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AlpineZone Challenge 2014 - Brian Heon of Wildcat

Nick

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Brian Heon, General Manager of Wildcat, has agreed to participate in the 2014 AlpineZone Ski Area Challenge!

The AlpineZone Challenge is your chance to offer up questions, suggestions or praise to the people who run the mountains in the northeast.

We will pick ten of the questions asked here and submit them for review and response, and post them in the Challenge area when complete!

Caveats: we may edit/change your question for grammar, tone, or something similar. Questions may be merged. If we don't get to all the questions, we will encourage followup from the representatives, but no promises.

Please be respectful as well to those answering questions - please refrain from asking specifics about skier visit numbers, financials, demographic information, etc. as these may be confidential to the mountain.

Wildcat Profile
Wildcat
Challenge Results: 2004, 2005
 

xwhaler

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Do you anticipate being the 1st to open in NH and last to close every yr? Possibly trying to compete with SR and K on 1st to open in the East?
 

dlague

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I have read that the beginner lift has had issues on more than one occasion and the Bobcat Triple which serves terrain park features is slow which encourages most people to take the express which in turn causes trails to get skied off quickly higher up. Are there plans to improve the lifts serving some of the lower mountain terrain?

With respect to Terrain Parks - each time we are there with our kids they mention that there are not many challenging features. Are there plans to improve this aspect of Wildcat or is this purposefully done that way?
 

Savemeasammy

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I will second the question about pushing to be first in the east to open. Wildcat has some great advanced terrain - which is appealing to those of us who want to make early season turns. It would seem as though your high-elevation location above the notches would give you an advantage over Killington and Sunday River. Could this be a possibility? I for one would spend the extra half hour in the car to ski a more challenging run at wildcat than what Killington offers early-season.


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dlague

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I will second the question about pushing to be first in the east to open. Wildcat has some great advanced terrain - which is appealing to those of us who want to make early season turns. It would seem as though your high-elevation location above the notches would give you an advantage over Killington and Sunday River. Could this be a possibility? I for one would spend the extra half hour in the car to ski a more challenging run at wildcat than what Killington offers early-season.


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True that!
 

deadheadskier

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I have read that the beginner lift has had issues on more than one occasion and the Bobcat Triple which serves terrain park features is slow which encourages most people to take the express which in turn causes trails to get skied off quickly higher up. Are there plans to improve the lifts serving some of the lower mountain terrain?

I've always felt they could benefit by adding a conveyor loading systems to both the Tomcat and Bobcat lifts to decrease ride time. Anything the mountain can do to encourage greater greater utilization of the lower mountain would benefit the upper trails which get skied off so quickly.
 

EPB

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I've always felt they could benefit by adding a conveyor loading systems to both the Tomcat and Bobcat lifts to decrease ride time. Anything the mountain can do to encourage greater greater utilization of the lower mountain would benefit the upper trails which get skied off so quickly.

I want to add to/echo a few things that DHS has said. What trails got the snowmaking upgrades? I've looked up and down Wildcat's site and facebook page to find this out and there's nothing. Also, have you ever considered using the bobcat triple and lower catapult (terrain park) trail as a late season option since you already have a bunch of snow there? It seems like the cheapest and most efficient way to extend the season if the interest is there.
 

Smellytele

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Right where I want to be
To go with the first to open/staying open late - Any thought on putting another lift back at the top from half way up like used to be there? A surface lift might come in handy on wind hold days.
 

ThinkSnow

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Has the mountain done any preventative work to avoid having snow making issues that it did during the 2013-2014 season when only a handful of trails were open during peak season?
 

Brad J

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Has there been any thought to blow snow on gondiline ( I know thats not what its now called ,But skiing Wildcat since 1966 that what I and a lot of people call it ) top to bottom, it really is the premier trail on the mountain and should be treated as such, lots of snow no grooming.
 

deadheadskier

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Has there been any thought to blow snow on gondiline ( I know thats not what its now called ,But skiing Wildcat since 1966 that what I and a lot of people call it ) top to bottom, it really is the premier trail on the mountain and should be treated as such, lots of snow no grooming.

Are you referring to the top of gondiline; aka Lift Lion? They did blow a bunch of snow on Black Cat and Alley Cat for sure last season. Those trails had some of the deepest base on the mountain when I skied there on April 21st and it definitely wasn't a natural base.

TR from that day: http://forums.alpinezone.com/showthread.php/129923-Wildcat-4-21-2014?highlight=Wildcat
 

deadheadskier

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Any long term plans for the Bobcat Lodge other than essentially being a locker room for racers as it's currently being used?

I would think the space between the Lodge and the Old Gondola base terminal would be a great spot for an outdoor bar area ala the Umbrella Bars at Killington. It would have a great view up to look at people ripping The Chute and be much more ski in / ski out friendly than heading down and over the bridge to the main lodge. I would think for weekends and the spring, such a facility would be a huge hit. Just offer a handful of drafts and some basic food offerings and clean bathrooms inside, and it would get used.

6jhcth.jpg
 

deadheadskier

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It has been mentioned here on these forums and elsewhere (perhaps even your GM blog) that historically part of the problem with Wildcat's snowmaking has been that the temperature of the water supply is too cold. I get that there are optimum air temperatures and humidity levels for making snow, but I've never heard that the temperature of the water supply is part of the equation. Can you elaborate on this? The reason I ask is that there are other very cold mountains in the east that do an exceptional job at making snow (Stowe, Sugarloaf, Tremblant) and I would presume that their water supplies aren't appreciably warmer than Wildcats.
 

Nick

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Hey guys I've been busy finishing up other stuff for the winter but I'm going to shut down this thread and send questions along at the end of this week, so get 'em in if you have anything to ask!
 

CoolMike

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Last year was an operational nightmare for Wildcat. What exactly went wrong with the upper mountain snow making? What, specifically, are you doing at Wildcat to improve for the upcoming season?
 
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