Gunstock Mountain Resort — Attraction in Gilford

If you have private lessons for young kids, ask for an instructor knows are comfortable with young kids.

I had booked a two hour private ski class for my four year old son. Our experience didn't start well. We got paired with an instructor(Nate) who I am sure is a ski expert but was nowhere near to be qualified as an instructor for a four year old, specially for a private lesson that comes with a hefty price tag.

My son was on the ski for the very first time so obviously he needed to learn from the very beginning, his instructor tried a couple of times to take him on the slope then he gave up saying he is too young for this. I told him I will help him by staying at the bottom of the slope and encouraging my son to reach me at the end of the slope.

We did that for an hour and then the instructor didn't want to do it anymore. So I took my son to their office and asked for the refund since the instructor didn't want to put in an effort, they told me they will not give me a refund or credit I will just lose the money for the test of the session. I then asked for another instructor, and they gave us another instructor named Teresa. She asked us what happened and we told her the story, she immediately told me not to worry she knows exactly how she can help my son and she works with a lot of young children. She was awesome, the three stars for all the effort she put in to build confidence in my son and to make him comfortable on the slope.

I really wish the person in charge of assigning instructors knew what he was doing. He randomly selected Nate for our private lesson for a four year old, that instructor wasted our time and money. If we had Teresa from the beginning my son would have learned even more and we would have been able to get the whole money's worth from that...

I was drawn to your resort by a commercial and decided to check out your website to see what you had to offer. I saw a flyer about a summer festival today that advertised activities, carnival food, horse drawn carriage rides, etc. It looked like a beautiful place so I decided to take a ride there with my five year old. I have never, in my 33 years of life on this earth, encountered such a blatant tourist trap. Droves of people with children, on a hot summer day, showed up expecting a “festival” but were met with poorly-thrown-together craft activities, such as painting dinky rocks, in a hot, stuffy room. To make matters worse, you look out the window and there were obstacle courses, climbing walls, and playgrounds—very attractive things to children. You offered activities that might hold a child’s attention for ten minutes, at best, and dangle an amusement park in their faces that many parents were likely unprepared to pay for. Not to mention, such attractions required sneakers to participate in so even if you had the means to pay the $50 it costed for a pass, you’re SOL if your kid showed up in flip flops. Thankfully I saw a lake on the way there and was able to redirect my child to avoid driving home disappointed. But let me tell you—the amount of parents I saw leave your “resort” disappointed, likely unable to afford your absurdly priced passes or who brought children not even old enough to participate in ANYTHING you had to offer, makes my stomach turn. I hope it was worth the people you managed to successfully bait. I almost considered buying my son some sneakers and driving back but I would rather spend my money elsewhere. Shame on you, fire your event coordinator, and do a better job next time. Thank you...

Gunstock is our go-to area, living near the Seacoast. My kids board, and like the slopes. They say they are well groomed, and they can occasionally find powder. I am not boarding or skiing this year, but discovered their extensive Outdoor Center, and Nordic trails. Lots of room to XC ski, or snowshoe around. They groom and make snow for the Nordic trails, and have a few tails through the trees for snowshoes. The lodge is from a 1937 Works Project, and is in great shape. On the bottom floor is a large room with picnic tables, seasonal lockers (for rent), some open cubbies to keep stuff in, and (when open) an item-check, where you can leave your stuff safely. The 2nd floor has a restaurant and a cafeteria. The restaurant is nice, and not too expensive for being a captive audience. The food is good for the price. The cafeteria sells some of the same food as the restaurant (the salads) packed up to-go, but it feel pricey buying that way. The cafeteria also has pizza, burgers, soup and other hot food. Above the 2nd floor seating area is a balcony. Occasionally there is a restaurant open up there (please wait to be seated), and a window where you can purchase beer. Outside of the lodge is another building where there is the Welcome Center, where you can buy tickets, rentals, there is a first-aid office on the ground floor. The second floor is the well stocked Ski Shop. There is another building, the Children’s Center, with another snack bar. This is where lessons will meet up, and the many students who are there through the very affordable...