Loon Mountain Resort

I was so impressed on my first visit to Loon. The snow was great, the facilities are great, the people who work there are friendly and helpful, lots of trails, including a green beginner trail that starts at the summit, and whole sections of harder trails for more advanced skiers and boarders. We were there on a Tuesday and Wednesday (not during school vacation) and we barely had to wait for lifts. It was a great experience and I know I improved while there, aided by the good conditions and long runs. I’d love to go again!

I love Loon everything about it is great and I’ve been going there for a long time. But now I’m finally 21 and I went to the octagon lodge bar to buy drinks for the first time. I asked for 2 White Russians and the cashier rang them in and the bartender was asking who the second one was for. I told her they were both for me because the line for the bar was a solid 10 minute wait. She proceeded to ask if I was going to drink both and I said yes. She then gave me one and said when I’m ready for the second I can come back and I said no because I paid for 2 already, and the cashier told her I paid for 2. Also I wasn’t the only person in line buying more than one drink, I believe she was giving me a hard time because she thought I was getting the second for someone under 21. She said when I was done with the first and ready for the second I could go back and she’ll make the other so I chugged the first one right there at the front of the line and she said «don’t do that in front of me!» Then I told her I was ready for the second one! She was baffled and the cashier was shocked that I did it but didn’t say anything because the bartender was being unreasonable with me. I then took the second drink and walked away without tipping her because she was so unprofessional. I then went outside and shared the second drink with my friend who wasn’t 21 :) the only regret from this experience was me not telling her that the first one was weak and she needed to add more alcohol. Learn how to do your job babe!

Loon is my go to mountain when I’m in New Hampshire to ski/​snowboard with family and friends. Currently, their full day adult lift tickets are $ 85 ($ 10 off if you’ve got your student or military ID) or $ 75 for a half day starting at 1pm.
Lots of trails, and they are well groomed with really nice lifts. I hate getting off any lifts when I’m on my board (as opposed to skis), and am thankful for their speedy gondola so I can avoid it.
I’m on the beginner/​intermediate side, and have no trouble with their greens and blues. They can be a bit steep at times, but it’s totally manageable.
Loon is situated in a cute town, and theses lots of affordable eating/​drinking spots to visit after your time on the mountain.

I’ve been skiing at Loon mountain for over 20 years, but I missed the last year because the value just isn’t there anymore for me. I love the North peak with it’s steep slopes and the addition of the south peak. Our kids learned to ski here, so we will always have great memories here, but with so many other mountains offering 2 for 1 pricing midweek, I can’t justify paying double. Hope they change!

We’ve been here on vacation before, just for a day trip, and had a really fun time. It’s geared more towards kids, but it’s adult-​friendly too. The treetop aerial park is a lot of fun no matter what your age, and is less scary than some of the bigger, badder locations. The little zipline is not very exciting, but it’s a great first experience for someone new to ziplining. There’s also a small climbing wall and a gondola you can ride to the top of Loon Mountain, which has some great views.
This most recent trip we weren’t here to play in the trees, but to get a tour and speak with an event coordinator about possibly having our wedding here. I was a bit hesitant at first, because the general look and feel of most of the structures here are not very elegant. It was a little more old-​fashioned-​ski-​lodgy than I had envisioned initially, and there are always lots of kids around, but my fiancé was excited about it and we decided to explore the option. Turns out, the views are so awesome, I didn’t really care about the other things. We met with Jill, who was really wonderful and patient despite her hectic day. She showed us around, answered all of our questions, and gave us a few pointers. The price is really reasonable, the location is fun for an outdoorsy family (there are larger ziplines and great hiking not far away), and clearly the event coordinators are really good at what they do.
It’s looking like we may end up at Loon for our wedding! If you’re looking for a New England wedding (or other event) with a view, I recommend checking this place out !

