Winter storm blankets Gunstock just in time for holiday skiing

GILFORD — A recent warm spell with rain cast doubts of a white Christmas in the minds of Lakes Region residents. But that was put to rest when the area was hit with a snow storm this week, bolstering Gunstock Mountain Resort’s already record-setting opening.

The storm came just in time for holiday vacation weeks for schools, which General Manager Robert Drake said is really the kickoff of the season.

“The day after Christmas is when it all kind of starts for us across the industry, and through the first year, we are expecting our typical busy season to hit,” Drake said. “We have had a phenomenal start to the season, record skier visits so far.”

Gunstock is in great shape and has been from the start. Drake said the mountain has been maintaining record amounts of skiers to date, as well as constantly opening new terrain.

The season began on Dec. 5, and Drake said they had the most terrain ever open to start. It was also the first time the mountain had a black diamond trail ready on opening day. Since then, more terrain has been opening by the day, and as of Christmas Eve, they had 34 trails with six lifts in operation, thanks to 5 new inches of powder on Tuesday. Drake was excited about the potential of more storm systems brewing.

He said it has been fun to see so many people out early in the season, and a big hit this year has been handing out apple cider donuts each weekend from Beans & Greens Farm Stand to guests.

“It’s a fun new tradition we’ve got going,” Drake said. “It’s been a huge hit.”

But no gimmicks have been needed thanks to the natural snow. Then, in the middle of it all, there was a day of rain, with temperatures in the 50s. Drake said this was no issue, and actually was “kind of good,” because the pond was replenished for snowmaking.

Gunstock went into the season ready, with brand new snowmaking equipment and maintenance machines which have made huge differences in both making and moving snow.

“Overall, we weathered the storm, all puns intended,” Drake said. “We lost some natural snow, but our manmade snow is so resilient and held up well.”

On Tuesday, Drake said Gunstock was in the midst of making snow, on five trails. Some of that was touch-up, but some was new terrain expected to open this weekend.

The new round of snowfall could not have come at a better time for Gunstock. Drake said the day after Christmas is when people come to the mountain for skiing and snowboarding, maybe testing out new gear they were gifted for the holiday. Since New Year's Day falls on a Thursday, this leaves room for a long weekend coming up.

“We are expecting a big turnout through Jan. 4th this year, because of how the calendar is,” Drake said.

Drake said all the new equipment is running on all cylinders, noting the new winch cat is “an amazing piece of equipment.” He said this moves snow to the right spots, particularly uphill.

“It is bigger, and allows us to push out snow faster to get trails open,” Drake said.

Gunstock's tubing hill has been open since last weekend, which is early, and Nordic skiing was 100% open on the first day. It has since diminished, but the snowmaking and new snow in the area will bring it back to the full 35 kilometers open soon enough.

“It has been gangbusters down there,” Drake said. “We have two snow guns and we farm snow there, making big piles and moving it around.

“We are expecting even more open next week,” Drake said, noting the notorious expert trail Hot Shot should be open soon. “We opened Flintlock the earliest we ever have, and that puts us with four trails off the summit. We’ll have another open by this weekend.”

Plenty of skiers were out on Christmas Eve, and while lines weren’t long, there was a steady stream loading onto the Panorama Quad for summit runs.

Gilmanton resident Zach Hancock feels fortunate to have Gunstock in his backyard, saying he's been skiing there since he was 3, and his father once was a ski jumper at the mountain. Now 29, Hancock continues to ski where he learned, and was pumped about the early conditions. While he said the recent rain wasn’t a positive, leading to some “dust on crust” in some spots, he thought the trails were in excellent shape for this time of year.

“The conditions were really good until the rain, but they’re still good,” Hancock said. “This is day four for me.”

Alec Karageorges grew up in Meredith, and flew in from Los Angeles for the holiday. He decided to hit the mountain after the fresh snowfall, and was not disappointed.

Karageorges has the Ikon Pass, which is good for mountains on the East and West coasts, but he uses it mainly for skiing at Mammoth and Big Bear in California. He bought a ticket to Gunstock on Christmas Eve, and, in an unusual turn of events, the conditions are far better in the East in the early season.

“I couldn’t be more stoked for skiing,” he said. “These are surprisingly better conditions than the West. That’s unheard of.”

Gunstock was closed on Christmas Day, so staff could be with family, but they open throughout the rest of the week. There is a holiday torch light parade and fireworks starting at 5 p.m. on Sunday, on Dec. 28. The date was chosen intentionally so night skiing lights didn’t take away from the event.

For trail conditions and more information, visit Gunstock.com.