Wildcat Mountain, New Hampshire: a gondola pioneer in Pinkham's Grant

"On April 11, 1955, the Wildcat Mountain Lift Corporation was formed," with Joe Dodge as president and officers including William "Mack" Beal Jr., Brooks Dodge, Malcolm McLane, and George Macomber, per New England Ski History. The developers of the planned aerial lift promoted it as the first "multi-cabin-gondola type aerial lift in America," which, with a capacity of 600 passengers per hour, was reportedly three times that of Cannon's tramway. The resort's own history page states the gondola "opened January 25, 1958," describing it as "the first lift of this type to be erected in the U.S.," designed and built by the Italian company Carlevaro & Savio, and operating "1958-1999." New England Ski History states that the gondola's planned January 25, 1958 grand-opening ceremony failed due to mechanical issues, and that it "finally began operating on February 9" of that year. "The Wildcat gondola became front page news following a rollback on March 24, 1958," when seven cabins rolled through the bottom terminal, per the same source.

In 1986, "the Franchi family, owners of the Cranmore Tennis Club, purchased Wildcat ski area," per New England Ski History. The resort's own history page states that, "taking the Gondola's place for base to summit transportation," the Wildcat Express, "a high-speed detachable quad chairlift," was installed in 1997. The same page states "the original Wildcat Gondola closed for good after the 1998-99 season and it's dismantlement began, beginning with the removal of it's towers and cars." "Following the 1999 fall season, the original gondola was decommissioned. The gondola cars were auctioned in March of 2000," per New England Ski History. The resort's own history page states that, "in 2013, the Summit Terminal was demolished, restoring some of the natural beauty of the mountain's summit." On October 21, 2010, "Peak Resorts, owner of nearby Attitash, announced it had entered into a purchase and sale agreement with Pat Franchi to purchase Wildcat," per the same source. On July 22, 2019, Forbes reported that Vail Resorts would acquire Peak Resorts and its 17 ski areas, including Wildcat, pending approvals. The Vail Resorts acquisition of Peak Resorts, including Wildcat, closed on September 24, 2019: "The transaction closed on September 24, 2019. The company's common stock was delisted from Nasdaq Global Select Market at the close of trading the same day," per Wikipedia's "Peak Resorts" article. The resort's own history page states "at 2.75 miles, Polecat is the longest novice ski trail in New Hampshire."

"The Appalachian Mountain Club's Pinkham Notch Visitor Center in the center of the grant is a popular starting point for hikes up Mount Washington to the west and up Wildcat Mountain to the east," per Wikipedia's "Pinkham's Grant, New Hampshire" article. "The Appalachian Mountain Club converted a logging camp near the height-of-land into what is now the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center in 1921," per Peter Randall's Mount Washington: A Guide and Short History (1974, p. 142), as cited in Wikipedia's "Pinkham Notch" article.