ss20
Well-known member
With new trail maps this coming out for this season I've noticed a new, disturbing trend- Intermediate trails becoming beginner trails.
Instance One- Catamount re-labeling Ridge Run as a green. This has been an intermediate trail forever, and unless serious re-grading has been done, it's still a blue run in my book, imo. It's a very fun trail- narrow, lot's of rollers, even some really cool double fall-lines (if such could be said for Massachusetts skiing), and a narrow, tightly turning pitch at the end. Not at all beginner friendly...but now it's a green, and for the first time, there is "easier" skiing from the summit of Catamount. Looks nice on a trail map, but not even close in difficulty to the other greens at Catamount which are all very very mellow.
Instance Two- Mount Snow re-labeling Snowdance (off of the Canyon Quad) to a green (with a wrap-around on One More Time to avoid the first pitch of Snowdance). I've actually thought about how Snowdance would be a great easy run...when the snow is nice. But last year my opinion changed, as only 2/3 width of the trail can be reached by the fan guns. I also wasn't aware how steep some of the pitches are on that trail. Needs a lot of snow to fill-in. Very dangerous in flatlight conditions (the trail is so wide you're going down without any reference point). In fact last year I stayed with a lady who had fallen on one of the pitches until ski patrol arrived. She went right over, didn't know what hit her. As much as I wanted to stay by her side I knew I had to climb up the hill and block the pitch so no one would go over and hit her.
In both cases...these are trails that have been rated as intermediate trails forever. The lift that services them have never provided access to beginner trails. So now there's one easier way down from one lift at both places (both 4-seater chairs).
Huge marketing ploy? Yep. Huge safety hazard? Yep.
I'll be getting multiple days at both Mount Snow and Catamount this year so I'll have a front-row seat to see how this plays out.
When Killington did the opposite and re-rated their trail network to make Great Northern and Great Eastern intermediate trails a few years back, I wasn't really a fan of the change. But now I'm starting to change my stance. Better to underrate trails than overrate them, especially in seasons like last where conditions aren't ideal.
Still not at all a fan of the standardizing in trail ratings, as discussed in the other thread. It's all relative to the mountain...let's keep it that way. But neither of the trails I've mentioned are relevant to any other easier trail at their respective mountains.
Instance One- Catamount re-labeling Ridge Run as a green. This has been an intermediate trail forever, and unless serious re-grading has been done, it's still a blue run in my book, imo. It's a very fun trail- narrow, lot's of rollers, even some really cool double fall-lines (if such could be said for Massachusetts skiing), and a narrow, tightly turning pitch at the end. Not at all beginner friendly...but now it's a green, and for the first time, there is "easier" skiing from the summit of Catamount. Looks nice on a trail map, but not even close in difficulty to the other greens at Catamount which are all very very mellow.
Instance Two- Mount Snow re-labeling Snowdance (off of the Canyon Quad) to a green (with a wrap-around on One More Time to avoid the first pitch of Snowdance). I've actually thought about how Snowdance would be a great easy run...when the snow is nice. But last year my opinion changed, as only 2/3 width of the trail can be reached by the fan guns. I also wasn't aware how steep some of the pitches are on that trail. Needs a lot of snow to fill-in. Very dangerous in flatlight conditions (the trail is so wide you're going down without any reference point). In fact last year I stayed with a lady who had fallen on one of the pitches until ski patrol arrived. She went right over, didn't know what hit her. As much as I wanted to stay by her side I knew I had to climb up the hill and block the pitch so no one would go over and hit her.
In both cases...these are trails that have been rated as intermediate trails forever. The lift that services them have never provided access to beginner trails. So now there's one easier way down from one lift at both places (both 4-seater chairs).
Huge marketing ploy? Yep. Huge safety hazard? Yep.
I'll be getting multiple days at both Mount Snow and Catamount this year so I'll have a front-row seat to see how this plays out.
When Killington did the opposite and re-rated their trail network to make Great Northern and Great Eastern intermediate trails a few years back, I wasn't really a fan of the change. But now I'm starting to change my stance. Better to underrate trails than overrate them, especially in seasons like last where conditions aren't ideal.
Still not at all a fan of the standardizing in trail ratings, as discussed in the other thread. It's all relative to the mountain...let's keep it that way. But neither of the trails I've mentioned are relevant to any other easier trail at their respective mountains.
