Gunstock 4/5/2013

[polski]

Plan A was MRG or Magic tomorrow but that got scrapped due to circumstances beyond my control. I quickly whipped up Plan B and arrived at Gunstock - my first time ever there - around 12:45 p.m. today. Talked to someone in the parking lot who was leaving and said it was slow and slushy, but after my first run I figured he was more accustomed to fast groomers than the spring conditions I love.

Very few other skiers there. Surfaces ranged from peelaway corn on untracked or very lightly tracked corduroy on top of an often surprisingly firm surface, to cream cheese on more southerly exposures with relatively heavy traffic, to some mild mashed potatoes or occasional slushy patches down low. Easily manageable - lots of great turns. It was cloudy about half the time, which was good - helped keep things from getting too mushy.

I got in around 18 runs in a little less than three hours, including a few rides up Pistol to carve turns on untouched corduroy on the sides of terrain park features, and a few on Ramrod Quad for quick cruises on very lightly trafficked Tiger, Ramrod Race and Phelps.

Not terribly challenging terrain all in all (some of the steeper natural snow trails are done for the year) but found some nice pitches on the midmountain blacks at skier's left. Last two runs were through the bumps on Redhat - I'm not big on bumps but I like them when they're soft in the spring. I'm especially not a zipper bump guy and bump aficionados probably would complain that these were irregular but that doesn't bother me.

Two pics, first the obligatory summit view with Lake Winnipesaukee in the distance:

And Redhat

 

[deadheadskier]

As someone who appreciates good zip line bumps, I've found them to be pretty good on Redhat this spring. Were they running the Tiger Triple? Heard it was closed the other day. Skiing anything skiers left of that chair would be a real pain in the ass without that chair going.

Looking forward to closing the mountain down on Sunday. It's been a real good season there. I've certainly been satisfied having a pass there for quick hit options when I'm short on time.

 

[polski]

As someone who appreciates good zip line bumps, I've found them to be pretty good on Redhat this spring. Were they running the Tiger Triple?

No.

Heard it was closed the other day. Skiing anything skiers left of that chair would be a real pain in the ass without that chair going.

Yes.

But I felt it was worth the skate for three or four runs - aside from the bumps, that part of the mountain was steeper than anything else I found. Flintlock Extension had great and very lightly touched corn, primo soft big turns at speed. As an aside, now that I do more skinning, I find I'm more willing to endure the occasional skate if it means skiing better terrain.

As I say, this was my first time at Gunstock. How do they handle powder days - do they groom everything out or at least leave natural snow trails ungroomed? I see they have some smallish on-map glades too. I'd like to have a pow option there when that area gets a snowfall jackpot, especially as it's half as far as my usual VT destinations. Beautiful location, obviously.

 

[deadheadskier]

Trails off Tiger while only 700 vert are the best trails on the mountain IMO. The trails off the Panorama are good, but the run outs area a pain in the ass.

I caught a couple of really good powder days this season. They'll definitely leave some snow to enjoy on a few trails for a day or so following a storm. The limited glades they have are really fun. I'd love to see them cut another glade off of Tiger. In between Red Hat and Flintlock Extension would be a nice spot for one.

 

[polski]

yeah and the trails off Panorama are never as steep, even higher up, as those in the Tiger area.

Seems like they'd have a fair amount of glade expansion possibilities if they were so inclined. Some stuff visible from Panorama would make for good challenge with some careful clearing (but not overdone).

 

[deadheadskier]

That would be my only complaint about Recoil Glades. They got a bit too chainsaw happy in there. Unfortunately, plans call for another trail in that area as well as widening and grading of Hot Shot for snow making. I can somewhat understand why as they definitely could use another trail off the top and for Hot Shot to be open more frequently.

I don't think expanding their glade offerings is high on the priority list. This was a very good snow year for Gunstock. When you only average about 100" of snow a season, glades aren't in play all that often.