Loon mtn, nh, 1/20-21

joegm

joegm

New member
a somewhat irritating 2 days for sure...Loon on tuesday- temps about 5 with strong winds of about 20 -30... caused major slow down on gondy....gondy lines sucked, excuse the language, all day... from 10 am to 3:30p it was 15 to 20 min... yes even on tues... it was so cold no one was riding other lifts .... not as cold as last 2 weeks for sure, but still too cold factoring in wind, just to cruise around , in my opinion... which is problematic cause still no moguls of substance... anywhere.... at least 5 different race groups at loon on tuesday made things mildly irritating... super pipe ( legit 15 ft walls ) is open with some nice tables in the park.... no skiable tree lines... tried mike's way once... not worth it...double dip and trip trouble not even close... lower flume was open and flat ... best snow on the mountain i.m.o... they were blowing on upper flume for 48 plus... however, their refusal to run the double mid week made the access to lower flume either gondy ( see above ) or the ridiculous north peak triple, which one maybe could justify in the cold if sunset had anything but pure ice on it, which it didn't.. w boss is 50% fake pp and 50 % cue balled ... again, just not worth riding that triple imo... other wise flat groomed out fake pp with spots of slick all over the lower blues. plan was to hit k on wed, but my buddy g, got sick tues night and didn't even attempt to ski on wed... wed at loon - much of same except no wind made it much more comfortable... about 10 f in am probably up to 15 by pm. that was the god.. the bad was it was even more crowded with more racers... boarders and skiers....they took over every trail off the hsq ( skiers right ) for either race in prog- race training- and a boardercross couse being built. i find this to be the biggest load of bull cookies since the wildcat web site report, but who am i to judge, right. skied about 70 % of my usual turns on a reg ski day on wed, with most coming on lower flume ( best snow again on wed ) gondy on wed was agian 15 to 20 min... not to sound like a whiner, but loon is really starting to irritate me and my buddy at this point. i'll give it to them for this : they have done a credible job in maintaining an edgeable surface of fake pp on about 70 % of the skiable terrain, with the other 30 being scoured and ice...i fully acknowledge that it has been awful for natural snow so far and knowing they are limited for water for fake... but i find the following inexcusable and deceptive at this point.... 1) no bumps ... they have 10 moguls set up at the bottom of rampasture, which as my buddy points out correctly, is probably the stupidest place they could put medium pitched bumps because it spills directly out on to the boulevard that feeds down into the hsq... what purpose these bumps serve i have no idea and with loons lower end skiers trying these bumps ( that's a good thing ) and flying out into the intersection once they get into the back seat ( that's a bad thing ), it's a crash waiting to happen.. the old run under the hsq was a perfect area, but as reported earlier , they are claiming they will be putting in yeat a 3rd jib park/ run in that area. ( they were blowing the hell out of hsq line all day t to b on wed so they must be looking to get something up and running on that line... in this bad snow year so far the management at loon has managed to blow enough snow to get a 500 ft superpipe up and running, 2 jib parks, enough snow to build tubing walls at night, and as of today, a monster major league skiercross course of about 2500 feet long... they find it ok to put on their web site phony trail counts that do not factor in them shutting down at least 4 trails per day for " racing "...one of which is the only steep trail ( relatively ) of the hsq. the head of the ski school, and at least 5 different red coats, when confronted about lack of bumps, say " we love bumps... but management just doesn't seem to like them "...management, when confronted about lack of bumps, talks out of both sides of their mouth and promises bumps but at the same time, says they cannot give up terrain for the general public's best interest.. yet they are willing to give up terrain for racing and skiercross events , none of which the general public participates in... they are willing to pour money and manpower into building 30 foot tables and superpipes and buy a soundsystem for the park that i would be afraid to guess how much it cost... to insure these park's and jibs that they build, they are willing to pay untold numbers of dollars to insurance companies so when every other year someone becomes crippled or dies there, they can still operate...but they can't find space for one freaking mogul run...it is really frustrating that a place that claims to be a big mountian type skiing experience, can only have a bump run only when the snow year is well above average...this mountain claims to have an official " freestyle " team. i thought the three components of freestyle were ballet , aerials and moguls... i guess i'm wrong... when i put it on the assistant ski school director on tuesday as to what exactly does the loon freestyle team do, he was speechless and could not provide an answer.... when i asked him why loon puts radio ads on the major boston radio stations that specifically say they have " mogul fields " ( plural ) , he starts to talk about lack of natural snow.... when it is pointed out that a monster boardercross course has somehow spawned from this lack of natural snow, he reverts back to being speechless...it is really getting irritating!!!!!!, getting snow blown up the u know what .. next wed and thurs probably from loon ( but maybe stowe or jay ) on wed and k on thurs.
 
