Intermediate Glades?

[thetrailboss]

I think something like Birch Glades at Pico is a good set up for beginners. The stands have somewhat grown in, but I remember skiing those as a kid and loving them. Pockets of well spaced trees in the middle of trail for folks to bail out to when they fell they're over their head.

+ 1. Pico has some great terrain and some great woods!

 

[Riverskier]

I moved toward the woods about 7-10 years ago. I became tired of wind-swept boulevard trails. It quickly became obvious that all the good snow was in the woods. Of course, it was not officially sanctioned at the time and only the most select pruning was done by folks in the know. Often me and my friends would end up with torn clothes from the pucker brush and other knarl. Then again, torn clothes and duct tape was a badge of honor to a small group of skiers.

Why is it now sanctioned? More than one Marketing Mgr. told me that it's all about competition. Once one starting doing it, everyone else quickly followed suit. Kind of like trail counting.

Not sanctioned 7-10 years ago, really? Sunday River started cutting glades in the mid 90's. I didn't realize they were revolutionary in that regard.

 

[thetrailboss]

Not sanctioned 7-10 years ago, really? Sunday River started cutting glades in the mid 90's. I didn't realize they were revolutionary in that regard.

I agree. Maybe southern areas started 7-10 years ago, but Burke cut many of its glades in 1997 or 1998. That was when glades became hot. Jay, of course, had them earlier.

 

[deadheadskier]

I thought Stratton was heavily gladed in the 70s? I know Magic had a number of them when I skied there as a kid in the 80s. Okemo had Outrage and Double Diamond at the time

 

[thetrailboss]

I thought Stratton was heavily gladed in the 70s? I know Magic had a number of them when I skied there as a kid in the 80s. Okemo had Outrage and Double Diamond at the time

I think that back in the days glades were just another option. I think that with liability concerns in the late 1970's and 1980's, as well as snowmaking and grooming changes, the wide super trails became the in-thing. Then Jay brought the glades back. So it was a back to the future kind of thing I guess!

 

[snowmonster]

I love intermediate glades since it introduces skiers to off-piste skiing. The only problem with these is that it can give skiers a false sense of their own abilities. Most of the time, glades are rated as double blacks (or single blacks) on the map to discourage beginners. Problem is when someone tackles an easier glade like Blind Ambition at SR then thinks that he/she has good skills to tackle all the glades on the mountain then drops into Wizard's Gulch. Perhaps, since ski areas are really embracing the idea of glade skiing, it's time to adopt a glade rating system based on pitch, tree spacing, length of glade, etc.

 

[TheBEast]

Berkshire East has Blizzard Island over off the quad with a low angle and lots of spacing. A great little shot with a little pow. Lots of pow and you can't get enough speed to make it through and if you fall, forget about it! But a nice little shot that holds snow nicely when other steeper stuff gets all skied off.

 

[k123]

A lot of the glades at Belleayre are pretty good for the intermediate (Belleayre glade, the trees next to the old t-bar line).

At Mount Snow the the trees between Nitro and Mineshaft are pretty well spaced

 

[Glenn]

Some sections of the Boonies off One More Time at Mt Snow have a nice low pitch. My wife has jumped in to make a few turns.

 

[jlboyell]

i accidentally took a run at snowshoe in wv that had "intermediate glades" on it. best/worst thing i ever did. since then i am constantly seeking out lines in the woods. it eventually brought me to try out bracket basin. easily the most fun thing out there, forget the terrain park and bumps. it has also made me a significantly better rider, cant afford not to!

 

[Geoff]

I thought Stratton was heavily gladed in the 70s? I know Magic had a number of them when I skied there as a kid in the 80s. Okemo had Outrage and Double Diamond at the time

Stratton had a steep woods trail called "The Glades". It was chainsawed around 1972 and became Slalom Glade. I was an every-weekender at Stratton from the late-1960's to 1976. There wasn't any glade skiing then. The woods were all choked with undergrowth.

