Gunstock addresses rental ski 'torture'

GILFORD — Kate Brown clumped up the stairs from the basement ski rental shop at Gunstock Mountain Resort on Tuesday, keeping her head down and watching her unwieldy boots.

“It would be better if rentals were at ground level, especially for people just starting out,” said Brown, as she trudged to another building to put away some spare gear. “It’s kind of a little tedious. There are a couple more steps here.”

Tom Day, the new general manager and president of the county-owned ski area, feels her pain. He is suggesting a change next season that would put rentals in a portable building above ground with direct access to the teaching area.

“The rental shop is a poor, if not the worst, rental experience I have ever seen,” he said at the Monday night Gunstock Area Commission meeting. “I’ve probably been to 50 or 60 ski areas over the past five years and I’ve never seen a rental shop that tortures the first-time skier as much as this one does.

“The staff does a great job of getting them through the dungeon, but then they have to go up the stairs, carrying their skis across their arms.”

The guest then goes into another building to stash their street shoes. If they are taking instruction, another walk in ski boots is in store.

“They have to climb up the Eiger to get to a Bataan Death March where they go to get their lesson,” Day said.

“By then you’ve definitely taken an enthusiastic beginner and have them questioning the strenuous need to be able to get to where you then find out how much you then fall down when you’re learning how to ski.”

It won’t be cheap to purchase a large stressed-membrane structure to improve the rental experience, but it will have a big impact, he told the Gunstock commissioners.

“If we decide to identify ourselves as a learning area as we go forward, we need to be able to correct that,” Day said.

He also told the commissioners that three of the four snowcats used to groom the snow have exceeded their useful life.

“The newest one has 953 hours on it,” Day said. “The other ones are ancient, old and should be taken out in the woods and shot.”

The three older snowcats each exceed 4,500 hours of operating time, after which breakdowns are likely and operating costs and down times increase.

Day said he would look into a lease program that would reduce repair costs and keep the grooming machines on the snow instead of in the shop.

One of the snowcats is now out of service due to mechanical problems. Repair costs on the snowcats have reached about $50,000.

“Not only is it expensive, but when you have a cat broken down, four cats are adequate to groom here, but three cats aren’t, so you have to run faster and the grooming is different,” he said. “They are not putting a good product out, so this is something that we need to do.”

In another presentation to the commissioners, Finance Director Cathy White said an $800,000 revenue anticipation note has been paid off.

She said earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization are up $447,000 compared to the budget.

“Those are great numbers, those are strong numbers,” she said. “We’re not going to give any of that up in February.”

Human Resources Director Becky LaPense reported that the federal Labor Department is doing an audit of the ski area, which is focused on youth employment. They are looking at the area’s use of 14- and 15-year-old ski and snowboard instructors to make sure they are being employed under applicable rules.

Commissioner Brian Gallagher said such employment is not uncommon at ski areas.

At the meeting, the commission voted to elect commissioner Gary Kiedaisch as chairman of the panel, succeeding Steve Nix, who resigned earlier this month.

Legislation seeking money to pave the resort’s gravel parking lot, which tends to get muddy and have large potholes, has not gained support in the New Hampshire Legislature, but there have been improvements in the parking situation.

Under Day, employees have been told to park in a satellite lot and take a shuttle in. That has freed up parking for guests in the main lot.