By Marty Basch

Chris Sununu is looking to bring Waterville Valley into the 21st century while returning to its competitive skiing roots.

Sununu and a group of investors purchased the ski area from Booth Creek Ski Holdings in October—reportedly for less than $12 million, but that number may be a little high —and are looking to both modernize it as a premiere four-season destination resort while returning it to the glory days when 11 World Cups were held there.

Though seeing the X Games at Waterville Valley isn't realistic, a Dew Tour could be.

"We have to be realistic about what is practical," said Sununu, 36, in his postage-stamp size office. "There are new standards. We will go after the World Cup races. We will aggressively go after the nationals."

Name’s got game

From one of New Hampshire's most influential families, Chris is the son of former Gov. and Chief of Staff John Sununu and brother to former Senator John E. Sununu. The newly elected Executive Councilor from Newfields, he graduated from M.I.T. and worked for ten years as an environmental engineer  before becoming Waterville's CEO. He also works in the family consulting business and brother John is chairman of the board of the Waterville holdings. A life-long skier, Sununu hiked the entire Appalachian Trail in 1999 and is a few peaks short of climbing all of New Hampshire's 48 4,000 footers. He's married and a  father of two.

His skis may still nearly be straight (first generation parabolic Volkls)  but his turns were strong later on as he skied down the bend from Oblivion to Upper Valley Run to warm up before heading down the steeps of Ciao.

His management team is augmented by ski industry veteran Bob Fries. Fries, president, once was Waterville's general manager for 19 years. White Mountain Athletic Center owner Tom Gross rounds up the troika as president of valley operations.

Sununu acknowledges his family name has political cache and name recognition.

"Above and beyond the Sununu name, I think the team we put together is much more powerful," he said.

Tom too

The most-linked name to Waterville was Tom Corcoran, the Olympic skier who in 1965 developed the resort on 4,000-foot Mount Tecumseh in the White Mountain National Forest that now includes cross-country trails and town center.

Sununu has high praise for Corcoran, saying he got it right by bringing in competitions, celebrities and being cutting edge for his time. Freestyle skiing has its roots at Waterville while Olympic gold mogulist Hannah Kearney and two-time Olympic snowboarder Michelle Gorgone are both products of the Waterville Valley Black and Blue Trail Smashers ski club.

Sununu wants to put a 21st century "tinge" on 52-trail Waterville by remaining current in its many terrain parks, including expanding its halfpipe from 15- to 18-foot walls this season with a recently purchased a Zaug pipe cutter from Aspen.

Build it and they will come

He also wants to grow.

"We are looking to expand trails next year," Sununu said, and perhaps a few more the year after that. First, a new master plan must be done. The last one was some 13 years ago. And then they must go through the U.S. Forest Service process. Even a skier with politics in his blood knows that may take some time. At best, a new master plan could be ready by late summer or fall.

Sununu says Waterville has historically done well during weekends and holidays, but his wants to see the place alive midweek and shoulder seasons too. The 300,000 skier visits reported in 1992 fell to under 170,000 last winter.

To get them back, he wants the resort to grow, market more aggressively, have more package deals (skiing, corporate, weddings, etc.) and be more involved with local businesses. Zip lines and canopy tours? Maybe. But more realistic might be better tubing in winter and geocaching, disc golf and more mountain biking and hiking in the summer.

"I'd love to see an indoor skate park," he said.

The master plan sits on a corner of Bob Fries' desk and hasn't been done since 1998. It's recommended to be done every 10 years or less, Fries says.

Fries has been out hiking Green Peak (also called Green Mountain), adjacent to Tecumseh and to the skier's left looking up from the base area.

He's been looking at trail lay-outs and potential lift loading and unloading points.

"That area was always in the master plan from way back in the beginning," he said.  I'm hoping that will be relatively easy to get approved by the Forest Service."

Talk about looking ahead to bring something back.