Least Favorite Trail

[MadMadWorld]

I have seen tons of threads on favorite/hardest trail but none for this.

Tell us:
1. What trail
2. Why you hate it

Mine is Connifer Connection at Wachusett
- Don't get me wrong, when no one is around it's a fun trail to rip but this trail is usually severely overcrowded by wreckless kids trying to ski something beyond their ability to impress their friends. The trail usually ends up a sheet of ice by the end of day/night and I can't count how many stupid accidents I have been witness to over the years.

 

[gregnye]

I don't like hating on the easy terrain--but if I were to pick one trail I hated it would either be GrandJunction/Middle Bear Claw at Loon or Bearback/Bear Necessity at Attitash/Bear Peak.

I hate Grand Junction at loon because it is too crowded and leads to either the overpopulated gondola or Kanc. Quad. In terms of population, another trail similar is Taxi at Jay--so many people in a congested space (just take the T-bar).

I hate Bear Neccessity because, for those of you who have never been on it, there is no posible way you will have enough speed and will be walking EVERY TIME!! grrr.

I'm sure I can think of others, but I don't want to hate on the novice terrain too much. Perhaps I should think about which expert terrain is the worst (boneyard at Waterville is a contestant--used to be a blue, then magically labeled as a black and rarely opened)

 

[MadMadWorld]

I'm sure I can think of others, but I don't want to hate on the novice terrain too much. Perhaps I should think about which expert terrain is the worst (boneyard at Waterville is a contestant--used to be a blue, then magically labeled as a black and rarely opened)

All very good choices. As far as "advanced" terrain, I would add Tightrope @ Attitash. That trail is just facing the wrong direction on the windiest place on the mountain. It has been a long time since I have skied it but I remember it being a skating rink every time.

 

[kickstand]

I hate Bear Neccessity because, for those of you who have never been on it, there is no posible way you will have enough speed and will be walking EVERY TIME!! grrr.

I refuse to take it, but I have not been down thru Jacob's Ladder yet, so I have not yet been forced to skate it. I will always jump on the Abenaki quad and ski down. And the addition of the mid-station makes it that much more of a no-brainer.

Might as well stick with Attitash here - the very top of Bear, all of it. Once in a while, it can be fun, but just the sheer volume of people makes for an ugly mix of ice and soft bumps. Sometimes you can get lucky with the very edges of Illusion, above Wandering Skis, that's about it. Once it's skied off, that's it.

I usually find certain sections of trails to be a pain, especially with changing conditions.

 

[AdironRider]

The Alta Chutes in Jackson.

Dont get me wrong, just like any trail with a foot of fresh, its awesome, but everyone and their Mom seems to think its AOK to set a traverse line across all of them. Completely ruins the runs unless you are lucky and get early ups on the tram.

 

[ScottySkis]

Belt parkway at Hunter,their only intermediate trail from top of Hunter quad nice trail just way to many people on it.

 

[Geoff]

Killington, Lower Bunny Buster, Thanksgiving Saturday between 10:30 and 2:30. It's like you spilled a box of sugar on the kitchen floor and the ants showed up en-masse.

 

[Puck it]

Big Link at Cannon. Just to much traffic.

 

[steamboat1]

Pretty much any trail at Middlebury Snow Bowl.

 

[deadheadskier]

The Eureka, Tin Woodsman Oz trail complex at Sunday River. Talk about an epic fail in trail design. It's still fun to ski, but that whole terrain pod could have been so much better had they not cleared so much.

 

[millerm277]

Pine Knot @ Gore. Take most of the skiers off of a triple chair and a decent portion of a gondola, and then send them down one narrow, twisting, difficult and bumped "intermediate" trail.

 

[bigbog]

Ralph's Run(Wachusett)...LOL, maybe cuz I largely learned @Wachusett...during midweek nights(6-10p = $88) back in the early 80s, when most people were enjoying the 80's snow on the bigger mountains.. Remembering opting for Ralph's Run often when the main beginner's trail was packed...brings a laugh everytime I think of it, but life was sure depressing before skiing...and Wa-Wachusett.

 

[maineskier69]

I hear ya deadhead skier. Eureka is the worst culprit as the wind just blows the snow right down to the base making it a skating rink. The exception was this past season where they didn't make snow on it. So the 7 days it was open because of a late season storm, it skied like a whole different trail with no man made base. Tin Woodsman/Lost Princess can ski quite well most days if you know which areas to avoid, but even then you get that "one section" that tends to be scraped each time, but you are rewarded afterward with some great little zipper lines of bumps to the bottom.

Now Kansas is a different story and is the first to come to mind as a least favorite ski trail. One must tuck it and hope you don't encounter a traverser (but you usually do). I feel especially bad for snowboarders on that trail and have been known to offer a pole pull in the right situation,

 

[WWF-VT]

Pretty much any trail at Middlebury Snow Bowl.

Why so harsh on Middlebury Snow Bowl? You can't complain about the price and there's lots of off the map options that make it a fun place to ski and ride. Some of the trails are always groomedand hard pack - but that'swhy the racers train there.

 

[2knees]

Double Dipper at killington. Not for what the trail is so much as for what they could've done instead of paving a superhighway down the canyon.

 

[marcski]

Why so harsh on Middlebury Snow Bowl? You can't complain about the price and there's lots of off the map options that make it a fun place to ski and ride. Some of the trails are always groomedand hard pack - but that'swhy the racers train there.

I was thinking the same thing when I read that harshin' post.

\

Maineskier....Ever get down to the Shipyard Brewery? It's in your neck o' the woods and I was loving a nice Growler of the Monkey Fist IPA last night. Quite tasty, IMHO.

 

[skiadikt]

Double Dipper at killington. Not for what the trail is so much as for what they could've done instead of paving a superhighway down the canyon.

that was gonna be my choice but also for the fact that weekends it's usually a death slide by 9am.

 

[4aprice]

Double Dipper at killington. Not for what the trail is so much as for what they could've done instead of paving a superhighway down the canyon.

This is a little OT but your choice of DD made me think of it. Redesigning runs. Stratton's got a similar situation where they blew out a ton of trees when installing the gondola and actually eliminating a fun run. I'm wondering why some islands of tree couldn't be planted and these runs redesigned. I believe Elk Mountain redesigned their west side by doing this. Good snowmaking spots could be designed in as well.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[amf]

At Stratton, while its not there anymore the huge open swath that used to be the main Sunbowl(?) face always gave me fits. Huge open expanse, breaking every which way. I like it a lot better now that they basically cut it in two with their superpipe.

 

[ceo]

Second on Big Link. Nearly always a hockey rink even by Cannon standards.
I'll add West Mountain Crosscut at Sugarloaf. Ought to be a cross-country trail. Try it with a tired and cranky 7-year-old for extra lack of fun.