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NH Gay Ski Weekend

We had a FANTASTIC ski weekend, where it was snowing in the afternoon! A little chilly? Yeah...GOers can handle it. We had a blast!

Friday, February 1, 2013

Waterville Valley, NH

Moderate

Hosted by Gandalf

The trip report

On Friday, February 1st, 11 guys joined us for this weekend. Most of the participants got up to our house at Waterville Valley, NH around 6PM. A few guys went into town for dinner.

This first evening was spent socializing and having light snacks in the great room near the fireplace. This weekend was the perfect event to get away from everyday stress to get outside for downhill skiing/riding and cross-country skiing.

After some coffee and bagels we were ready for exercise! Most of the downhill skiers left our house for the day around 8:00 AM with the cross-country skiers leaving around 10:00AM. A couple guys decided to take a short hike instead of skiing.

The downhill skiers spent the day on the slopes of Waterville Valley, while the rest used the Waterville Valley Nordic trails for cross-country skiing. Despite the trail conditions being frozen granular, we all had a fantastic time! It was very sunny to start and in the afternoon it got chilly with snow showers.

After a great day skiing, everyone congregated back to our house to hang out by the fire for a wine/beer and snacks social. Jon and Mike served up an amazing spaghetti dinner with salad and garlic bread; followed by rum cake with strawberries and whipped cream on the side. Just when we thought it could'nt get better, we gathered outside on the house deck where Jon and Mike lit up some fireworks!

Mike then led everyone to a really fun group game called ‘werewolves.’ We then played Jenga and went upstairs in the loft to view pictures taken during the day. Sunday morning after breakfast we all packed our bags and said good-bye’s with promises of meeting again at future GO events.

This was a wonderful weekend spent with a great group of guys. It was relaxing and everyone seemed to have a blast. Thanks to everyone for making it such a special gathering. We plan on doing this again next year!

Event photos (30)

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About this event

We our offering our house to GO Members for a winter getaway. We expect this event to sell-out quickly!

You can arrive late afternoon/early evening Friday and stay through Sunday afternoon.

Lodging: We have two separate rooms with 4 bunk beds each. All linen, blankets and towels are provided. We are also offering a Futon in a common area room for a couple. We have two full baths for you to use. Did we mention we have beautiful mountain views from our house and the stargazing at night from the deck is incredible!

We will start the weekend after dinner (on your own) on Friday night with a fireside welcome and social.

Saturday and Sunday mornings will start with coffee and bagels.

On Saturday and Sunday we’ll break off into groups and decide how we would like to spend the day. There are several options:

o We are next to three of the best skiing/riding resorts in NH! Waterville Valley is 5 minutes away, Loon Mountain is 30 minutes away and Cannon Mountain is 40 minutes away. [Rentals available on the mountain]

o For cross-country skiing, Waterville Valley has a superb network of groomed trails. One of the best in the state! [Rentals available at the Nordic Center where we buy are ski passes]

· Saturday evenings we will all get back together for a snacks/BYOB happy hour followed by a casual home-cooked dinner prepared by Jon. Post-dinner is time for fireside relaxing and conversation.

· Bring along your favorite beverages for the weekend and snacks to share on Friday & Saturday nights. You can place them outside on the deck to keep them cool.

Price & Reservations: The price will be $50 per person that includes 2 nights lodging with breakfast each morning, dinner Saturday night and full access to house from Friday arrival through Monday departure.

Because each room has 4 bunk beds we recommend you bring ear plugs because the odds are that someone will snore.

Please mail a check for $50 within 7 days that you RSVP to Mike Boisvert, 676 Upper Mad River Road, Thornton, NH 03285. THIS IS NOT REFUNDABLE SO BE SURE YOU WANT/CAN ATTEND!

