Maximum one-day vertical at east coast ski area

[urungus]

This story got me wondering, what is the maximum vertical ever achieved in one day at an east coast ski area ?
Crotched is open for 15 hours on Midnight Madness Saturdays and has the high speed Rocket, but might have to wait in line, would it be best venue to make an attempt ?

Manhattan, NY, Man Skis over 61,000 Vertical Feet Right Outside New York City - SnowBrains

Recent news about skiers and riders covering over 100,000 vertical feet in one day has inspired many, especially an incredible 125,000-foot day. Until now, these feats took place at big mountain western U.S. resorts. But how much vertical could be skied in one day at a small east coast resort...

snowbrains.com

 

[pinion]

Wildcat used to do their 100k day (exclusive access to Lynx, front of the line for lift, start at 6a, etc). Always pretty cool to watch it happening.

 

[Kingslug20]

My feet..would fall off...

 

[urungus]

Wildcat used to do their 100k day (exclusive access to Lynx, front of the line for lift, start at 6a, etc). Always pretty cool to watch it happening.

That is cool. I assume Vail ended Wildcats 100k day ? There should be two records, one for “average joes“ like the guy in the article, who skiied regular operating hours and had to contend with lift lines.

 

[pinion]

Not sure if Vail has officially ended it. Lots of fun Wildcat things have not come back post COVID for whatever reason (lookin’ at you, Cat Scratch Fever)

 

[Zand]

Wachusett used to have a 24-hour event on a Friday night in February. So theoretically if you started skiing at 9am Friday and didn't stop until closing at 10pm Saturday, assuming 7 runs per hour off the summit at 950 vert per run for 37 hours, you'd be looking at roughly 246k vert in one outing.

 

[djd66]

It would be boring as fuck,.. but Wachusett would not be a bad place to attempt this. They are open 9:00AM - 9:30 PM You would have to pick a day when there is no racing or after school programs - like in March

 

[xlr8r]

At Wachusett, The Polar Express is not running that fast these days. Also it is much longer than the Crotched Rocket for not much more vertical. For a day and night session I think lapping the Crotched Rocket wins

For just a day shift IMO a quiet day at Loon lapping North Peak would get you a ton of vertical. That lift always runs fast and its easy to bomb down Flume or Walking Boss over and over.

 

[ThatGuy]

You could probably rack up lots of vert easy at Jiminy. Berkshire Express is ~1000ft vert and the trails off the face go right down the fall line. Plus they’re open 9am-10pm.

 

[pinion]

I am really thinking about this now.

Crotched: the is a 4 minute ride for 1k vert. You can ski down the face quickly. Let's say one run every 7 minutes. 8.5 runs per hour, so 8,500 vertical feet per hour. Seems sustainable given the constant breaks to get back up the mountain.

Wildcat: the quad - when running full speed - is a 6.25 minute ride for 2.1k vert, and if you get to Lynx you can bomb down the mountain without any interruption, let's say one run every 12 minutes. 5 runs per hour, so 10,500 vertical per hour. Can't imagine it being sustainable for a whole day.

Sugarbush? Sunday River? What other mountains with fast lifts and high-vert runs would be good candidates?

IMO a quiet day at Loon lapping North Peak would get you a ton of vertical.

I agree, but aren't you wasting precious time getting over there? Maybe not because you get the extra vert skiing down at the end anyway?

 

[djd66]

Super Star at Killington - Mostly vertical skiing and wide open groomed trail you could bomb down

 

[drjeff]

My youngest racked up just over 60k on a quiet Saturday in late March last year at Mount Snow. Went bell to bell just lapping the Bluebird via the singles line and skiing the same route (Lodge to Exhibition) every one of his 38 runs. Just a quick couple of summit lodge bathroom breaks for him and couple of times that my wife or I or some of his friends handed him a bottle of water and some snacks as he headed into the singles line again.

He's done a marathon session like that on a quiet Saturday in late March the last 2 years, and plans again this year to try and beat his total from last year.

