VAIL SUCKS

[Newpylong]

View attachment 60411A friend is at Sunapee today.. line for the North Peak triple because they didn't get the HSQ open until 11:15.

Probably saved some labor and boosted F&B sales in the lodge though, so the shareholders will be pleased.

I rolled into Ragged at noon today and while still busy, those two chairs absolutely absorb folks like no other. By 1 pm they were ski on. Great day out there.

 

[catskillman]

"Oh the fun we had with my buddy Jeff! All that fun that my wife will never know about!"

I knew you would not disappoint

 

[thetrailboss]

"Poor Leon got caught in a honeypot, that was my good fortune to become such a young CEO. The Stormtroopers will never admit to strangling Epstein"

Good one!

 

[deadheadskier]

I rolled into Ragged at noon today and while still busy, those two chairs absolutely absorb folks like no other. By 1 pm they were ski on. Great day out there.

Gunstock I believe was sold out yesterday. 10 minutes max wait on the Panorama and Penny, all other lifts were 2-5 chair waits.

The only annoyances from waiting much were parking in the morning and the usual, the bathrooms.

This was the first time we have had to park during a snow storm. Took about 15 minutes vs the normal 2 minutes or less without snow in the lot. If the storm had been on Saturday, it would have been interesting to see how clear they would have gotten the main lot for Sunday. It's pitched in a manner that it should melt and drain really well. Maybe not for the next day, but after a few days I think it would be clear again. It still seems that though expensive, paving and lining a parking lot properly helps big time in speeding up egress to park at resorts. Areas like Stowe and Sunapee that deal with traffic backed up entering their resorts should look into this.

The bathrooms are really the only aspect of Gunstock I would consider bad. Not enough of them and what they have are tiny. Not something that I would care about personally, but having a 5 year old girl that needs help getting out of her gear to pee, it's far from ideal to have to wait in line and then cram into mostly shoebox sized stalls.

Other than those two minor annoyances, the place was running like a top per usual. No complaints about staffing and overall performance.

 

[Newpylong]

I need to get back there, place was always a well run machine in my mind on the level of Pat's and Ragged.

 

[deadheadskier]

I need to get back there, place was always a well run machine in my mind on the level of Pat's and Ragged.

Year 3 in a row with the family. Also did the 2011-12 season on a college pass when I went back to school. Really zero complaints operationally during those experiences.

The biggest two wants for Gunstock or anywhere else I have a pass as a "home mountain" is that they make snow aggressively and run all the lifts properly. They pass with flying colors with both. I can deal with anything else not being great at a NE ski area, but snowmaking and lift operations are the two most important things to me and they happen to be the two things Vail sucks at the most. Third bad Vail Fail would be price / quality on food.

The other issues with Gunstock they can't do much about. The lodge is in a terrible location in relation to the lifts, but it's a protected building, so it won't be moved or replaced with something closer to the lifts. Just have to deal with it. Number two is lack of expert and mogul terrain. But that's the way it goes in Southern NH. I don't see them going the seeded bump run route with frequent top dressing with snowmaking. Not enough demand I guess to justify the expense.

So, they just need to stay the course and eventually address the bathroom situation.

Given it's only an hour door to door for us and they run the place so well, they've earned our business for the foreseeable future. Perfect Sunday option to combine with Indy mountains on Saturday.

 

[pinion]

...snowmaking and lift operations are the two most important things to me...

Hey now... that's asking WAY too much there DHS. Way too much. Wildcat would have to sell alot more $13 hamburgers to justify snowmaking.

 

[zyk]

Year 3 in a row with the family. Also did the 2011-12 season on a college pass when I went back to school. Really zero complaints operationally during those experiences.

The biggest two wants for Gunstock or anywhere else I have a pass as a "home mountain" is that they make snow aggressively and run all the lifts properly. They pass with flying colors with both. I can deal with anything else not being great at a NE ski area, but snowmaking and lift operations are the two most important things to me and they happen to be the two things Vail sucks at the most. Third bad Vail Fail would be price / quality on food.

The other issues with Gunstock they can't do much about. The lodge is in a terrible location in relation to the lifts, but it's a protected building, so it won't be moved or replaced with something closer to the lifts. Just have to deal with it. Number two is lack of expert and mogul terrain. But that's the way it goes in Southern NH. I don't see them going the seeded bump run route with frequent top dressing with snowmaking. Not enough demand I guess to justify the expense.

So, they just need to stay the course and eventually address the bathroom situation.

Given it's only an hour door to door for us and they run the place so well, they've earned our business for the foreseeable future. Perfect Sunday option to combine with Indy mountains on Saturday.

Never been to Gunstock but your description makes me think of Royal. Small, friendly, well run, great snowmaking, just don't ask about the bathrooms...

 

[AdironRider]

Is the Gunstock lodge on the historic register or something? I've always thought it was in a poor location also.

 

[deadheadskier]

Is the Gunstock lodge on the historic register or something? I've always thought it was in a poor location also.

I've been told the building is protected.

