Peak Resorts Buys NH's Wildcat Mountain Ski Area

Peak adds to their already impressive portfolio of New England ski resorts... bf

By Lynne Tuohy
Associated Press Writer / October 21, 2010

CONCORD, N.H.—Missouri-based Peak Resorts announced Thursday it is buying Wildcat Mountain Ski Area and will offer season passes and tickets good at both Wildcat and Attitash Mountain Resort.

Peak Resorts, which also owns Crotched Mountain in Bennington, N.H., and Mount Snow in Vermont, is buying Wildcat from Pat Franchi of Massachusetts, who has owned the ski area since 1986. Peak Resorts bought Attitash in 2007 and has made $5 million worth of improvements to that ski area.


Attitash, in Bartlett, N.H., is about 18 miles from Wildcat in Pinkham Notch. Both mountains are in the Mount Washington Valley, and both offer summer attractions as well. Wildcat has a zip-line ride and Attitash has water slides and an alpine slide.

Wildcat is steeped in ski history. The Wildcat Trail, one of the first ski racing trails in the country, was cleared by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933. Lift service to the mountain opened in 1958, with a gondola that was the first of its kind in the country. Wildcat peaks at 4,062 feet.

"We consider Wildcat a pretty classic New England mountain," said Peak Resorts CEO Tim Boyd. "The attraction for us was its closeness to Attitash and ability to offer a unique product for the customer to be able to utilize both with the same season pass or day ticket."

Wildcat is across Route 16 from the base of Mount Washington, and its trails face the legendary Tuckerman Ravine. Boyd said Attitash offers an alternative when weather or ski conditions in the shadow of Mount Washington take a turn for the worse.

"Wildcat can get pretty gnarly with the weather up there, and it's nice to have the default to go to Attitash if you run into those sorry conditions," Boyd said. "There are some great views, but if you're freezing to death it's sometimes hard to enjoy them."

Boyd declined to say what Peak Resorts is paying for Wildcat. The price of the combined season pass has yet to be determined.