Where can I expect the least crowd on Presidents' Day - Cannon, Loon or Mt. Sunapee?

[New Daddy]

I'm planning a day trip on the Presidents' Day with friends.
Based on the distance from Boston (<2.5 hours) and terrain, we've decided to go to either Cannon, Loon or Mt. Sunapee.
Of the three, where can we expect the least crowd on the holiday?

 

[Puck it]

Cannon probably. That is all I can say.

 

[riverc0il]

Cannon hands down.

 

[billski]

+1

 

[deadheadskier]

Cannon

 

[Mildcat]

Cannon but whatever you do, DO NOT take the extra time to go up to Burke. It will be super crowded with 45 minute lift lines. :wink:

 

[snoseek]

^^^^^^^ Yeah

 

[riverc0il]

Cannon but whatever you do, DO NOT take the extra time to go up to Burke. It will be super crowded with 45 minute lift lines. :wink:

Plus Burke is waaaaay more than three hours from Boston. You'd never know it practically borders NH.

 

[from_the_NEK]

Cannon but whatever you do, DO NOT take the extra time to go up to Burke. It will be super crowded with 45 minute lift lines. :wink:

Thanks for the heads up. I better stay away from Burke too:razz:

 

[SIKSKIER]

Don't go in this order Loon,Sunapee,Cannon.

 

[billski]

The question has been capably answered in the narrow confines of the question.

So, you've picked three mountains that are guaranteed to be busy. What's your priority and what's your objective here? Are you locked in on these three?

Bill

 

[riverc0il]

So, you've picked three mountains that are guaranteed to be busy.

Correction... only two. I wouldn't even call Cannon "busy" on its busiest of days. And I have logged quite a few of them there.

 

[billski]

Correction... only two. I wouldn't even call Cannon "busy" on its busiest of days. And I have logged quite a few of them there.

Um, no, the thread title cites three, which I what I am drawing back to.

I've logged many days at Cannon, not as many as you, but still enough to have a credible opinion. However I think this discussion is beyond you and I and goes back to what the original questioner wants. So to give it perspective, how do you define as "busy"? Lines, slopes, tables? Busier than a week day? certainly. Busier than Burke?
Not trying to be antagonistic, just bringing it back to the core question.

 

[riverc0il]

Um, no, the thread title cites three, which I what I am drawing back to.

I wasn't talking about the thread title. I was referring to your reference that the OP was considering three busy mountains. Which is not true. Cannon is not in the same class for "busy" as the others mentioned. No matter what the OP's opinion of "busy" is, Cannon is not in the same class of "busy" just like Burke is in a different class of "busy" than Cannon.

 

[New Daddy]

The question has been capably answered in the narrow confines of the question.

So, you've picked three mountains that are guaranteed to be busy. What's your priority and what's your objective here? Are you locked in on these three?

Bill

No, I'm not locked in on these three at all.

Actually I carried out what I believed to be considerable due diligence.
I checked out all ski resorts within 2.5 hrs drive from Boston (based on Google Maps calculation, not allowing any credibility to what the resorts claim) and looked into their vertical, skiiable acreage, terrain and other intangibles (such as friendliness of the staff, mostly based reports in this forum).
I dropped a few resorts (e.g., Crotched, Waterville, Whaleback, Ragged, Pat's Peak, etc) within 2.5 hrs drive from Boston based on those criteria.

Of course, I'm very open to suggestions as I haven't actually been to any of these resorts.

 

[deadheadskier]

Wildcat would certainly be worth consideration as well; fits all of your criteria and does have a few great 2100 vert top to bottom cruisers that are accessed by one single 6 minute chair ride. If you're looking to rack up vert, Wildcat is probably the best option in NH if not New England because of that one lift.

 

[hammer]

No, I'm not locked in on these three at all.

Actually I carried out what I believed to be considerable due diligence.
I checked out all ski resorts within 2.5 hrs drive from Boston (based on Google Maps calculation, not allowing any credibility to what the resorts claim) and looked into their vertical, skiiable acreage, terrain and other intangibles (such as friendliness of the staff, mostly based reports in this forum).
I dropped a few resorts (e.g., Crotched, Waterville, Whaleback, Ragged, Pat's Peak, etc) within 2.5 hrs drive from Boston based on those criteria.

Of course, I'm very open to suggestions as I haven't actually been to any of these resorts.

If you could provide any info on what more of your "requirements" are, then we may be able to provide some alternatives...

I don't get to any of the 3 areas you mentioned with any regularity, but my limited experiences with Sunapee and Loon lead me to believe that they will be very crowded on President's Day.

 

[SIKSKIER]

Um, no, the thread title cites three, which I what I am drawing back to.

I've logged many days at Cannon, not as many as you, but still enough to have a credible opinion. However I think this discussion is beyond you and I and goes back to what the original questioner wants. So to give it perspective, how do you define as "busy"? Lines, slopes, tables? Busier than a week day? certainly. Busier than Burke?
Not trying to be antagonistic, just bringing it back to the core question.

I've logged more than any of you (probably around 1500) and can tell you Riv knows what he's talking about.a crowded day at Cannon,like last weekend,will still only have a wait of 5-7 minutes with the exception of the tram which I never use.

 

[New Daddy]

Wildcat would certainly be worth consideration as well; fits all of your criteria and does have a few great 2100 vert top to bottom cruisers that are accessed by one single 6 minute chair ride. If you're looking to rack up vert, Wildcat is probably the best option in NH if not New England because of that one lift.

Certainly, Wildcat would fit the bill, although it's farther out and will take probably close to 3 hours to get there.
But all of my gang have been to WIldcat before and we would like to try a different place this time.

 

[New Daddy]

If you could provide any info on what more of your "requirements" are, then we may be able to provide some alternatives...

I don't get to any of the 3 areas you mentioned with any regularity, but my limited experiences with Sunapee and Loon lead me to believe that they will be very crowded on President's Day.

Our requirements would be:

* driving distance - as I emphasized in my OP, this is the most important requirement. We will venture farther out on other occasions. 2.5 hrs from Boston is our threshhold.

* vertical - at least 1500 ft.

* summit elevation - not a requirement per se, but we will use this gauge if the weather on D-Day is particularly warm (then to higher elevation) or cold (then to lower elevation). That's the beauty of day trips, I guess. For example, I've noticed that the summit (and base) elevations of Loon and Cannon differ by almost 1,000 ft, although the two have comparable verticals.

* skiiable acreage - since this will be a day-trip, we are not looking for a huge mountain, but enough acreage to keep us interested for a day. i.e., no Whalebacks.

* terrain - would like at least a couple of top-to-bottom cruisers. Glades are not a must this time, since we have non-tree skier/snowboarder. More of us feel at home on groomed runs than on bumps. Terrain park not required.

*scenery - this is a luxury item. will be nice if there is good scenery, but not a must.

We are not too picky about the food.

Thanks. I'm really open to suggestions.