“Ten years in the making, this project is a testament to our dedication to growth and innovation, and I can’t wait for our guests to enjoy it.”- Brian Norton, the President and General Manager of Loon Mountain Resort.
Last Saturday, the latest major terrain expansion in New England made its debut. On December 30th, Loon Mountain Resort opened up the Timbertown chairlift, which services new beginner and intermediate terrain. 60% of the terrain is classified as easy, while the rest is of intermediate difficulty. This expansion has helped grow Loon’s beginner terrain by 50%. The new terrain pod is serviced by a Doppelmayr Alpenstar 4-CLF chairlift.
I was able to go up to Loon on New Year’s Day to check out the new terrain. I typically park at South Peak due to it being a lot less crowded, so my routine didn’t change much. In terms of accessibility, getting to the terrain pod is simple. You can park at the Escape Route parking lot. From there, getting to the chairlift is a short walk.
Loading the lift is fairly easy, with a loading conveyor leading you into place. Loon has gone all-in on these conveyors, with the past three chairlifts having it as a part of the loading process. The chairs are comfortable and have a ride time of around seven minutes. I think that they could have gone with a high-speed detachable chairlift here, but it’s still a nice ride regardless.
In terms of the steepest pitch, that is likely the two trails under the lift line: Upper and Lower Stinger. Loon only installed snowmaking on some of the runs for this season, and it appears like the Stingers missed out for this winter. The other runs around the terrain pod are mellower, and frankly, will feel pretty flat for most guests above an intermediate level. This new terrain pod also has some glade skiing, with two glades initially opening up this winter. Not all the runs were open while I was there, as snowmaking efforts were ongoing.
At the top, you can either go to the left, which takes you back to the Cruiser run, or go right, which takes you to Stillwater, which takes you to various easy and intermediate runs and glades.
This investment in South Peak is likely a multi-year project. In the coming years, Loon plans to add more skier services and surface lifts for novice skiers and riders. The second phase of snowmaking additions will be put in next Fall.
In addition, the Undercut glade run on South Peak will be converted to a regular trail to give guests another option off the Lincoln Express. To my surprise, Undercut was completely gutted during the offseason, which you can see in the photo below. With the amount of trees that are still lying on the trail, an opening during this season seems unlikely unless we suddenly get transported to Utah.
Is this expansion for everyone? Probably not, and it likely won’t disperse the typical crowds that tend to hang around the Gondola and the Kanc 8. But it does give Loon Mountain a beginner area that’s more spread out compared to the cramped setup in the West Basin.
Ultimately, Timbertown will be a great place to learn to shred or is an ideal spot for those who want to chill out for a few runs.
Image/Video Credits: Ian Wood, Loon Mountain Resort
