The new owner is planning to reopen the New Hampshire ski area.
Monday, June 6, 2022, NewEnglandSkiIndustry.com
After two years of closure, Granite Gorge has new ownership.
Granite Gorge Partnership, LLC's Bryan Granger, Senior Vice President of Corporate, Operations and Compliance Law with C&S Wholesale Grocers, had the winning bid at Friday's auction. According to the Keene Sentinel, Granger bid $430,000 for the property.
In a statement issued to the Sentinel, Granger's group referenced a "shared desire of returning winter and summer activities to Granite Gorge in a safe and inclusive manner" and plans for "lift repair, snow making, grooming and various other facility upgrades, with the goal of returning winter and summer operations as soon as reasonably possible."
Reopened in 2003 on the site of the former Pinnacle ski area east of Keene, Granite Gorge perhaps peaked around 2011, when a chairlift was in operation with snowmaking and night skiing. Financial and equipment struggles resulted in operations being limited to surface lifts in recent years. Owner Fred Baybutt passed away unexpectedly in early August 2020, leaving the future of the ski area in doubt. Granite Gorge did not operate during the winter of 2020-21 or 2021-22.
The Town of Roxbury had recently placed a lien on the property for nearly $15,000 in unpaid property taxes in 2021. There was also a lien on the property for unpaid property taxes from 2020.
