Some days are Wildcat days. When the top of Mt. Washington stands out in sharp white relief against a brilliant blue sky, it’s a Wildcat day. I chose such a day to introduce a brother-in-law to this ski area that sits across the highway from Tuckerman Ravine. The temperature was in the 20s and it was a bit windy than we would have preferred, but nothing to cause any significant discomfort. It did keep lift lines down and the top to bottom express quad didn’t operate until late morning.

He was surprised to learn that we could ski 80 percent of the terrain and 1,500 feet of vertical from the top of the Tomcat Triple. His other surprise was that most of the runs are intermediate with a scattering of black diamonds.

The name Wildcat had created in his mind an image that keeps a lot of intermediate skiers away from a mountain that most would find delightful if they chose the right day.

When the quad opened, we headed for the summit and found the wind made it a little more work to pole over to the top of Polecat, but it wasn’t a cold wind, and once on the trails it was hardly noticeable. The winding runs are well sheltered except for a few open spots. Polecat at 2 miles gives novice skiers a chance to ski from the top and take in views of Maine from the summit and Mt. Washington all the way down.

Skiing without a break from nine until one, we hit all the favorite runs. We skipped the ungroomed runs under the lifts and some glades, but had a full day of skiing in time for a late lunch. We chose the Wildcat Pub on the top floor of the base lodge, which has been expanded in recent years. A week and half later I was on the other side of Mt. Washington, but didn’t get to enjoy the views I knew were there. Bretton Woods and the Mount Washington Hotel were doing a trial run on a new ski lift. Actually, the lift has been operating since 1869, but not for skiers. Next season the Cog railway is scheduled to give skiers a chance to ski the lower part of Mt. Washington. Last weekend the train carried a bunch of skiers to the Waumbeck Tank to ski down.

Unfortunately, rain and warm weather had deteriorated the snow so the quality of the run didn’t equal the skiing across the valley at the Bretton Woods ski area. For next season there will be snowmaking on both sides of the tracks, giving skiers two paths down the novice/intermediate terrain, and skiers will be able to experience skiing on the tallest mountain in the Northeast.

Running the railway in winter is one more step in the transformation of this once summer resort with a small ski area to a year-round destination resort. By bringing the ski area, hotel and railway under single ownership, Joel and Kathy Bedor and Wayne Presby have set the stage. The ski area was expanded over a period of years, taking a major step forward in November of 1999 when the historic hotel was opened for the first time in winter. Now the ski area is the largest in the Granite State. A new clubhouse for the golf courses opened a year ago and serves as a day lodge for 100 kilometers of cross country trails.

On Sunday we took the shuttle from the hotel over to the base lodge which has doubled in size and booted up to explore the alpine skiing.

Temperatures had dropped allowing the groomers to give us loose granular corduroy and we cruised around hitting the intermediate runs on West Mountain and working our way back to the original slopes off the main quad. What used to be a novice intermediate area now has skiing for all levels, and the views are breathtaking.

The Wildcat side is more imposing because Pinkham Notch is a narrow gap separating it from the ravines and gullies across the way.

Bretton Woods has thousands of acres between the ski hill and the mountain, two golf courses and forest, and the west side of the Presidential Range is more gradual in its ascent.

Dave Irons is a freelance writer who lives in Westbrook.

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