Wildcat and Attitash

[kingslug]

Now that they are on Epic..thinking of hitting them this season. Never been..how would you compare them to Stowe or Okemo..

 

[thebigo]

Now that they are on Epic..thinking of hitting them this season. Never been..how would you compare them to Stowe or Okemo..

You dont compare them with either stowe or okemo.

Wildcat is special, attitash is a mess. Get a place in the valley, best ski town in the east. Hook up with a local and ski wildcat until you cant walk anymore. Maybe grab a beer at attitash on you way out of town.

 

[gregnye]

Now that they are on Epic..thinking of hitting them this season. Never been..how would you compare them to Stowe or Okemo..

Get ready to get some serious vertical in at Wildcat! It's best to wait a bit and go when all the trails are open.

And if you like it there, please don't invite more people! Wildcat fans are already concerned what the Epic pass might mean in terms of crowds.

Bring your own water though-->The drinking fountain/water quality there is absolutely horrible.

 

[thebigo]

Get ready to get some serious vertical in at Wildcat! It's best to wait a bit and go when all the trails are open.

And if you like it there, please don't invite more people! Wildcat fans are already concerned what the Epic pass might mean in terms of crowds.

Bring your own water though-->The drinking fountain/water quality there is absolutely horrible.

Good advice, grab a gallon at grants before you turn up 16

 

[deadheadskier]

Now that they are on Epic..thinking of hitting them this season. Never been..how would you compare them to Stowe or Okemo..

You're a Stowe skier these days. Stowe was my home mountain for a decade. Wildcat has been home for the past seven years.

Snow conditions being equal, I prefer the Wildcat skiing experience.

I prefer Wildcat to anywhere in the East when the conditions are good. It has the perfect mix of groomed vs natural terrain, plenty of serious challenge, classic character trails and a 7 minute bad ass quad to access all 2100 vertical feet of it with almost no run out. There is no mountain in New England you will crank out more time actually skiing as opposed to waiting in lines and stuck on lifts.

Don't bother with Attitash until they get a new summit lift. They actually have pretty great terrain, but their low elevation means typically crappy snow.

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[So Inclined]

Don't bother with Attitash until they get a new summit lift. They actually have pretty great terrain, but their low elevation means typically crappy snow.
AlpineZone mobile app

That lift is a pokey PITA, but having been there through a couple 10"-14" March nor'easters in recent years, midweek nukings at Attitash are the best because there's still no one there. Felt like a private mountain to me.
Weekends are a slightly different story.

 

[kingslug]

Sounds like my kind of place...long vertical. Its what i like best about Stowe as well.

 

[Cornhead]

You're a Stowe skier these days. Stowe was my home mountain for a decade. Wildcat has been home for the past seven years.

Snow conditions being equal, I prefer the Wildcat skiing experience.

I prefer Wildcat to anywhere in the East when the conditions are good. It has the perfect mix of groomed vs natural terrain, plenty of serious challenge, classic character trails and a 7 minute bad ass quad to access all 2100 vertical feet of it with almost no run out. There is no mountain in New England you will crank out more time actually skiing as opposed to waiting in lines and stuck on lifts.

Don't bother with Attitash until they get a new summit lift. They actually have pretty great terrain, but their low elevation means typically crappy snow.

Sent from my XT1635-01 using AlpineZone mobile app

Don't forget the view, it reminded me of being out west the first time I skied there. You do risk skiing right off the trails gawking at George though.

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[jimk]

You dont compare them with either stowe or okemo.

Wildcat is special, attitash is a mess. Get a place in the valley, best ski town in the east. Hook up with a local and ski wildcat until you cant walk anymore. Maybe grab a beer at attitash on you way out of town.

LOL +1

Wildcat's one of my favorite ski areas in the USA and I've skied 90+ places. Super scenic and nice low key vibe. Aesthetically pleasing long and winding trails. Narrow and long fall line runs. Nice glades and often very good snow too, esp in spring. The whole place is essentially one great trail pod off the lone HSQ. It's a ski area, not a resort. If you went to that area of NH for a weekend, maybe ski Wildcat for a day and a half and hit Attitash for a few hours on the way home. For budget lodging stay at White Mtn Hostel in Conway.

 

[abc]

In the spirit of roughing it, the AMC Pinkham Lodge is right down the road.

Hearty buffet breakfast and dinner included.

 

[kingslug]

I would drive up ..ski ..then its a bit of a slog to Stowe but not impossible. Need some variety.

 

[MidnightJester]

Wildcat VS Attitash
Wanted a little update on what peoples opinions would be these days?? Literally lol as Epic has owned them for a few years now.
Attitash has there NEW lift the "Mountaineer" up and running I believe the last 2 weeks?? does that change anything

They both had ICING events last night it seems.