$ 72 for a spring ticket? Greedy company. Unreal. You’d have twice the amount of riders if it were cheaper. Workers and regulars all told me it was the most greedy mountain to ride on. Gas prices went down, prices stayed, spring extended, Prices stayed the same, unreal. You should be ashamed of the way you treat your regular customers who come back all year. We come to this mountain because of the locality and conditions. At some point as a business owner you give back to your valued customers. You should really be ashamed of your greed and disrespect for your regulars. I will not be back next year as a customer and will certainly not book my annual group vacation or weekly visits due to this rip off organization.

Been skiing here since I was 2 years old and have been here almost every winter since! I also learned to snowboard here in ’06.
I love loon because it has wonderful snow and a large variety of trail difficulty from the bunny hill in the family zone all the way on the bottom left to the terrain parks above the bunny hill to the black diamonds at North Peak and South Peak to the double black diamonds at South Peak! There is definitely a huge variety for different leveled terrain for skiers and boarders to choose from!
The mountain is huge with a base elevation of 950 ft., a summit elevation of 3,050 ft., & a vertical drop of 2,100 ft. with 61 trails and 370 skiable acres! The longest trail is Bear Claw which is 2.5 miles long and is a green trail for beginners. It goes from the top of the mountain at loon peak all the way to the bottom in the West Base area and is perfect for anyone more advanced than the bunny hill. There is 12 lifts and they’re all in great condition. I personally love the gondola because the walls block the wind when you’re riding up the mountain.
Loon has the most powerful snowmaking system in New Hampshire which means ski season starts early and ends late because they can make high quality snow in high quantities. This is great for skiers and riders because we can enjoy a longer season! Who doesn’t want to do that?
Loon is so sure that you will love the conditions that if you don’t, you can let them know before 11:00 am and they will give you a voucher to come back any other day that season! This is great news because I’ve had previous experiences at other mountains where the conditions were not as I had hoped and I asked for a voucher (knowing that loon gives vouchers) and they looked at me like I had 3 heads. I was then forced to make a decision on whether I should leave and waste my money or stay and bear the bad conditions. Needless to say, I left and wasted my money that day.
The staff is very nice and the ski patrol is on point! If you hurt yourself skiing or boarding, they will find you asap and help you down the mountain whether it be in a toboggan or skiing with you down the mountain and they make sure you are safe!
Loon Mountain Resort gets 5 stars from me and I would highly recommend this mountain to everyone!

My Loon is the autumnal version (so if you’re looking for comments on skiing or riding, feel free to skip ahead to someone else’s review); it’s the first thing we see after getting off the Kanc and the last thing we see when we get back on it to head home. The views passing by it, or even stopping to explore it, during those September/​October months feeds the foliage addiction quite well, #thankyouverymuch.
There’s also quite a bit that goes on here (and most other ski resorts in New England) in non-​snowy weather. There’s an Adventure Center where you can zip line, jump on a bungee trampoline, or try your luck at the rock climbing wall. You can also take a trip on NH’s longest gondola ride (up the 2,700+ foot summit of Loon Peak) where you’ll see amazing views of the White Mountains (near the peak is also nature trails, a place to pan for gold, glacial caves, and a café). It’s a bit pricey, though, at $ 16 per person. Egads!
There are also some really fun events: we’ve been here for the White Mountain Oktoberfest (usually the second weekend of October) and had a great time drinking in the mountain air, and drinking up the sites, and, well, just plain drinking. There was German food, an Oompah-​band, games, and it was free to enter (with a valid 21+ ID… a mistake we learned after parking in the lower lot, walking all the way up sans ID’s, walking all the way back to the car to get our ID’s, and walking all the way back up… never was a beer more needed!).
Loon’s definitely worth checking out during the non-​traditional skiing months if you’re looking for some of that infamous New England scenery!

