It’s not the Alps. That much becomes clear as I drive down Main Street in North Conway. Here, amid picket fences, small churches, cafes and general quirkiness, New Hampshire has already shown its beautiful face and flavor for yesterday: the antique tracks of the Conway Scenic Railroad running parallel to the Tarmac. I’m less than 140 miles outside of Boston, but I feel like I’ve traveled back in time five decades during my three-hour journey from the airport.
This is just the beginning. That leafy, fervently rustic version of New England is fully imagined where Route 16 takes a turn north toward Jackson. There, on the right, is the Honeymoon Bridge – one of those classic covered bridges so beloved in the region. The kind of relic – in this case dating from 1876 – that you can’t quite believe is still part of the infrastructure in 2024: wooden planks creaking under the wheels, grim under the weight, as they guide cars and drivers to this picturesque transport village. Perhaps it will take them further, to the hazy mists of the mid-19th century, as romantic as a relic from another era it seems.
Route 16 continues its way undisturbed and fights the corner. Even as it turns, it doesn’t seem to veer from its target as it forges uphill in generous double lanes. There are no hairpin bends here, no traffic jams stuck behind a slow motorist on the way to Méribel. No, these are not the Alps. It is the American landscape – in all its pragmatism and majesty.
That majesty is especially evident on the west side of the road. Mount Washington is a king among courtiers, holding aloft his snow-swaddled head as chieftain of the White Mountains; as the tallest mountain in New England, all 1,917 meters high. But it has a rival of sorts on the east side of the camber, where Wildcat Mountain rises with similar poise. It is true that it is not that mighty, at “only” 1,348 meters altitude – but it is still a cliff of visible presence.
Granted, not so majestic that it can’t play beautifully. By the time Route 16 passes through the affectionately named pass Pinkham Notch, Wildcat Mountain lowers its gaze, comes down to meet the road and opens its arms to skiers. However, it doesn’t make the geography any easier. The Wildcat Mountain Ski Area has the second largest elevation gain in New Hampshire: a potential plunge of 2,100 feet. Size, scale, grandeur. It’s all here.
Only it doesn’t really feel that way when I go down the road. As if a curtain has suddenly been drawn over it – what seemed widescreen through the windshield seems much smaller when I switch off the engine. There is a small parking lot, unpaved, rutted and only sparsely littered with cars, most with New Hampshire license plates. There is a simple basic lodge where I can pick up a ski pass in seconds. And while the cafe outside serves a selection of hot meals, a fair number of the people eating lunch at the tables do so from Tupperware boxes, sparingly munching on Thursday night’s leftover pasta, or removing cling film from their home-made sandwiches.
No, these are not the Alps. And it’s not the Rockies either. Although the Wildcat Ski Area (as well as nearby Attitash, 15 miles south in Bartlett) has been owned by Vail Resorts since 2019, it has little of the glitz of those big Colorado winter playgrounds.
Nor does it long for it. This is skiing as a local pastime, families from New Hampshire stop by the slopes for an afternoon and visit because they feel like it, because they can, without giving the decision any more thought than if they had chosen to to walk the dog. . Home turf and a homely atmosphere. There are no mega hotels; certainly not noisy après-ski bars – beats pounding so loudly that you fear the sound will loosen the icicles.
In part this is due to the protected status of the surrounding landscape; the land on which the ski area is located is part of the protected expanse of the White Mountain National Forest. But it’s also just the atmosphere. Don’t rush, don’t rush. Everyone seems to be walking lightly.
And it’s a pleasure as a result. The ruggedness of the area means that Wildcat is a certainty, generally enjoying snow between late November and mid-May. But even the impressive vertical height is somewhat tamed by the folksy simplicity of it all. The resort revolves around the main gondola, the Wildcat Express, which takes any skier to the top in one quick six-minute ride. A potentially dangerous situation for beginners, who have to find a path all the way back down? Not a bit of it. Almost every piste (there are 49 in total; 25 percent green/beginner, 45 percent blue/intermediate, 30 percent black/expert) fans out from the same spot at the top, winding or arrowing down the appropriate slopes. You descend at your own pace and possibilities.
As a final dose of cute, most of the runs have cat-themed names: Upper Polecat, Tomcat, Cheetah, Cougar, Bobcat, Copycat, Catnap, Catwalk, Hairball, Cat and Mouse.
I spend the day in their company, swishing down the polecats (there are middle and lower varieties, as well as the upper one) – every time I get down I notice that there is no queue for the gondola; that I can start again right away.
No, it’s not the Alps. And New Hampshire seems perfectly happy about it.
Three other ski areas in New Hampshire
While none of New Hampshire’s resorts hold serious skiers for more than a day at a time, they can easily be combined into a weeklong vacation. You could also aim for the following trio – all in the White Mountains, all within a two-hour drive of each other.
Bretton Woods
Bretton Woods, located on the “opposite” side of Mount Washington in Carroll, lacks the vertical height of Wildcat but boasts more than twice as many runs (102). It also has a major accommodation landmark on its doorstep, the Mount Washington Hotel (omnihotels.com; rooms from £197), a palatial countryside retreat that doubles as the ski resort’s owner. One-day passes cost from £72 (brettonwoods.com).
Attitash
Wildcat’s colleague – both in the Vail portfolio and in White Mountain National Forest – is a kindred spirit. It offers 68 slopes, evenly divided between green, blue and black, spread over two mountains (Attitash and Bear Peak). One-day passes start at £81 (attitash.com).
Loonse Berg
The only ski area in New Hampshire that eclipses Wildcat in vertical elevation, Loon Mountain (loonmtn.com) is located 60 miles to the southwest, in North Woodstock. It stretches 670 meters from top to bottom and includes 73 slopes in this space. Day passes cost from £57.
Travel essentials
How do you get there?
Boston Logan International is the closest major airport. American Airlines (020 7660 2300; americanairlines.co.uk), British Airways (0344 493 0787; ba.com), Virgin Atlantic (0344 874 7747; virginatlantic.com) and Delta (0871 221 1222; delta.com) offer flights from Heathrow. JetBlue (0808 234 9058; jetblue.com) flies from both Heathrow and Gatwick.
Skiing there
One-day lift passes at Wildcat Mountain (001 603 466 3326; skiwildcat.com) cost from $103 (£81); two-day passes from $176 (£138).
Stay there
The Glen House (001 603 466 3420; theglenhouse.com), two miles from Wildcat Mountain along Route 16, offers double rooms from £125 per night.