Lincoln, New Hampshire — The biggest name in trail map design right now is Rad Smith. James Niehues passed the paintbrush to Rad Smith, who is now taking on some of the biggest trail map projects. These include Alta’s summer map, Ajax’s winter map, Big Sky’s summer map, Jackson Hole’s summer map, and Keystone’s winter map. One of the projects that he’s currently working on is designing a winter trail map for a ski resort that is bound for major growth.
A few weeks ago, Rad Smith showed off his latest winter portrait on social media. He hasn’t revealed who it’s for yet because the ski resort hasn’t given the formal approval yet, but it’s pretty clear that it’s Loon Mountain in Lincoln, New Hampshire. Some things that give it away are Loon Pond and the mostly identical trail network compared to other prior drawings. The one thing that makes it look different is the new trails to the right of the South Peak and Timbertown terrain pods.
This is the Westward expansion, part of South Peak Resort’s plan to develop a base village. Here’s a close-up of some of the new potential trails.
This isn’t the first time this terrain expansion has been mentioned. Loon Mountain includes it in its 2030 plan, and South Peak Resort also references this area on its website.
Loon has been investing heavily in South Peak recently. The biggest change was the addition of Timbertown, a terrain and lift expansion that caters to beginner skiers and riders. They will be opening a pulse gondola, which will connect the Riverwalk Resort and South Peak, during the 2025-26 season. Plans eventually include more real estate developments and a base village.
We don’t know the difficulty of the trails or what lifts will be used for this new expansion. However, when it comes online, this will certainly change how Loon skis.
Image Credits: Rad Smith, South Peak Resort, Loon Mountain Resort