On heels of record-setting season, Gunstock Mountain hosting new snowmobile hill climb

GILFORD — On the heels of a record-breaking season, the staff at Gunstock Mountain Resort are gearing up for a novel event — an X Games-style snowmobiling rally. 

Gunstock is hosting Snowmobile Mountain Madness, produced by X Racing, led by President Joe Duncan, on Saturday and Sunday, April 11-12. The event is expected to attract competitors and spectators from across the region to the Lakes Region slopes.

It’s the first time Gunstock has hosted the event, and bookends the end of ski season, which wrapped up on Saturday. The snowmobile racing series will feature action across multiple racing disciplines: SnowCross; HillCross; DitchBanger, using vintage sleds; and Sunday Funday Kidz racing.

It’s the perfect event to cap off another successful season on the mountain — Gunstock hosts a hill climb every year during Laconia Motorcycle Week, and this is reminiscent of that event. This year’s hill climb on the mountain is scheduled for Wednesday, June 17. The people who make Gunstock work year-in and year-out hope to make the snowmobile racing event an annual experience. 

“We’re pretty excited about it,” Director of Marketing Bonnie MacPherson said.  

Organizers are noticing significant interest in the event, and expect a large number of competitors, MacPherson said.

HillCross is scheduled for Saturday morning, as riders negotiate the steep slopes on a course which includes jumps, banks and rollers. On Saturday afternoon and Sunday, the other disciplines will be featured, each on different courses. SnowCross will offer displays of aerial feats and racing along a track of challenging terrain, while the vintage and kids courses are more pared-back.  

“We’re thrilled to be welcoming folks from the snowmobiling community to the mountain,” wrote Robert Drake, president and general manager at Gunstock, in a media release. “This may be an inaugural event for us, but our intent is for Mountain Madness to become an annual fixture in Gunstock’s spring events calendar. Joe and his team have been involved in the X Games for more than 25 years and will put on an amazing show for our community during the 'off-season' in the Lakes Region."

Gates will open at 10:30 a.m. each day, with a daily admission fee, or weekend pass rate. Guests ages 12 and under are free. Racing will begin at 11 a.m., and Gunstock’s Barrel Bar & Grill will be open offering hamburgers, hot dogs and other items, plus a beer garden. Attendees are asked not to bring outside food or beverages.

To learn more about Snowmobile Mountain Madness, or register to participate, visit gunstock.com.

“We’re going into it with great expectations,” MacPherson said.

The event comes right on the heels of Gunstock's ski season. And this year, business was booming. 

“We had our best revenue day MLK weekend on Saturday,” she said. “As the season progressed, we had our No. 2, and our No. 3. It was a great year.”

The weather played an important role in Gunstock’s success through the 2025-26 ski season. Significant snowfall and cold temperatures early on allowed for great snow coverage on the mountain, and afforded staff the ability to begin the snowmaking process promptly and consistently. They opened the ski season with two top-to-bottom runs.

“The momentum was strong going into the season, and it just kept going,” MacPherson said.

That’s significant for Gunstock, for the winter sports community, and for Belknap County. 

In 1959, the New Hampshire Legislature passed a law enabling the Gunstock Area Commission, a governing body tasked with the operation, maintenance, development improvement and promotion of the Belknap County Recreational Area in Gilford, owned by the county.

The law outlines tax assessment, and makes clear the rec area is exempt from taxation but, beginning in 1963 and continuing in perpetuity, Belknap County would pay Gilford an amount equal to the taxes assessed in that area for the year of 1962, in lieu of taxes, which they have — today, Gunstock pays directly.

Perhaps more significantly, state law requires 1.75% of Gunstock’s yearly gross operating income to be paid to the county. In October 2025, Gunstock area commissioners presented the county with a check for $365,909.

Gunstock’s continued growth and success isn’t happenstance. Staff and leaders have continually made improvements to the mountain and its infrastructure, and invested in its marketing. 

“Word’s getting out that Gunstock’s a great place to go,” MacPherson said. 

They’ve targeted the Portland, Maine, area for marketing, and continue to draw crowds from the Boston area, and the Seacoast. But they’ve also got a “huge local following” — according to their data, about 85% of visitors come to Gunstock from less than a two-hour drive.

Today, Gunstock limits the number of ski season passes sold, and the number of daily tickets.

“Our goal is really to preserve the skier experience,” MacPherson said. “As a result, parking is also not a huge issue.” 

When Gunstock strikes gold on revenues, that benefits both the county, and visitors to the mountain. Much of that success is invested back into the mountain and its amenities directly. 

Last year during the off-season, they began making improvements to the Panorama lift, which brings visitors to the top of the mountain. This year, that work continues, and has already begin. They’ve focused on making consistent upgrades to food and beverage offerings to, striving to “hit all those high points that people are looking for in a ski resort,” MacPherson said.