Cannon vs. Wildcat

[awf170]

IMO seems to be one of the closest ski area rivalries.

Some stats:

Cannon Wildcat
Snowfall: 150" 175 - 270"
Vertical: 2,146' 2,112'
Trails: 55 47
Acres: 165 225

My vote is for wildcat, just because they seem to have more reliable snow conditions, but if they both got equal snowfall I would probably give cannon the edge

 

[riverc0il]

why am i even posting, everyone knows my thoughts on this? :lol: but something people may not know: wildcat was my favorite area for most of my life. it was only about four-five years ago that my preference switched from wildcat to cannon. i rarely get over to wildcat for numerous reasons, though i still think it is a great mountain and has some of the best lift serviced spring skiing around. there is just something special about cannon that i love....

 

[thetrailboss]

Haven't been to Wildcat, but Cannon on a good day is a great place. Really, really looking forward to skiing there this season on a more regular basis.

 

[sledhaulingmedic]

In days of yore, when Wildcat had the Gogo and Cannon had the twin Summit T's, they were close. Though Cannon was violated by reaming "Profile" through her Virginal Woods to hack a wide fall line slope in terrain that desered something far more creative, Wildcat has now been prostituted into something barely recoginable from across the gap that is Pinkham Notch.

Sorry, Awf. No comparison. I'll still ski Cannon, but I haven't skied Wildcat since...well, I think since you've been alive

 

[deadheadskier]

I haven't skied Cannon in almost 20 years. I vividely remember the double T-bars though.

I've never skied Wildcat at all. That being said, as an outsider looking in with everything I've read, I'd imagine I'd find Wildcat more appealing because physically they seem to wash out in terms of vert and terrain, but mother nature seems to be a bit more generous with Wildcat.

 

[riverc0il]

mother nature is also more generous with the wind at wildcat. probably one of the number one wind hold ski areas around with that quad. cannon while generally a windy mountain, rarely goes on wind hold and usually only when every other ski area in the whites is on hold as well. they can usually spin the zoomer chair regardless of the wind which is perhaps has the best terrain accessed by that short of a chair lift in new england. that is something severly lacking at wildcat as the bobcat triple just services a couple of cruising trails without any challenge.

in my opinion, cannon has better terrain the wildcat. though wildcat's in bounds glades do outmach cannon's in bounds glades because cannon rarely gets a chance to cover them properly. but when they are covered, they are smoking. wildcat has nothing like the hardscarbles, the front face, tramline, or kinsman. granted i have never done the brook at wildcat, but cannon's sidecountry is immense and surely no contest either. if the decision was terrain only, hands down cannon no arguement could be made otherwise.

views are close, but i would give wildcat the edge with mount washington (when you can actually see it!).

wildcat's biggest negative is it's layout. i will likely get a lot of disagreement on this one, but it's layout puts almost all the mountain's skiers onto the summit with only a few options to choose from. usually, upper lynx and upper catapult get horribly scrapped by 10-11am and just keep getting worse from there. polecat is good for one run, but pretty boring. upper wildcat is pretty variable for conditions, but if it was groomed (happens more than it should) then scraping is likely over there too. essentially, by the end of the day you end up hating the upper mountain and longing for wildcat to spin the tomcat triple, which they almost never do. some of the best terrain on the mountain is around that triple and is a sorely missed option there. no gondi towers and no gondi further detract from the experience.

cannon locks it, imo, in the value catagory. a cheaper day ticket price, lots of great deals including two twofers mid-week to wildcat's one (and a MUCH cheaper twofer as well), and a closer drive for most people (2 hours from metro boston vs. wildcat's 3 - also no dealing with north conway and interstate all the way).

wildcat gets the nod for spring skiing, views, and total snow. those are the only three things i see wildcat has better than cannon.

 

[thetrailboss]

Though Cannon was violated by reaming "Profile" through her Virginal Woods to hack a wide fall line slope in terrain that desered something far more creative, Wildcat has now been prostituted into something barely recoginable from across the gap that is Pinkham Notch.

Hmmm....I don't know what else they could have done :-?
One of the reasons was to widen the trail for the quad liftline I imagine...what would you suggest? A narrow liftine and another narrow trail? Hmmmm...that would have been tasty I personally dig the Zoomer Terrain as well...steep and short for many, many runs. I also like doing yo-yo's off of the Summit Quad...Skylight is one of my FAVORITE trails..nice rolls and twists! :beer: Why don't they make ski trails like this anymore?

 

[awf170]

mother nature is also more generous with the wind at wildcat. probably one of the number one wind hold ski areas around with that quad.

