Scariest peak

[Hawk]

I've been to a lot of these place mentioned.
- Aspen Highlands - Highland bowl - I will agree that the further up you go the more intimidating it is. I am not sure if that is because of the serious head rush I had because of the elevation.
- Big Sky - Top of the tram is not that bad. It has a nice flat to get your crap together and you can go around the snow fences and find easier ways down. It's not all hair ball. - What is really sketchy is walking the ridge up and out from the headwaters chair. Especially that bit with the rock band with the rope attached. One slip in ski boots and you gone. I have never made it all the way out on that ridge. I was totally petrified.
- Top of snowbird tram and down the ridge is not that bad either. I think some of the places I hiked on Baldly were steeper and scarier.

Easily, most of the scariest situations I have been in were in Chamonix and right off the lift. I have been up the Aiguille du Midi a few times. The arete is only the start. I saw a lady slip and dangle on a rope almost pulling her guide down the town side of the ridge. They rope you up for a reason. If the Arete is icy then you need to go real slow and check your footing. From there we went left over to the Grand Envers. Look it up. You travers over exposed areas to ski 40+ degree slopes. Also some of the hikes at Brevant our guide took us on were not for the faint of heart. I was more scared there then anywhere I have been.

 

[kingslug]

Its why the big boys move out there when they get bored here. And the food is better...

 

[Hawk]

Yup good food. We ate like kings. I also love the vibe in town. Good mix of bars and cafe's and people from all over the world that are so friendly. I've been there 3 times and we plan to go back. It's not nearly as big as some of the other places but it has something the others do not. It is hard to describe.

 

[kingslug]

We hung out at the Ausie bar..walking around after that in the dark on ice..was fun. Ate ..a lot of cheese..a lot...
I remember taking our skis to a shop as we had trashed them on the rocks..I though we had really trashed them until he showed me what really trashed looks like.
We don't really rock ski here..

 

[2Planker]

After hitting Chamonix 3 times to ski, Wifey now wants to do a summer trip - Hiking via ferrata from Mürren to Gimmelwald, Switzerland – just wow)

 

[dblskifanatic]

So another that comes to mind is Steep Gully Chutes at A Basin, Rocky, relatively narrow no fall zone.

 

[dblskifanatic]

This series (The FIFTY) is pretty cool with a lot of pucker factor moments! Here is one episode.

 

[NYDB]

So another that comes to mind is Steep Gully Chutes at A Basin, Rocky, relatively narrow no fall zone.

How is that a no fall zone? It definitely looks steep and gnarly at the top, but it appears if you fell you would just slide down the gully. I always thought no fall zones were above exposure where if you ended up falling you might just careen off of a cliff band to your serious injury or demise. It looks like if you fell here you might bruise yourself up a bit but nothing serious.

 

[machski]

I've been to a lot of these place mentioned.
- Aspen Highlands - Highland bowl - I will agree that the further up you go the more intimidating it is. I am not sure if that is because of the serious head rush I had because of the elevation.
- Big Sky - Top of the tram is not that bad. It has a nice flat to get your crap together and you can go around the snow fences and find easier ways down. It's not all hair ball. - What is really sketchy is walking the ridge up and out from the headwaters chair. Especially that bit with the rock band with the rope attached. One slip in ski boots and you gone. I have never made it all the way out on that ridge. I was totally petrified.
- Top of snowbird tram and down the ridge is not that bad either. I think some of the places I hiked on Baldly were steeper and scarier.

Easily, most of the scariest situations I have been in were in Chamonix and right off the lift. I have been up the Aiguille du Midi a few times. The arete is only the start. I saw a lady slip and dangle on a rope almost pulling her guide down the town side of the ridge. They rope you up for a reason. If the Arete is icy then you need to go real slow and check your footing. From there we went left over to the Grand Envers. Look it up. You travers over exposed areas to ski 40+ degree slopes. Also some of the hikes at Brevant our guide took us on were not for the faint of heart. I was more scared there then anywhere I have been.

Yup, that is some some scary schit. Wouldn't be quite as bad if it were ok to gear on on the hike line, but that is faux pas. I crap myself every time I step off the path to boot up. Almost lost it once gearing up. Much less scary once into the bindings.

 

[jimmywilson69]

How is that a no fall zone? It definitely looks steep and gnarly at the top, but it appears if you fell you would just slide down the gully. I always thought no fall zones were above exposure where if you ended up falling you might just careen off of a cliff band to your serious injury or demise. It looks like if you fell here you might bruise yourself up a bit but nothing serious.

I've not skied the steep Gullies, but they are steep as shit as seen from RTE 6 and if you fell you would do much worse than "bruise yourself" By your account the same would be true in the Big Couloir right?

I also think they say that to keep out the Jerrys as rescue operations from Patrol are going to be incredibly difficult.

 

[kbroderick]

I've not skied the steep Gullies, but they are steep as shit as seen from RTE 6 and if you fell you would do much worse than "bruise yourself" By your account the same would be true in the Big Couloir right?

I also think they say that to keep out the Jerrys as rescue operations from Patrol are going to be incredibly difficult.

The Big doglegs, if you miss a turn up top you're rather likely to bounce into and/or off rocks before getting to the bottom. There's a video from this year of someone doing that floating around.

When I took the OEC class, the instructor pointed out that *most* of the time, the nice thing about steep slopes was that the patient would usually slide to the bottom before stopping. Obviously, that doesn't really apply if they can get hung up on obstacles.

 

[LonghornSkier]

Never skied the Steep Gullies at A-Basin (never skied A-Basin in general)... But based on that video, I would characterize that run as "more than bruises, less than death" if you had a bad fall.

