Other Mountains near Loon Mtn (Lincoln, New Hampshire)?

[RichTJ99]

Hi,

I am going to be heading to Loon MTN resort in Lincoln New Hampshire in late December. I was looking to try to book some lift tickets online to save some money. The mountain appears to be small (Trailwise) & I was wondering what other mountains are withing a 60 minute ride from Lincoln?

Thanks,
rich :beer:

 

[riverc0il]

pretty much every big mountain in NH is within 60 minutes of loon, so you have a lot to choose from. here's the run down with the closest listed first, longest last with my best guess on driving time in decent weather:

cannon (a few minutes)
bretton woods (~15-20)
cranmore (~25)
waterville valley or attitash (~30)
tenney (~40)
black (~45)
wildcat (~60)
burke, vt (~60)

what type of skiing are you looking for? we could give you a specific recommendation outta that list to best suite your needs. i can't guarantee those drive times, but they will be pretty close, at the least they give you a relative list of what you're looking at..

 

[RichTJ99]

RiverCoil,

Thanks for the quick response! I am a Vermont skiier & have been to a bunch of mountains in that area. I am going with my wife is is more an intermediate (maybe a little less than that). I would guess that I will be mostly on Blue trails for this trip. I would not mind some reallllllly long blue trails, or places that have shorter lines (haha).

In all seriousness, a mountain with a bunch of different intermediate trails would be perfect. Whats the best choice & best bang for the dollar?

Any ideas on where to buy discounted tickets? We have skis so we dont need rentals.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[andyzee]

Haven't been to any of the others, but Wildcat is nice. Good scenery, with MT Washington in front of you as you cruise down the trails. Prices and crowds aren't bad either.

 

[sledhaulingmedic]

Burke is a bit of a strech, but well worth the trip.

Ragged would be under 60 Mins.

You'd have plenty to choose from. I think Riv covered them pertty well.

 

[riverc0il]

wasn't sure if ragged was under 60 min or not, almost added it but thought for sure it was a longer drive from lincoln. thanks for catching that one sled. though for a 60 minute drive from lincoln, i think you're better off heading to either burke or wildcat (so long as it's not windy and the quad is on a wind hold).

Rich, your best bang for the buck for intermediate cruisers would be black mountain and cranmore. both are under $40 for a day ticket i believe and both will serve up intermediate cruisers a plenty. the mountains are small though and can easily be covered in a single day, they are a lot smaller than loon so if you think loon's trail count is small... though they will be far less crowded. if you don't mind the 60 minute drive, you really can't beat burke (ticket just under the $50 threashold) any where in new england for consistantly great snow and high speed intermediate and upper intermediate cruising, no crowds ever either. wildcat is slightly more pricey, but has good cruising and awesome views so long as MW isn't socked in and the quad isn't on wind hold. bretton woods will have intermediate cruising a plenty, but it's also the most expensive ticket in NH i believe. cannon could be hit or miss for what you're looking for: close and not crowded and just under $50 with lots of great groomed intermediate stuff, but if it's an iffy snow year like last year, the snow could get scraped off on the major routes.

so for smaller cheaper mountains you have black and cranmore. for bigger mountains wildcat and cannon are best with good snow conditions and good weather/low winds. burke is the long drive stand by with reliable snow and great trails with no crowds. tenney is dirt cheap but kinda boring in comparison to some of the other areas, ragged seems not worth the drive compared to the other areas in the field and BW may be a tad expensive but probably what you are looking for.

pictures may be worth a thousand words, i have some trip reports with pics you can check out of most of these places at my web page. hope that helps you make your decision!

 

[Greg]

I wouldn't classify Loon as "small" (third highest vertical in NH). There's a ton of great intermediate (and some nice advanced) terrain, and if you're right there, why not spend some time on the mountain? There is some inherent value in walking out of your room and clicking into your skis without having to load the car, drive X minutes, unload, walk to the lodge, boot up, buy lift tickets, and then click in...

We spent 5 nights at the Mountain Club last February and are spending five more this coming March and we were able to keep busy at Loon all four ski days. This year we're going to hit Cannon at least once though as I've never been. Here are pics from last year's trip.

I would say Steve's times for Cranmore and BW are a bit short. Cranmore is probably more like 35 minutes and BW is a least 25 provided you have good road conditions.

