Gunstock lift returns to operation

By MELANIE NELSON

Staff Writer

GILFORD — A sheared bolt in the return station of Gunstock’s new Panorama summit chairlift is being blamed for the malfunction which shut down the new high-speed lift on Sunday.

An estimated 180-200 skiers were on the detachable quad lift when the malfunction was discovered, forcing ski area crews to taken them off the lift using rope lines.

"The mechanical problem was determined to be a sheered bolt that caused part of the mechanics in the return station to not function properly," said Gunstock General Manager Greg Goddard on Monday.

The incident was discovered quickly by lift maintenance personnel and when it was realized it could not be repaired quickly, Goddard said he made the decision to evacuate the lift, which took approximately three hours.

The lift was back in operation by 8 p.m. The facility opened on time Sunday for a busy ski day on Presidents Day.

The lift went into operation just over two months ago. Its installation was the main element in $4 million worth of improvements done at the county-owned facility last year.

Goddard explained that while the lift goes over some fairly steep and rocky terrain in its path to the summit, every part of the chairlift is accessible.

Safety services has been trained in handling such situations where it becomes necessary to remove people from the lift, he said.

They have a rope with a chair attached on one end and they throw the loose end over the hull of the lift. Goddard said safety service personnel are able to control the chair via the rope and are able to raise the chair to the person on the lift.

On the chair itself, there is a post for a person to hold onto and place it under them, he continued. They then slide out onto the chair which is then lowered down by personnel on the ground.

Despite having some mechanical trouble on Sunday, Goddard said they had a capacity crowd for the last day of the three-day weekend.

This week and next are busy ones for Gunstock and other New England ski areas. Schools in Southern New England are on winter break this week, while most New Hampshire schools, including those in the Lakes Region, will be off next week.

Melanie Nelson can be reached at 524-3800 ext. 5930 or by e-mail at mnelson@citizen.com

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