Who came along (9)

SUSTAINING

Gandalf

Thornton, NH

GUEST MEMBER

Cartman

Framingham, MA

A member

Profile hidden

GUEST MEMBER

kalevine

Buzzards Bay, MA

GUEST MEMBER

Eupatorium

Mathias, WV

GUEST MEMBER

FlamingStream

Weymouth, MA

SUSTAINING

HikerBiker

Manchester, NH

GUEST MEMBER

emsinjp

Jamaica Plain, MA

GUEST MEMBER

barabas7

Coventry, CT

Comments

Gandalf · Jan 11, 2013

Got snow? Yes we do! Waterville Valley has 51 trails opened! Let's hope it stays cold and we get more snow for our weekend! Let’s start a conversation as to who wants to ski/ride versus cross-country ski. Waterville Valley is 5 minutes from our house. Jon and I will take a group cross-country skiing at Waterville Valley [rentals available] with lunch in the Town Square. Skiers/riders…where do you want to GO? Waterville Valley, Loon, Cannon or Bretton Woods?

kalevine · Jan 11, 2013

I will cross-country ski!

Eupatorium · Jan 11, 2013

X-country skiing here.

emsinjp · Jan 12, 2013

Definitely looking forward to some great X-country skiing for the weekend!!

freespirit · Jan 12, 2013

Loon or Waterville Valley are both great places to ski, so I'm open to either place. Liftopia often offers discount down hill skiing vouchers two days before skiing, so a decision beforehand will afford us lower cost tickets if we plan ahead!

HikerBiker · Jan 12, 2013

I'm up for X-country skiing. I would love to do Bretton woods. Haven't been there in years :)

Cartman · Jan 12, 2013

Don will be snowboarding and I will be skiing. We'd love to try Waterville Valley, since we've never been there before and it's so close to the house.

vtfred · Jan 14, 2013

Rats, I pulled work duty for Sunday so am dropping out. Can I work out an arrangement to transfer/refund my $50 deposit? JRosenfeld, let's be in touch? Best, Fred

FlamingStream · Jan 18, 2013

Damn I thought I filled this out but it must have been a email or even blanket email.
I do want to try cross country but won't start this trip as a newbie.
So I'll be alpining. My home mountain is Sugarloaf and lately I lean to Bretton Woods for NH where I learned to go off the cliffs but Waterville Valley is nearby and I liked that.

Really I am game for anything.
Love the glades.

barabas7 · Jan 19, 2013

Glad to be part of this event, although it would have been nice to see Fred again (whose place I am taking). I will be XC skiing.

barabas7 · Jan 26, 2013

Hey Guys,
I was wondering what time on Friday people are planning to arrive, and if anyone has dinner plans that could include me.
Rob

FlamingStream · Jan 27, 2013

Hi Men
Barabas has a good idea. I am leaving early Friday to get a day of skiing in at Waterville. So I am up for dinner once the lifts stop. Just need to know where. I stated earlier I would go to the Loaf on Mon/Tue but I cancelled that to go to a Winter Mountaineering course the AMC is running later in week.
Winter Mountaineering with Climb of Mt. Washington
http://activities.outdoors.org/search/index.cfm/action/details/id/63987

Gandalf · Jan 31, 2013

Please park at the top of the driveway by the lamp post and walk down to our house...otherwise you risk getting stuck if you drive down! There is no problem arriving around 10 PM. Most guys leave after breakfast on Sunday but some do get together for another day of skiing. On Sunday, Jon & I will be focusing on laundry, cleaning the house, etc.

barabas7 · Jan 31, 2013

Thanks to those who responded (either as a comment to the trip posting or in an email) to my inquiry about Friday dinner. I am all set but encourage others to link up and have dinner together as well.
I look forward to seeing long-time friends and to meeting new ones!
Rob

FlamingStream · Feb 16, 2013

This event was the best ski trip I ever had. snow was negligible but I cannot put all the blame on Mike for that ;-)

Sadly we missed the blizzard by a week but then we would have been skiing in a blizzzard instead of during(in my case) learning ice climbing on Cathedral Ledge & Frankenstein.

Thanks for a wonderful trip and I really hope to see you all soon. Hopefully on a hiking trip this season.

FlamingStream · Feb 16, 2013

The trip report

Event photos (30)

Reactions

About this event

Who came along (9)

Comments

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