Icecoastmatt
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Never done them before. Where should I start?
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White Nitro is usually groomed right from the summit. If the summit is fogged in don't try it, you won't be able to see 5 feet.
Is it fogged more often than not?
My recommendation would be Powder Keg.
It's been years, but I always liked this one. Steep bumps, but seems to hold snow well.
I was confused when people started mentioning front side trails as snowfields which I always thought of the snowfields as of the “back” (side) of the mtn.
Ignore anything on the "Backside Snowfields" (Hells Gate, Adrenaline Rush, Ball & Chain), because they are hardly ever officially open, difficult to find, and usually barely any snow to make it "fun".
First you probably need to define "Snowfields"...Traditionally it just used to mean the "Backside" (which included the High Rigger trail), but now they have labeled them as "Front side snowfields" and "Backside snowfields". Going by the trail map labels...Ignore anything on the "Backside Snowfields" (Hells Gate, Adrenaline Rush, Ball & Chain), because they are hardly ever officially open, difficult to find, and usually barely any snow to make it "fun". As for the easiest trails to start with....I'd say Gondola Ext, and White Nitro Ext are the easiest as they are typically groomed with snow making(however those can be scrapped off quickly with any sort of traffic, so hit them early if you plan to ski/ride them). All the other trails/Extensions are au natural, and not uncommon to hit some wind scoured boiler plate patches especially on the front side (depending on conditions). High Rigger is the trail I consider to be the "backside", and starts off gradual then has a very steep pitch which feels/looks like you are falling off the edge of the earth. If you can handle steep stuff it is manageable. IMO, the hardest part of skiing the snowfields is the Hard Tack trail....everything funnels into that trail which has this rock garden that is narrow, always has exposed rocks, and can get bottlenecked with people who shouldn't be there.
Right now they only have a few of those trails open...Just got back from a few days up there...My recommendation would be Powder Keg.
My main concern would be damage to my skis from what I've seen.
Agreed. High Rigger is fine, but those stupid names for the frontside "trails" have pissed me off for years. They date from the 90s marketing war with Sunday River when SR was heavily promoting White Heat, which is a far less interesting trail than White Nitro. (I went down White Nitro when I was up there for a couple days last week, had forgotten how arse-puckeringly steep that thing is. That big net at the bottom is there for a reason.)Agree it is confusing now. I didn't even realize (until I looked at the trail map to answer the OP) that High Rigger was listed on the "Frontside Snowfields". Dumb. It should just be "Backside Snowfields" to replace the silly trail names of High Rigger, Pure Heat, and Jagger...Not like anyone can pinpoint the start & end of those trails. While we are at it, lets restore White Nitro back to its original trail names of Wedge Extension, and Upper Wedge.
Agreed. High Rigger is fine, but those stupid names for the frontside "trails" have pissed me off for years. They date from the 90s marketing war with Sunday River when SR was heavily promoting White Heat, which is a far less interesting trail than White Nitro. (I went down White Nitro when I was up there for a couple days last week, had forgotten how arse-puckeringly steep that thing is. That big net at the bottom is there for a reason.)