Wildcat, NH: 02/29/12

jamesdeluxe

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Jul 17, 2020
Day 3 of the Northeast Ski Blogger Summit brought our crew to Wildcat, a NH ski area that many here are very familiar with, but one I’d never visited.

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Patrick is a big fan of Wildcat’s consistent 2,100 verts and its narrow, winding trails and I couldn’t find much to complain about, other than the fact that my legs are getting a bit shot after the previous days. Similar to other stops on this trip, groomed trails were rock hard in steep spots and very carvable in others; however, the off-piste was nice and soft. Views of Mount Washington were stellar and locals pointed out the names of famous locations on the mountain that I’d heard about for years, but never saw in person.

RivercOil on “Upper Catapult” with Tuckerman’s Ravine in the distance:
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We got a nice taste of Wildcat and covered all of the classics, including a top-to-bottom run on Polecat, the longest novice trail in New Hampshire. To make it interesting, we were instructed by our host Thomas Prindle not to stop, which was more challenging than I had expected because of the aforementioned dead legs.

Gord at the top of “Wildcat,” which was cut in 1933 by the Civilian Conservation Corp and was one of the first racing trails in the U.S.:
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Since Wildcat is 100% on National Forest Land, there’s no base infrastructure other than a bare-bones lodge whose exterior hasn’t been painted in many moons. I liked the no-nonsense ambiance and understand why it’s referred to as a classic New England ski area.

Heading back to the Mount Washington Valley through Jackson:
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