SUNRISE SKI & BOARD SEASON

2026 SEASON OPEN!

By Anne Groebner

If you take a trip up the mountain from Pinetop and you approach the junction of Arizona Route 260 and Arizona Route 273, glance to your right, and you will see the recognizable white lines that grace the sides of Sunrise Mountain — and you know they got some snow. For avid skiers and snowboarders, there is immense excitement in seeing those white runs — but my next question would be, “When are they opening for the new winter season?” Well, I took a trip up to Sunrise Park Resort to get some answers. The best person to answer this question and other questions about the resort is their new general manager, Walter Guasch, who I had the great opportunity to sit down with and pick his brain. 

Guasch has been working on getting Sunrise Park Resort ready for opening day since October 20th, when he was hired to take on this enormous project. He mentioned he started in the ski industry as a lowly ski rental tech and worked his way up the ladder. He started in 1988 with Kirkwood Ski Resort in California, and his last job was with Diamond Peak Ski Resort in Incline Village, Lake Tahoe, where he raised his kids; a daughter who is a kindergarten teacher and a son who is a pilot. 

His initial plan when he arrived at Sunrise was to sit back and listen and make changes gradually, but he saw that there were some immediate needs, and he declared a change in plans. “We are shaking it up!” he said. His specialty is marketing, and he told me, “Just because you build it, doesn’t mean they will come!” And he is focused on making things easier by simplifying the process.

For instance, this year he wants to make the resort more family-friendly by changing how they price their passes. Kids 12 and under and adults 75 and over ski FREE! Teens and adults ages 13 through 74 ski for the same price — and he has removed a lot of the “ridiculous” fees. He also returned the kid camp back to its original location so that they would have a designated and safe area just for kids — and they have kid’s ski lessons! They have two bunny hills, including a magic carpet and there will be a kids’ morning program from 9:30 a.m. to noon and an afternoon program from 1:00 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. Guasch believes, “Kids are our future!”

He wants to get involved in the community that surrounds Sunrise; not just the ski rental places, but the restaurants, shops and hotels as well. And he is not just communicating with the White Mountains, Tucson and Phoenix areas. He is partnering with ski rental shops in Albuquerque. “I’m not just working on better communication with my staff about the resort’s potential,” he says, “I’m working on communicating that to all of the surrounding communities. We have to work together!”

One of the first questions Walter gets asked is, “Are you going to fix the Cyclone chairlift?” So, he asked his team what it would take. He discovered that the problem with Cyclone is that the four lifts on those two peaks were built by Yan, a company that is no longer in business, and there are no replacement parts. Cyclone would need a complete rebuild, but they would have to replace the 40-year-old piping first so it could handle the pressure from the snow making equipment. “To make Apache Peak (their crowned jewel) doable, I would need snow making capabilities.” He tells me. Walter and his team are working with the snow making companies to see what can be done. 

This year, however, Sunrise Park Resort made a significant equipment upgrade. They have received and installed 24 new pieces of snow making equipment from SMI Snow Makers, dramatically enhancing coverage, efficiency, and reliability across the mountain. There are nine air/water SMI Grizzlys with compressors designated for Nastar, nine manual air/water SMI Grizzlys for flexible deployment across various terrain, two fan guns mounted on swing arms for strategic coverage at Midway and Lodgeview, two regular tower fan guns and two access tower fan guns targeting Fairway and Pinedale. Their team now has state of the art equipment that will help deliver outstanding snow conditions from opening day through spring.

And there are many other improvements that will enhance the customer experience, such as the new location of guest services. Now the window is on the ground floor, and skiers and snowboarders no longer have to climb a flight of stairs. The Crown Dancer Cafe is changing to a locker room with tables for bagged lunches. You will find many improvements at the day lodge, which houses the lounge area and cafeteria, and the Coffee Shop is back between the day lodge and the kids’ camp. They have also replaced all the plumbing in the hotel — a million-dollar project — and it is up and running.

They have several events in the works, including rail jams, holiday events and New Year’s Eve. This winter season, you can also enjoy the Sunrise Apache Alpine Coaster and the tubing hill. 

So when is opening day? December 12th, which will include A tree lighting, Crown Dancers and a pancake breakfast. Walter tells me they are working at having runs open at least from Midway down and hopefully from the top of Sunrise Mountain by Christmas. For now, Walter lives, breathes and sleeps Sunrise Park Resort. His big thing is that he and his team take pride in the resort and the work they are putting in for the best customer experience. “When we take pride in our work, it will show to our guests.”