By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
GORHAM – In competition for about 150 years on either side of Mount Washington, officials for two iconic tourism operations were featured speakers before the Governor and Executive Council meeting on Wednesday at The Glen House, a 2018-construction hotel which is a sister operation to the Mount Washington Auto Road.
Officials for the Auto Road and the Cog Railway addressed councilors while getting an opportunity to hear from the new executive director of the White Mountain Chamber of Commerce Michelle Cruz and state Sen. Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, who chairs the committee working on a new master plan for Mount Washington State Park at the summit of the 6,288-foot peak.
The two businesses, longtime rivals and family-owned, are working with the master plan to see what their future fortunes hold atop the rock pile.
Bradley and Commissioner of Natural and Cultural Resources Sarah Stewart said an environmental assessment and recommendations for future use of the summit are an essential part of any new master plan and that it is likely a two-year process with legislative approval for funding which will shape the final document.
MEETING AT THE GLEN HOUSE
Many North Country business leaders and legislators attended the morning breakfast at The Glen House, built in 2018 at the base of the Auto Road in an environmentally sustainable manner.
LIVE LIKE A LOCAL, LEARN FROM A LOCAL
Michelle Cruz, the new director of the Mount Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce welcomed the council and Gov. Chris Sununu and talked about a new initiative intended to educate and connect visitors with those who live in the area.
“We want to share it with others and educate them,” Cruz said.
She said the initiative would encourage people to hire a guide.
“It is important to understand the environmental impact,” Cruz said. “We all know 2020 was a difficult year,” with many new people coming to the area during the pandemic, unfamiliar with the area and in need of guidance to recreate responsibly.
Cruz said in 2002 she moved to the area to spend 10 months as an Americorps worker and grew up in New York City. She returned.
“I figured it out and am so grateful to be part of this community. This area is so special. Yes, the tourists are coming here. We want to share with them who we are.
“We needed to get out a message of who we are…it won’t be overnight,” she said of the education process.
AUTO ROAD
Lisa McCoy, events and marketing director at Auto Road, also addressed the meeting. She noted the road opened in 1851 at the beginning of the Civil War and has been operating safely for over 160 years on the Northeast’s highest peak.
“We really focus on our safety record and history,” McCoy said.
The weather is so unique and a challenge but also a big draw.
“It’s like driving to Northern Labrador. We don’t have much alpine environment anywhere else,” she said.
The proximity to urban areas is a challenge and there is work to “teach people.” The company is family owned and considers itself “stewards.”
McCoy said it feels important to conserve the road and the mountain for generations to come.
“We are committed to a green energy future.”
She noted they have Electric Vehicle charging stations, use geothermal at the hotel, wood pellets, and a small hydropower operation for buildings, and many of the “stages” or mini-busses are fueled by propane.
The company offers guided whitewater tours, snow coach tours to treeline on Mount Washington, and Nordic skiing, fat bike, mountain bike, ski, and snowshoe hikes.
COG RAIL
Wayne Presby, who bought the Cog Railway when he was 26 years old, said he has owned the iconic rail line to the summit of Mount Washington longer than anyone in its history.
“We’ve been doing a lot of things just over the past four or five years,” Presby said. He touched on his proposal to build a seasonal hotel just below the base, which is going to a conceptual meeting before officials of Coos County on Oct. 7.
In recent years, Presby said they have completed rerailing the track laying 1,500 pieces; 10,000 custom tie plates using 12.5 tons of steel.
Also, the company is having the first anniversary of a new maintenance facility at Marsh Station in Carroll on the other side of the mountain.
He said the company has a new snowcat to help in mountain rescues, built a new mid-mountain station called Waumbec station, and has had three winters where they have been open up to that location.
Presby said he is working with the state community college system on a number of different programs in manufacturing and the Cog has built seven diesel locomotives from the ground up.
He said one of the things he is most proud of is an effort underway to convert ownership into employee stock “so it will be completely owned by the employees” in the future, he said, noting currently it has about 80 employees.
Presby said the Cog is also trying to improve communications on the mountain for guests by running a fiberoptic line up the mountain “so we have good wifi available all over the summit.”
He said ridership has increased from 25,000 to 150,000.
MOUNT WASHINGTON COMMISSION
Sen. Bradley, an avid hiker, talked about how he and his wife enjoy hiking the mountain in winter.
He said the commission includes both Auto Road and Cog along with other stakeholders at the summit, including the Mount Washington Observatory, which is mostly a science-based weather operation to “bring all of the varied interests of the summit in a working format.
“There is a lot happening up there,” Presby said, including telecommunications.
The first master plan in about 50 years should be delivered to the state hopefully by Jan. 1.
“The most important thing is an environmental assessment,” as part of the plan, “so we have a good handle on all the things that are up there…a good analysis of climate change,” and capital needs.
“We need that kind of assessment,” which he noted might cost in the six- to seven-figure range from the state’s capital budget.
“This will be one of the top items for the next legislature to consider,” he said.
He thanked Sununu for his “steadfast support” for the environmental assessment.
Accessibility, he said, is key for the next plan.
A draft copy of the plan is available on the DNCR website
https://www.dncr.nh.gov/