This is a follow up review to my first which was prior to my kids snowboarding all-​day camp.
They had a blast! My son was up the lift very quickly being that he was in level 3. After his lessons he moved up to a level 4 and he was ecstatic! He wanted to keep going even after a 7-​hour day on the mountain.
My daughter was in a younger group and she too loved it! She learned to turn and stop whichever huge for her!
Will defend come back again soon!

Did a day trip here the Saturday of MLK Jr. weekend and had a great time. It was only a 2.5 hour trip from Boston and even getting a late start, we were on the mountain by 10:15pm. I would recommend buying your ticket in advance and then just picking it up at the Octagon Lodge ticket window. My limited interactions with the staff were great and everyone was so friendly and knowledgeable.
For a winter where Boston hasn’t seen much snow, and Loon had reportedly only got a few inches over the last 7 days, I was pleasantly surprised at how much powder there was to start the day. I credit that to a cold week and good weather for snowmaking. It is the east, so as the day grew later, the trails got a bit icier but that’s too be expected.
I am an advanced intermediate-​expert skier and the mountain was perfect for my ability. There were a lot of blues and blacks that seemed to weave in and out of one another. My friend and I noticed that there weren’t a lot of green trails which I found odd considering Loon seems to be a very family-​friendly resort. If you’re more of a novice, I would recommend Waterville Valley which is in the same area, but a bit more beginner focused.
Despite it being a holiday weekend, the crowds weren’t bad. We didn’t have to wait at all for the North Peak Quad which allowed us to get more runs in. There were a few times when my friend and I were the only ones on the trail. That said, we made an effort to avoid the family areas, which are clearly marked. We rode the Gondola a few times and the average wait time was around ~15 mins. Not a terrible amount of time to wait given it takes some time to get down the mountain and you can always stop at the other quads and get back up to the peaks pretty easily.
We were able to get 11 runs in which was great — and for the $ 83 ticket, it was only $ 7.5 dollars per run. This is not the cheapest mountain but given the size of the mountain, the snowmaking, and accessibility from the highway, it is well worth the price.
The only downside was that it took 2 hours and 15 minutes to go three miles and get on 93 leaving Loon. I have never experienced anything like it. While we couldn’t see an accident, there must’ve been something (or a traffic light out) because once we got on 93, it was smooth sailing. To err on the side of caution, next time I would try and get to the mountain when it opens (8am on weekends and holidays) and then leave by 2:30−3pm. UPDATE — I learned the traffic was due to the Ice Castles down the road from Loon. You’ll have been warned. Plan accordingly.

Great mountain for every skill level… whether you like the cruisers, the steeps, the glades, or the parks. Lines get long on the weekends, but the runs are nice and long so it’s worth it. Can’t beat 2 hrs from Boston. The grilled cheese in the Octagon Lodge is amazing on a frigid day (make sure you get bacon).

This isn’t a skiing review.
I go to Loon Mountain every September for the Highland Games and Scottish Festival. They have the gondola and chairlift running if you want to ride to the top (although they do charge). At the top of the mountain, there is a playground for kids, some trails through the woods, and a building with food and bathrooms. Also, there is a sweet three story viewing tower and some caves (they built a wooden walkway to them and marked the caves) that you can explore. At the bottom of the mountain, they have the Octagon and Governor’s Lodges, which have always been very clean. I thoroughly love going there!

