They have tons of trees to ski. They just don't have marked glades like everywhere else. That helps keep the traffic down.
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Wildcat Mountain 2016-2017 season thread
- Thread starter deadheadskier
- Start date
They have tons of trees to ski. They just don't have marked glades like everywhere else. That helps keep the traffic down.
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You're right...if this was a mtn like say Cannon most of these would be on map. I like exploring and discovering things and it really does stay fresher way longer.
Definitely more tree skiing at Cat than people realize. Which as you say is a good thing because it keeps the traffic down. I found quite a few turns today that were boot deep; meaning no one had skied those areas this week.
Only complaint is there are basically none inbounds on the upper mountain. I've been told it's because the uptight USFS is protecting Bicknell's Thrush habitat. The reasoning for it is probably true, but it's still bullshit. There are tens of thousands of acres of untouched terrain from 3K feet up in NH. You could cut some pretty sweet stuff between Upper Lynx and Upper Polecat as well as Upper Wildcat and Upper Catapult that would amount to ten acres or less. A conservationist couldn't look at me with a straight face and say those birds would be getting screwed. I wonder how Cannon and Loon have gotten away with their Upper Mountain glades?
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Only complaint is there are basically none inbounds on the upper mountain. I've been told it's because the uptight USFS is protecting Bicknell's Thrush habitat. The reasoning for it is probably true, but it's still bullshit. There are tens of thousands of acres of untouched terrain from 3K feet up in NH. You could cut some pretty sweet stuff between Upper Lynx and Upper Polecat as well as Upper Wildcat and Upper Catapult that would amount to ten acres or less. A conservationist couldn't look at me with a straight face and say those birds would be getting screwed. I wonder how Cannon and Loon have gotten away with their Upper Mountain glades?
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No idea about Loon. But Cannon is in the state park and not federal land.
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A better example would be Vermont ski areas. Almost all of Smuggs, Stowe, Sugarbush Lincoln Peak, Killington, Okemo, Bromley, Stratton and Mount Snow are in the Green Mountain National Forest. All of these areas have significant resort maintained upper mountain tree skiing areas that lie within the Green Mountain National Forest. Many of those cut glades have happened in the past 20 years. So, it's not like these were glades made 50 years ago when environmental restrictions were much less. This reality leads me to believe that Cat can politic to do the same.
There are limited things Wildcat can do to improve the experience there. It's already fantastic, especially since the snowmaking improvements a few years ago. Outside of fixing snowmaking pipe on Cheetah and Upper Wildcat and having them be part of the regular snowmaking rotation (along with Black Cat and Starr Line - if you're reading this Cat management, blow those two trails every year because it's been AWESOME this year), a few upper mountain glades would be my only request to improve the ski product. To have a few on map ways to hang in the trees for most all of the 2000 vert journey down would be amazing.
I and I'm sure many others would be willing to provide free labor to make upper mountain tree skiing happen at Cat.
There are limited things Wildcat can do to improve the experience there. It's already fantastic, especially since the snowmaking improvements a few years ago. Outside of fixing snowmaking pipe on Cheetah and Upper Wildcat and having them be part of the regular snowmaking rotation (along with Black Cat and Starr Line - if you're reading this Cat management, blow those two trails every year because it's been AWESOME this year), a few upper mountain glades would be my only request to improve the ski product. To have a few on map ways to hang in the trees for most all of the 2000 vert journey down would be amazing.
I and I'm sure many others would be willing to provide free labor to make upper mountain tree skiing happen at Cat.
Edd
Well-known member
Beers on me.
machski
Well-known member
Loon is simple, they are not above 3K, at least where the glades start. There is a bird sanctuary immediately on the left at the top of Sunset that is marked no skiing due to it. But only the very top of North gets to or exceeds 3K. Upper Boss woods starts about half way down upper Walking Boss. So that may be due to pleasing bird folks.
Puck it
Well-known member
Cannon did not cut them that is why.
Good point. I just looked it up -- according to their website, the summit of Loon is 3,050' feet. And a quick look at the map reveals the chair tops out just barely above 3,000'.
I figured those were not cut by the mountain. I'm guessing the locals would have preferred them never to have gone on the trail map.
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Puck it
Well-known member
Yup. There are still a few that are not. You should the snowmaking tree fall at the top of Mitty in the Bicknell habitat. That is one way to get around the ban of cutting too.
Agreed it was a great 2 days. Wildcat is by far the best thing about a Peaks pass.
I know I missed many tree shots while I was there. Looking forward to a DHS guiding mission.
dlague
Active member
Scotty speak! Or Zoomer bar side affect?
Puck it
Well-known member
Oops
SIKSKIER
New member
The 3000 ft elevation is the mark for the Thrush.As far as Cannons deal with that,the agreement with the landswap for the top of Mittersill had in it that nothing above 2500 ft could be cut back past old clearings.The top of the Mittersill lift is under 3200 ft.
mccleaks
Member
OK all you Wildcat pros.... I'm heading to North Conway for the weekend. I have some voucher options through work to ski reasonably cheap at Attitash or Wildcat. I prefer Wildcat's terrain, but I'm a bit concerned about the weather forecast for Saturday. Weather Underground is predicting 35MPH winds (https://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=Wildcat+Mountain+Ski+Area,+NH). So the question is... how does Wildcat normally do with wind holds? Is it worth buying this voucher ahead of time or would people recommend waiting until that morning and see if all the lifts are spinning?
Attitash is in a similar position for high projected winds. So I'm not sure what the best move will be if there are wind holds out there. My buddies condo is at Cranmore, so maybe we stick with that boring place in favor of at least being able to ski.
Thanks
Attitash is in a similar position for high projected winds. So I'm not sure what the best move will be if there are wind holds out there. My buddies condo is at Cranmore, so maybe we stick with that boring place in favor of at least being able to ski.
Thanks
The Cat does really well w/ wind, as it normally blows straight up the lift line rather than side to side...
That being said, if the quad is down, then terrain access is severely limited.
Attitash is more spread out/sheltered and rarely has more than 2-3 lifts down at any one time from wind.
35mph gusts are not a huge deal but if it ramps up a lil bit from that, then there could be some wind hold.
We're skiing The Cat Sat. !!
That being said, if the quad is down, then terrain access is severely limited.
Attitash is more spread out/sheltered and rarely has more than 2-3 lifts down at any one time from wind.
35mph gusts are not a huge deal but if it ramps up a lil bit from that, then there could be some wind hold.
We're skiing The Cat Sat. !!
xwhaler
Active member
Well with a Wildcat ticket if the winds are too much you can always go to Attitash and vice-versa.
If you wanted to wait it out and assess in the AM, Black would be a nice play if the others had wind hold issues.
Faces south so should be warmer this wknd. I have a buddy who is at Black today and reports it is skiing fantastic.
If you wanted to wait it out and assess in the AM, Black would be a nice play if the others had wind hold issues.
Faces south so should be warmer this wknd. I have a buddy who is at Black today and reports it is skiing fantastic.
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Expect a busy day there on Saturday. There is a big race.
I don't expect wind to be an issue though.
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