You can ski all the way down to it. It's just about a 150 yard walk up hill to the carpets for kiddos and probably at least 200 yards to any of the chairlifts. See young families struggle with the slog frequently.

 

[thetrailboss]

I've been told the building is protected.

You can ski all the way down to it. It's just about a 150 yard walk up hill to the carpets for kiddos and probably at least 200 yards to any of the chairlifts. See young families struggle with the slog frequently.

I think that it is a historic building and maybe on the register.

 

[thebigo]

Year 3 in a row with the family. Also did the 2011-12 season on a college pass when I went back to school. Really zero complaints operationally during those experiences.

The biggest two wants for Gunstock or anywhere else I have a pass as a "home mountain" is that they make snow aggressively and run all the lifts properly. They pass with flying colors with both. I can deal with anything else not being great at a NE ski area, but snowmaking and lift operations are the two most important things to me and they happen to be the two things Vail sucks at the most. Third bad Vail Fail would be price / quality on food.

The other issues with Gunstock they can't do much about. The lodge is in a terrible location in relation to the lifts, but it's a protected building, so it won't be moved or replaced with something closer to the lifts. Just have to deal with it. Number two is lack of expert and mogul terrain. But that's the way it goes in Southern NH. I don't see them going the seeded bump run route with frequent top dressing with snowmaking. Not enough demand I guess to justify the expense.

So, they just need to stay the course and eventually address the bathroom situation.

Given it's only an hour door to door for us and they run the place so well, they've earned our business for the foreseeable future. Perfect Sunday option to combine with Indy mountains on Saturday.

Not asking where, just general yes or no. Are there any decent off map trees at gunny? On map appears very limited.

 

[thetrailboss]

I've been told the building is protected.

You can ski all the way down to it. It's just about a 150 yard walk up hill to the carpets for kiddos and probably at least 200 yards to any of the chairlifts. See young families struggle with the slog frequently.

I did a little research--the whole ski area is on the NH State Register of Historic Places.

 

[eatskisleep]

I did a little research--the whole ski area is on the NH State Register of Historic Places.

Maybe that could save Black Mtn of NH property from
Being sold off as condos

 

[AdironRider]

That is interesting on the historic register. I didn't realize the whole operation was part of the effort during the depression ala other CCC trails.

Given Gunstock is owned by the county, it is probably not nearly the headache for them that a historic designation could be for a private owner. That could actually be more of a hindrance for Black than a benefit, as it provides basically zero financial help and typically only increases costs.

 

[thetrailboss]

Maybe that could save Black Mtn of NH property from
Being sold off as condos

I don't know much about Black Mountain, but, as said, the whole Gunstock complex was a CCC/New Deal project. That is a big part of the designation.

 

[deadheadskier]

Not asking where, just general yes or no. Are there any decent off map trees at gunny? On map appears very limited.

Not that I'm aware of, but 95% of the time I am there , I'm with my kids and only my son is currently capable of the low angle stuff. If I'm there by myself I'm training gates pretty much exclusively. So, I haven't really explored.

TBH, I don't really care about trees at places that average 100" or less. The glades are just open too infrequently in Southern NH to care much about them, but I'm glad places still at least try to have some. Had some great days in the trees at Crotched and Ragged, but they are so rarely skiable that it's near the bottom of my selection criteria. Snowmaking expertise and quality groomers are what I'm after in SNH. I choose Gunny these days because of the better / longer groomers than CM or Ragged. And it's only an hour there for us vs 1:15-1:20 for CM and 1:30 for Ragged.

 

[thebigo]

need to choose between gunny and ragged next year. both have pluses and minuses. I spend a massive amount of time cruising around while kids are training, any groomer in the country could get old with the amount of days I spend at home mountain. trees at ragged may only be skiable a dozen days a year but at least gives some variety. hopefully get a few storm days at gunny this year before passes go on sale.

 

[deadheadskier]

need to choose between gunny and ragged next year. both have pluses and minuses. I spend a massive amount of time cruising around while kids are training, any groomer in the country could get old with the amount of days I spend at home mountain. trees at ragged may only be skiable a dozen days a year but at least gives some variety. hopefully get a few storm days at gunny this year before passes go on sale.

Yeah, definitely nothing close to Ragged, but Recoil glades are decent. They could probably fit more in several places, but doubtful they make the investment.

I'm not sure I could do either mountain as frequently as you have to. It works for us for Sunday's and some Saturdays. I probably ski there 15-20 days a season, then 20-25 elsewhere.

 

[snoseek]

Well I finally busted out my epic pass after 5 weeks of skiing elsewhere. I'm at attitash for the sole purpose of skiing the new game changing quad...the only problem is its not loading. I'll give it another hour and drive to cannon I guess.

Also what the fuck is their obsession with blowing truckloads of snow on each trail, keeping it roped the entire time and then letting it sit forever before opening?Fuck, blow some snow, cure it out while we ski it and mow it flat. How is the connector to bear not open? Daily ops is pretty much the same ol. And yeah I understand about that rain thing