Character Trails

[ALLSKIING]

This comes off of one of Steves posts about K not having Character trails. Name your favorite character trail or trails... Have at it.

 

[JimG.]

Just about anything at MRG.
Trails like Starr, Goat, and Lookout at Stowe.
The Castlerock area at Sugarbush and runs like The Mall and Moonshine.
Old Superstar at Killington.
The old T-bar area at Plattekill.
Runs like Hardscrabble and Cannon at Cannon.

I'm sure I'm forgetting a few.

 

[kickstand]

at Wildcat:

Wildcat (with the bottom being either Lower Wildcat or Wild Kitten - they're both great)
Lynx
Polecat

 

[tomski]

Goat
Superstar befor they out the quad in and snowmaking
Black Diamond
Fall Line

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

East

Whiteface - Empire & The Slides
Gore - Dark Side Glades
Stowe - Goat
SB - Rumble
Smuggs - Upper Lift Line & Freefall
Hunter - Annapurna

 

[riverc0il]

man, this could be a potentially loooooong list. don't even know where to begin. i'll pick one each from some of my favorite mountains... in no particular order:

taft @ mitty
hards @ cannon
east bowl @ burke
lower antelope @ mrg (heck, ALL of MRG!!!)
wildcat @ wildcat
bruce @ mansfield
sherburne / gos @ washington
green beret @ jay
twilight zone @ magic
white knuckle @ black (nh)
forget me not/snap dragon @ tenney
sweepstakes @ ragged
muleskinner @ saddleback

notice any mountains missing from that list? i am just getting warmed up here, i am not even listing gladed runs....

 

[awf170]

gos @ washington

Wasn't it so sad hiking down it? I was just picturing my self skiing it and thinking why couldn't it be a good snow year? Next year I'm probably going to do a mid-winter trip down that trail. Can you image the fun with that trail covered with a foot of untracked snow?

So yeah... character trails...

Al's folly, upper wildcat- Wildcat
Bubblecuffer, winter ways- sugarloaf
hardscrabbles, upper cannon- cannon
williamson- sunapee
Green beret, kitzbuhl- jay peak
goat, starr- stowe
all of castlerock-sugarbush

 

[Zand]

Sugarbush- all of Castlerock, Moonshine, Twist, Sleeper
MRG- pretty much all of it
Smuggs- Chilcoot
Cannon- Hardscrabble, Ravine
Beast- Big Chief
Wawa- Gotta give it to Balance Rock

 

[Greg]

Sugarbush: Castlerock, Moonshine, Twist, The Mall, Paradise
MRG: Antelope
Sugarloaf: Misery Whip, Winter's Way
Loon: Triple Trouble
Magic: Twilight Zone
Jiminy: Wild turkey

 

[andyzee]

Killington:
Superstar - when there's 20+ feet of snow, big mounds of snow on the trail, no people and a good tail wind coming off the peak blowing the snow around you as you ski down.

Outer Limits - When it has the "Volkswagon" size bumps.

The Light - nice easy tree run, with great scenery. (not on the map, don't ask )

Sugarbush:

Lower FIS - Have to do this trail with every visit, not much traveled, or groomed always fun and quiet

Plattekill:

Blockbuster - Great steep for a small mountain

 

[Marc]

JAWS at Snow.







And lets face it, any trail that I'm skiing at the moment has more character in one bump than the average trail does in the whole run.

:dunce:

 

[Newpylong]

I like a lot of the forementioned trails, so I will add "The Jug" at Killington. This narrow, natural, and fairly steep trail follows the return of the South Fridge Triple at Killington. After a dump it is incredably fun. At some points, its tough to even make a turn it is so narrow.

 

[riverc0il]

Killington:
Superstar - when there's 20+ feet of snow, big mounds of snow on the trail, no people and a good tail wind coming off the peak blowing the snow around you as you ski down.

Outer Limits - When it has the "Volkswagon" size bumps.

oops, i think you mis-read the thread topic. this is a thread for trails WITH character. 8)

 

[Newpylong]

Usually I would agree with you there but, I have skied both trails literally thousands of times, and depending on weather and snow conditions, they can ski quite differently, and can have quite the character. They do not rate up with the beloved front 4 on this site or the Bush, but they are fun to ski.

