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most difficult trail in the east

BeefyBoy50

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I'm sure this topic has been repeated in the past, but without new threads a forum's activity would eventually stop so please just hear me out on this one.
What is widely considered the most difficult on mountain, within-boundary trail in the east coast? Could it be goat at Stowe? The Face Chutes at Jay or Black Hole at Smuggs? Or does the award go to a new hampshire/maine/new york ski area?
BTW I said east coast, so any ski area from georgia north is technically valid (not that I'm expecting answers from south of New York).
 

riverc0il

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Lift Line at Smuggs is one of the few that can get my blood going. Black Hole (with good snow, at least) just doesn't seem as nasty to me. Bitch getting in there, but once you're in, it just isn't that nasty past the initial pitch. You also have the audience factor, which is very nice.
 

riverc0il

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Tramline at has my vote due to the doulble fall and boulders all over.
Definitely up there! I'd give Smuggs the edge, here. But it really depends on conditions! When they open Tramline and it is thin, it is beastly. When it is well covered, it isn't too bad. The thin conditions as you pass the Tower and the crux just below the tower are nasty. But it just doesn't have the same top to bottom nastiness compared to Smuggs Liftline. Tramline has some "mellower" moments (relatively).
 

riverc0il

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VTSport.com weighs in:
http://vtsports.com/pdf/jan13bookfiles/jan13.html#p=8


And while opinions will vary, the amount of inaccuracies in this piece of sham journalism is staggering. The verticals and pitch degrees are all over the road and not fact checked. The article claims that Tramline went on the map at Cannon in 1980!!! LOLOLOLOL. I think it was no more than ten years ago that it went on the map, originally without the DJ prefix.

Any ways, I'd swap Red Line in for Black Line (which has a few cliffs but less vert and overall pitch than Red which is much more intimidating, IMO). I think the crowd that JJ hangs with got it wrong on Staircase over Face Chutes at Jay. I think the Face Chutes are overrated but Staircase isn't that bad, whereas the entrance to Face Chutes can be downright puckery until there is a good amount of base depth. Again, I'd take Liftline over Black Hole for Smuggs. Not sure the Fiddle, Misery Whip, or Lookout Below are worth mentioning in this article. Out of those three, I've only actually skied Lookout Below, though... definitely NOT on par with the others whatsoever. Slides would be a more appropriate pick for Whiteface, especially Slide 4 which arguably might make me reconsider my Smuggs Liftline nomination. Slide 4 is on par with some of the best off map stuff I've skied.

Have at it.
 

skiking4

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Going by solely trails that are on current maps:
Tramline @ Cannon - very steep & huge boulders with big drops + a small mandatory drop on the trail
Face Chutes @ Jay - if you traverse skier's right. massive cliffs available (25 ft approx) and fast straightlines into 200 more ft vertical
Slides @ Whiteface - Often mandatory drops, 1000+ vertical of 30-40 degree terrain. Some very tight trees and variable conditions including completely iced over waterfalls.
Palisades @ MRG - Very steep and very tight trees. Mandatory drops.

Honorable Mentions: Chutzrah @ Sunday River, Rumor @ Gore, Backside Snowfields @ Sugarloaf, Smugg's double blacks, Goat and Starr @ Stowe, Tuckerman's Chutes @ Jay Peak
 

ScottySkis

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Blockbuster at Platty is very steep. K 27 at Hunter has to be one of the steepest to I would think.
 

BenedictGomez

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I always give the same answer to this question, Liftline at Smugglers Notch.

My second place is probably Goat at Stowe what with the double fall line, rocks, and narrowness. Good stuff.

Not sure what I'd say is my third place......
 

gladerider

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VTSport.com weighs in:
http://vtsports.com/pdf/jan13bookfiles/jan13.html#p=8


And while opinions will vary, the amount of inaccuracies in this piece of sham journalism is staggering. The verticals and pitch degrees are all over the road and not fact checked. The article claims that Tramline went on the map at Cannon in 1980!!! LOLOLOLOL. I think it was no more than ten years ago that it went on the map, originally without the DJ prefix.

Any ways, I'd swap Red Line in for Black Line (which has a few cliffs but less vert and overall pitch than Red which is much more intimidating, IMO). I think the crowd that JJ hangs with got it wrong on Staircase over Face Chutes at Jay. I think the Face Chutes are overrated but Staircase isn't that bad, whereas the entrance to Face Chutes can be downright puckery until there is a good amount of base depth. Again, I'd take Liftline over Black Hole for Smuggs. Not sure the Fiddle, Misery Whip, or Lookout Below are worth mentioning in this article. Out of those three, I've only actually skied Lookout Below, though... definitely NOT on par with the others whatsoever. Slides would be a more appropriate pick for Whiteface, especially Slide 4 which arguably might make me reconsider my Smuggs Liftline nomination. Slide 4 is on par with some of the best off map stuff I've skied.

