Gunstock Mountain Resort on Tuesday, February 9, 2016

		Gunstock Mountain Resort Tuesday, February 9, 2016
		Submitted on February 9, 2016 by rocket21 (1436)
	Session	Night
	Ticket Type	Discount from Ski Area
	Lift Lines	0 minutes
	Trail Conditions	85% open; Packed Powder, Frozen Granular
	Glades	Not sure if any are open, but there is upwards of half a foot of powder in places.
	Moguls	None
	Terrain Park(s)	Large park being set up on Blundersmoke; eastern side of lift line open, but western side still closed.
	Run of the Day	Ramrod Race Trail
	Food and Beverage	Took awhile to get a food order in, but good food at the pub. Dinner and beverages took an hour or so. Excellent hot chocolate.
	Comments	My first trip back to Gunstock since being charged $41 for a night pass for 3 short trails on 12/31 (despite web site saying it was $16) and not receiving so much as a response from two polite e-mails sent inquiring. Apart from Musket, Ricochet, and Tiger Steeps, all night trails were open, though Blundersmoke was only about 1/3 to 1/2 wide (roped off; snowmaking in progress), as were one or two Ramrod trails. Ramrod trails skied nicely with packed powder from last night's storm. Pistol was a disaster, as it appeared they made wet snow, then groomed it after the storm, resulting in wall to wall bulletproof uneven boilerplate. The lift was running faster than I've ever seen it (and significantly faster than the Ramrod or Tiger), 500 FPM easy, which was nice apart from the frequent stops (counted 6 on the first ride). After dinner in the pub (which was good, but took an hour), we headed over to Tiger to finish the night (like Pistol, it's quite a trek from the base lodge). Red Hat skied well, but as we reached the bottom at 8, we discovered all of the lifts were closed. Accustomed to the 4-9 weekday schedule at Gunstock for years, we were surprised to find out that they're only open to 8 PM Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday. Judging by the reaction of other skiers, and how the employees responded, this doesn't appear to be a popular decision. In the case of our group, all of whom have full time day jobs, an 8PM closing means there's simply not enough time to make the trip to Gunstock worthwhile, so we will likely not be back. Amazingly, Gunstock appears to be the most expensive $ per vertical foot I've skied this year; even more so than a crowded $134 day at Squaw Valley!
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