Gunstock reports strong financial situation, approves master plan

GILFORD — Gunstock Mountain Resort’s chief finance officer reported a strong budgetary picture for the county-owned recreational area but stopped short of making a prediction of its ultimate financial status this early in the ski season.

Cathy White told the Gunstock Area Commission on January 19 that total earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization were running above budget by $11,519,374, and $110,000 more than the previous year, as of December 31.

Although the net income figure shows a $2,163,274 deficit at this point, she pointed out that the resort operates in the negative for most of the year, with the bulk of its income occurring during the 13-week ski season that begins around Christmas. Gunstock’s budget predicted its loss would be $3,682,647 as of December 31.

Despite disruptions from the pandemic, Gunstock’s Adventure Park recorded $914,112 in earnings, a figure that is $228,303 above budget.

Retail sales stood at $76,038, which is $34,696 higher than budgeted, and restaurant income was surprisingly strong, at $70,623. Gunstock had predicted a $105,467 loss in food service at that point in the year.

The rental shop also was doing well, with net earnings of $101,613, or $26,264 above budget. The Outdoor Center, at $2,684, was $2,139 ahead of budget. Tom Day, Gunstock’s president and general manager, said the sale of season passes helped to boost those numbers.

Although events were down because of COVID-19-related cancellations, camping helped to make up for the shortfall, with net earnings of $610,875, or $183,231 over budget and $189,697 over the previous year.

The reason that the recreation area is still showing an overall loss is that most of the maintenance and preparations for the ski season take place during the warmer weather.

Day said he was pleased that Gunstock had good attendance during the Martin Luther King Day weekend, despite cold temperatures that held back customer visits at other New Hampshire ski resorts.

White said that, because year-to-date profitability is running ahead of budget, they have accrued $92,000 for payment to Belknap County, while they had budgeted a payment of $72,000, per their agreement with the county delegation.

In the past two years, Gunstock has not had to rely on revenue anticipation notes to cover early operations before winter revenue arrives. White said they had received authorization to borrow $1 million in Fiscal Year 2021 but did not need to use it, and in FY 2022, they proposed half a million but did not need to use it.

“We have not used it in the past few years; it doesn’t look like we’ll need it,” White said, noting that the county delegation has been asking for Gunstock to be self-sufficient. “We’ve been working with the towns and cities to meet the standards to be responsible for our own expenses, and to not have to rely even on a bank, which is normal business operations… We feel good about where we are today, and paying down debt.”

Future of Gunstock

Commissioner Gary Kiedaisch asked the other commissioners to give conceptual approval of Gunstock’s new master plan, which has four project areas or “pods,” the first of which is the old Fletcher Hale pod, next to some ski jumps. The master plan calls for revitalizing old trails and exploring possible racing trails, as well as replacing two ski lifts serving the Tiger and Ramrod trails with one new lift.

“That lift would enable us to go into what’s called the Weeks or the Winnipesaukee Ski Club original area and develop that,” Kiedaisch said.

Another possible project would be to gain access to land currently under conservation easement that would use a detachable lift from the base to give access to the top of the mountain. That project hinges on an interpretation of the easement, which allows recreational use of the land but not commercial use. Kiedaisch said they need to determine whether use of the lift on Gunstock’s property to grant recreational access to the property under easement would be allowed.

The other part of the master plan is to enter into discussions with a hotel operator to build a hotel that would serve customers with a ski-in, ski-out lodging facility.

“There is ski-in, ski-out lodging at Loon [Mountain], but they’re all condominiums,” Kiedaisch said. “They’re not a hotel with all the features and benefits of a hotel.”

The plan also calls for a road past the hotel that would go to the top of the summit, with a new summit lodge, “much like what they have at Bretton Woods and Killington.” Kiedaisch said such a hotel would be the best in the state because it has a view of Lake Winnipesaukee.

“This is phenomenal,” he said. “Nobody has that in the state of New Hampshire, so this is going to be a hot property that people will want to participate in.”

He assured the audience that it would be a third party leasing the property, not something that Gunstock would be building.

By approving the master plan, he said, they could begin the “gating process” where they work out the legal and cost details and decide on phasing of the viable projects.

Kiedaisch said one developer was interested in building condominiums along the trails, “and yes, you could, but no, we shouldn’t, in the commission’s opinion and the people that worked on this plan.”

In response to a question from Commissioner Jade Wood, Kiedaisch said development of the old ski jumps should be considered, but it should be left to the U.S. Ski Team which has the expertise to run it well. While a ski jump is not a profitable venture, “I, for one, as a commissioner feel jumps are critical because it differentiates Gunstock from every other ski area in New Hampshire.” He said the only comparable jump would be the Big Nansen Ski Jump in Milan, outside of Berlin, New Hampshire.

The commissioners voted, 3-1, to approve the conceptual master plan, with Peter Ness voting no.