticeably colder on the upper mountain which preserved the snow well. Down low there was some dirty, melting snow, but that was easy to avoid.

I got there a little late, just shortly after ten, and the main lot was almost full. Hmmm, more people than I expected, but the mountain absorbed them with ease. Felt like they had half the mountain open with probably double the number of trails since I was last there. Lifts were ski on all day.

I was planning on a short day, but the snow was so good I couldn't leave. Just kept going until my legs could literally not ski anymore. I feel like I got a lot better today at skiing on natural snow. Still have a long way to go though. Merry Christmas everyone!

Some pics:

Nice fresh snow on the trails in the morning that hadn't been groomed out. Not exactly powder, but not heavy or grabby at all. Quite a treat.

Only disappointment of the day was that south peak wasn't open yet. But they are blowing snow over there so I expect it to open any day now. Here they are blowing to get the tote road quad up and running.

Here's Upper Walking Boss. It had some natural bumps forming on it. By the afternoon there were kind of scraped off troughs with super soft bumps around them. It was nice for practicing my extremely poor bump skiing technique.

Flume was open. You can see the natural coverage on the left here, and the much deeper snowmaking coverage on the right.

Here's Flume from ground level. It was skiing quite well.

I think this is Upper Rumrunner. It was also in good shape.

Don't remember which trail this was. Just thought it looked nice today with the snow on all the trees.

A little blizzard hit Sunset. Had a blast going down that with lots of easy to handle mini bumps. As you can see, it was a popular trail today.

 

[bigbog]

Looks really nice...given the lack of accumulation we've had.

 

[Cornhead]

Hey, looks like Winter, I'm jealous. Thanks for the report, Merry Christmas to you!

 

[Abubob]

I skied at Loon for near twenty years before I hit on a blue bird day and could see Mt Washington. I was shocked. Skiing looked good though.

 

[bobbutts]

I skied at Loon for near twenty years before I hit on a blue bird day and could see Mt Washington. I was shocked. Skiing looked good though.

 

[Abubob]

http://bobbutts.mine.nu/loon/mtw_1.jpg

You can just imagine my surprise.

 

[rocojerry]

Looks really nice...given the lack of accumulation we've had.

Agree -- thanks for the great report! Would love to hear how its holding up if anyones been recently?

 

[Cornhead]

I skied at Loon for near twenty years before I hit on a blue bird day and could see Mt Washington. I was shocked. Skiing looked good though.

Reminds me of when I skied Bolton Valley. My first time there it was snowing and all I could see when I got off the lift was a wall of grey. The second time I went I decided to leave NY at a reasonable hour and hit BV for night skiing, then head elsewhere in VT the next day. I was shocked when I got off the lift, beautiful view of Lake Champlain with the sun setting over the Adirondacks. It was totally unexpected.

 

[billski]

Thanks! what was the snow consistency like? Can't tell if the snow is mashed potatoes or something else.