“I like the fact that you can take laps from top to bottom for an hour before the sun sets and the lights come up,” said Matt Marquis, a snowboarder from Manchester.

I started with Gunsmoke, an intermediate trail that meanders way out to skiers’ right and leads back to the base area. With warmer temperatures in the preceding days, the snow was soft and playful, similar to spring conditions at the end of the season.

After a few long, winding turns, I hopped on the Ramrod lift and cut over to the Tiger trail, a black diamond with an exhilarating steep section that leaves the heart pumping. With the cool air rushing over my exposed face, I reveled in the view of the lake at dusk.

Back on the chairlift, head turned slightly, I watched the sun fall behind the horizon and the flood lights flicker on, their bright intensity illuminating the shadowy slopes I had cruised down moments before.

“It’s a different experience when the lights come on and the trails are the only thing in view,” Marquis said at the bottom. “The focus is just on skiing and the trail in front of you. It’s neat.”

Pausing for a short break among the crowd, I chatted with Shawn Hicks of Missouri, whose family was on vacation. Originally from Manchester, Hicks learned to ski at Gunstock. “It’s family,” he said about the resort, pointing to his son, who also took his first turns on these slopes as a child.

‘Love the skiing’

Hicks, who owns a home on the neighboring lake, returns to the area in the summer months and for the holiday week. “We love the skiing,” he said. “We enjoy being in the mountains and being outdoors.”

Skiing for the first time this season, Hicks was enjoying the soft snow. “It’s great. I mean, for all the rain we’ve had, I think the conditions are really very good.”

Skiers Nathaniel White and Adam Kaner, friends hailing from Boston, also were on the hill for the first time this winter.

At the time we chatted, the two already had been skiing for several hours straight. “Conditions are surprisingly really good for four days of rain,” Kaner said.

White and Kaner, who have season passes, were enthusiastic about their home resort. Asked what they enjoy most about visiting Gunstock each season, White responded: The smell of the waffles, the fluffy snow, the beautiful people, the friends, and the sights.”

“I’m not sure I could have said it any better,” Kaner added. “The pub, too. Both pubs.”

After a few laughs with the two skiers, I took off toward the Pistol chairlift, which carries riders over the Blundersmoke terrain park. Although the jumps, rails, and boxes are a bit out of my league, I delighted in watching the younger and more agile skiers flip, spin and pop off of some of the park’s features, their shrieks and cheers echoing into the night.

Despite recent weather patterns challenging resorts across the state, folks were out having fun and making the best of the above-average temperatures over the holidays.

“We’re definitely down in some numbers, but there’s still a lot of season ahead,” Marketing Director Bonnie MacPherson said in a video call this week.

Although Gunstock wasn’t forced to close any trails after the heavy rain, they did need to resurface some lost acreage. “We can run about 150 guns at any given time,” she said. “So if we just get those consistent temperatures, we’ll be back in business full-time.”

According to MacPherson, this is also the first year since the pandemic that Gunstock is fully staffed, with the numbers to pull off a great season, something she’s looking forward to in the coming months.

“There’s a lot of great stoke right now for Gunstock this winter, and we hope that we can fulfill that desire if the temperatures just keep with us,” she said.

Gunstock offers night skiing from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday to Thursday, and 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. An adult night ticket costs $52 Tuesday to Thursday, and $69 Friday, Saturday and holidays. For information go to gunstock.com.