It can be done, but you need the right set of circumstances (light crowds, fast(er) snow, good weather) to pull it off, even on a weekend

 

[deadheadskier]

That is cool. I assume Vail ended Wildcats 100k day ? There should be two records, one for “average joes“ like the guy in the article, who skiied regular operating hours and had to contend with lift lines.

No, it ended long before Vail came East.

A young man died during the last time they hosted the 100k Vertical challenge at Wildcat. He missed the turn at the bottom of Lynx heading back to the Quad and rag dolled down the rocks under the bottom of the Tomcat lift line that is roped off.

The event hasn't been held since

 

[pinion]

Oh. That was 2016 or 2017 no? I thought I watched it in 2019 but could be totally wrong here.

 

[deadheadskier]

Maybe? I definitely recall discussions of ending the event for good after that accident

 

[xlr8r]

I am really thinking about this now.

Crotched: the is a 4 minute ride for 1k vert. You can ski down the face quickly. Let's say one run every 7 minutes. 8.5 runs per hour, so 8,500 vertical feet per hour. Seems sustainable given the constant breaks to get back up the mountain.

Wildcat: the quad - when running full speed - is a 6.25 minute ride for 2.1k vert, and if you get to Lynx you can bomb down the mountain without any interruption, let's say one run every 12 minutes. 5 runs per hour, so 10,500 vertical per hour. Can't imagine it being sustainable for a whole day.

Sugarbush? Sunday River? What other mountains with fast lifts and high-vert runs would be good candidates?


I agree, but aren't you wasting precious time getting over there? Maybe not because you get the extra vert skiing down at the end anyway?

You would just have to ride Kanc 8 or 7 Brothers express once to get to north peak which both run fast as well.

 

[thebigo]

If I recollect there was a gentleman who set the guiness world record for vertical feet in a season. I believe he passed a few years back. One of the days he was at crotched for midnight madness and skied something around 140 runs? There was a thread on either AZ or NELSAP about it.

One of my kid's coaches mentioned a 24 hour marathon she once did at King Pine, no idea how many runs but that would get boring fast. I have lapped showboat in 6 minutes at 1K vertical but of course they close at 4:00.

 

[jimk]

Remember this story, guy skied almost 7mil vert in one season and died of cancer a year or two later :-(

Scott Howard Avid Skier, Remembered As The World’s Vertical Champion | Mountain Times

Scott Howard, an enthusiastic and proud member of the Killington 100 Day Club, who had an incredible insatiable passion for skiing and golf, died June 25,

mountaintimes.info

BigO and I posted at same time

 

[x10003q]

This story got me wondering, what is the maximum vertical ever achieved in one day at an east coast ski area ?
Crotched is open for 15 hours on Midnight Madness Saturdays and has the high speed Rocket, but might have to wait in line, would it be best venue to make an attempt ?

Manhattan, NY, Man Skis over 61,000 Vertical Feet Right Outside New York City - SnowBrains

Recent news about skiers and riders covering over 100,000 vertical feet in one day has inspired many, especially an incredible 125,000-foot day. Until now, these feats took place at big mountain western U.S. resorts. But how much vertical could be skied in one day at a small east coast resort...

snowbrains.com

These articles are always fun, but the total vertical is too high. If he did do 38 runs on the Kaatskill Flyer HS6, he would be at roughly 56k vertical feet as the HS6 is 1477 vertical feet. It looks like he tried Hunter West also and the Zephyr HSQ on West has a steep 1295 vertical feet.

 

[jimk]

One time in high school I ran an overnight one mile relay. I forget the details, only remember that it was the most miserable time of my life, and I was the best distance runner on the team. I think we had teams of four guys. Every fourth guy you had to take your turn and run a mile. Since we were only doing 7 or 8 minute miles you got like 20-25 mins rest in between your turn to run another mile. It was torture and I forget if my team ran the most miles. Our gung-ho Coach came up with the idea. We slept/rested in pup tents next to the track.

Maybe this experience is why I never cared to keep track of skiing vertical? I ran track in college too. Track was for fast times. Skiing for me has always just been for fun.