I think all ski areas should have to list any terrain acreage that requires hiking or excessive poling with an asterisk. Loon is joining Sugarloaf with a ridiculously inflated total acreage that about 2% of their guests will ever use. If I wanted to hike and ski I would not be going to a lift served ski area.
What’s the over/under on the number of days this hike to terrain will be open per year? 15 days probably, and for anyone using anything but rock skis it will probably be single digit days open.
Spot on commentary, Stuart, including the present state of skiing at Loon, my home mountain. Indeed, "glades have been one of Loon's weakest points." Although my condo is on Black Mountain, I frequently head a little more than 1/2 hour north to Brettton Woods with its 35 glades -- everything from mellow Black Forest and Enchanted Bear to steep and tight double blacks (Mom Said No) -- that with greater upslope snowfall often has a dozen glades open while Loon has none. Hoping (particularly following my recent TKR) that despite Norton's "it's a true rugged experience," that at least some of the Black Ridge's terrain is similar to Lower Walking Boss Woods and a skier could navigate around the "steep gullies" (sure to attract the BroSquad from the terrain park). "Done correctly," I'm hoping that there will be "glades within the glade" that will offer a variety of experiences, perhaps even a cut through from Lower Walking Boss/Lower Walking Boss Woods with a cut over to mellower terrain in lower Black Ridge. Be nice to ski the same mountain that I live on.
In any event, hope you chase down Norton soon and we can be listening to a podcast as the first snow starts to fall.
Enjoyed the article, and I’m happy to see Loon opening up more terrain. My concern is that this ends up being more of a marketing tagline, “New Hampshire’s Largest Ski Area,” than truly sustainable ski terrain given the weather challenges you mentioned.
My contrarian view is that they would have been better off cutting a few more traditional trails out there and adding another lift to help pull traffic away from the rest of the mountain. As it stands, Loon has added more acreage that will probably appeal to a relatively small group of stronger skiers, while also giving them a great headline to market.
But I’m not sure it does much to solve Loon’s bigger problem, by 10:30 on a busy day, the mountain can feel incredibly crowded. More skiable acres are great, but I’d rather see expansion that helps spread people out and improves the experience across the whole mountain.
I’m rooting for Loon and Boyne but there’s a reason Loon has historically been light on tree skiing; natural snowfall or lack thereof. Cannon up the road is 1000’ higher and gets a little more upslope effect snow each winter. Still, this part of NH often is on the short end of the big coastal storms that crush Maine and the eastern Whites, and doesn’t get the upslope magic that Jay and the northern Greens are famous for. Still, it’s ambitious and bold - something the other big multi-mountain-pass NH owner really hasn’t been. Nice to see them putting capital back into their resorts. I hope it works!
I think all ski areas should have to list any terrain acreage that requires hiking or excessive poling with an asterisk. Loon is joining Sugarloaf with a ridiculously inflated total acreage that about 2% of their guests will ever use. If I wanted to hike and ski I would not be going to a lift served ski area.
What’s the over/under on the number of days this hike to terrain will be open per year? 15 days probably, and for anyone using anything but rock skis it will probably be single digit days open.
Spot on commentary, Stuart, including the present state of skiing at Loon, my home mountain. Indeed, "glades have been one of Loon's weakest points." Although my condo is on Black Mountain, I frequently head a little more than 1/2 hour north to Brettton Woods with its 35 glades -- everything from mellow Black Forest and Enchanted Bear to steep and tight double blacks (Mom Said No) -- that with greater upslope snowfall often has a dozen glades open while Loon has none. Hoping (particularly following my recent TKR) that despite Norton's "it's a true rugged experience," that at least some of the Black Ridge's terrain is similar to Lower Walking Boss Woods and a skier could navigate around the "steep gullies" (sure to attract the BroSquad from the terrain park). "Done correctly," I'm hoping that there will be "glades within the glade" that will offer a variety of experiences, perhaps even a cut through from Lower Walking Boss/Lower Walking Boss Woods with a cut over to mellower terrain in lower Black Ridge. Be nice to ski the same mountain that I live on.
In any event, hope you chase down Norton soon and we can be listening to a podcast as the first snow starts to fall.
Terry Hamilton
Enjoyed the article, and I’m happy to see Loon opening up more terrain. My concern is that this ends up being more of a marketing tagline, “New Hampshire’s Largest Ski Area,” than truly sustainable ski terrain given the weather challenges you mentioned.
My contrarian view is that they would have been better off cutting a few more traditional trails out there and adding another lift to help pull traffic away from the rest of the mountain. As it stands, Loon has added more acreage that will probably appeal to a relatively small group of stronger skiers, while also giving them a great headline to market.
But I’m not sure it does much to solve Loon’s bigger problem, by 10:30 on a busy day, the mountain can feel incredibly crowded. More skiable acres are great, but I’d rather see expansion that helps spread people out and improves the experience across the whole mountain.
I’m rooting for Loon and Boyne but there’s a reason Loon has historically been light on tree skiing; natural snowfall or lack thereof. Cannon up the road is 1000’ higher and gets a little more upslope effect snow each winter. Still, this part of NH often is on the short end of the big coastal storms that crush Maine and the eastern Whites, and doesn’t get the upslope magic that Jay and the northern Greens are famous for. Still, it’s ambitious and bold - something the other big multi-mountain-pass NH owner really hasn’t been. Nice to see them putting capital back into their resorts. I hope it works!
Great article. Have not skied Loon in ages, but you are giving me a reason to at least think about making that trip!