Thoughts On The Mountain: Student Testimonies

"My day consisted of a bunch of fun things. We started off taking a gondola ride to the peak of the mountain to meet up with the terrain park manager. Once we were with him, he took us on a ride through the large park. We stopped a couple times on the way so he could talk about some features they had put it in. The next stop was to the park shop where Brian talked to us for a while about all the different kinds of things it takes to keep the park up and running. He explained how they make the jumps: they have to build the landing before they build the take off, and then they take a chainsaw to the sides of the take off to make sure the sides are aligned perfect. I thought that was pretty cool because that's something I didn't know before. After we were done with Brian, we got to free ride and go off on our own and explore the mountain. We went back to the peak again and stopped at the restaurant at the top, and we went out on to the deck and had this really nice view. We eventually rode back down and hopped on the little train they have that takes you to and from the opposite side of the mountain. We went to the top of that side and explored most of that side. After, we had lunch and then went back out and hit the medium and small terrain park for the rest of the day. It was a pretty sick day out at Loon."

- Jordan C.

"Today the Mountain Mechanics group traveled to Loon Mountain. The day was both informative and fun. At the beginning of the day, we met up with Brian Norton who told us a great deal about the challenges associated with his job of maintaining the park year round. I found it very interesting how park employees start preparing items for the park as early as summer. This just shows me how much hard work goes into preparing the park each season. After the meeting with Brian, we had the opportunity to ski the rest of the day. The conditions were mostly very nice, with some icy spots here and there on some trails. I found one of the most incredible parts of the day to be the beautiful view of snowcapped mountains that could easily be viewed while traveling up on either the chairlift or gondola. Overall, I had a great day and got the sense that the whole group did as well."

-Alex S.