I have skied about every ski area in Maine and never skied Wildcat Mtn. before and it is a real nice Mtn. to ski and is great for intermediate skiers. I will be back and I was not disappointed not one bit. I went up the day they had the $9.00 ticket deal, couldn't pass up the chance to try the mountain, it was great and the views spectacular. Next time I go I am bring the whole family. Thanks and Always Remember Keep Your Ski's Pointed Down Hill & Enjoy a Great Time, later Bruce

Ski resort reviews can be helpful only if you know the skill level and skiing perspective of the person authoring the review. My perspective is focused on the actual skiing experience (terrain, crowd, and snow factors), and not so much on the ancillary aspects surrounding skiing. I am a middle-age advanced skier with no interest in jumping off cornices or cliffs. I will often at high speeds hit a small lip in the terrain and get a little air, but that is about the extent of it. I venture in and out of moderate mogul fields in an attempt to become a better all-around skier, but I tend not to spend a majority of my ski day dealing with the bumps. I love moderately spaced glades, but shy away from the dangers of extremely tight glades. If I had to describe the type of skier with which I most closely identify, it would be a high speed cruiser who enjoys medium to giant slalom turns. My three other ski buddies and I just finished a one week skiing trip to northern New Hampshire’s White Mountain Region. We managed to ski Attitash, Wildcat, and Cannon mountains. The evening that we arrived, the region was blessed with about eight inches of fresh snow. With that said, here are my impressions of Wildcat (The Cat):

Terrain: Rated 4.0:
It had been 10 years since I have skied The Cat, and the only aspect I could remember was the fabulous view of Mt. Washington. The Cat has a “wild” reputation, and I looked forward to this visit due to me now being a much improved skier, and with newer better equipment. This time I am not going to bore you with specific trail details. There are two things that make a skiing experience at The Cat outstanding; the previously mentioned scenic view, and the trail CONTINUITY! The way The Cat’s trails have been cut (and this includes the intersecting and merging of trails of different difficulty), it is as if someone poured out great amounts of water at the summit, and then cut the trails in the precise direction of the flowing water. Make no mistake, these are classic New England trails with many turns, switchbacks, and different degrees of steepness. When an intermediate trail begins to turn a little too steep, or has a tendency to become extremely moguled, there is black diamond trail marker going forward, and an associated intermediate cut off or by-pass route that can be taken by those with lesser skiing skills. What this means is that if you have advanced skiing techniques (as well as strong quads), you can rip the entire vertical drop of 2,112 feet in a continuous rhythm. This is true for not just selected trails, but also applies to many other trails, even when you encounter merges as well as intersections with differing trails. I used to be a firm believer that there is nothing like skiing those wide boulevard-type western trails in good snow conditions. Since visiting The Cat, I am a changed man. With good snow conditions, you cannot beat the exhilaration provided by those classic New England runs at The Cat. By the way and additionally, The Cat has glades, mogul runs, and the crazy extreme stuff like rock outcroppings requiring jumps directly under their Wildcat Express Quad. No matter how difficult the terrain, there is no such designation as a double-diamond at The Cat. Terrain-wise and through no fault of their own, the only thing that The Cat lacks is above the tree line skiing, and so does every other eastern ski resort with the exception being Sugarloaf, Maine.

Service: Rated 4.0:
Upon our first visit to The Cat, I felt that the service aspects were everything that you would expect and demand at a ski resort. The lifts ran as expected. There were no outstanding customer service examples, nor were there any major breakdowns regarding service. I had to change this opinion two days later when we attempted to ski The Cat for a second time. The previous night we experienced a modest sleet/ice storm. The Wildcat Express Quad to the summit was shut down, but the Tomcat Triple, the Bobcat Triple, and the Snowcat Triple were operating to mid-mountain. The weather was pretty dreary, but if you desired, you could still ski. The Cat management gave you the option to do one of three things: wait the weather out; continue to ski; or accept a voucher to return later in the day or any other day of the ski season. You were given these options even if you had already purchased a lift ticket and taken several runs. Now that is truly customer appreciation! On the first day that we visited The Cat, at lunchtime I ordered a bowl of chili. The Cat management may know some facts about providing a great skiing experience, as well as how to treat their customers, but they don’t know how to fix a good bowl of chili. The flavor was just okay, but I couldn’t find any beef and the beans had been pulverized into some sort of soupy mush.

Crowds: Rated 5.0:
We were ripping most the mountain at warp speed because there were no worries of other skiers being in our way. No lift lines, No crowds. Cheap tickets. Great snow. You couldn’t ask for more. Once again, the reason could be that this bad economy was still kicking serious butt.

Activities: Rated 5.0:
In the immediate vicinity of The Cat, there is nothing else to do in that area. Jackson New Hampshire, with its red covered bridge, is a sleepy but quaint little town a few miles down the road. But North Conway is only about 3 miles past Jackson. In North Conway there is outlet store shopping and additional small and quaint clothing shops, and variety stores. Snowmobile rental shops abound in the North Conway area. There is a movie theatre and good places to dine.

Value: Rated 5.0:
For the type of skiing experience that you will receive at The Cat, it is well worth your few dollars. We paid less than $30 per day for The Cat lift tickets, when bought through our lodging facility. Huge lift ticket discounts for many of the regions ski resorts (except Bretton Woods) can be gained through where you are staying. Lodging, dining, and the skiing experience (again except hoity-toity Bretton Woods) is quite reasonable in the White Mountain Region. Excluding weekends, there are promotional days for a different ski hills in the White Mountain Region.

In summary, given some decent snow conditions, The Cat can’t be beaten. I enjoyed Attitash as well as Cannon, but Wildcat is the The Cat’s meow.