A committee formed last term by Dean of the College Lee Pelton to evaluate the financial operation of the Dartmouth Skiway does not indicate its future is in jeopardy, Don Cutter '73, a committee member and Skiway manager, said.
In fact, this year's large snowfall has given the Skiway an increase in business, Cutter said. Though it is difficult to predict if the Skiway will turn a profit this year, he said season-pass sales, which generate 40 percent of the Skiway's business, are up from past years.
Last year was the first since 1985 that the Skiway started generating a profit again, which Cutter attributed to large amounts of snowfall and snowy weather.
"If it's a good winter, we make a profit," Cutter said. "If it's a bad winter, we lose money. Nobody knows until the season is over."
Cutter said he does not think the Skiway's business will be hurt by Whaleback Mountain, another local ski area, which recently re-opened.
"The Skiway didn't see a large influx of people when Whaleback shut down and we don't expect to see a decrease now that they're open again," Cutter said.
The Skiway Advisory Committee was designed as a long-range advisory committee that will consider things like future capital improvements and better marketing strategies for the Skiway, Committee Chair Henry Nachman '51 said. "It is to make the Skiway a more viable enterprise," he said.
Cutter said the committee plans to establish an agenda that will cover all aspects of the Skiway's operations for the next five to 10 years. "The main purpose of this committee is to help the Skiway develop a program for the future," he said.
"This is not a new idea," Cutter said. "The Hanover Inn and the golf course both have advisory boards and now the Skiway does as well."
The Skiway's future has been in doubt the last several years due to budget problems related to money the College owed for pipes and snowmaking services. The College installed in 1985 snowmaking equipment at a cost of $1.1 million and completed payments on that purchase two years ago.
Last spring, the Skiway purchased a quad chair lift after the Board of Trustees approved the purchase of the new Winslow Mountain chair lift at an estimated cost of $500,000, said Matthew McManness, an executive officer in the Dean of the College office.
Founded in 1955, the Skiway is open to the general public, but mostly serves the College's ski program and as a training and racing area for the College's ski team.
Last season, 38,500 skiers visited the Skiway, which operates an average of 100 days per year.
The 14-member Skiway Advisory Committee, comprised of alumni, faculty, administrators, students and local community members who are directly involved with the Skiway, held its first meeting last month.
Nachman, who spent 25 years doing promotional work for ski areas throughout New England, said the members were chosen for their experience with skiing and their connections to the College.
Tim Beck, the chief executive officer of Sno-Engineering, a company based in Littleton, N.H. that manufactures snowmaking equipment for ski resorts worldwide, is also a member of the advisory board.
