Loon Mountain Review

What day it was today on the southern slopes of the White Mountain National Forest. Loon, a new sister resort to Sunday River and Sugarloaf in the east, is a perennial favorite for commuters from Boston due to its' proximity to I93. Loon has been a major player in the east for a long time, but has struggled with expansion due to permits and changing ownerships. With a vertical drop of 2100 feet, Loon has an impressive drop and it isn't stacked; you can ski from the top of North Peak all the way to the base and then get back up on high-speed lifts. Having not skied Loon in over a decade, I'd heard horror stories about the massive crowds on the weekends and quite frankly I can't imagine the place on a busy day. Luckily, I was there mid-week and there were no crowds or lift lines. Even with the resorts long-awaited expansion to South Peak, the resort does not offer a lot of terrain. With a 4-person gondola and HSDQ getting people up the mountain, there are limited options from there. While I enjoyed the runs off North Peak, I couldn't see myself spending a lot of time at this resort. There are wonderful views and great cruising terrain, but the resort is nothing more than an intermediate haven. There is lack of really anything with much pitch and the only challenging terrain is off the trail map or out of bounds. If not for the fact that my pass to Sunday Rver allows me free skiing at Loon, I would have preferred to drive 10 minutes further to Cannon Mountain.