Gunstock or Wildcat NH?

[jaki2379]

Hi Everyone.. My husband and I are going skiing for the day on Saturday 3/9 and we are thinking of going to either Gunstock or Wildcat (we have free lift tickets to both). I have been to Gunstock 2 years ago but cannot for the life of me remember the resort (that cannot be a good thing! :o ) - I have never been to Wildcat but heard there are some good runs there. We are just taking a day trip and will not be staying overnight. Has anyone been to either resort this week that could tell me how the conditions are? This season has been slight with natural snow for the begining of the season but we have had some good dumpings recently.... craving some power to ski on! Or at least not ICE! :mad: That is alot of what I have experienced early this season. Any insight is appreicated! Thanks!

 

[Thatsagirl]

Gunstock is quite a bit smaller than Wildcat, just so you know. If it's a long drive for you, you might want to go to the larger mountain simply because there will be more options for trails.

I vaguely remember reading a post here from someone who skied at Gunstock this week and they described it as "concrete" I think. Not sure if that's just because of the cold weather we've been having, or because they don't have much recent snow.

Liquidfeet skis at Wildcat every week, so perhaps she'll chime in here. You could always PM her.

Thatsagirl

 

[jaki2379]

Thanks Thatsagirl... Wildcat it is. We talked about it and figured we might as well go there since they just got 2 feet less then 2 weeks ago and since we have never been it should be intersting. Only about a 3 hour drive... do-able. Beats the 4 hours we spent in the car one way to Sugarbush for a day trip! Although Sugarbush is always worth it in my opinion...
Thanks for the info!!

 

[liquidfeet]

I just found this thread. I hear everywhere around here was great on Saturday. I was at Sunday River -- great great great. Others I know were at Wildcat, and reported the same. Tell us all about it!!!!!!!!! Did you like Upper Wildcat? Did you do the Tomcat Schuss? Did you find all the twisty-turny trails? Did you love the view across the highway to Mt. Washington? Did someone point out Tuckerman's Ravine to you? Did you enjoy all two miles of the Polecat Downhill?

But not today, no no, it wasn't pretty. It rained as they groomed Sat evening, and it froze overnight, and today (Sunday) Wildcat was bulletproof corduroy rock everywhere, with odd corruptions of the corduroy surface grooved unexplainably into the snow. It had not softened up at all by 1:30 when I quit.

But I got my boots worked on so they will be in good shape next weekend at JAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jaki2379]

We ended up at Wildcat on Saturday. It was our first trip there and the hubby and I had a BLAST!! The conditions were great, the weather gorgous, and the view was amazing. I cannot believe I have never discover Wildcat before this. I was very impressed! It has a little bit of something for everyone. We were hitting some of the smaller mogul trails (they have some blue moguls for those of us that are trying to learn the bumbs) and I think we both got better on them by the end of the day. So much fun! Now I cannot wait til my next ski trip, which will probably not be til two weeks from now :( . Not too many weekends left in the season - have to make the best of it! Might hit Pico in two weeks...

 

[Thatsagirl]

Glad to hear you had a great time at Wildcat! It is a favorite of mine, though I have not skied there since I was in college.

Thatsagirl

 

[SnowGlider]

Depends on your level and travel distance

Wildcat is known as a harder mountain than Gunstock. Our local saying is "Gunstock's blacks are everybody else's blue"---which is why I love Gunstock.

Gunstock advantges:
- Nice long cruisers from the top
- Easy, wide blacks
- Beautiful view of Lake Winipesaukee directly below and Mt. Washington in the distance.

I never go to Gunstock on the weekend. It is very uncrowded during the week.

Wildcat advantage is that awesome direct view of Mt. Washinton "across the street." Disadvantage is the long travel distance.

For spring skiing, you will find colder temperatures at Wildcat because it's farther north than Gunstock. Gunstock doesn't groom at night if the temperature isn't below freezing, so that may be a problem this week.

 

[SnowGlider]

Gunstock is quite a bit smaller than Wildcat, just so you know. If it's a long drive for you, you might want to go to the larger mountain simply because there will be more options for trails.

I vaguely remember reading a post here from someone who skied at Gunstock this week and they described it as "concrete" I think. Not sure if that's just because of the cold weather we've been having, or because they don't have much recent snow.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Do you really think Gunstock is smaller than Wildcat? I would have said the opposite. That may be because I can ski almost all of Gunstock but only part of Wildcat. :-))) Gunstock can keep me busy all day.

That was I who reported on concrete at Gunstock. That was because the temp. was -22 the day before I skied. No longer a factor this week, I'm sure, since everything in this area is rapidly melting now.

 

[Thatsagirl]

Do you really think Gunstock is smaller than Wildcat? I would have said the opposite. That may be because I can ski almost all of Gunstock but only part of Wildcat. :-))) Gunstock can keep me busy all day.

I would have been more accurate to say Gunstock "skis quite a bit smaller" :o since Wildcat has 225 acres and Gunstock has 220. Not much of a difference there. The difference is that Wildcat has 2,112 vertical, while Gunstock has 1,400. The longer trails make it feel a lot bigger.

I also based my quick response on her comment that she skied Gunstock once but didn't remember it. That led me to believe that she wanted more of a "destination resort" as well as a more difficult mountain to ski.

Thatsagirl