Presidents Day week gets off to a rocky start in New Hampshire with lift evacuation at Pats Peak

Gunstock's Panorama Quad was unavailable for the start of the busy February school vacation week. (Gunstock)

The busy Presidents Day week of skiing and riding in New Hampshire got off to an auspicious start as about 125 people needed to be evacuated Monday afternoon at Pats Peak after what the mountain described as a “deropement.” No injuries were reported.

The incident occurred on the Peak Triple, a fixed grip lift manufactured by CTEC that runs from the base to the summit. The chair was initially installed at Vermont’s Ascutney Mountain for the 1986-87 season as the Sundance Triple, according to New England Ski History’s lift online database. It was moved to Pats Peak for the 2017-18 season, three years after the chairs were taken off the line at Ascutney, which closed following the 2009-10 season, the website said.

“Our staff is highly trained in lift evacuations and worked closely with Henniker Fire and Rescue to ensure a smooth operation,” said Pats Peak director of marketing and sales Lori Rowell. She said the evacuation took about 90 minutes.

Weather at the time was cold and windy with many mountains across New England curtailing operations because of the conditions.

A joint investigation by the state’s fire marshal’s office and tramway safety board concluded that wind gusts caused the incident, according to a release from the state on Tuesday.

It was not the first significant lift failures in New Hampshire this month. At Attitash on Feb. 2, a man was injured when a chair on the Flying Bear Express fell about 20 feet. That lift has remained closed.

Cannon had to evacuate 64 people off the main Peabody Express Quad three days later. It reopened to the public on Feb. 9 after repairs were completed and the lift was inspected.

The week of Presidents Day has always been important to New Hampshire’s ski industry as it represents school vacation week in Massachusetts and thousands of visitors heading north. It got off to a shaky start with Gunstock Mountain Resort and Tenney Mountain both announcing in advance that chairs that run from the base to the summit would not be available on Monday because of mechanical issues.

The Panorama quad at Gunstock is the only chairlift to service the top third of the mountain and the Belknap County-owned ski area said the lift will be down “for an unknown amount of time” because the planetary gearbox needs to be replaced.

“We’re doing everything we can to get it fixed and operational as soon as possible,” said Gunstock marketing director Bonnie MacPherson, who added that the mountain is committed to a “lift infrastructure upgrade worth more than $2 million over the next two years.”

She said the replacement has been ordered an overnighted and work to prepare for its arrival has already begun.

The Gunstock Area Commission, which oversees the resort, will have its regularly scheduled meeting Thursday night (6 p.m.) at Gilford Town Hall. MacPherson said the mountain expects to have its proposal for potential lift upgrades discussed at that time.

According to the New England Ski History website, which maintains a database of ski lifts in the area, Panorama was installed by Doppelmayr-CTEC for the 2003-04 season at a cost of $2 million.

Because it is the only chair to reach the summit, Panorama receives a heavy workload throughout the year with summer and fall sightseers, in addition to skier traffic.

For those with tickets between Feb. 17-21, Gunstock is offering rainchecks for a replacement lift ticket for use before the end of 2025. For those who are choosing to stick it out, stop by the ticket office to get $30 from every adult ticket and $20 from every junior/senior ticket back in the form of mountain money stored on your RFID card.

Tenney posted on social media Monday evening that the Hornet Double should be ready to spin Tuesday morning. The Stadeli chair was installed 60 years ago and was rebuilt for the 1986-87 season, according to New England Ski History.