Milestone birthdays always mean parties. For ski areas, it usually means skiers can share in the celebration and often get a lift ticket deal as well.

In the next two weeks, we have two ski areas planning celebrations. Wildcat will celebrate 50 years next Friday and Saturday. The following weekend, Shawnee Peak will recognize No. 70.

Shawnee Peak will get an early start Wednesday. Formerly known as Pleasant Mountain, it’s first day of operation was Jan. 23, 1938, and it will celebrate with $19.38 lift tickets. The rest of the party will be Feb. 2.

Wildcat will kick off a two-day party Friday, Jan. 25, by rolling back ticket prices to 1958. The mountain opened for the 1957-58 season with a T-bar. On Jan. 25, it opened the nation’s first gondola with a $9 lift ticket. That’s the price skiers will pay Friday. In other words, skiers can ski one day at each area for a grand total of $28.38.

Before we get into the details of the parties, a look at the history of the two ski areas is important. The Wildcat trail, first on the mountain, was cut in 1933 by members of the depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps. The run laid out by Charles Proctor, all-around ski champion of Canada in 1927, was designated a Class “A” racing trail. One of the first in the U.S., skiers had to climb the 2,000 vertical feet to ski down.

This continued for 25 years before a pair of Wildcat skiers – Olympians Brooks Dodge and George Macomber – joined Malcolm McLane and William Beal to develop Wildcat as a lift-served ski area in 1957.

The original, two-passenger gondola has been replaced by a top-to-bottom, high-speed detachable quad. Gondola cars replace the chairs on the quad for summer operation. The three trails that first year have been expanded to 47, with snowmaking on 90 percent of the terrain.

Wildcat has a reputation as a tough ski mountain, but with 25 percent of the trails at novice level and 45 percent intermediate, the majority of the runs are skiable and, when groomed, most of the advanced runs are in range of upper intermediates. Any skier who turns well enough to control his speed can enjoy the 2-mile Polecat, which winds down the mountain with switchbacks. Almost all skiers can take in the spectacular views of Mount Washington towering across the way and Tuckerman Ravine looking close enough to reach out and touch.

Pleasant Mountain’s start was also connected to Mount Washington. In the 1930s, Portland skiers used to drive past the mountain on the way to Tuckerman’s Ravine. Recognizing the need for a place to ski closer to home, they asked the farmer who pastured his cows on the lower slopes. He consented, as long as they rebuilt the fence in the spring.

In 1936, the Portland group got together with some local skiers and students at Bridgton Academy and enlisted the help of the CCC to cut the first trail, which is now Jack Spratt. In 1938, the ski area opened with a 16-by-32 foot shelter and an 1,100-foot rope tow.

The Pleasant Mountain Ski Club was formed in 1943 and its leaders, Russ Haggett, Ray Riley, Luke Evans, Jack Spratt, Wes Marco and Sid Russell became the leaders of the mountain operation. In 1946, Haggett was named general manager, a position he held for 39 years. During his tenure, the state’s first T-bar was installed in 1953, and the state’s first chair lift in 1954.

The original chair was replaced in 1984 by the triple that carries skiers to the summit today. Six years of ownership by the Shawnee Group in Pennsylvania resulted in the current name. The East now has a triple chair, and a quad chair carries skiers to the top of the Pines slopes. The snowmaking system has been boosted several times and Shawnee Peak is the largest night skiing operation in New England.

The two ski areas have come a long way. Wildcat’s big celebration will start with that $9 lift ticket Friday, and the first 100 purchasers will receive a reproduction of the original brochure, trail map and vintage pin. There will be snow sculpturing, a historical slide show and an apres ski party. Saturday festivites include a torchlight parade and buffet dinner with music, dancing and a recognition ceremony.

Shawnee Peak will celebrate Saturday, Feb. 2. It will host the Mountan Dew races, and there will be apres ski fun and a season pass giveaway. There will also be a live auction featuring great items, including a U.S. Ski Team Gold Pass, good at every ski area. Best of all will be a sharing of memories of longtime Pleasant Mountain/Shawnee Peak skiers. Attendance at the event is by reservation only. The $100 price includes a commemorative gift and other items.

For Wildcat, call 603-466-3326 (www.skiwildcat.com). For Shawnee Peak, call 207-647-8444 (www.shawneepeak.com).