Date Skied: February 18th
Resort: Gunstock
I've been spoiled to ski weekdays the past couple of seasons so this was the first Saturday trip in a while. Plus, I haven't skied Gunstock in over 20 years--the improvements were more profound for me than others here. I also loved taking my son where I first learned to ski--returning to Gunstock brought back a lot of memories.
Got there for 5th or 6th chair. Frozen to loose granular and hardpack which is probably no different from many other areas. With a perfect day of sun and some passing clouds, temps in the 30's, it loosened up a bit through midday with some sugary patches and scraped down areas. We started on the lower blues of Phelps/Smith to get our ski legs under us again, then went over to the Panorama summit lift. All lifts oriented to catch some sun--even if windy, Panorama seems tucked in and sheltered pretty good. I dig summit lodges and huts for a quick warmup with the kids if needed--I don't recall the name but it had a cool little deck. Even though no plumbing, there are bathrooms just off the lift for a quick pitstop. We stayed mostly on the blues of Flintlock/Upper Trigger/Ramrod for my son but he took on Tiger Steeps like a champ at the end of the day. Looked like the glades were closed and there were no bumps to be seen (not that I could ski them, so no biggie for me). We spent some time over on the Pistol lift and the blue runs of Shotgun and Lower Gunsmoke. It was fun watching the big terrain park from the Pistol lift and the zip liners going by (zip lines run between Panorama and Pistol lifts). By the end of the day, my neck was sore from turning around on the lift to watch zipliners, folks jumping onto the big air bag, and the fantastic views.
For a holiday weekend Saturday, I was expecting long lift lines--Panorama was probably not much longer than 5 minutes at any time--even less for other lifts. With my lack of Saturday crowd experience lately, I can't say if that's normal or perhaps folks going farther north seeking slightly more snowpack...not sure. There is a lot going on at Gunstock and we didn't get to see/experience much of it, so we're definately planning on returning very soon! Gunstock, good to see you my old friend!!!
Resort: Gunstock
I've been spoiled to ski weekdays the past couple of seasons so this was the first Saturday trip in a while. Plus, I haven't skied Gunstock in over 20 years--the improvements were more profound for me than others here. I also loved taking my son where I first learned to ski--returning to Gunstock brought back a lot of memories.
Got there for 5th or 6th chair. Frozen to loose granular and hardpack which is probably no different from many other areas. With a perfect day of sun and some passing clouds, temps in the 30's, it loosened up a bit through midday with some sugary patches and scraped down areas. We started on the lower blues of Phelps/Smith to get our ski legs under us again, then went over to the Panorama summit lift. All lifts oriented to catch some sun--even if windy, Panorama seems tucked in and sheltered pretty good. I dig summit lodges and huts for a quick warmup with the kids if needed--I don't recall the name but it had a cool little deck. Even though no plumbing, there are bathrooms just off the lift for a quick pitstop. We stayed mostly on the blues of Flintlock/Upper Trigger/Ramrod for my son but he took on Tiger Steeps like a champ at the end of the day. Looked like the glades were closed and there were no bumps to be seen (not that I could ski them, so no biggie for me). We spent some time over on the Pistol lift and the blue runs of Shotgun and Lower Gunsmoke. It was fun watching the big terrain park from the Pistol lift and the zip liners going by (zip lines run between Panorama and Pistol lifts). By the end of the day, my neck was sore from turning around on the lift to watch zipliners, folks jumping onto the big air bag, and the fantastic views.
For a holiday weekend Saturday, I was expecting long lift lines--Panorama was probably not much longer than 5 minutes at any time--even less for other lifts. With my lack of Saturday crowd experience lately, I can't say if that's normal or perhaps folks going farther north seeking slightly more snowpack...not sure. There is a lot going on at Gunstock and we didn't get to see/experience much of it, so we're definately planning on returning very soon! Gunstock, good to see you my old friend!!!
but I do now. Thanks for the photos.
