Just A Fun Day At Gunstock

PHOTO: Amy Patenaude heads down Gunstock Mountain Resort’s Upper Trigger Trail. The mountain view includes white capped Mount Washington and Mount Shaw just across the big Lake Winnipesaukee. Lift tickets are available on-line and RFID tags can be reloaded on-line too. Belknap County Residents are offered a special price, $45 for all ages Sunday through Friday available at the ticket office with proof of residence with valid driver license. Gunstock Nordic Center is open and has 27ks of groomed trails and they rent skis and snowshoes too. The Tubing Park is open nights weekdays and all day on the weekends.

by Amy Patenaude
Outdoor/Ski Writer

What a winter!
Snow, warm, snow, repeat. Thankfully there is a lot of snow covering the slopes and the skiing is mighty good.
Bria and I met late in the morning at Gunstock. We left our gear in the car and we jogged across the parking lot to the lodge. After a quick visit to the washroom (conveniently located at ground level in the main lodge) we got in line to pick up our lift tickets.
Please plan ahead so you don’t miss out. It is smart to purchase lift tickets on-line for the best deal and they do limit ticket sales. If you already have a Gunstock RFID card from a previous visit you can skip the ticket counter line by reloading it on-line and just go straight to the lifts.
We had ended up parking near the Pistol triple chair-lift so after we booted up at the car we took a short walk to the chairlift. We did a couple laps there, admiring the terrain park jumps and features before heading over to the lift to the summit, the Panorama high-speed quad.

Bria recalled learning to ski at Gunstock and how before this fast lift was built it was a long slow ride to the top of the mountain. We chuckled that it has been almost twenty years since this lift was installed but we still remark how much we appreciate how fast it gets us to the top. Kids today just don’t know how lucky they are today to enjoy speedy rides to the top.
The trails had good snow coverage edge to edge with lots of loose snow. To top off the good snow conditions were the stunning views we enjoyed. It was a bit strange to see the big Lake Winnipesaukee with completely open water. We could see all the way to bright white-capped Mount Washington and Mount Shaw just across the Lake.

Typically, Thursday afternoons are when high school races are held at New Hampshire ski areas. So it was no surprise to see a high school ski race in progress on Tiger. We also saw a good number of groups of school children taking ski and snowboard lessons.
My favorite trail of the day was Red Hat. I like the steep pitch of this black diamond trail and the snow was nice and grippy, perfect for making nice quick slalom turns. This trail is one of the few that are not part of the Gunstock Mountain firearm themed trail names. The trail is named after circa 1950’s Gunstock manager Frizie Baer–he always wore a red hat.

After a couple hours of skiing we started to get hungry. We peeked inside the summit Panorama Pub. The grand mountain views of the Lake and the mountains from its deck were excellent but the view inside was blocked by the frost and snow covering the windows. The Pub, this mid-week day, was only offering drinks and snacks so we decided to head down to the lodge for sometime more for late lunch.
We went right down to the lodge and straight to the Powder Keg Pub and restaurant. We found two seats at the end of the bar. I ordered a nice hot cider drink, while Bria took a minute to decide which draft beer to order. We split a delicious chicken-bacon ranch flatbread pizza. While we were waiting for our pizza a couple of friends showed up and joined us. The Powder Keg is a busy fun place.

We all went back out to ski and more friends would be showing up for night skiing. Adult race league racing is held on Wednesday and Thursday nights. Teams are filled for this season, by the way, but adult racing is fun and the NASTAR age graded system is used to score team points.
Night skiing is held Tuesday through Saturday beginning at 3pm, the summit Panorama chairlift closes at 4pm so you can get an hour of skiing from the summit before the lights are turned on. 5 lifts and 22 trails and the terrain parks are open at night. On weekdays the lifts stop spinning at 8pm but on Friday and Saturday nights the lifts run until 9pm.

Gunstock Mountain Resort also has a wonderful Nordic Center, with groomed classic and skate trails, rental shop, ski school and snowshoeing. Check out their Snowshoe Ridge
Tour–take a ride up the Tiger lift and snowshoe back along the Ridge Trail over Mount Rowe and back to the base. This tour offers a great taste of what it is like to hike/snowshoe the mountains in the Belknap Range. Contact the Nordic Center for availability and more information.
I quit before closing time because another storm was bearing down on New Hampshire.
By the time I got home it was snowing pretty hard.
Yippee, have fun.