Steepest Ski trails by state

[montageskier]

PA- White Lightning at Montage.

 

[ALLSKIING]

umm...this thread is about trails by state..its way of topic;-)

 

[from_the_NEK]

Big Jay - 1040' decent / 1700' distance covered = 61% grade or 31.45 degrees

 

[Greg]

Do the Castlerock liftline. And maybe a few others at Sugarbush. The Mall maybe or Stein's?

 

[ALLSKIING]

Do the Castlerock liftline. And maybe a few others at Sugarbush. The Mall maybe or Stein's?

FIS

 

[from_the_NEK]

Last ones from Jay:
Steepest section of Big Jay (actually a cliff section)
Big Jay - 480' decent / 611' distance covered = 78% grade or 38 degrees

Upper Can Am
Big Jay - 460' decent / 916' distance covered = 50.2% grade or 26.6 degrees

 

[dmc]

The simple formula to calculate steepness:

Stand on top of pitch.

Steep=butterflys in stomach and mild case of ass puckering.

Excellent.. thank you...

Can wait to start turning with you in November...

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

Can wait to start turning with you in November...

I don't blame you, JimmyG. seems like a real tool. Where the hells that wink thing?

 

[from_the_NEK]

Sugarbush - Castlerock Liftline -
1580' decent / 4295' distance covered = 37% grade or 20.2 degrees
Actually quite impressive for the length of the trail.

Upper Portion of Liftline -
820' decent / 1592' distance covered = 51% grade or 27.25 degrees

 

[from_the_NEK]

Steins Run at Sugarbush -
820' decent / 1643' distance covered = 49.9% grade or 26.5 degrees

Ripcord is not quite as steep 47.8%

 

[from_the_NEK]

FIS at Sugarbush -
330' decent / 611' distance covered = 54% grade or 28.3 degrees

 

[kcyanks1]

Lower K is no joke. Didn't have the energy left to drop into a bumpy K with Jim last season. I'd imagine there's stuff at Whiteface that is steeper. Rumors at Gore may be too. Haven't been to either.....yet.

I've been to Hunter once and skied K-27. I'd say Rumor's headwall, while short, is definitely steeper. I think it's steeper than any normal trail at Whiteface as well (putting aside the Slides), though Cloudspin and Skyward do have nice pitches.

Upper is steep, no doubt. Steepest at the Bush, I'd imagine. There are some trails at Killington that might compare.

Paradise at MRG probably has a steeper headwall. Stein's at SB South might be close. Ovation at Killington might compare. I've actually still never skied Devil's Fiddle despite having been to Killington a number of times. I'd think that Green Beret at Jay can compare too.

 

[JimG.]

Excellent.. thank you...

Can wait to start turning with you in November...

Looking forward to it buddy...I'd like to make a trip up over Labor day week for a little hiking and fishing too.

 

[kcyanks1]

Rumor at Gore is steeper than anything at Whiteface, other than a few real steep sections of Upper Mackenzie.

Tramline at Cannon for NH

Cant comment on MA, VT, or CT really.

Upper Mackenzie has anything that comes close to Rumor? I've definitely skied Upper (and Lower) Mackenzie a handful of times, and while I had a lot of fun on it one day in great conditions, I did not find it to be impressively steep at all. Rumor has it hands down over Upper Mac, IMO (i.e., based on my sense of being on the trail, without having calculated the actual pitch).

 

[kcyanks1]

NEK, thanks for all the info and time. All very interesting, but I think an issue that some have acknowledged (NEK included) is that those numbers are for the entire trails...Are we looking in this thread for the trail with the highest average pitch, or the trail with the largest pitch for some minimum length (whatever the length may be)? In my couple posts to the thread, I was thinking about the latter. I.e., I believe Rumor clearly has the steepest headwall of any trail I've skied in NY (except maybe the Slides at Whiteface), and perhaps VT (including Ovation, FIS, Steins, and Paradise), but I would doubt if you look at average pitch that it would rank so highly, because it has a long, rather flat, middle portion.

Regarding Castlerock, except perhaps a couple small places on Liftline, I never thought of those trails being exceptionally steep.. It's more the narrowness, windiness, moguls, and general lack of flatness that make them some of the best trails in the east, IMO.

 

[from_the_NEK]

MRG Paradise -
720' decent / 1216' distance covered = 59% grade or 30.6 degrees

 

[Greg]

from_the_NEK - your next assignments:

• Ripcord at Mount Snow
• Rumor at Gore
• White Nitro at da Loaf (ext and below the crossover)
• Gondi Line (Sugarloaf), top to bottom. I'd be interested to see what the overall sustained is there...

 

[from_the_NEK]

The Chute/Liftline combination from the "top" to "bottom" at MRG is a 39% grade or 21 degrees for 2000 feet. That is pretty good. :argue:

 

[Marc]

from_the_NEK - your next assignments:

• Ripcord at Mount Snow
• Rumor at Gore
• White Nitro at da Loaf (ext and below the crossover)
• Gondi Line (Sugarloaf), top to bottom. I'd be interested to see what the overall sustained is there...

Yeah, I'm curious about Ripcord. They claim 35 degrees. I'd believe it having been down it a few times.



Notice how I didn't say "skied" just "been down it."

 

[from_the_NEK]

from_the_NEK - your next assignments:

Ripcord at Mount Snow
Rumor at Gore
White Nitro at da Loaf (ext and below the crossover)
Gondi Line (Sugarloaf), top to bottom. I'd be interested to see what the overall sustained is there...

I'll do Ripcord. The others are going to be harder since I don't have the DEMs and the Aerial imagery for these other states to do it well. I have also been negleting work for the last day and a half working on this question

Ripcord @ Mt Snow -
(FYI - I only did the steepest upper section since if I included the lower section this trail wouldn't even be in the debate @ 35%)
3300-2910 = 390 ft rise
820' run
47% slope or 25.4 degrees