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!
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!