Wildcat Mountain Ski Area is a

ski area A ski area is the terrain and supporting infrastructure where skiing and other snow sports take place. Such sports include alpine and cross-country skiing, snow boarding, tubing, sledding, etc. Ski areas may stand alone or be part of a ski resort. ...

located on Wildcat Mountain near

Jackson, New Hampshire Jackson is a town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,028 at the 2020 census, up from 816 at the 2010 census. Jackson is a resort area in the White Mountains. Parts of the White Mountain National Forest are in ...

, United States, in the Mount Washington Valley. Its vertical drop of is the second largest in New Hampshire and the ninth largest in New England. Wildcat is one of the best-known

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

resorts in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

, with lifts from the base on NH Rt. 16 in

Pinkham Notch Pinkham Notch (elevation 2032 ft. / 619 m) is a mountain pass in the White Mountains of north-central New Hampshire, United States. The notch is a result of extensive erosion by the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the Wisconsinian ice age. Pin ...

up to the summit ridge. The area has 49 trails on , including the Polecat Trail — the longest ski trail in New Hampshire. The Wildcat Valley Trail, an ungroomed

cross-country Cross country or cross-country may refer to: Places * Cross Country, Baltimore, a neighborhood in northwest Baltimore, Maryland * Cross County Parkway, an east–west parkway in Westchester County, NY * Cross County Shopping Center, a mall in Yo ...

ski trail, leads from the summit down to the town of

as part of the Jackson Ski Touring Foundation trail network, dropping in .

History

Wildcat is home to one of the oldest ski-racing trails in the United States. The original trail was built in 1933 by the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...

. Wildcat was the first ski area to have a

gondola lift A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supp ...

, which opened on January 25, 1958. The lift has since been replaced with a Doppelmayr

high-speed chairlift A detachable chairlift or high-speed chairlift is a type of passenger aerial lift, which, like a fixed-grip chairlift, consists of numerous chairs attached to a constantly moving wire rope (called a ''haul rope'') that is strung between two (or ...

known as the "Wildcat Express", but gondola carriers are still used for summer scenic operations. Wildcat's base elevation and proximity to

Mount Washington Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at and the most topographically prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River. The mountain is notorious for its erratic weather. On the afternoon of April 12, 1934, ...

produces an annual natural snowfall of over . As a result, the ski and snowboard season generally lasts from mid-November through early May. In recent years, Wildcat has worked to improve its summer and fall activities. In addition to replacing the aging gondola lift with a new high-speed chairlift (which is converted to a gondola during the summer and fall), the area has added a

zip line A zip-line, zip line, zip-wire, flying fox, or death slide is a pulley suspended on a cable, usually made of stainless steel, mounted on a slope. It is designed to enable cargo or a person propelled by gravity to travel from the top to the bott ...

, served by a triple chairlift. The resort was acquired in 1986 by Pat Franchi and family. In October 2010, they signed a deal to sell the ski area to

Peak Resorts Peak Resorts was a publicly traded company based in Wildwood, Missouri that operated ski resorts in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast portions of the United States. It was bought by Vail Resorts in 2019. History The company was founded ...

subject to approval by the

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...

which owns the underlying land. The new operators decided to not honor lifetime passes sold under previous ownership, resulting in possible legal action. Wildcat and

Attitash Attitash Mountain Resort is a ski area located on U.S. Route 302 in Bartlett, New Hampshire, near North Conway. Constructed in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration, as of October 2019, Attitash is operated by Vail Resorts (after being pu ...

in the town of Bartlett are now owned by

Vail Resorts Vail Resorts, Inc. is an American mountain resort company headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado. The company is divided into three divisions. The mountain segment owns and operates 40 mountain resorts in four countries, Vail Resorts Hospitality o ...

. Tickets are good at both mountain regardless of where they are bought. The Epic Pass can be used at these and all other ski areas operated by Vail Resorts.

References

External links

Wildcat Mountain Ski Area official site

Wildcat Mountain - New England's Alpine CCC Ski Trails
{{NHski Buildings and structures in Coös County, New Hampshire Ski areas and resorts in New Hampshire Tourist attractions in Coös County, New Hampshire Peak Resorts Civilian Conservation Corps in New Hampshire