Guess you had a bad day, huh? Or shall we say, guess you had a bad ski area? <BR> <BR>Well, now that you've vented, head up to N. Vt. as you plan. Wonderful conditions. I'm just back from 3 days at Stowe, it was heaven, though even some of the blue trails had low coverage, the constant refresh of snow, a few inches each day, just makes it better every day. Best part is that you really get to make fresh tracks somewhere, each day... <BR>Logoff and goski... <BR>bt
 
Has anyone ever had a good day of skiing at Loon? I'm serious ..... it seems like I've only heard bad trip reports from that place in this forum. <BR> <BR>For me, in NH it's Wildcat and Cannon (I enjoy both) and I've never skied anywhere else in NH for lift served and based on what I've heard, I don't wanna' ski anywhere else in NH for lift-served.
 
I skied Loon until the mid 80s. It was wonderful in the "olden days" before the place got popular. Once tix sales began selling out by 8:30am (read: they already sold far more tix than the mountain could handle), I bagged it. <BR> <BR>I would only go now on a Warren Miller midweek "powder rule" day, when the day trippers couldn't get through the highway. Translation: I haven't been there in 10 years and only then so my young-uns cold get a train ride ;)
 
Here is my take. I have skied loon about 15 times. Mostly because my friends go there so I have someone to ski with. The only time I have ever had a good time there was on an unusual day when they had about 12 inches of snow. Don't get me wrong the other ski areas probably had twice as much, but we picked loon again. We got on the highway and from Concord, NH to Lincoln there must have benn 50-60 cars off of the road. The only reason it was good was because no one else could get to the mountain. Therefore, you have a chance of getting a good day at loon of about 15-1. I'd say head somewhere else
 
I've been reading these crummy Loon reports for years here too. Bad natural conditions + bad management means vote with your feet and stop going there, no matter how cheap their passes are! <BR> <BR>Out here at Big Bear we also deal with challenging weather conditions and the past 2 1/2 seasons have been especially dismal in terms of natural snow. But Snow Summit/Bear Mt. do show intelligence in terms of applying their high-capacity but intermittent (due to our weather) snowmaking capacity. After a stretch of no snowmaking, their first priority is always grooming and maintenance of existing open trails. <BR> <BR>Bumps have become almost extinct. But remember that 70+% of the clientele is snowboarders. Therefore the terrain parks are very important. But in these warm seasons they create smaller jumps and use lots of rails and boxes for the jibbers. They certainly do not use snowmaking to build huge hits in the parks at the expense of basic coverage and conditions on the open trails.
 