 

[abc]

I was watching a video of Big Sky which I went to 9 years ago and I remembered getting off the tram and going holy shit!..it was the scariest peak I had ever been on.

So when I did Lone Peak earlier this season I enjoyed it. Maybe it was because having been out out west I've gotten used to steeper and open slopes.

At least they have trail signs at Big Sky.

I've been to Big Sky a few times spanning the past 10 years, but only up the peak in clear days on my 1st and last trip. The last one didn't feel half as scary as the 1st trip.

I thought it maybe because I'm used to it. But then I was told they rerouted the access to the front side, and added signage in the recent years. That's when I remember how totally confusing it was the 1st time I went up it years ago.

I think that made the difference. It's no longer as scary as it used to be.

 

[dblskifanatic]

How is that a no fall zone? It definitely looks steep and gnarly at the top, but it appears if you fell you would just slide down the gully. I always thought no fall zones were above exposure where if you ended up falling you might just careen off of a cliff band to your serious injury or demise. It looks like if you fell here you might bruise yourself up a bit but nothing serious.

Well there is a possibility that you will ping pong amongst the rocks because there a lot of them. Also it depends on how you fall.

 

[Hawk]

Big Couloir is no joke. Actually the fun begins with the approach. The ridge you ski to get there is usually scoured down to the ice with rocks showing. you don't want to fall there or you go down into the North snow fields. The entrance is 50 degrees usually with a cornice and wind packed snow. Check out this video. Falling down the Big!

That is a guy we used to ski with at Sugarbush. He moved out there a couple of years ago. He is a very good skier but had really bad luck going in. He survived with a broken leg and shoulder.

 

[kingslug]

Its why I'm cutting back on my no fall zones..I have more fun on sub 40 degree runs now. Although the occasional pucker run is good to get things going.
I think the steepest t thing I did this season was Upper Starr and a few runs off 9990..nothing scary though. It was the first time I hit all of the front 4 in one day though.

 

[dblskifanatic]

It is all relevant, right? The first time I went down off a cornice in Montezuma bowl I thought it was heart pounding and the same with Pallavicini, after that first run you realize that it was not that big of a deal. Then going off the top of Peak 8 and some runs on Peak 7 off the T-bar I felt the same. Now not a big deal. A lot of the time we get into our heads or at least I am willing to admit that. A lot is about trying it. I fell on a tree run off E Chair at Breck and bounced down about 5-6 bumps before I stopped in a trough. That freaked me out - it just makes you more aware.

My wife does not like the heart pounding feeling but I get her on runs off Pallavicini or on Over the Rainbow at Loveland and others to show her that she can ski those types of runs. She does well every time. I love to see her push herself because I am fascinated by her growth in the sport - she did not start until she was 32. Reading the stories here makes me realize what is scary to some are enjoyed by others. The runs mentioned above I enjoy but to my wife they are the scariest runs.

None of us want the oh shit moment where we look back and say I should not have done that, but that is the trill of the sport for the 1-2 %

 

[jimk]

It is all relevant, right? The first time I went down off a cornice in Montezuma bowl I thought it was heart pounding and the same with Pallavicini, after that first run you realize that it was not that big of a deal. Then going off the top of Peak 8 and some runs on Peak 7 off the T-bar I felt the same. Now not a big deal. A lot of the time we get into our heads or at least I am willing to admit that. A lot is about trying it. I fell on a tree run off E Chair at Breck and bounced down about 5-6 bumps before I stopped in a trough. That freaked me out - it just makes you more aware.

My wife does not like the heart pounding feeling but I get her on runs off Pallavicini or on Over the Rainbow at Loveland and others to show her that she can ski those types of runs. She does well every time. I love to see her push herself because I am fascinated by her growth in the sport - she did not start until she was 32. Reading the stories here makes me realize what is scary to some are enjoyed by others. The runs mentioned above I enjoy but to my wife they are the scariest runs.

None of us want the oh shit moment where we look back and say I should not have done that, but that is the trill of the sport for the 1-2 %

My wife retired from skiing about 10 years ago. My favorite part of skiing with her was snuggling on the chairlift rides. You are very fortunate to have a skiing spouse. Keep the nurturing going on that

 

[Boxtop Willie]

Everything is relative...life long skier, skied all over, L3 instructor. Scariest peak was anything I was on during my first day learning how to snowboard...at age 47.
Blue square of death. Never more terrified on snow.

 

[kbroderick]

Big Couloir is no joke. Actually the fun begins with the approach. The ridge you ski to get there is usually scoured down to the ice with rocks showing. you don't want to fall there or you go down into the North snow fields. The entrance is 50 degrees usually with a cornice and wind packed snow. Check out this video. Falling down the Big!

That is a guy we used to ski with at Sugarbush. He moved out there a couple of years ago. He is a very good skier but had really bad luck going in. He survived with a broken leg and shoulder.

Yup, that's the video. I'm not clicking on the link because watching it once was more than enough.

Everything is relative...life long skier, skied all over, L3 instructor. Scariest peak was anything I was on during my first day learning how to snowboard...at age 47.
Blue square of death. Never more terrified on snow.

The scariest moment I've had on skis was a poorly timed attempt on Dodges Drop; I had expected the refrozen surface to warm and soften, but the weather didn't cooperate and I ended up using a platform a photographer had carved out the day before to transition back to crampons and climb out the top. Hillman's had enough additional sun that it was corned up very nicely.

Several of the scariest moments in a resort, though, were looking uphill at Killington on busy days.