—by Jay Flemma
Special to the North American Snowsports Journalists Association
GILFORD, N.H. – There’s much more to New Hampshire’s Gunstock Resort than a trail system named after firearms. Gunstock’s 1,340-foot vertical drop is formidable, especially with myriad trails cunningly cut into difficult double fall lines and strange cambers. Over 1/3 of Gunstock’s 49 trails are single or double black diamond.
Better still, this season the resort has improved their extensive night skiing footprint by adding a state-of-the-art lighting system.
“We upgraded half of our lighting system to LED lights,” stated resort Marketing Director Steve Newick. “Visibility is so much better. It’s like night and day how much more clearly you can see. We expect the number of night skiers to increase as the year unfolds, and we certainly think we can attribute some of that to the better lighting.”
Just 90 minutes from Boston, its convenience alone makes it a plum choice, day or night. So does their 90% snowmaking coverage. And for mogul chasers and steeps junkies, one-quarter of the 21 trails open for night skiing are for experts. The resort also continued upgrading its terrain parks and added a new carpet lift at their Learning Center.
“We also have a popular Snowshoe Ridge Tour,” Newick added. “Snowshoers can ride up on the chairlift, and a guided tour takes them on a night hike with headlamps down the other side.”
