Best mountain for experts

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

of all the places I've been I'd say jackson has the best range of hucking opportunities...from 10' to 100'...all in the same continuous ridgeline from one end to another...with steep landings...and double hits all over the place. at most other resorts you don't get the gradually increasing cliff ranges like jackson and have to move around the mtn more for diff sized air. Huge vertical too, only whistler/blackcomb and revelstoke have more vert. jackson is in my top 5 for sure.

Jacksons vert is continuous and it doesn't get flat until the bottom 400 vert on the north side and the cat-track leading to the Union pass lift on the south-side where the lower faces are. Due to it's relatively low elevation for the Rockies along with a good deal of South facing terrain..my favorite time to visit Jackson Hole in January..when the snow is mainly powder or chalky..I was once there in early March and on 35-40 degree days..all but the due-north facing terrain would get really soft in the afternoon which is fun to ski but then night-time lows in the single digits would turn it into refrozen crud which is not fun to ski. One of these seasons I'll get my ass over to Chamonix or Le Grave and hire a guide to show me some cool/scary terrain..bottomless crevasses and all..

 

[hardline]

Jacksons vert is continuous and it doesn't get flat until the bottom 400 vert on the north side and the cat-track leading to the Union pass lift on the south-side where the lower faces are. Due to it's relatively low elevation for the Rockies along with a good deal of South facing terrain..my favorite time to visit Jackson Hole in January..when the snow is mainly powder or chalky..I was once there in early March and on 35-40 degree days..all but the due-north facing terrain would get really soft in the afternoon which is fun to ski but then night-time lows in the single digits would turn it into refrozen crud which is not fun to ski. One of these seasons I'll get my ass over to Chamonix or Le Grave and hire a guide to show me some cool/scary terrain..bottomless crevasses and all..

for continuos vert you need to go to revey. its 4000 plus. the EU is just to expensive unless its work related.

 

[tjf67]

of all the places I've been I'd say jackson has the best range of hucking opportunities...from 10' to 100'...all in the same continuous ridgeline from one end to another...with steep landings...and double hits all over the place. at most other resorts you don't get the gradually increasing cliff ranges like jackson and have to move around the mtn more for diff sized air. Huge vertical too, only whistler/blackcomb and revelstoke have more vert. jackson is in my top 5 for sure.

Take a run out to squaw. I dont care what lift you go up there is always a huck to be found. You can go from 5 to 200 feet in a lot of places. Its Crazy. You never have to climb for it if you dont want to. You will though there are two peaks you have to go up neither of them are more than 20 minute shlep. Granite chief and I forget the other one. I chicked out on the line I said i was going to take from the chair. I will be back I have a score to settle.

 

[eastcoastpowderhound]

Take a run out to squaw. I dont care what lift you go up there is always a huck to be found. You can go from 5 to 200 feet in a lot of places. Its Crazy. You never have to climb for it if you dont want to. You will though there are two peaks you have to go up neither of them are more than 20 minute shlep. Granite chief and I forget the other one. I chicked out on the line I said i was going to take from the chair. I will be back I have a score to settle.

I lived in Truckee for a year...had a pass to Squaw, its got the goods for sure...have you been to jackson?

 

[Geoff]

Take a run out to squaw. I dont care what lift you go up there is always a huck to be found. You can go from 5 to 200 feet in a lot of places. Its Crazy. You never have to climb for it if you dont want to. You will though there are two peaks you have to go up neither of them are more than 20 minute shlep. Granite chief and I forget the other one. I chicked out on the line I said i was going to take from the chair. I will be back I have a score to settle.

What about "Pony 1", "Pony 2", and "Pony 3"?

 

[tjf67]

I lived in Truckee for a year...had a pass to Squaw, its got the goods for sure...have you been to jackson?

I have not. I plan a trip west once per year. I have been going to spots that there is a very good probability that there will be snow. Jackson can be hit or miss. Is on my list with big sky as place i need to get to. I fly southwest for free and they dont go near big sky and the plane tickets are outrageous or I would have been there already.
Out west i have been to steamboat, snowbird, deervalley, whistler/blackcomb(heli Included), Heavenly and Squaw. Out off of them I like snow bird and squaw the best.

 

[tjf67]

What about "Pony 1", "Pony 2", and "Pony 3"?

I dont know what you are talking about.

 

[SIKSKIER]

for continuos vert you need to go to revey. its 4000 plus. the EU is just to expensive unless its work related.

Whistler/Blackcomb = 5280 Vert. Many places in Europe have up to 10,000 skiable vert.
As DMC said,Kirkwood rocks for a western ski area with around only 2000 vert.
Interior BC is where it's at for this guy.The Monashees consistantly average 700+ inches year after year.You must do some heli or in my case for the last 7 years,catski this area before you leave this world.

 

[Geoff]

I dont know what you are talking about.

Pony 1, Pony 2, and Pony 3 are the three handle tows at the bottom.

