Steepest Groomers

[kcyanks1]

Got it As I said, I've never been to Mt. Snow. Is Ripcord really as steep as The Rumor or just similar in that it's very short and not really a "groomer"?

Steeper... but a bit shorter.

Wow. Hard to believe, though I have heard about Ripcord being steep for a while. Maybe some day I'll make it to Mt. Snow. I guess if I were very crazy I could do it in a day from NY. Question is whether it's worth the extra hours of driving over Hunter if I am doing the day trip thing.

 

[bigbog]

...same here

+2

x += 1;

Oh man am I ever jonesin' for another powder day...:smash:

 

[deadheadskier]

Wow. Hard to believe, though I have heard about Ripcord being steep for a while. Maybe some day I'll make it to Mt. Snow. I guess if I were very crazy I could do it in a day from NY. Question is whether it's worth the extra hours of driving over Hunter if I am doing the day trip thing.

This year, considering Mt. Snow had probably more than double the natural snow as Hunter.......


.....pretty simple answer

 

[kcyanks1]

This year, considering Mt. Snow had probably more than double the natural snow as Hunter.......


.....pretty simple answer

4 hours each way vs. 2.5. Most I've driven each way for a day trip is 3.5 hours, though I did once last year have like an 8 hour ride home through a storm from Sugarbush after skiing there.

 

[Katahdin]

Snowbird or Snowbasin?? I was at Snowbasin the week after the 2002 Olympics ended. They were holding the disabled olympic skiing events there then. I skied out of the start house for the Grizzly (the name of the mens downhill course) which at that point with world cup hard snow with only a couple of inches of fluff on top was SLICK. The first pitch out of that start house is STEEP (the racers were going from 0 to roughly 80 in the first 5-6 seconds!) My wife and I get down to the bottom after making some slightly tenative slalom turns on the surface. We turn around and look back up, and theres a 1 legged para-olympian straightlining the pitch on his way down to the women's olympic course (the wildflower) which the paraolympians were running that day!

That top headwall of The Grizzly at Snowbasin is as steep(if not steeper) than any groomer in the East!

I just skied the Grizzly Downhill at Snowbasin on Friday. The Snowbasin employee who rides up the Mt Allen tram and reads all the warnings to the skiers stated that the pitch is 74 percent. It appeared to have been groomed a day or two prior and the snow was excellent so it didn't really seem that steep.

 

[SKidds]

I just skied the Grizzly Downhill at Snowbasin on Friday. The Snowbasin employee who rides up the Mt Allen tram and reads all the warnings to the skiers stated that the pitch is 74 percent. It appeared to have been groomed a day or two prior and the snow was excellent so it didn't really seem that steep.

Is that 75 percent on average, or it's steepest point? A 75 percent pitch is a slope that approaches 37 degrees. While that is steep, it isn't scary steep, at least not for acomplished skiers. Steep junkies don't start getting excited until you atart talking 45 degrees and up. Now tucking a 37 degree pitch.....that is scary, but for general skiing, it's steep, but not crazy. There are plenty of trails in the east that hit 37 degrees. Now if that 37 degrees is average, the headwall could push past 45 or 50 degrees for a bit, and THAT is steep.

 

[drjeff]

I just skied the Grizzly Downhill at Snowbasin on Friday. The Snowbasin employee who rides up the Mt Allen tram and reads all the warnings to the skiers stated that the pitch is 74 percent. It appeared to have been groomed a day or two prior and the snow was excellent so it didn't really seem that steep.

Now just picture a 1 legged skier straightlining that pitch right out of the start house when that pitch had a couple of inches of chopped up fulff ontop of a world cup hard groomed surface! Impressive!

Gotta love Snowbasin! One of the few places were it's real difficult to get out of the lodge in the AM/at lunch just simply because they're SO nice!

 

[Greg]

Is that 75 percent on average, or it's steepest point? A 75 percent pitch is a slope that approaches 37 degrees. While that is steep, it isn't scary steep, at least not for acomplished skiers. Steep junkies don't start getting excited until you atart talking 45 degrees and up. Now tucking a 37 degree pitch.....that is scary, but for general skiing, it's steep, but not crazy. There are plenty of trails in the east that hit 37 degrees. Now if that 37 degrees is average, the headwall could push past 45 or 50 degrees for a bit, and THAT is steep.

I guess I'm not accomplished then cuz 37 degrees is pretty effin steep to me.

 

[RISkier]

I guess I'm not accomplished then cuz 37 degrees is pretty effin steep to me.

