New Hampshire — It wasn’t the case for many years, but it’s all of a sudden tough to be in Black Mountain’s backyard. Major investments and the announcement of Entabeni Systems/Indy Pass’s move to Jackson, New Hampshire, have rekindled interest in a once-forgotten ski resort.
This leads to increased expectations at other nearby ski resorts, which are aplenty in the White Mountains. Over at Wildcat, scrutiny has increased in recent years as the operating schedule has gotten shorter. Meanwhile, Black Mountain is now becoming the first to open last to close in NH. This means that every update Wildcat gives seems to get some scrutiny.
Last week, Wildcat Mountain shared a seemingly not-so-controversial post promoting spending a day on the slopes while sipping a Pepsi. The beverage company is a partner with Vail Resorts, so promoting it is a part of social media campaigns. For Wildcat skiers who have seen slow trail openings over the past few years, there were some annoyed people in the comments section.
Black Mountain chimed in on the Facebook comments section, stating that they have champagne, Coca-Cola, and more open trails. Boom, roasted.
Ironically, the mountain with the higher trail count changed this week. Wildcat Mountain saw a decent amount of snowfall over the past week, leading to the opening of nearly all of its trails. This led them to get past Black Mountain’s trail count. Unfortunately, Wildcat’s trail count will likely decrease again over the next day or so due to the incoming wet weather.
The situation shows the challenges Wildcat (and Vail Resorts) faces now. Entabeni Systems will use Black Mountain as a model to help other mountains and to build on the legacy of the Jackson ski resort.
Whether it’s unfair or not, Wildcat’s operations will be under more scrutiny because of that. Vail Resorts has made some good investments at Wildcat recently, but more are needed to make it the gem that the Mt. Washington Valley and its skiers deserve.
Image Credits: Wildcat Mountain