 

[fixedgrip16]

Telluride, Snowbird, Ajax or Highlands (Aspen), Taos for experts out west who want the best quality snow. . . East-- Sugaroloaf, Stowe, Sugarbush North, Mad River, Wildcat.

Remember 9/11 folks.:flag::flag::flag:

 

[hardline]

Whistler/Blackcomb = 5280 Vert. Many places in Europe have up to 10,000 skiable vert.
As DMC said,Kirkwood rocks for a western ski area with around only 2000 vert.
Interior BC is where it's at for this guy.The Monashees consistantly average 700+ inches year after year.You must do some heli or in my case for the last 7 years,catski this area before you leave this world.

there are very few places in EU you can actualy still ski from the peak to valley. you have to upload any where from 3 to 8000 feet. at whistler you have rain way to often at the base that is not the case Mt Mackenzie.

 

[JD]

What about south america? Portillo have any gnar?

 

[deadheadskier]

What about south america? Portillo have any gnar?

Based upon reading Geoff's feedback about SA, it sounds like Las Lenas is the place to go for steeps if you can tolerate a 12 hour bus ride AFTER the 12 hour flight from Miami

 

[eastcoastpowderhound]

I have not. I plan a trip west once per year. I have been going to spots that there is a very good probability that there will be snow. Jackson can be hit or miss. Is on my list with big sky as place i need to get to. I fly southwest for free and they dont go near big sky and the plane tickets are outrageous or I would have been there already.
Out west i have been to steamboat, snowbird, deervalley, whistler/blackcomb(heli Included), Heavenly and Squaw. Out off of them I like snow bird and squaw the best.

squaw/tahoe can be hit or miss too...the year I lived there we had no real snow (skiing manmade on Red Dog all Dec and most of Jan) up until Feb 28...then we got a 7' dump followed by another 21' of snow at the mtn in March...needless to say March was insane. When Tahoe misses, it seems to miss big, but when it hits, it hits BIG. I'd rank Whistler/blackcomb ahead of Squaw...but I had 4.5' of snow the first time I was there...since then I've skied there in the rain too...sometimes our perception is colored by the conditions we experienced...but the thread was "assume good conditions" so I'd put Whistler ahead of Squaw...more terrain, more vert, and a sweet ass village with great nightlife.

 

[hardline]

What about south america? Portillo have any gnar?

its a long ass ways from the top of the rocca jack to the lift down by the road but most of the fun stuff by the lake is either a booter or a traverse. there is some dam steep stuff.

 

[kingslug]

You forgot Big Vanilla...:razz:

You remember Big Vanilla? My first and last ski experience for a while.....many moons ago.

 

[kingslug]

This got me thinking about our last trip to Tahoe...which we are trying to forget. Squaw was frozen solid. You really have to experience that to believe it. Makes anything out here pale in comparison.

 

[SIKSKIER]

there are very few places in EU you can actualy still ski from the peak to valley. you have to upload any where from 3 to 8000 feet. at whistler you have rain way to often at the base that is not the case Mt Mackenzie.

I think I exagerated a little bit but here's part of an article to give one an idea of the potential.

Vertical Reality
The world's greatest ski run begins high above Chamonix in the French Alps
Gerry Wingenbach, Special to The Chronicle

Sunday, January 4, 2004



(01-04) 04:00 PDT Chamonix, France -- Even in the European Alps, where ski lifts as varied as the blades of a Swiss Army knife scale mountain after mountain, the 60-passenger téléphérique to the summit of the Aiguille du Midi leaves you breathless.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is the highest gondola in Europe, topping out at 12,605 feet, and the king-of-the-world view spans three countries -- France, Italy and Switzerland.

The tram rises from Chamonix, site of the first Winter Olympic Games in 1924, and ends atop the fortresslike granite needle that looms next to white-domed Mont Blanc, at 15,750 feet the highest mountain in the Alps. It covers the distance in two airy, ear-popping spans -- one of them the longest of any aerial tram in the world.

And as if these superlatives aren't enough, the Aiguille du Midi also is the starting point for the longest lift-serviced ski and snowboarding run in the world - the 13-mile-long Vallée Blanche. It's often called greatest ski run on the planet.

Given the right conditions, and with an experienced mountain guide leading the way, any strong intermediate-level skier or snowboarder with a sense of adventure can cruise the Vallée Blanche's 9,200-vertical foot drop --

the equivalent of stacking the resorts of Heavenly, Mammoth and Squaw Valley on top of each other. More than 2,000 skiers and snowboarders descend the glacier every winter.

 

[fixedgrip16]

Check out this super cool Chamonix video. . . it'll make your head :smile:

http://www.chamonix.com/page.php?page=112&r=videos&ling=en

 

[kingslug]

Check out this super cool Chamonix video. . . it'll make your head :smile:

http://www.chamonix.com/page.php?page=112&r=videos&ling=en

I wish it looked like that when I was there. Wasn't a good snow year but still cool!!!