Friend has single epic days that he wanted to USE in NH. Never have been there myself and heard some good things in the past about them. A little rough the last couple years??

Should I push to get up to (one of the Two) mountains for both of us to see NH or should I convince him to use it in VT?? lol
Wildcat looks smaller but that can be deceiving from trail counts and maps.

Its a 7 hour drive one-way for us, Should I only go when conditions are great??

Recent Conditions (1/21/24) nearby NH
-------------------------------------------

Wildcat ,NH -- 46/48​

Attitash, NH -- 35/76​

Loon Mountain, NH -- 65/73​

Mount Sunapee, NH -- 36/67​

Cannon, NH -- 56/97​

Bretton Woods, NH -- 94/98​

------------------------------------------​

Sunday River, ME -- 109/139​

Sugarloaf, ME -- 119/170​

Saddleback, ME -- 66/68 ​

------------------------------------------------------

Mount Snow, VT -- 59/86​

Stratton, VT -- 80/99​

Magic Mountain, VT -- 50/50 (Yes Fully Open)​

Okemo, VT -- 100/129​

Killington Resort, VT -- 151/155​

Sugarbush, VT -- 110/111​

Bolton Valley, VT -- 55/71​

Stowe, VT -- 114/127​

Smugglers Notch, VT -- 65/78​

Jay Peak, VT -- 81/81 (Fully Open)​

 

[Mainer]

Attitash isn’t worth it right now. Very limited terrain from the 2 summit lifts. Trails are insanely crowded on weekends. Really has been shit until after president week the last couple years. Wildcat is good if there is natural snow. Otherwise it is basically 3 groomers without natural.

 

[snoseek]

You absolutely need some decent snow on that top layer at Wildcat. The base in in strong but wait till some dry snow comes in. When that happens its one of my favorite places anywhere.

Attitash is steep groomers and now great lifts. The place needs to get some more stuff off the top and middle to spread out the increased volume. The trails open arent enough but probably will be in a few weeks assuming they can finally push out all the snow thats made and make more. It kills me because the place has so much potential.

 

[pinion]

Wildcat looks smaller but that can be deceiving from trail counts and maps.

Wildcat can get real small real fast if conditions are poor. Like @Mainer said it's just 3x groomed options from the top, but just trying each of those once nets you 6k of vert in a day. Upper Wildcat is worth skiing even in poor conditions just for the view and the history of it. And the "hidden middles" of the mountain are quite fun especially later in the day when lots of the main paths down the mountain get scraped off - Tomcat pod following Midway/Al's into Catenary/Cougar; and then Bobcat pod hitting up Panther, Alleycat, and Lower Catapult.

I would wait on Attitash and see what they open up this weekend. If they can get Upper/Middle Ptarmigan or Wilfred's open on the main mountain, or Avenger over on Bear then those runs are worth a visit if you like steep groomers (Avenger is pretty awesome ungroomed too).

When conditions are good, Wildcat is a better skier's mountain (though weird and eclectic and occasionally gnarly) than Attitash IMO. Both can be fun, but Attitash is rarely challenging, especially in the last few seasons.

 

[oldfartrider]

The best run at Wildcat isn’t on the map. Thompson Brook accessed about a third of the way down on skiers right off Polecat or Catnap (forget which). The snow needs to be good to fill it in. In a good snow year it’s an incredible run.

 

[deadheadskier]

A third of the way down? No. That's the Roost and a few others off of it. Ossipee Chute in there is probably the most challenging line on the mountain.

T Brook (the actual named gully) you access from the very top of Polecat. Though some people refer to the whole out of bounds area off Polecat as T Brook.

 

[oldfartrider]

A third of the way down? No. That's the Roost and a few others off of it. Ossipee Chute in there is probably the most challenging line on the mountain.

T Brook (the actual named gully) you access from the very top of Polecat. Though some people refer to the whole out of bounds area off Polecat as T Brook.

Hey haven’t done it since the mid 90s. That’s what it was referred as then.

 

[deadheadskier]

Like I said, some people refer to that entire out of bounds area as T Brook, but there are about 15 different options out there; all mostly drainage gullies vs glades.

Patrol actually maintains an unofficial map of everything off map at Cat. I have a copy of it. I imagine it was made decades ago as several of the lines on it have completely grown in.

 

[pinion]

Yeah, if you drop in before you hit Tomcat you'll get to all those chutes, but can also access the last part of TB Proper. I was trying to limit things to "official" trails. The secret map at Wildcat deserves to stay secret