I think we're due to have an outing up there on a good snow day to show that there are a hundred other trails besides Superstar.

 

[andyzee]

oops, i think you mis-read the thread topic. this is a thread for trails WITH character. 8)

Steve if you could get your nose out of the clouds for a sec and read carefully, right conditions, maybe you'll understand :flame: :lol: . Then again, if you haven't been there under the right conditions, well guess you won't. I say Newpylong has a good point.

 

[riverc0il]

this has nothing to do with nose in the clouds... the thread is about trails, not conditions. conditions don't give a trail character. the right conditions can make any trail amazing. maybe the weather is just right and no one is around, these conditions and not inherent to the trail, but merely the moment you are there. catching a trail when the conditions are great does not mean that the trail has character. trails with character have great character regardless of conditions. or else we will need to add every trail in the northeast to this list. i have had amazing runs down trails that lacked character in the right conditions. and i have never hit some trails right condition wise that have a ton of character. i am not knocking super or outer, they are what they are, and that isn't a problem. but trails that are half a foot ball field wide and fall straight down the mountain are anything but distinctive or distinguishing. i could find the conditions you describe on numerous trails such as Can Am at jay, one of the biggest waste of trees ever cut, with all due respect to mr. hannah.

 

[JohnL]

Haven't skied them since 1984 (so I don't know if they've changed), but at Middlebury Snow Bowl:
Allen Slope - almost skis like a western trail; a trail doesn't have to be narrow to have character. Plenty of different lines down with some interesting gullies and rock outcroppings on the side.
Proctor Trail - snakes down the mountain with some interesting twists and turns, alternating between steepish and flat.

More recently:
MRG - the whole mountain, of course, but Paradise to Grand Canyon is signature. In addition to the previously-mentioned trails on this thread, Upper Panther, Fall Line and Beaver.
SB - All of Castlerock. Rumble in particular. Like MRG, even the flat sectons at the bottom are interesting, especially if there is open water flowing across the trail. Hidden gems @ North if memory serves correct: Hammerhead and/or Encore. Lower FIS has never been open when I've skied there (usually X-Mas week.)
Jay - Valhalla, Beaver Pond, BBP, and even JFK.
Bolton Valley - Preacher and Devil's Playground.
Smuggs - Upper Liftline and Doc Dempsey's.
Stowe - Goat and Starr, but Gondolier is a very interesting groomer with it's rolls and the view of the Gondola base in the distance.
Ascutney- Free Fall and The Face (different for the East.)
K-Mart - Devil's Fiddle.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

This comes off of one of Steves posts about K not having Character trails. Name your favorite character trail or trails... Have at it.

What defination are we using for character in a trail anyway?

 

[jack97]

What defination are we using for character in a trail anyway?

I don’t want to make this into “a slamming an area” thread; look at places like Okemo and Loon; majority of trails (read not all) have trails that are wide open groomers. Ski one trail; it has a familiar feeling like you skied it before at some other place. Some people like this “sameness”, some may call this consistency.

IMO, almost anything at mrg, scrabble at cannon and sweepstake at ragged has character, they have a uniqueness. In general, they have combinations of either; being narrow, twisty, different pitches, unusual contours and double fall lines. When you ski these trails, they don’t have the same feel like others places; that's my definition of character.

 

[andyzee]

this has nothing to do with nose in the clouds... the thread is about trails, not conditions. conditions don't give a trail character. the right conditions can make any trail amazing. maybe the weather is just right and no one is around, these conditions and not inherent to the trail, but merely the moment you are there. catching a trail when the conditions are great does not mean that the trail has character. trails with character have great character regardless of conditions. or else we will need to add every trail in the northeast to this list. i have had amazing runs down trails that lacked character in the right conditions. and i have never hit some trails right condition wise that have a ton of character. i am not knocking super or outer, they are what they are, and that isn't a problem. but trails that are half a foot ball field wide and fall straight down the mountain are anything but distinctive or distinguishing. i could find the conditions you describe on numerous trails such as Can Am at jay, one of the biggest waste of trees ever cut, with all due respect to mr. hannah.

Sorry, I disagree and will leave it at that. :lol: ;-)