Gunstock 1/20/08 - 1/21/08

[hiroto]

Date(s) Skied: 1/20/08 - 1/21/08

Resort or Ski Area: Gunstock

Conditions: HP,FG

Trip Report:

Actually got there late afternoon on 1/29 (Sat) intending to do a little snow tubing before dinner. Turned out that they sell ticket for every two hours slot and we had to wait another couple hours before the next available slot so we bagged it. The place was very busy. Later I heard the line of the Panorama Quad to the summit was up to 20 minutes wait line by 10:30.

Sunday's single digit weather forecast scared off moms so they stayed in with 5,6 years old girls while I bundled up and took the 11 years old boys to the mountain. Condition was basically hard frozen base with a coat of loose snow, but it was holding relatively well and icy patches stayed sparse enough for two days to really not bother me nor kids.

We mostly skied Gunsmoke, Recoil and Trigger off the top. Unfortunately, most of the blacks were not open and no glades. Fortunately, the place was quite uncrowded comparing to the day before and the line was only up to 5 minutes at the most. I believe it was primarily due to the cold (-9F base and -22F summit wind chill), but we were comfortable enough except for cold feet which we had to go inside often and warm up.

Warming hut at the top of the mountain was very nice for that. And beside the chill, the weather was gorgeous. The view of Winnepesaukee from the top of the mountain was incredible for the whole weekend.

We found a nice small beginner kicker at the terrain park which was about 15 feet long. Most of real kickers are usually too big for my son (and me) and the small one at mini park usually don't have real lip and landing. So after I jumped it a couple times, my son finally went for it, and now he can't get enough of it. I'm sure he'll move up to bigger jumps too scary for me in no time.

MLK day was not any warmer but girls skied anyway. I was bummed my daughter got sick after having too much fun at pool and turned into no skiing weekend for her. I really wanted to show her the view from the top. Another Dad joined and stayed with boys so I stayed with my daughter's friends for most of the day, skiing from Gunshy double and Smith off Ramrod Quad. They are great girls I enjoy hanging out with. Took lots of fun videos. Too bad if it were for softer snow, they could have explored further up the mountain and enjoy the view.

Oh btw, MLK was even less crowded and there were hardly any line at all for the whole day.

Overall, I found the snow condition to be acceptable, and overall experience was great mainly due to surprisingly uncrowded mountain and good friends.