 

[2knees]

Big Dipper was a popular tree run in the 80's. Not sure when it originally was on the map but it was definitely there in 84.

 

[x10003q]

Gore Mtn has a blue rated glade called Otter Slide Glade. If there were no trees it would be a green. It connects right off the green rated Sunway. It is where I introduced the glades to my kids.There is another blue rated glade at Gore in the new Ski Bowl area called Half and Half Glade. All the other marked glades at Gore are rated Black.

 

[mikestaple]

My 5 year old hit the Moon glades at Jay this year - loved them and looks for the trees at Steamboat too. (The Blueberry Glade at Sugarloaf - or really any of them off Whiffletree - are easy first timer glades too.)

Wide spaced intermediate glades are great with the kids and a good introduction to getting them into steeper tree areas.

 

[HowieT2]

I love intermediate glades since it introduces skiers to off-piste skiing. The only problem with these is that it can give skiers a false sense of their own abilities. Most of the time, glades are rated as double blacks (or single blacks) on the map to discourage beginners. Problem is when someone tackles an easier glade like Blind Ambition at SR then thinks that he/she has good skills to tackle all the glades on the mountain then drops into Wizard's Gulch. Perhaps, since ski areas are really embracing the idea of glade skiing, it's time to adopt a glade rating system based on pitch, tree spacing, length of glade, etc.

That's a different issue. there is no uniformity with regard to trail ratings anywhere and so it is misleading to the unsuspecting.

 

[Nick]

Are glades really that difficult? If you space out the trees enough and the slope is gentle enough, glades aren't really a big deal at all.

I was thinking of this past winter at the AZ summit - at Sugarloaf in Brackett Basin - the run-out at the bottom is pretty thin and gets pretty flat. You didn't even need to turn in there, just coast on out.

Although it's definitely not that simpe just a little bit further up the slope! :lol:

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

 

[snowmonster]

Are glades really that difficult? If you space out the trees enough and the slope is gentle enough, glades aren't really a big deal at all.

One thing I've learned about being in the mountains is that you should never underestimate the terrain. At the very least, you shouldn't even talk about it lest you upset the mountain gods. Some of the worst wipe outs I've seen were on green trails when advanced skiers clip an edge because they're not paying attention. Ice patches in unusual places or exposed stumps can turn a tame glade into a mine field. Never underestimate the terrain. You don't want the mountain to teach you humility.

If you can run a groomer through it or basically can straight-line it because the trees are so wide apart, that's not a proper glade regardless of what the resort marketing department says.

 

[oakapple]

I love intermediate glades since it introduces skiers to off-piste skiing. The only problem with these is that it can give skiers a false sense of their own abilities. Most of the time, glades are rated as double blacks (or single blacks) on the map to discourage beginners. Problem is when someone tackles an easier glade like Blind Ambition at SR then thinks that he/she has good skills to tackle all the glades on the mountain then drops into Wizard's Gulch. Perhaps, since ski areas are really embracing the idea of glade skiing, it's time to adopt a glade rating system based on pitch, tree spacing, length of glade, etc.

I suppose the glade rating system would be something like "Black Diamond, and We Really Mean It This Time"?

 

[snowmonster]

That's a different issue. there is no uniformity with regard to trail ratings anywhere and so it is misleading to the unsuspecting.

Agreed. Like trail rating, it's a standard relative to that particular mountain and that fact should be made known (as trail ratings are). Thus, in SR's case, you would rate Blind Ambition as difficult but rate Wizard's Gulch as more difficult. Of course, relatively speaking, a more difficult glade in, say, Pat's Peak might be less difficult at SR.

I suppose the glade rating system would be something like "Black Diamond, and We Really Mean It This Time"?

Something like that may be helpful. More colorful language may be even better.

 

[billski]

I agree. Maybe southern areas started 7-10 years ago, but Burke cut many of its glades in 1997 or 1998. That was when glades became hot. Jay, of course, had them earlier.

But were they on a map? That's what I mean by sanctioned.