Yep, 37 degrees is dang steep. I'd wager that very few trails in the East are steeper except for relatively short sections. Folks tend to over estimate the pitch of slopes they ski. I'm not an especially accomplished skier and recall stopping at the top of the one of the steep sections on that trail. It seemed so steep you couldn' really even get a good look down, just fell off into the abyss. Definately "seemed "steeper than trails like Hayride or Liftline at Stowe, though I'll emphasize the "seemed." Just can't imagine tucking and straight lining that kind of stuff.

 

[SKidds]

I guess I'm not accomplished then cuz 37 degrees is pretty effin steep to me.

Awww, you're more accomplished than you think you are .

Really, I'm not trying to dis anybody. But do you really think 37 degrees is going to scare away any expert skier? Sure, it's steep. Maybe it's effin steep. But it isn't crazy steep. It's not top of Corbits steep from which the majority of sane accomplished expert skiers probably turn away. Maybe I'm off on this one, but I don't think so. I've earned turns in a couple places where the slope was a min 40 - 45 degrees, although that steepness is a little less intimidating in a wide open bowl than it is on a cut trail through a wooded mountain. But I don't think an expert is going to be scared off by a 37 degree pitch.

I suppose I have chosen my words poorly and should change "accomplished" to "expert", because there certainly are accomplished intermediate and below skiers. I have no idea where you fall, but I apologize if I offended.

 

[deadheadskier]

Awww, you're more accomplished than you think you are .

Really, I'm not trying to dis anybody. But do you really think 37 degrees is going to scare away any expert skier? Sure, it's steep. Maybe it's effin steep. But it isn't crazy steep. It's not top of Corbits steep from which the majority of sane accomplished expert skiers probably turn away.

I suppose I have chosen my words poorly and should change "accomplished" to "expert", because there certainly are accomplished intermediate and below skiers. I have no idea where you fall, but I apologize if I offended.

There isn't anything in the East outside of Tucks that is 37 degrees for more than a few yards. 37 degrees is DAMN steep pretty much anywhere in the country

copied from another thread

Ovation at Killington (24 degrees, actually):
Paradise at MRG - 32.5 degrees
Tramline at Cannon - 28.1 degrees
White Nitro, Sugarloaf - 29.5 degree
Starr @ Stowe - 31.1 degrees
Castle Rock @ Sugarbush - 21.3 degrees
Whiteface Slides @ whiteface - 36.3 degrees
Denton Hill's (PA) triple diamond run - 27.7 degrees
Goat @ Stowe - 33.6 degrees
Robin's Run @ Smuggs - 29.8 degrees
Outer Limits @ Killington - 28.5 degrees
Devils Fiddle @ Killington - 25 degrees
Ripcord @ Mt. Snow - 27.4 degrees
Tuckerman's Ravine, NH (steepest I could find) - 45.3 degrees (damm!)
Dynamite @ Tremblant - 28 degrees
Black Hole @ Smuggs - 31.0 degrees
Ovation (lower section) @ Killington - 30.7 degrees
KT-22 East Chutes @ Squaw - 41 degrees
Huevos Grande @ Mammoth - 52.3 degrees (wicked steep)
51-50 @ PCMR - 47.9 degrees (and everyone says PCMR isn't steep)
Main Baldy Chute @ Alta - 44 degrees (but it's a dry steep)
Extrovert @ Blue Knob - 28.5 degrees
High Rustler @ Alta - 44.3 degrees
Great Scott @ Snowbird - 46.5 degrees
Upper Cirque @ Snowbird - 40.5 degrees
Peruvian @ Snowbird - 32.9 degrees
Under Powderhorn lift @ Solitude - 42.8 degrees
Under 9990 @ The Canyons - 29 degrees
Square Top @ The Canyons - 41.0 degrees
Upper Big Emma (Green Run!) @ Snowbird - 25.3 degrees!
Rumble @ Sugarbush - 27.9 degrees
Pitch Pine @ King Pine - 21.1 Degrees

Tuckerman Ravine Routes:
1 - 38.7 degrees
2 - 44.0 degrees
3 - 44.6 degrees
4 - 48.1 degrees
5 - 48.3 degrees
6 - 46.8 degrees
7 - 43.5 degrees
8 - 42.8 degrees
9 - 31.4 degrees
10- 30.3 degrees

Lower Wildcat @ Laurel Mountain (PA) - 28.1 degrees
Tower Three Chute @ JH - 43.1 degrees
Blowhole (Whistler/Blackcomb) - couldn't find it on the map
Rumor @ Gore - 28.9 degrees
Gunbarrel @ Heavenly, on the steepest pitch (a 136' section) is 31.6 degrees.
Palisades @ Squaw - 45.5 degrees (steepest section I could find - 205' long)

 

[Greg]

Awww, you're more accomplished than you think you are .

