Scariest peak

[kingslug]

I was watching a video of Big Sky which I went to 9 years ago and I remembered getting off the tram and going holy shit!..it was the scariest peak I had ever been on. JH is tame..I mean they have a waffle hut...even the top of Baldy at Snowbird/Alta is a cool place to chill out before you drop in...but this thing had nothing but steep drops on all sides. We skied the dictator chutes which were pretty damn steep. Never got to hit the Big one as it got socked in and the line became an hour wait after we got down. Only thing I can think of even close in the East the top of Tuckermans.
Thoughts?

 

[deadheadskier]

That I've been in associated with ski areas

Out West it was probably the top of Highland Bowl.

In the East, probably the top of the Chin at Stowe.

 

[kingslug]

Hoping to Hike Stowe this season. Tried last summer but it was a mud fest so I didn't get as far as I wanted.

 

[SkiingInABlueDream]

Never been but from what I've heard, the Aguille du Midi.

/thread
J/k

 

[cdskier]

Hoping to Hike Stowe this season. Tried last summer but it was a mud fest so I didn't get as far as I wanted.

I've cheated and hiked from the top of the toll road to the summit of Stowe. Still a fun hike and I love hiking along the rocks up there. I'd like to make the hike from the base to the summit one day though. I've done a bunch of other mountains in VT (Camel's Hump, Mt Abe, General Stark, Mt Ellen, Lincoln Peak) and would like to add Mansfield officially to that list.

 

[kbroderick]

I was watching a video of Big Sky which I went to 9 years ago and I remembered getting off the tram and going holy shit!..it was the scariest peak I had ever been on. JH is tame..I mean they have a waffle hut...even the top of Baldy at Snowbird/Alta is a cool place to chill out before you drop in...but this thing had nothing but steep drops on all sides. We skied the dictator chutes which were pretty damn steep. Never got to hit the Big one as it got socked in and the line became an hour wait after we got down. Only thing I can think of even close in the East the top of Tuckermans.
Thoughts?

At least they have trail signs at Big Sky.

Given the lack of signage, Baldy at AltaBird and the Ridge at Bridger are a lot scarier from a "um, where was that cliff-free line, again?" perspective (granted, both are hiking-required); Bridger also feels a bit exposed, even if most of it isn't a super-steep drop right at the top.

 

[ss20]

For the northeast the top of Pico is pretty intimidating to look at. Also I stayed in the Morse base village at Smuggs many years ago and looking up at Freefall, FIS, Blackhole, and Liftline is terrifying lol.

 

[WWF-VT]

I've cheated and hiked from the top of the toll road to the summit of Stowe. Still a fun hike and I love hiking along the rocks up there. I'd like to make the hike from the base to the summit one day though. I've done a bunch of other mountains in VT (Camel's Hump, Mt Abe, General Stark, Mt Ellen, Lincoln Peak) and would like to add Mansfield officially to that list.

I have hiked Mt Mansfield a couple of times from Underhill State Park. Laura Cowles trail up and Sunset Ridge trail down.

 

[dblskifanatic]

Delirium Dive at Sunshine Village - I actually wanted to ski that area even took the avalanche training that was required (got into my head) also required to use their avalanche gear, In the end I skipped it but that ranks up there. Two days earlier a father and two sons triggered an avalanche. The son traversed higher up above his father the slide made him tumble 1500 ft and did not survive.

That gets into your head!

 

[xlr8r]

In the East, Jay Peak I think is the scariest hands down. The only other one that gives a small sense of vertigo is Cannon, because I know the backside is a cliff face. You cannot really see it skiing, but I know its there. Also its really steep to you right when skiing on Extension.

Out west the scariest I have been to is Whistler peak, that chairlift freaks some people out.

 

[machski]

Big sky is quite disconcerting coming off the Tram, but I remember getting the same feeling unloading the Challenger chair their too (for some reason the headwaters chair isn't the same fear inducing, probably because you are perpendicular to the ridgeline rather than inline with it). If you haven't skied Big Couloir, do so and let me know what is scarier: I always get more stomach butterflies on the slip down from the top to the entrance than the Couloir itself as that slip line is a sheer 2000' cliff or so skiers left. Nothing like that in the East.

 

[LonghornSkier]

At Snowbird, there's a sketchy spot out by P-Tex point on the Cirque Traverse where you have to drop off a small little cliff (maybe 2-3 feet) and then hug the uphill as you're above a cliff and any kind of fall would be very, very bad. That made me pucker a bit.

 

[kingslug]

P-Tex..I think i did that one once with some people that worked there..looking at it I was like..if I miss this by as much as 6 inches I'm screwed. Something I would never do by myself..but they all just jumped into it. Just love following locals...

 

[kingslug]

if you've never been to Big Sky..here's a vid of the tram...nothing easy off this thing.

 

[Zand]

With the low visibility when I was at Snowbird, I went honking into the traverse one time and very nearly launched into Great Scott.

Otherwise, the scariest peak is definitely Nashoba Valley.

 

[p_levert]

My two comments:

1. The more you talk about it, the scarier it gets.

2. The western ski areas have a lot more steep stuff than the NE. So if you're used to skiing in the East, that first trip can be intimidating. But after a while, your frame of reference changes and lot of "scary steep" becomes just steep. All things being equal, a steep slope in the West is easier because the snow conditions are better.

 

[kingslug]

Snow conditions are most times better..but when they are not....its a bit different. Worst thing you can do is stand there and stare at it..hoping it gets less steep..the opposite happens. People who don't ski think we are nuts for jumping into stuff like this.

 

[LonghornSkier]

1. The more you talk about it, the scarier it gets.

2. The western ski areas have a lot more steep stuff than the NE. So if you're used to skiing in the East, that first trip can be intimidating. But after a while, your frame of reference changes and lot of "scary steep" becomes just steep.

I really don’t get scared about steep slopes, no matter how steep. It’s more the exposure piece that gets me. I don’t want one caught edge to send me over a cliff... That said, to your point, usually if you “just do it” it’s never as bad as you think.

 

[kingslug]

With the low visibility when I was at Snowbird, I went honking into the traverse one time and very nearly launched into Great Scott.

Otherwise, the scariest peak is definitely Nashoba Valley.

 

[dblskifanatic]

With the low visibility when I was at Snowbird, I went honking into the traverse one time and very nearly launched into Great Scott.

Otherwise, the scariest peak is definitely Nashoba Valley.

Yes Nashoba - the black trails there are evil!