my relationship/ continued patronage of loon, as illogical as it may appear to some , is based on 3 factors. 1) real estate- my buddy and i have had , for the past 5 years, a deal on a ski house for 7 months out of the 12, that is almost hard to believe. without getting bogged down with details that no one really cares about, we ( me and three friends pay $6000 total ( including all utilities ) for a 4 bedroom condo with a membership to an unbelievable health club facility. our place is literally a 500 foot walk to the hill. 2) directly related to #1 is at this point in my life, it's all about days on snow for me and becoming the best skier i can, because i can afford to allocate that amount of TIME to it, about 65 days on snow per year, for the last 3 years... not counting blackcomb in july. i'm not going to be able to live in this fantasy world of 65 days on snow much longer. while, at this point,while i do have time, i do not have unlimited money, so to be able to get in 60 day seasons, having a place to sleep for $1500 bucks for 7 months ( nov 1 to june 1 ) is huge. anyone familiar with new england knows that loon's location is one that is a 2 hour drive from metro boston and more importantly allows access to pretty much everywhere in new england from jay to wildcat to K to mad river and everywhere in between in ABOUT 2 hours or less except, sugarloaf and southern vt, which are the 2 places i don't ski. 2 hours or less to any big mountain or small mountain for that matter, is very important if one is not blessed with unlimited funds and if one is trying to ski every week for close to 28 out of 30 or so weeks in a row. this isn't everyone's goal or ideal... i understand that and respect it... but right now it's mine... and having a base out of loon allows ne to do this... i probably ski loon about 1/2 the time i ski... or i should say i have skied loon about 1/2 the time and the other half, road trips . billski suggest dropping all and heading to stowe... my response to that is believe me bro, if i hit the lottery tomorrow, i will indeed be a full time resident of the great town of stowe , vt quicker than you could say, goat, national and starr. ( yes, to me stowe is the total package, hands down for new england ) but i defy anyone to find a 4 bedroom place in stowe or k or anywhere else for 7 months with a health club for under $12,000, and you can add about another 2 k to that for utilties. ( this has been well researched ) what does all this have to do with going to seemingly aggravation filled loon? simple, it's all about realistic access, and loon allows realistic drive times every week to pretty much all of new england. loon offers a ridiculously cheap season pass for sure, and while it's not all about the money $100 %, i'd be lying if it was not a factor, so i can't at this point, with the goals i have, ( 60 plus days on snow ) just pack up and jump ship from loon as tony c suggests. ( of course if there are any philanthopists out there up at STOWE OR K ( the 2 places that, i think, could keep things interesting enough to ski exclusively for a 65 day season ), who want to rent out a 4 bedroom condo for 7 months for $6,000, well, you can be assured i wouldn't be whining about loon any longer. if i only could ski 10 to 15 days a year, u bet i'd be with bill ski for 3 day trips at stowe...but that's not the case right now, and right now 3 days at stowe buys me about 25 days of food and gas. 3) while it may seem that i hate loon, the reality is i don't...i have not and will not rip loon for things that are out of their control, like snow fall and to some extent, snowmaking because of thier restricted water supply....i get irritated at loon for decisions they make that while on the surface, seem populist in nature, seem to me, when examined closer, are the opposite, and only serve to put a negative spin on the ski experience. loon, in a good snow year for them, like last year, i really don't ahve a lot of complaints about. but when the snow gets sparse, i think they make decisions that are not good at all...i went over some of them with the most recent post on loon. obvioulsy i'm a mogul nut... i do not dispute tony c contention that parks are important economic driver ( especially at loon ). u would have to be a fool to do so... but i really feel the value of moguls is being overlooked by the management ( if indeed tony c 's contention that bumps are almost extinct is true ) and i'll try and briefly explain why with loon as an example. 3 years ago loon dedicated , for anyone who knows loon, the line under the h s quad to bumps. the pitch of this line is that of loon's average blue run, which is not very steep at all ( this is important ). the access to this line is a very swift 5 minute quad ride. loon also has a trail that they have bumps on that is a black ( lower flume ) and while it is no outer limits or white heat, it is steeper and is legitimately steep enough to be called a single black diamond trail. the bumps and snow on this trail generally suck as a result of being skied by ( through no fault of their own ) typical low end intermediate loon skiers. the result is usually one or 2 passes through by the average skier who is ambitious enough to try it and that's it. when loon came up with dedicating the quad line for bumps , the result was an unintimidating ( relatively ) run that offered a little excitement and diversity to an other wise pretty much cookie cutter ski experience ( outside of course, of the park/jib/pipe and racing ) as much as i acknowledge that the jibbing of the 14 to 16 year old males with no resonsibilites at all in life is a major ecomonic driver to resorts ( especially loon ) i content that there are major dollars poured into resorts by 40 to 55 year old folks with children under the age of 10. none of these folks, from my observations, have any use for , at all, a 15 foot superpipe or a 40 foot table. when loon put in that medium pitched bump run, i say it allowed this segment of skiers to get some variety and excitment in their otherwise same old same old skiing of groomed pp. i can't tell you how may times, last year ( a good snow year ) riding up the hsq, seeing little kids and their parents some meandering, some laboring, their way down the bump line. generally , it looked as though they were somewhat excited to be skiing something that 1 ) was a little bit different and felt a little bit challenging and 2) was not going to sent them to the hospital . obviously the blue bump run was what my buddy's and i were looking for too, as our approach was to learn to ski bumps properly ( yes, there is a proper way to ski bumps and it's not what the psia instructors tell you it is, but that's another rant ) but that was last year, in a snow year where loon did not have to blow snow at all on the run to have it not only skiable, but skiable with good snow. my buddy's and i actually did technically thorw in the towel on loon last year when, the year before that, ( the second year the bump run was there ) it did not even open due to lack of snow and thier refusal to blow snow on it. ) we were also just about ready give up the cheap real estate, strictly because of this fact. we decided to give it one more year, and that year produced last year, which was killer for that bump run. my beef with loon ( and other places ) is that they bend over backwards and cater to everyone and every other aspect of skiing, but choose to totally ignore bumps. and i maintain that medium pitched, well maintained bump runs are a reasonable alternative to the person with small ( but competant ) child skiers looking for a little excitement and for person who cannot afford at this point in thier life to be hurling their bodies onto rials of steel or off of 40 foot gap shots. on a personal level, i think it is a joke that bumps are becoming almost extinct... if it were not for bump skiers, there would be no jibbing. my biggest gripe is that i just don't see why asking for 1 lousy maintainedmedium pitched bump run is such a big deal. one run... 1... uno.... i just don't get it. i just don't see why that is sooooo unreasonable
 