Really, I'm not trying to dis anybody. But do you really think 37 degrees is going to scare away any expert skier? Sure, it's steep. Maybe it's effin steep. But it isn't crazy steep. It's not top of Corbits steep from which the majority of sane accomplished expert skiers probably turn away.

I suppose I have chosen my words poorly and should change "accomplished" to "expert", because there certainly are accomplished intermediate and below skiers. I have no idea where you fall, but I apologize if I offended.

Not at all offended. And quite honestly, it's all about the surface conditions. Steep shots on a powder day or with some spring corn, no problem. Flat, porcelain-like hard pack? No thanks. And like RISkier said, I don't believe there are many consistent 37 degree on map stretches at lift-serviced Northeast ski areas.

 

[SKidds]

Thanks for the info deadheadskier. I'd imagine those measures are average slope degree and certain sections of many of those trails are steeper, but it's a great reference point. Those degree slopes seem to make sense as well. I've skied The Slides, Paradise (MRG), the Front Four at Stowe, all of Castlerock, Ripcord, Rumor.....and relatively speeking those measurements make sense. But I still maintain that 37% isn't scary steep. I'm more of a weekend warrior than a 50 day a season guy, and The Slides are steep, very steep, but not intimidatingly so for an expert skier. I'm sticking by that.

As Greg points out, conditions certainly are a big factor as well.

 

[kcyanks1]

Thanks for the info deadheadskier. I'd imagine those measures are average slope degree and certain sections of many of those trails are steeper, but it's a great reference point. Those degree slopes seem to make sense as well. I've skied The Slides, Paradise (MRG), the Front Four at Stowe, all of Castlerock, Ripcord, Rumor.....and relatively speeking those measurements make sense. But I still maintain that 37% isn't scary steep. I'm more of a weekend warrior than a 50 day a season guy, and The Slides are steep, very steep, but not intimidatingly so for an expert skier. I'm sticking by that.

As Greg points out, conditions certainly are a big factor as well.

I believe the Starr headwall is 37 degrees, or so Stowe says. The 31.1 degree measurement is probably as you said over a longer length of the trail. I seem to remember those measurements being the steepest 400' vertical of the trail, but I am just going from memory, so take it for what it's worth.

 

[SKidds]

So a question for advanced/expert skiers who have skied it. Yes, the Front Four at Stowe are steep, but do you consider Starr, even just the headwall, to be crazy scary steep? It's a nice, steep, challenging trail, no doubt, but it's certainly not extreme terrain.

 

[jonhere]

I'm glad to hear Snowbasin got some votes for steepest groomer. Makes me feel a little better about crashing on a groomer. I just broke some bones there last week when I caught an edge and slammed into the ground on the first run of the day.

 

[deadheadskier]

So a question for advanced/expert skiers who have skied it. Yes, the Front Four at Stowe are steep, but do you consider Starr, even just the headwall, to be crazy scary steep? It's a nice, steep, challenging trail, no doubt, but it's certainly not extreme terrain.

I think the lack of obstacles makes Starr fairly tame, certainly not extreme terrain. Lookout, though less steep is more challenging/extreme than Starr IMHO.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

So a question for advanced/expert skiers who have skied it. Yes, the Front Four at Stowe are steep, but do you consider Starr, even just the headwall, to be crazy scary steep? It's a nice, steep, challenging trail, no doubt, but it's certainly not extreme terrain.

The headwall of Starr is definitely not scary steep....but..in low snow conditions only the right side is skiable..and it can be scrapped to solid ice by side slippers and if you fall and don't have self arrest skills..you can slide right into the woods..a 37 degree icy pitch is obviously more challenging than a 37 degree open bowl with powder or nice chalky snow out west..

 

[SKidds]

..a 37 degree icy pitch is obviously more challenging than a 37 degree open bowl with powder or nice chalky snow out west..

Agreed. However, a skier who is good enough not to be scared off by the 37 degree pitch is likely, more often than not, going to be able to handle whatever conditions that pitch holds. I'm not trying to say skiing such things isn't very difficult, I'm just saying that in terms of steepness it's not going to be intimidating to a good expert skier.

 

[Greg]

Agreed. However, a skier who is good enough not to be scared off by the 37 degree pitch is likely, more often than not, going to be able to handle whatever conditions that pitch holds. I'm not trying to say skiing such things isn't very difficult, I'm just saying that in terms of steepness it's not going to be intimidating to a good expert skier.

I would venture to guess that many people claiming to be an "expert" skier are far from it...