As Cannon Mountain Ski Area prepares for the final weekend of a disappointing snow season, legislators are responding to a 2014 audit by tweaking the way free passes are distributed.
“We’re behaving like other ski areas in terms of how we issue these passes,” said Phillip Bryce, director of the New Hampshire Divison of Parks and Recreation. “We are now documenting every pass that is given out.”
Bryce testified at a hearing of the Senate Resources, Recreation and Development Committee in favor of House Bill 1172, which would make a number of changes to a long-standing law about state-owned ski areas, some as minor as removing reference to Mount Sunapee ski area, which the state no longer operates, and removing reference to a marketing position that no longer exists.
The bill also addresses two issues raised by the audit. One change clarifies that package plans offering many ski passes at reduced rates can be offered to “businesses within the tourism industry,” such as New Hampshire hotels, while the other allows the Cannon Mountain manager to grant “special daily or seasonal passes.” Previously, the law only allowed the commissioner to grant such passes, although Bryce said he doesn’t ever hand them out.
A government performance and financial audit for the fiscal year from July 1, 2013, through June 30, 2014, found no wrongdoing at Cannon but criticized its handling of such passes, saying, “Cannon Mountain does not accumulate, track, analyze, or report information about special daily and seasonal passes that are issued at no cost,” and didn’t track reduced-rate passes to volunteers or employees, even though they made up almost 20 percent of all season passes.
Bryce said a number of changes have been made in procedures since the audit came out last summer. The bill concerns issues that are covered by legislation.
It was the first such audit done since 2002 for Cannon Mountain, which is operated as part of the state’s parks system. The bill is likely to pass the full Senate.
Cannon Mountain Ski Area is not open this week but will open Saturday for a final weekend.
Most New England ski areas are reporting a decline of business of up to 40 percent this year due to a very late start and little natural snow.