Have at it.

+1

iirc the slides @ whiteface is inbounds
imho, i don't think anything in the east coast comes close to the slides. depending on which day you pick you are literally risking your life. for example, if you take slide 1 on a bad day, you have 10-20+ feet waterfall in front of you with no bail out unless you hike back up. all of my trip there required mandatory jumps over ice, rock ledges and etc with very sketch landing. of course this all depends on condition, but. the first time i was there i couldn't believe this was east coast trail.
the last time i was there was before irene and i know she changed the geography so i am not sure how it is today, but it is definitely on a different class in my book.
i think the only thing that comes close to it is the church at sugarbush, but even that really doesn't come close remotely, imo. isn't the church out of bounds?
i didn't go down all on that list, but in comparison to the slides at whiteface, goat @ stowe, paradise @ mrg, black and red line @ magic are all kids play in my book.
 

KevinF

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White Heat at Sunday River- The steepest, longest, widest lift served trail in the east!!!

Actually, it's the "steepest longest widest" -- i.e., note the lack of commas. "Steepest, longest, widest" (i.e., with the commas), implies that White Heat is the steepest trail, it's also the longest trail and it's also the widest trail, which it most definitely is not.

Without the commas implies that steeper trails are also not longer and / or wider, longer trails are not steeper and / or wider, etc.

It's a very clever bit of marketing playing on the subtleties of the English language.
 

skiNEwhere

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juggernaut at K, so extreme, they have a sign at the beginning of it discouraging snowboarders. LOL, jk.

In reality......I'm having a toughtime picking one out. Never been to Smuggs, only been to Stowe a couple times so I'm having trouble remembering the tough stuff.

Julio at K can be pretty damn hard, especially if the snow isn't good.
 

skiNEwhere

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Isn't Denton in Pennsylvania, supposed to very steep.

Yup, the trail is avalanche and has an alleged 66° (not %) pitch. I can't find any proof of it in the form of pictures or video though on the internet
 

ScottySkis

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Yup, the trail is avalanche and has an alleged 66° (not %) pitch. I can't find any proof of it in the form of pictures or video though on the internet



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I like 4 hours to that hill, maybe I ski Elk one day and ski Denton another.
 

skiNEwhere

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I like 4 hours to that hill, maybe I ski Elk one day and ski Denton another.

If you go there, a TR is a must! No one has seen this trail. Make sure you bring a camera, and a protractor too while you are at it.:lol:
 

MadMadWorld

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Yup, the trail is avalanche and has an alleged 66° (not %) pitch. I can't find any proof of it in the form of pictures or video though on the internet

What a load of crap that is. Does anyone realize what 66 degrees is? There are simply very few places that could hold snow on a 66 degree pitch let alone ski it. Pontoon and Pyramid mountains in the Choogach stay consistently in the 45 to 50 degree range and that's with massive amounts of sluff.
 

C-Rex

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Yup, the trail is avalanche and has an alleged 66° (not %) pitch. I can't find any proof of it in the form of pictures or video though on the internet

I have a hard time believing that pitch. With all the "Steepest trail" threads I've read I've never heard it mentioned. And nothing I've seen mentioned so far has been over the low 50's, and that's anywhere in the US not just the east. Maybe it has like a 30 foot section but I would doubt anything sustained at that slope. If it were true Avalanche would be a fitting name because snow would be sliding on it all the time.
 

bdfreetuna

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Here is Avalanche at Denton. I'm gonna go ahead and say Nope to this being a very difficult trail.pasteep.jpg

I have never skied the Slides at Whiteface. But besides that which I can not speak for... I think Most Difficult would go to Paradise@MRG, Madonna Liftline, or Face Chutes. Face Chutes as Jay is the hardest marked area. Some chutes on the Ridge are steeper and tighter but that's sort of unofficial. Talking marked trails here.

Black Line is a good contender but it's drops are fairly small, although there are several steep pitches. Magician looks like it could be a good contender as well although it was still closed so I did not ski it. Trails like Goat and Rumble are sort of up there, but these trails are only difficult in icy conditions.

The 3 I mentioned are the ones which I think can be difficult in just about any conditions.

BTW I've skied back sides of some moguls which were probably 90 degree pitch ;).. perhaps that is what they measured at Denton?
 
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