Tom Day, Who Guided Turnaround at Gunstock, to Lead Burke
“All the Right Things Are Happening,” says interim GM Day, who will lead the newly acquired ski area “for as long as they need me.”
A year-ish after retiring-ish, the man who beat off a moron rebellion at Gunstock and transformed the New Hampshire ski area from part-time Belknap County dependent into modern archetype for thriving mid-sized indie sans national pass partnerships is back. This time, Tom Day will lead Burke Mountain, newly purchased out of eternal receivership by a group that includes Berkshire East and Catamount owner Jon Schaefer.
Day’s general manager title is, officially, “interim,” but as Day himself has told me “winter approaches a lot faster in the ski business than it does in the normal person’s world.” With a monster snowmaking project underway and Schaefer’s tendency for pushing rapid, edge-of-the-possible change (see Catamount, Bousquet), it’s hard to imagine Day exiting before at least guiding Burke into next summer.
By that point, Burke could be stringing a new lift up the mountain, Day told The Storm in a phone call as he drove down Interstate 93 last Friday. Burke’s infrastructure is in better shape than most skiers may appreciate, Day said, and this summer’s improvements could make for a blockbuster winter. Day is already applying some of the methods that he used to turn Gunstock around to the business of running Burke while getting acquainted with the staff.
“We just gotta figure out how to make some money here and that's all you guys,” Day told them. “I'm the general manager, I generally manage. You guys are the ones that are out there and know what's going on.”
Day also broke down where and why Burke needs an additional lift, reflected on leading Waterville Valley through three ownership changes, humored my comparisons to Rob Katz, and explained why he doesn’t care about his legacy. Here’s our full conversation, edited for length and clarity: