Author Topic: So, Where are the steeps?  (Read 818 times)

Liam

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So, Where are the steeps?
« on: November 20, 2012, 10:29:04 am »
Check out this link, guy comes up with a cool way to evaluate and rate steeps...lists comparisons.   Consistent Pitch on Pallavicini and Overall pitch on Alf's High Rustler score big:

http://www.skiernet.com/angle-of-ski-trails.php

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jbotti

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Re: So, Where are the steeps?
« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2012, 11:14:50 am »
Nicely done list. I know the Squaw runs well. I doubt this is too comprehensive because there is stuff at Big Sky steeper than Squaw and it didn't make the list.

Liam

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Re: So, Where are the steeps?
« Reply #2 on: November 20, 2012, 11:26:53 am »
Yeah, I think the author says as much, but he wanted to create a new rubric on how to assess 'Steep' and what it really means.  That Run off the top of Lone Peak that you have to check into the Patrol Hut for (with Beacons etc) is pretty hairy.

I would have thought (from my experience) Stauffenberg was the steepest run at Taos...but I guess I was wrong (I think the kicker is that it is also narrow).

I like that DJ's Tramline at Canno has the steepest section of any 'on the map' run in the East (it sure as heck always feels like it!).


bushwacka

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Re: So, Where are the steeps?
« Reply #3 on: November 20, 2012, 02:39:30 pm »
steepest in bounds runs I have ever done are

Most anything off the cirque at snowbird. There are some runs on the backside that are over 45 degrees for over a 1000 feet of vertical.

and apparently stowe has some steep according the list.

Personally give me soft snow and fun terrain any day over 'steep" though.  and I have skied some runs that while out of bounds are much steeper than anything on this list. while they are cool, sketchy, fun and heck in cases like Superior Mountain, Y couloir, god's Lawn Mower, and the North face of mansifield in sketch conditions were life changing runs.

LivingProof

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Re: So, Where are the steeps?
« Reply #4 on: November 20, 2012, 02:50:08 pm »
I was surprised to see that Stowe's steepest run over 2000 ft. was "Lookout". I had never heard of that run, not sure how it came into existence, as it's not one of famous front 4 which are Starr, National, Liftline and Goat. BTW, Goat is my personal nightmare, it's kicked my butt every time I've tried it....narrow, double fall line, rocks and ice. Of the trails mentioned, I remember skiing Pali at Abase and OuterLimits at Killington, but, they were nowhere as demanding as Goat.

Josh or Epic, what's sup with Lookout. I did look at the interactive map and it is there.


bushwacka

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Re: So, Where are the steeps?
« Reply #5 on: November 20, 2012, 03:59:26 pm »
lookout is the lookout liftline. Top to bottom is probably the hardest marked trail at stowe. Its got a nasty double fall line up high probably the worst there is at stowe. Its steep and then there is an exposed ice fall at the bottom that is bascially un edgeable.

To me the hardest segments(not steepest) of runs at stowe are this.

Upper Goat
Upper Starr
Upper Lookout
Double Bypass
Upper National
Lower Goat
Uppest Liftline
Lower National
waterfall pitch of hayride, really scary to me because its a groomed ice skating rink.
13 pitch of Liftline, the groom is harder IMO than bumps lines

Hardest Runs top to bottom

Lookout
Goat
Starr
National
Chin Clip
Hayride
Liftline


LivingProof

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Re: So, Where are the steeps?
« Reply #6 on: November 20, 2012, 04:33:49 pm »
Josh,
How long has the Lookout chair been at Stowe? I think it was 2 years ago when I last was there and had lunch with you and Epic, but, I don't remember a second chair going to the top of Mansfield. That was prior to the new high speed  quad replacing the original 4 runner.

Minor drift to state that, perhaps, my favorite trail at Stowe is the upper section of Nose Dive. Just a classic, old trail accessible via a short hike from the top of the high speed quad.  It's gotten several mentions in lists of great trails, not bruising tough from a pitch stanpoint but very hard to ski well with it's twists and off fall line pitches.
« Last Edit: November 20, 2012, 04:39:21 pm by LivingProof »

bushwacka

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Re: So, Where are the steeps?
« Reply #7 on: November 20, 2012, 05:58:01 pm »
Lookout chair was put in 1979.

Nosedive is no longer a hike from the top the new quad and regrading have made it easily accessible.

I hope the new snowmaking makes the snow better on upper nosedive. It would be sweet and it is quite often some of the worst snow on the mountain, and I can only imagine that more people being able to get to it faster should only make it worse.

Literally I am normally scared of the upper turns due to the fall consequences on the quite often vertical ice skating rink. Its one of the runs I tend to avoid free skiing. along with Hayride when groomed, and liftline when groomed. If it needs a winch cat it shouldnt be groomed IMO.