Ive been to wildcat 15-20 times in the last two years, and the lifts have not been on wind hold once(one time because of freezing rain the quad was on hold) I know they get wind hold, but I dont think they get it nearly as often as sugarloaf, jay peak, or sugarbush.

cannon while generally a windy mountain, rarely goes on wind hold and usually only when every other ski area in the whites is on hold as well. they can usually spin the zoomer chair regardless of the wind which is perhaps has the best terrain accessed by that short of a chair lift in new england. that is something severly lacking at wildcat as the bobcat triple just services a couple of cruising trails without any challenge.

Ya bobcat does suck, but tomcat isnt that bad and is actually pretty fast.

in my opinion, cannon has better terrain the wildcat. though wildcat's in bounds glades do outmach cannon's in bounds glades because cannon rarely gets a chance to cover them properly. but when they are covered, they are smoking. wildcat has nothing like the hardscarbles, the front face, tramline, or kinsman.

In terrian I think Cannon wins in steeps, and old school style trails. But for cruising and moguls I think Wildcat wins.

granted i have never done the brook at wildcat, but cannon's sidecountry is immense and surely no contest either. if the decision was terrain only, hands down cannon no arguement could be made otherwise.

Agreed, cannon does have a ton of O.B. stuff and easily beats wildcat. But wildcat still does have a lot, theres more than just thompson creek.

wildcat's biggest negative is it's layout. i will likely get a lot of disagreement on this one, but it's layout puts almost all the mountain's skiers onto the summit with only a few options to choose from. usually, upper lynx and upper catapult get horribly scrapped by 10-11am and just keep getting worse from there. polecat is good for one run, but pretty boring. upper wildcat is pretty variable for conditions, but if it was groomed (happens more than it should) then scraping is likely over there too. essentially, by the end of the day you end up hating the upper mountain and longing for wildcat to spin the tomcat triple, which they almost never do. some of the best terrain on the mountain is around that triple and is a sorely missed option there. no gondi towers and no gondi further detract from the experience.

Ya, wildcat upper mountain is pretty crappy, I really wish they would be alouded to cut a trail in between polecat and lynx, and also between up wildcat and catapult. Something you can do on the upper mountain is just ski upper polecat then cut across to the other stuff. IMO upper polecat ussually has the best conditions of the upper mountain trails and is pretty fun. About the tomcat triple, it seems that it runs more often now, the last few saturdays I was there it was running. I would still rather save time and just take the quad. I can ussually find a way to make the upper mountain nice and take that route every time.

cannon locks it, imo, in the value catagory. a cheaper day ticket price, lots of great deals including two twofers mid-week to wildcat's one (and a MUCH cheaper twofer as well), and a closer drive for most people.

I think value is pretty close, even though wildcat is a expencive for a one day. IF you get the wildcat you get 3 days for $110. Which is $37 a day, then you can ski the next day for $25. Also wildcats seasons passes for students is only $150 which is better than cannons. So ya at wildcat you have to work harder to ski cheap but you can do it. So I say it is a lock in this catagory.

So overall I would say I like them equally but I think wildcat wins just because they get a little bit more snow.

 

[Sky]

I voted Wildcat.

Only been to both places once and it was a very tough call.

SIncd I stay on-piste (so far), I was swayed by Lynx, Wildcat and Cheetah...and Polecat for my wife and daughter.

Cannon has Ravine...Hard Scrabble looked like a great trail, but it was closed the day I was there...and it appears to be a bump-run. Cannon is a great trail. Unfortunately, I was therre late in the year when I went and the front three(?) were pretty patchy. Profile looked like it would be pretty good as well...but it was late as I said....and the cloud cover was low that day...and it was also the day a torqued my knee.

Great poll. Wildcat by a whisker. *SMIRK*

 

[ga2ski]

mother nature is also more generous with the wind at wildcat. probably one of the number one wind hold ski areas around with that quad. cannon while generally a windy mountain, rarely goes on wind hold and usually only when every other ski area in the whites is on hold as well. they can usually spin the zoomer chair regardless of the wind which is perhaps has the best terrain accessed by that short of a chair lift in new england. that is something severly lacking at wildcat as the bobcat triple just services a couple of cruising trails without any challenge.

in my opinion, cannon has better terrain the wildcat. though wildcat's in bounds glades do outmach cannon's in bounds glades because cannon rarely gets a chance to cover them properly. but when they are covered, they are smoking. wildcat has nothing like the hardscarbles, the front face, tramline, or kinsman. granted i have never done the brook at wildcat, but cannon's sidecountry is immense and surely no contest either. if the decision was terrain only, hands down cannon no arguement could be made otherwise.

views are close, but i would give wildcat the edge with mount washington (when you can actually see it!).

