Loon and Tremblant Announce Two of the East’s Biggest Ski Expansions in Years

Loon claims its expansion terrain (shaded in orange above) will make it New Hampshire’s largest ski area.

Background

In the past week, two of Eastern North America’s busiest ski areas have announced massive expansions, though they have vastly different targets for the skiing demographics.

Both Loon in New Hampshire and Tremblant in Quebec have announced terrain expansions, though Tremblant’s is more of a re-announcement, as it’s basically the same project that was announced just a few days before the COVID pandemic threw a wrench in their plans. We’ll look through each of these plans individually, who they’ll benefit, and when you can expect to ski or ride this new terrain. 

Loon Black Ridge Expansion

Boyne’s Loon Mountain has long been the go-to mountain for Boston area day trippers, but has fallen short of other New England mountains in terms of advanced and expert terrain, especially gladed terrain. That’s exactly what the Black Ridge expansion aims at fixing. This 272-acre expansion consists entirely of tree terrain, depending entirely on natural snowfall and offering a “raw, natural, and untamed” experience, per Loon’s website. While a 272-acre expansion may not seem the largest for those used to the massive footprints of western ski areas, it measures in at a 67% increase in Loon’s skiable footprint, one of the largest ski area expansions in recent memory by that measurement. This terrain is located to the looker's left of the North Peak terrain, and will be accessed by a 1.25 mile traverse, allowing skiers and riders plenty of options to choose their line. This expansion will be ready for the 2027-28 season.

Tremblant Timber Expansion

Up north of the border, Alterra’s Mont Tremblant will finally see an expansion that was first announced over six years ago, but was derailed by the COVID pandemic. Timber Summit is an eight trail expansion to the south of the main Mont Tremblant summit, and will eventually be served by a new high-speed quad, as well as a new beginner carpet and learning area at the Versant Soleil base. The trails off the Timber Summit will be largely beginner and intermediate focused, and will be fully covered with artificial snowmaking. This expansion will be broken up over the next two years, with the new learning area and carpet being ready for the 2026-27 winter, and the Timber high speed quad and full expansion being ready for the 2027-28 winter. 

Tremblant’s Timber expansion is finally on track after an eight-year delay.

Our Take

Loon Black Ridge Expansion

While these expansions are in a similar part of the continent, they couldn’t serve a more different purpose. Loon Mountain is taking aim at the advanced and expert skier demographic that has passed them by for years heading up to Cannon or into Vermont. This could lead to Loon getting more people taking shorter drives; however, it’s very hard to say how often this terrain will be open. New Hampshire generally gets much less snow than Vermont, and with this whole expansion depending on natural snowfall, the resiliency of this area is the main concern.

One additional concern is the lack of direct lift capacity to such a substantial amount of new terrain. Loon is already a very busy mountain with significant waits during peak times, and as of right now, the North Peak Express will be the only way to directly reach the traverse for these new glades. In other words, just one lift is likely to end up holding down access to nearly 45% of Loon’s entire skiable footprint. If Black Ridge does end up opening reliably, will the North Peak Express just turn into a huge chokepoint? 

This all being said, the need to traverse to such a substantial amount of the new terrain should help gatekeep it from too many crowds and naturally preserve the snow. Based on the topography, it also looks like some of Black Ridge may require a small amount of hiking to reach.

It is also worth noting that the new expansion will be indirectly paired with some capacity upgrades. While it won’t directly serve the new glade terrain, Loon is also planning to replace their four-passenger gondola with a 10-passenger variant, which should be a substantial improvement for the resort that we’ve detailed here.

Tremblant Timber Expansion

Tremblant, on the other hand, is focusing on expanding what they already do well: great family friendly terrain and a strong lift fleet. Timber doesn’t have anything you can’t already find at Tremblant, other than more sunny, south facing slopes, but it could lead to more people starting their day at the Versant Soleil base rather than the main Tremblant Village. One concern we do have about this expansion is all the trails from the expanded terrain seem to end on the L’Algonquin trail, which could lead to some very congested runs, especially since that’s already the main route down for beginners on that side of the mountain.

Overall, these are both positive additions to these busy Northeastern ski areas. They also collectively strengthen the Ikon pass for the region, as they’re both on that multi-mountain pass despite them being owned by different companies. Whether Loon will become the next glade skiing haven, or Tremblant will keep its place as one of the best ski areas for all abilities, only time will tell, but we’ll be sure to check these out once they’re fully open for the 2027-28 ski season.

Considering a trip to the Northeast? Check out our Loon and Tremblant reviews, as well as our East Coast ski resort rankings here.