TAKING IN THE VIEWS WHILE SKIING WILDCAT MOUNTAIN
The view of Mount Washington from the summit of Wildcat Mountain.
Wildcat Mountain is located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, directly across from Mount Washington, which is the tallest mountain in the Northeast. Not only have I heard the mountain has good terrain, but I’ve seen Wildcat’s view of Mount Washington on the internet many times over the last few years and I’ve been wanting to see it for myself. Today, I finally made that happen. I haven’t skied everywhere in the east, so I can’t be 100% certain that Wildcat Mountain has the best views of any ski area in the east, but it has to be high on the list.
My day began before sunrise with a trip across Lake Champlain on the ferry. It’s a 3 hour and 45 minute drive to Wildcat from my house in northern New York. I got to the mountain at 10 AM and skied until close, taking in the views and enjoying the terrain that Wildcat had to offer. This was not only my first time skiing at Wildcat, but it was also my first time skiing in New Hampshire.
The mountain had three lifts open today, but I only stuck to one: the Wildcat Express. The Wildcat Express is a base-to-summit high speed quad. It was only a seven or eight minute ride to get up to the summit of the mountain from the base. You can ski the entire mountain off that one lift, which is kind of cool. Wildcat has 48 runs and offers more than 2,100 ft. of vertical. So far, they’ve only received 42 inches of snow this winter and that’s reflected in their trail count. They only had 17 runs open today, the majority of which were groomers, but they did have a few natural snow trails open.
The mountain wasn’t busy and lift lines were short to non-existent. Conditions varied significantly around the mountain. Most of the groomers were in decent shape with a blend of packed powder and some firm spots. However, any area that saw a lot of traffic was very icy. Most of these spots were lower down the mountain where trails merged. The natural snow only terrain was thin, but skiable. The snow wasn’t powder by any measure, but it was still somewhat soft and not too icy. Overall, I found the terrain that was open to be a lot of fun. I will need to go back another time when Wildcat is fully open so I can experience all that it has to offer.
Lastly, Wildcat’s views are majestic. Wildcat is 4,062. ft. tall. Mount Washington is 6,288 ft. tall and has a significant alpine zone. Mount Washington towers over Wildcat and dominates your view as you ski. It’s very impressive for an east coast ski area. I’ve never skied out west, but I’ve been out west in the summer and at times the views at Wildcat definitely have a western mountain feel to them. I loved how you could see the mountain for almost your entire ski down to the base. Anytime it disappeared, it quickly re-appeared in dramatic fashion.
I’m spending the night in Gorham, New Hampshire, which isn’t far from Wildcat. It’s also not far from Sunday River, where I’ll be skiing tomorrow. After I’m done skiing at Sunday River I’ll head back to northern New York.
-Lincoln