wildcat's biggest negative is it's layout. i will likely get a lot of disagreement on this one, but it's layout puts almost all the mountain's skiers onto the summit with only a few options to choose from. usually, upper lynx and upper catapult get horribly scrapped by 10-11am and just keep getting worse from there. polecat is good for one run, but pretty boring. upper wildcat is pretty variable for conditions, but if it was groomed (happens more than it should) then scraping is likely over there too. essentially, by the end of the day you end up hating the upper mountain and longing for wildcat to spin the tomcat triple, which they almost never do. some of the best terrain on the mountain is around that triple and is a sorely missed option there. no gondi towers and no gondi further detract from the experience.

cannon locks it, imo, in the value catagory. a cheaper day ticket price, lots of great deals including two twofers mid-week to wildcat's one (and a MUCH cheaper twofer as well), and a closer drive for most people (2 hours from metro boston vs. wildcat's 3 - also no dealing with north conway and interstate all the way).

wildcat gets the nod for spring skiing, views, and total snow. those are the only three things i see wildcat has better than cannon.

many good points here but you are missing the most important. Cannon - Its so big it has two exits. Still can't believe that was the marketing logo a few years back.

Actually I voted Wildcat, but they are very close in my mind. I think that learning the backcountry from a local at each mountain would help me decide. Any volunteers????

 

[riverc0il]

i've volunteered before, amazingly i have only had one person take me up on the offer. more for me i guess interesting point about the marketing logo which i was not aware of. that's still not as bad as "the big easy" two years ago... lame. i still love "it's a blast!" the best.

even though i am big into cannon, i can understand why a lot of folks would prefer wildcat. i mean, heck, i used to too years ago :beer: it's a great mountain and by my comparisons and contrasting to cannon, i did not mean to take anything away from it. any mountain with an old CCC cut trail gets two thumbs up from me

 

[ga2ski]

I will have to take up up on that offer once we get some good snow. Hopefully it will be a wednesday as how can you beat $15 for NH residents. I hope they still have that offer this year.

 

[eatskisleep]

i've volunteered before, amazingly i have only had one person take me up on the offer. more for me i guess

I am willing to take up on that offer!

 

[awf170]

I was so dissapointed when cannon got rid of this trail map. The thing was classic, you just got depressed and thought it was a crappy ski area by looking at it

www.skimaps.coms

 

[riverc0il]

oh man, i love that older map. cannon is one of the few mountains i think James Niehues totally wrecked on paper. it is SO hard to properly show cannon's layout due to it's topography. that angled map from upper elevation really shows the mountain well. on the flip size, the recent redrawing of wildcan't trail map by James Niehues was excellent and one of his best, a lot better than the old wildcat maps.

i love the old wood carved trail map in the lower level of cannon's summit building. classic.

 

[riverc0il]

THIS map was excellent as well, the one before the current map which i do not like at all. the current maps tries to make the mountain look broader or something and hits at future development. thumbs down.

 

[eatskisleep]

Why do I like to ski at Wildcat?


The conditions can be awful-it gets you better for skiing elsewhere

They don't groom everything-I can't remember seeing moguls so big at any other mountain besides Jay...although, I can't remember skiing any moguls as icy as the ones at Wildcat either

For the most part; even admist the middle of a school vacation week I ahve never had to wait over 5 minutes in line

They don't get rid of rocks in the middle of trails like some mountains do; this way, you can still huck off of them 8)

This next picture needs no explanation:

Even though Wildcat is know for its ice... it is also known for its powder days (which they somehow turn 2" of poder into 7" of powder :roll: )
Although this was a good day though-

Even though Wildcat can tend to well "be crappy" early season; I say that on a powder day or a spring day it gets my vote. Last year during April those moguls under the liftline and on "Black Cat" etc were so nice and soft.

So all in all I give Wildcat:

So anyone want to give me a "local" tour of Cannon?[/img]

 

[awf170]

So anyone want to give me a "local" tour of Cannon?

I could, I dont know nearly as much as Steve but I know where a few stashes are.

 

[awf170]

wildcat has nothing like tramline.

Not as long or steep but hairball is pretty nasty, they also have stuff like als follys, feline, and starrline.

Hairball:

ya the conditions were horrible, but it was challenging...







Ya, I know wildcat lost this battle but I still felt like trying :wink:

 

[riverc0il]

eatskisleep could easily have substituted cannon pics in that post and said the same things about cannon. except for the turning 2" of pow into 7" of pow wildcat is notorious for exagerated snow fall totals. cannon is pretty straight up and reliable with theirs, but no area is perfect. cannon has occasionally under estimated wildcat does edge cannon (proper) out on bumps though, i have to admit. wildcat is the area that got me into the bumps originally.