Weather and Ski Conditions

Friday January 30^th – 7:00 AM

Headline: Progressive Opening Due to Wind & Extreme Cold

Good Morning Wildcat Community –

Another polar air mass will be dipping into the Mount Washington Valley today ahead of a warming trend going into the weekend. Currently we are seeing below zero temps and strong winds in our upper mountain, and plan to progressively open the mountain today from the bottom-up as follows:

·       The Bobcat, Snowcat, and Snowbelt lifts will operate at our normal 9am opening time, wind dependent.

·       The Wildcat Express will have a delayed opening due to windchill values at the summit, and we will wait for winds to calm and temps to improve before we open the lift.

·       For guest and employee safety, we will not operate the Tomcat lift instead of the Express due to the expected windchill value and Tomcat’s longer ride time.

·       Stay tuned to the My Epic app and our the Lift & Trail Status page for the latest updates.

Today we expect to see highs topping out at -1 to 3 across mountain elevations with windchill values starting the day at -35 at the summit, dipping down into the mid teens and upper 20’s below zero. As always, dress in  layers, cover all exposed skin, and take frequent breaks throughout the day.

Although the temps may be a bit brutal, the snow conditions will make up for it as the cold weather is keeping our surface in prime condition. Today you can expect a machine groomed packed powder surface on 17 trails with 31 natural trails open, lift access permitting. That’s 45 of 48 trails or 93% of our terrain open! Snowmaking on Alley Cat has wrapped up and our plan is to open that for tomorrow, while our last two natural trails, Hairball and Sphynx, are not quite ready to go yet.

PLEASE NOTE – Please respect closures of any trails across the mountain as there is a reason we may not open certain trails or parts of trails. No one wants a season ender just as conditions are getting good. Use care on all natural today as you have fun!

Our top notch and friendly team in the lodge are ready to help you in any way as you warm up today, and we are kicking into the weekend with some great entertainment in the Wildcat Pub with Dan Parkhurst playing from 1pm – 4pm!

As we head towards the weekend, the weather outlook looks awesome as we are truly in mid-winter conditions with sunny skies on Saturday and a warmer day on Sunday, so there is no time like now to book your trip to visit Wildcat. Take advantage of our advanced pricing on all lift tickets, lessons, and rentals for the best deal, and maybe treat your friends to your Epic Friends tickets if you are a passholder! As always, the après scene will be rocking with Andrew Gravel & Friends in the Wildcat Pub on Saturday along with some great beer promos and pub specials!

Bundle up, and we’ll see you out there -

      Brandon Swartz – General Manager

Snow Surfaces Update – 1/30

The snowmaking team will be waiting to get back into some slightly warmer and less windy conditions this morning, then will work towards Operation Spring Ski, bulking up Middle Wildcat & Bobcat to take us well into April. As time allows we will then shift over to Middle Catapult and Black Cat as we begin to wind down on snowmaking operations for the year.

Uphill Access – OPEN

Uphill access is OPEN for the season on the designated route of Polecat Trail from 4:30pm – 8am. Please reference our Uphill Policy here for more information, and please keep in mind that uphill access is not allowed during operational hours.

Out of Bounds Access ALERT

Recently our Patrol team was called to assist a couple groups of guests find their way out of side country terrain that is accessible from our trail network. These areas are beyond our resort boundary, for experts only, unmarked, and unpatrolled. If you are unfamiliar with this area it’s best to wait until we see a better snowpack and go with someone that has familiarity with this terrain. Thank you!