by It’s not the Alps. This is evident as I drive along the main street in North Conway. Here, among the picket fences, tiny churches, cafes and general whimsy, New Hampshire has already shown its pretty face, and a taste for yesterday – the antique tracks of the Conway Scenic Railroad running parallel to the Tarmac. I’m barely 140 miles out of Boston but my three-hour trip from the airport seems like I’ve gone back five decades.
This is just the beginning. That leafy, royal version of New England fully introduces itself when Route 16 takes a turn north, toward Jackson. Here, on the right, is the Honeymoon Bridge – one of those classic covered bridges, which the region loves so much. The kind of relic – dating back to 1876, in this case – that you can’t quite believe is still part of the infrastructure in 2024: planks of wood creaking under wheels, creaking under the weight as it carries cars and drivers in in this picturesque village. Perhaps it carries them further, into the faint mists of the mid-19th century, a relic of another seemingly romantic era.
Route 16 continues on its way regardless, fighting the angle. Even when it bends, it never seems to swerve from its purpose, creating uphills in generous double lanes. There are no hairpins here, no traffic tailbacks caught behind a slow driver on the climb to Méribel. This is not the Alps. It is the American landscape – in all its pragmatism and grandeur.
That grandeur is there, in particular, on the west side of the road. Mount Washington is a king among courtiers, being chief of the White Mountains; as the highest mountain in New England, at 1,917m. But it has a rival of sorts on the east side of the ridge, where Wildcat Mountain rises to a similar position. True, it is not as powerful, at “only” 1,348m – but it is a visible presence bluff all the same.
Admittedly, he’s not so majestic that he can’t play nice. By the time Route 16 winds through the cutely named Pinkham Notch, Wildcat Mountain is lowering its sights, coming down to meet the road, and opening its arms to skiers. It doesn’t discount the geography, though. Wildcat Mountain Ski Area has the second largest vertical drop in New Hampshire: an expected drop of 644m. Size, scale, grandeur. It’s all here.
Except when I turn off the road, it doesn’t really feel like that. As if a curtain has suddenly been pulled across – what was visible on a wide screen through the windscreen looks much smaller when I kill the engine. The parking lot is small, unpaved, rutted and filled with only a few cars, most with New Hampshire license plates. There is a non-favorable base lodge where I can pick up a lift pass in seconds. And while the cafe further serves a selection of hot meals, a decent number of people who eat lunch at the tables are doing so from Tupperware boxes, economically chewing on leftover pasta from a Thursday evening, or pulling cling film from their homemade sandwiches .
This is not the Alps. And it’s not the Rockies either. Although the Wildcat ski area (along with its Attitash neighborhood, 15 miles south in Bartlett) is owned by Vail Resorts as of 2019, it lacks much of the richness of Colorado’s great winter playgrounds.
He didn’t want to either. This is skiing as a local hobby, New Hampshire families pop up in the evening on the slopes – visiting because they feel like it, because they can, without more thought focused on the decision than they chose to walk the dog instead. . Home turf, and a homely vibe. There are no mega hotels; no doubt boisterous après-ski bars – beats pounding out so loud you fear the noise will drop icicles.
In part, this is due to the protected status of the surrounding scenery; the land on which the ski resort is located is part of the protected expanse of the White Mountain National Forest. But it’s also just the vibe. No gloom, no rush. Everyone seems to be snoozing lightly.
And it’s delightful because of it. The ruggedness of the site means Wildcat is a sure thing, generally enjoying snow cover between late November and mid-May. But even its impressive vertical height is somewhat tamed by the folksy simplicity of life. The resort revolves around the largest gondola, the Wildcat Express, which ferries every skier to the summit in one quick six-minute trip. A potentially dangerous situation for novices, who have to find a path all the way back down? Not a little 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, crescent or arrows through the appropriate gradients. You make your way down at your own pace and ability.
As a final dose of “cuteness”, most of the pistes have feline-themed names: Upper Polecat, Tomcat, Cheetah, Cougar, Bobcat, Copycat, Catnap, Catwalk, Hairball, Cat and Mouse.
I spend the day in their company, swinging down the Polecats (there are Middle and Lower varieties, as well as the Upper) – arriving at the bottom every time to find that there is no queue for the gondola; that I can start again immediately.
No, it’s not the Alps. And New Hampshire seems perfectly happy about it.
Three other ski resorts in New Hampshire
While none of New Hampshire’s resorts are likely to keep serious skiers for more than a day at a time, they can easily be combined into a week’s vacation. You might also be targeting the following three – all in the White Mountains, all within two hours of each other.
Bretton Woods
Located on the “opposite” side of Mount Washington in Carroll, Bretton Woods lacks the vertical height of the Wildcat, but can more than double the piste (102). It also has a notable accommodation landmark on its doorstep, the Mount Washington Hotel (omnihotels.com; rooms from £197), a palatial country retreat that doubles as a ski resort owner. One-day passes cost from £72 (brettonwoods.com).
Attitash
A fellow Wildcat is a kindred spirit – both in the Vail portfolio and in the White Mountain National Forest. It offers 68 pistes, equally divided between green, blue and black, cut across two mountains (Attitash and Bear Peak). One-day passes start at £81 (attitash.com).
Loon Mountain
Located 60 miles southwest, in North Woodstock, Loon Mountain (loonmtn.com) is New Hampshire’s only ski resort to boast Wildcat vertical elevation. It stretches 670m from top to bottom, putting 73 pistes into this space. Day passes cost from £57.
Travel benefits
Go there
The nearest major airport is Boston Logan International. 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; deltaflights.com). 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).
Staying there
The Glen House (001 603 466 3420; theglenhouse.com), two miles from Wildcat Mountain up Route 16, offers double rooms from £125 a night.