As for deals on lift tickets, your best bet would be to check out the mountains' Web sites. All URLs, stats, and rate links can be found on our New Hampshire ski resort profile pagehttp://skiing.alpinezone.com/resorts/?state=NH. Hope this helps!

 

[First Tracks]

Wildcat's reputation as a tough mountain may put you off for what you're looking for, but they've got some loooooooong cruisers off the summit with, as riverc0il pointed out, stunning views of Mt. Washington off the summit if it's not socked in.

Loon is a largely intermediate mountain, so in that respect it may be just what you're looking for. It may get a bit packed on weekends, but you should be fine if you're staying midweek.

Perhaps it's a bit more than an hour, but Sunday River (Maine) isn't far and offers a ton of cruising, too.

 

[Vortex]

If going to Loon, You can go everywhere. A few off mountain thoughts... Loon also has a kids night out where they will feed and watch your young ones and let you go out to dinner. If going to the area lounges apre ski Babe the Blue Ox is where I go a little less people. They allow kids with an adult. Tubing availible also, but pretty harsh for real young kids. Waterville about 35 min away has lots of stuff for kids to do and fireworks usually Sat around 7pm.

 

[riverc0il]

thanks for adjusting those times greg. i wasn't 100% certain on them. Rich, i had assumed since you were staying near loon you would be skiing there. greg makes a great point in that since you are there, you should definitely give loon a go. the place you are staying at probably has some package deal for sure. a little crowded on the weekend, but plenty of wide open cruisers for sure.

 

[RichTJ99]

Im going to definately head to loon moutain for 2 days or so, but since were in NH for a week I figure, Loon MTN 2 days, Moutain X 1 day, Mountain Y 1 day, shopping / relaxing for another day or so.

Any online deals for tickets?

I was kinda hoping that days 1 & 2 at loon, Day 3 rest, Day 4 bigger mountain somewhere else (long trails & short lines), where should we spend day 4?

 

[Vortex]

I would shop in North conway and Ski at Sunday river. I rent a place at the Green Granite in North Conway every Nh Feb/ March Kids vacatiffers a little of everything.
Attitsh close, Cranmore small, but nice right there Sr about and hour black mtn 15 min. Wildcat pretty close. Alot of nice activities and cool little pubs and Rest in North conway. Loon across the Kanc highway about 1 1/4 hours to North Conway slow pretty ride. A little over 30 miles but alot of curves. My 2 cents

 

[riverc0il]

no online deals that i know of, but cannon has two-fer tickets on tuesdays and thursday and wildcat does two-fer wednesdays if price is a factor.

Bob R mentions Sunday River, but that's more than the 1 hour rich wanted to keep it under. also, wildcat isn't too "close" to loon at about an hour's drive (compared to the other areas mentioned as time is relative here) but still an hour (barely). north conway is definitely the place to shop, though the small mom and pop shops in lincoln and north conway should not be overlooked. also, crossing the kanc from loon to north conway is a lot less than 1 1/4 hours... i'd estimate closer to 30-35 or so.

 

[Greg]

also, crossing the kanc from loon to north conway is a lot less than 1 1/4 hours... i'd estimate closer to 30-35 or so.

I want to say it's 26 miles from Lincoln to Route 16 via the Kanc. A solid 40 minutes with good road conditions.

 

[kfan]

For discount lift tickets (not online though), Loon, Waterville and Cranmore has a corporate program which is a pretty good deal. You might want to ask around to see if anybody you know works at a company that participates in this program. The price points are as follows:
Loon Mountain: $45.00 (save up to $14.00)
Waterville Valley: $37.00 (save up to $12.00)
Cranmore Mountain: $33.00 (save up to $6.00)

 

[Vortex]

Sorry Guy's you are right, Campton to End on kanc 1 1/4 hours. The sign pretty much at the beginning of the kanc(North Conway Side) on way to Loon says Loon 30 Miles I think. My suggestions were if you wanted to maybe stay in Conway or North Conway a night. Sorry I bungled this one.

 

[Greg]

No apologies needed, Bob. It certainly could take 75 minutes if the roads are bad...

 

[Vortex]

Thankx Greg , I was thinking of leaving from my place not Loon. (Just twisted a bit)