I feel your pain a bit, but you have to realize, this hasn't been the best season to expect a lot of bumps at Loon. That trail under the Kanc Quad (Lower Northstar) is awesome when bumped. It is the perfect pitch for an aspiring bump skier and is a huge confidence boost. Give it some time though. We are still in a very cold period, while great for snowmaking, doesn't translate into huge snowfalls needed for good bump skiing. I suspect February will be different and I would bet you will see bump conditions at Loon improve. I do appreciate your honest reports, especially on the bump situation on Lower Northstar which I love. I will be skiing Loon for a week at the end of February and hope to hit Flume, Triple Trouble, and Lower Northstar a lot. Also check out Rolling Bear. While it's a short drop, they often let that run bump up too. <BR> <BR>Greg B <BR><A HREF="http://www.alpinezone.com" TARGET="_top">http://www.alpinezone.com</A>
 
joegm: <BR> <BR>I'm sure someone has mentioned this before, but have you ever consider using punctuation and/or dividing your run-on sentences into paragraphs? I'm interested in reading what you have to say, but holy crap, I go cross-eyed trying to read your posts.
 
My comment about bumps being extinct was specific to the Big Bear areas. I believe that SoCal has the highest snowboarder concentration anywhere, derived from skateboarding and surfing. So they have negligible constituency for bumps. Nonetheless they maintain groomed runs to very high quality to accommodate both skiers and boarders who aren't into the park scene. <BR> <BR>The large western mountains with natural terrain will always have moguls somewhere. When we get natural snow here, the San Gabriel Mt. areas of Mt. Baldy and Mt. Waterman also have excellent bump runs. I suspect it's quite difficult to maintain decent snow conditions in moguls with just snowmaking when you can't grind up the hard base like you can on the groomers. <BR> <BR>My advice for a reasonably priced home base in New England would be to get farther from the ski areas but strategically placed for easy drives, say around the intersection of I89 and I91 near White River Junction? <BR> <BR>Obviously making a full season commitment to both skiing and lodging drives the costs way down. But as a fanatic (like most on these boards) I'd put more priority on the quality of skiing for next year and make the compromises on the lodging. The difference in conditions Billski cites is the rule not the exception.
 
joe and mark..........i last skied LOON in the 70s and hated it. long lines..spring conditions in feb,still rocks and trees poking up thru the snow.other areas woulda been a better pick.never went back.i remember it was like a human pig pile! <BR> <BR>how we all learn, <BR>brian o
 
Looks like February was a better month for Loon bumps. I skied there for four days last week and had a fantastic time. Here are a bunch of pics: <BR> <BR><A HREF="http://forums.alpinezone.com/modules.php?set_albumName=albun05&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php" TARGET="_top">http://forums.alpinezone.com/modules.php?set_albumName=albun05&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php</A> <BR> <BR>There's a brief TR with some videos on our forums too.
 
Hey JoeGM, <BR>I'd read your posts if you'd put some paragraphs in. Much easier to read that way. Keep the theme, just break it up a bit. Cheers
 
Lol ! <BR> <BR>Joegm has a unique kind of "paragraph writing" <BR> <BR>It's incredible sometimes the lenght of the single paragraph he writes ;) <BR> <BR>Keep on writing Joe !
 
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