Wedding Review for Loon Mountain!
We were married at Loon Mountain on September 6, 2014. We chose to have our wedding ceremony at the top of the mountain and the reception in the lodge by the Gondola. We had approximately 140 guests. When you choose to have a wedding outdoors you run the risk of rain. We took the risk because we fell in love with Loon as soon as we sat down for our consultation. On the day of our wedding it started misting in the morning. We received a call from Abby, the wedding coordinator, asking if we would like to have our ceremony inside or continue with our wedding on the top of the mountain. We chose to risk it all and stick with the mountain top ceremony. Loon was great and provided 75 umbrellas even though it was not raining as the guests were going up the gondola for the ceremony. When the ceremony started we had a small patch of blue sky above us. My father gave me away to my husband and our ceremony started. As soon as my Aunt started the opening prayer raindrops began to drip down. Then, it was a torrential sideways downpour. Now you might think I am giving a bad review at this point, but no, this was the most amazing thing to happen on our wedding day! It was so much fun, everyone was laughing and smiling, and the show went on! Rain or shine your wedding day feels like the best day of your life and in our situation, the rain only made it better! We then went to the bottom of the mountain to start cocktail hour. We were greeted at the end of the gondola with a table full of towels and Loon staff helping us with anything we asked for. The bridal party was shuttled down to the river to take group photos, soaked and all! The pictures came out amazing! Once we were announced into the reception we were immediately greeted by a server asking if we needed anything to drink. We were able to eat our meals at our sweetheart table and then continued our amazing reception! The meals are incredible! The staff constantly made sure we were taken care of throughout the night. I would highly recommend Loon Mountain as a wedding venue to anyone looking to have an amazing New Hampshire wedding! The staff is unbelievable and the venue is beautiful, rain or shine!

This is a family friendly resort so expect plenty of kids 3 and up. If you have problem with little kids getting in your way in the easier trails by the bunny side, Loon is not for you. I found it fun dodging little kids going down the green — made it more interesting than just go straight down.
I found the trails pretty fun for my level — intermediate. It was a blast crisscrossing between the bases. There’s a gondola here if you get psyched out by lifts.

I’m not a skier our boarder, so I don’t have the foggiest about things like slopes and resort accommodations.
I was just at Loon for the Ice Castle, and can say that I was generally pleased with the experience. It was busy, and I didn’t see any staff on hand to help with parking, but the patrons were surprisingly rational and aware of what was going on.
Signage was lacking – we had trouble seeing the Ice Castle direction and parking signs, and signage at the Castle site was basically non-​existent. We (and MANY other patrons) had Groupons for the night, and almost all went to the end of the line, not knowing there was a separate line – I’m so thankful the people behind us were kindly listening in on our conversation and brought us with them when they found out there was a separate line!
The Castle itself was awesome. The paths were large enough and not slippery (we saw people with canes, wheelchairs and strollers go through almost the entire space), the ice formations/​fountains/​lights were magical. It was like wandering in a faerie tale castle. Some areas got bogged up, but the Castle itself was large enough to go around and come back to a particular area later.
I can’t wait till next year.

This is by far my favorite place to go snowboarding, I’m from Miami and started snowboarding last year, I’ve been around New England resorts and Loon is definitely the best. The trails are perfect to practice making my trips so much fun.
Unlike other mountains resorts like Cannon where the trails are mixed up and very confused, I ended up on a black :(, at Loon if you just follow the green dots (seriously who can’t do that) you’ll be totally fine, family slopes if you are with your family. The beautiful Ice Castle. They have tubing, parks, so many trails from the bunny slope to the double black, zipline, cross country, daycare. Lunch break at one of the restaurants and at the end of the day you can chill out at the Bar. They have shuttles, from/​to the different lodges. I just came back from there, we spent out Valentine’s weekend there. Impossible not to be happy about Loon.

I think it’s really unfair that people give this place a low ranking because they think it’s not for beginners. What about those of us who have been skiing our whole lives?! We like it here. And here’s why:
1. South mountain has some great new steep slopes. With some good snow you can’t beat jobber and ripsaw. Parking can always be found there (contrary to another review it’s open to the public)
2. The terrain is varied and not too difficult — most intermediates would find it to be perfect and experts have a few choices as well. Yes, it’s crowded during holidays (where isn’t it though?!) but you have to know where to go at certain times — and no I not going to tell you
3. Boyne members can ski at other resorts such as big sky using their season pass! Plus rewards= 15% off in their ski shop
4. The shop, which used to be sport Thoma but no longer is, is much improved
5.friendly staff
Maybe they don’t have a ton of easy «green» terrain but every other mountain in the area does so please take your terrible beginner skills over there so you don’t run into me (Bretton woods, Waterville, or go to NY– hunter, windham). This mountain has tons of little kids so I’m not sure what people mean by it not being a family friendly mountain.
If you’re a good skier you’ll like it here. Is it the size of Sunday river? No. but it does suffice for NH.
Ps. The waffles smell MUCH better than they taste and tix are overpriced at $ 81– why are they charging western prices for a east coast mtn.

