The view of Tuckerman Ravine is arguably better from this side of Pinkham Notch than it is in the ravine itself. Readers, in fact, deem it to be the best view in all of Eastern ski country, ranking Wildcat No. 1 for Scenery. Real estate development has long been forbidden here in the White Mountain National Forest, so the Wildcat base area looks much like it has for decades: a parking lot, the base lodge, a mountain stream with a bridge over it and not much else. That lends a sense of purity to any visit, which readers appreciate. “No frills; it’s all about the skiing,” says one. The Wildcat Express zooms from base to summit in no time—a 2,112 vertical foot rise. From there you can ski the classic Wildcat Trail—one of the East’s originals—or mosey down Polecat, a 2.75-mile trail that might be the most consistently scenic novice runs in the country. True, the place lacks for white-knuckle steeps, but that makes it what one fan calls “the top intermediate-to-advanced skier mountain in the East.”
/ What’s New / Lodge and snowmaking upgrades
/ Don’t Miss / Guided backside ski to Jackson Village
/ Mandatory Run / The historic Wildcat
