It might be a bit of a drive, but I’ve been told this is a “do NOT miss!” Loon Mountain has an amazing experience that we can’t wait to see! Imagine the wonder of walking through the center of massive glacier-like solid pillars of ice, combined with tunnels, archways and caves. And all of it is built simply out of ice. Truly this will be an experience unlike any other on entire East Coast.
The Ice Castle will be open for tours daily. We suggest visiting at night, when multicolored lights embedded in the ice will transform the castle into a glowing, otherworldly spectacle! See this awesome video highlighting how the castles are built!
FYI: Here’s an admission deal for the Ice Castles from Living Social! $12 ($19 value) for admission for two OR $24 ($39 value) for admission for four.
There’s lots to see and do at Loon (tubing, snowshoeing or ziplining, anyone?) and also in nearby Lincoln, NH. Certainly easy to make a day of it!
How are they built?
Utah-based artist Brent Christensen and his crew will travel to Loon to build the frozen fortress, which will be roughly an acre in size with ice walls reaching 25 to 40 feet into the air. Over the last few years, Brent has built similar castles in Colorado, Minnesota, and Utah. This will be his first Ice Castle on the East Coast.
They start by “growing” more than 5,000 icicles each day that they harvest and sculpt together. Newly placed icicles are then drenched in freezing water. The blend of icicle placement, changing temperatures, water volume, and wind result in an astonishing variety of ice formations. And so all of the beauty you see at the ice castle is a unique blend of an artistic eye and mother nature’s work.
The process is repeated once or twice a day, depending on temperatures. and after about a few weeks of growth they can create very large towers, tunnels, archways, caves, caverns, and safe pathways for pedestrian exploration. Continued development of the structures throughout the winter results in an evolving ice masterpiece. Odds are, that if you come to visit one of the ice castles more than once, you’ll have two very different experiences.
The Loon Mountain Ice Castle will be open December 27 – March 1, 2014.
Hours of Operation:
Monday – Friday: 2pm – 10pm
Saturday – Sunday: noon – 10pm
Ticket Prices:
Monday, Family Day:
General Admission: $8
Children age 4 to 11: $5
Children 3 and under: Free
Tuesday – Thursday:
General Admission: $9
Children age 4 to 11: $6
Children 3 and under: Free
Friday – Sunday:
General Admission: $10
Children age 4 to 11: $7
Children 3 and under: Free
- Season Pass: $25
- Senior and Military discount, $2 off General Admission
- Non-Profit discount available for groups of 10+ and Group Discounts for groups of 15+. Tickets must be purchased in advance, contact groupsales@icecastles.com for rates.
<—- Actual photo from this year’s ice castles!
Loon Mountain Ski Resort Ice Castles
60 Loon Mountain Road
Lincoln, NH 03521