Skied Loon over 15 years. The change in ownership in the last 5 years have made negative changes. South Mountain is now a privet area, any body can still ski their but not park, walk or enter the area in any way other than a lift, fortunately it’s not open much. The once flourishing family mountain now has very few child, beginner friendly areas, most were turned into parks and/​or are not open. The ski school thought run well for the very young, offers little more. Very few PSIA instructors and the school is ¹⁄₃ the size it was. We tried to take our son on bear claw but the over crowded trail is to dangerous for a child, fortune the ski school had plenty of availability and the everybody was great. The big question is, is Loon worth the money and it’s not.
The new ownership thinks this is UT or other west coast resort, focusing on long difficult family unfriendly trails. Ignoring the first time vacationers, tourists and adults learning to ski, not to mention the out of shape professionals that are not used to long runs. The worst problem is the easier trails including blue are overcrowded. The no smoking signs are gone and smokers are every were near the lifts, seating areas lodge. While I would still come here during the week if tickets we around $ 50, it is not worth the current $ 82 dollar price. Cannon is now better in every way. I came to Loon with my family only because I was given free passes. I will not come here in the future.

Among the avid or extremely proficient, the more barren a mountain, the better. And it makes sense — powder doesn’t get skied off, novices aren’t barreling into to your frigid, brittle body and there’s never a wait for lifts of bread bowl chowder.
But then word gets out, and those quiet runs get bogged down with every skill level, and the pros take to new snows. Well, I’m an intermediate skier who rents equipment, approaches blue-​blacks with serious caution and spends as much time as he can on the trails. These in mind, Loon has been a great experience every visit.
Tips to escape the mad rush:
— Go early. On one of only a few snowy weekends, the mountain was practically covered in corduroy from 8:30 til 11am, Saturday and Sunday.
— Go mid-​week. See above, but for all day. It’s worth one of your stacked upon sick days.
— Stay near the peak. Biggest crowds assemble at the high-​speed gondola quad and most other base lifts. Keep your elevation high, and you can ski blues from Loon (East basin lift) and North (Express Quad) Peaks all day.
— Find Cruiser. Take Exodus from Summit Lodge to the Tote Road Quad. That’ll dump you off on the East Peak — a very quiet, black diamond assembly including the park’s toughest run (Rip Saw). But, break left and find a long, scenic blue that, in this humble rookie’s opinion, is the most peacefully fun run on the mountain.
And to ease financial woes, consider renting offsite. While the equipment is well maintained, you can find cheaper gear in solid condition just down Main. And don’t forget the Unconditional Guarantee! After eight solid hours on a Saturday, we found ourselves wiped out by 10:30a Sunday. Brought our lift tickets to the service window, and they gave us vouchers for a full day lift ticket any day this season — no questions asked.
Reading this boss? Starting to feel a little sick next Wednesday…

Pro:
— more trail options than other areas nearby
— lots of intermediate trail options, which is perfect for my ski level
— access to tubing, which is a fun option for non-​skiers or boarders
–easy to get to from highways and pretty ample parking
— food options close to the mountain, including a grocery store for provisions
— trail maps are at base and top of each chairlift
— awesome snow making ability. (this winter has seen little natural snow)
Cons:
— pretty expensive ($ 78 for adult day pass)
— can get crowded fast, esp with lots of families
— gondola is great, but line is tooooooo long
— can get crowded at top of lift with groups gathering and boarders strapping into gear
— if you are a true beginner, trail options are limited