The Most Unusual Trails

[ScottySkis]

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Unusual because it shaped like a belt, belt parkway at Hunter I vote for.

 

[Boston Bulldog]

My vote is Williamson at Sunapee. Very different from the wide cruisers that make up the rest of the area. It goes at least mile outside of Wingding, and has a stream running throught the middle. if you choose the wrong side of the stream, you reach a dead end and have to try and clear the river. Too bad they are planning to widen it and install snowmaking, Williamson will never be the same.

 

[Cheese]

There is also a section off Kinsman near the bottom that can be seen from 93 that is a waterfall and stream bed that is skiable.

When lower Kinsman is in rough shape this is often a better route down.


Lone Pine - Canyons. Impressively steep with one lonely tree when looking up from the lodge. Once around the tree it's a fairly nice run down through the chute.

 

[Angus]

I had a pass there for 4 years. I skied that Profile trail once, called it good, and never will again.

My son took a spill there a few years ago and his speed carried him down to the lift. Just a boilerplate. My strategy is go hard skier's right and ski as close to the lift as possible...the snow is typically ungroomed and although you may loosen a few teeth, there's something to bite an edge into. I've never understood why they don't try to reconstitute some of that trail with trees.

 

[Puck it]

My son took a spill there a few years ago and his speed carried him down to the lift. Just a boilerplate. My strategy is go hard skier's right and ski as close to the lift as possible...the snow is typically ungroomed and although you may loosen a few teeth, there's something to bite an edge into. I've never understood why they don't try to reconstitute some of that trail with trees.

Under lift on powder days.

 

[Angus]

My vote is Williamson at Sunapee. Very different from the wide cruisers that make up the rest of the area. It goes at least mile outside of Wingding, and has a stream running throught the middle. if you choose the wrong side of the stream, you reach a dead end and have to try and clear the river. Too bad they are planning to widen it and install snowmaking, Williamson will never be the same.

In April '07 after those late season storms, my then 6 year old daughter and I skied that multiple times ... typically avoid b/c of lack of snow and consistent fallline but you're absolutely right, completely different than anything else on mountain. too bad they are going to widen and install snowmaking. You know I'm not sure if I've skied at Sunapee since then!!

 

[gregnye]

Triple Trouble at Loon---a very "anti Loon" trail! Too narrow for grooming, no snowmaking! Tight fall line around a curve and then a narrow tree island at the bottom.

I have only been there when it was open once--and I can tell you--it is a repeat!! There is a lot of solitude (the trail goes down in a canyon between north peak and east basin chair)

 

[Newpylong]

How about Catwalk at Killington? Anyone who's skied it knows what I mean. It is unique.

Another that comes to mind is Louisie's Follie at Bousquet. Doesn't fit in there... also unique.

 

[Cheese]

Fur Ball at Wildcat? You can't see what you're in for from the sign but with a name like that you've gotta give it a shot.

 

[riverc0il]

Cannon.Though there has been a new cutback since cut,the old way out of Lower Hardscrabble went uphill.Pretty interesting trying to straightline through the natural conditions to get enough speed to not climb.

I still do it. I call it Middle Hard the Hard Way. You get that short pitch into Red Ball as a reward... in addition to being old school for the hell of it.

Lots of trails are being thrown around because they are fun. But the thread is about unusual. That is a hard one. I like the Summit Glade at Pico suggestion, that "trail" really stands out. I wouldn't call it a glade despite its name. And the thread topic suggests glades aren't really appropriate because trees are trees (yes, glades have different feel but I've never skied a glade I would consider "unusual").

Green Beret at Jay is fairly unusual. Rumble is unique, though I don't know if I'd call it "unusual". I think an unusual trail should be unique but a unique trail may not be unusual if that makes sense. Muleskinner at Saddleback is rather unusual with its long flat traverse out (much worse and longer than East Bowl at Burke though getting back is easier plus the trail is more unusual than East Bowl which is actually a rather standard winding blue once you get to it). I find Wizard at Magic rather unusual. Gary B's and Ruthies at Smuggs may be worth a mention as well.

 

[EPB]

I'd have to submit Ryan Bas at Tremblant for a number of reasons:

- It has two separate entrances and two separate exits
- The whole run is very secluded, basically in a no-mans land between the versants sud and soleil
- The highest entrance is rarely open and features a little dip that involves an uphill glide
- The bottom exit leads to a swamp that is about 200 yards long before the trail continues on the other side
- The last section beyond the swamp requires skiers to climb over at least one downed tree
- The very end of the run has a little steep section that gets iced over by what appears to be running water over rocks underneath the snow. The ice patch is somewhat long and appears very thick. I really haven't seen anything like it at the places I've been.

 

[Edd]

Triple Trouble at Loon---a very "anti Loon" trail! Too narrow for grooming, no snowmaking! Tight fall line around a curve and then a narrow tree island at the bottom.

I have only been there when it was open once--and I can tell you--it is a repeat!! There is a lot of solitude (the trail goes down in a canyon between north peak and east basin chair)

Agreed. I don't know if it falls under a general unusual category but that trail certainly stands out at Loon.

 

[riverc0il]

Agreed. I don't know if it falls under a general unusual category but that trail certainly stands out at Loon.

It stands out at Loon but I don't think it stands out in the grand scheme of things, much less is it in any way unusual.

 

[deadheadskier]

Misery Whip at Sugarloaf also gets a nod for me. I really can't think of another straight shot, really narrow trail of it's length and pitch in the East. I can think of a couple of on map trails that are similar such as the Powerline trails at Burke, Jay and Killington. I can also think of some off map stuff like the Old Upper Giant Killer T-bar line at Pico, which ski similarly. I don't think of any of those trails in the same light as Misery Whip though in terms of being an unusual/unique New England ski experience.

While mentioning Sugarloaf, I guess you could throw the entirety of Bracket Basin on the unusual list. The terrain isn't unusual, but no other Eastern Mountain has several hundred acres of maintained and patrolled side-country terrain.

 

[Edd]

Misery Whip at Sugarloaf also gets a nod for me. I really can't think of another straight shot, really narrow trail of it's length and pitch in the East. I can think of a couple of on map trails that are similar such as the Powerline trails at Burke, Jay and Killington. I can also think of some off map stuff like the Old Upper Giant Killer T-bar line at Pico, which ski similarly. I don't think of any of those trails in the same light as Misery Whip though in terms of being an unusual/unique New England ski experience.

Misery Whip is fun as hell.

 

[gregnye]

It stands out at Loon but I don't think it stands out in the grand scheme of things, much less is it in any way unusual.

Agreed--thats what I meant--just completely different for Loon, but definitely not as impressive in total as Tramline at Cannon, or Hairball at Wildcat

 

[MadMadWorld]

Not unusual per se, but I've never seen a trail that combines both the degree of difficulty and the degree of publicity as Liftline at Smuggs.

Very few trails give me that "oh shit" moment but Liftline at Smuggs is one of them. The combination of how low the chairs are and how technical the skiing is, makes this trail definitely unusual.

 

[MadMadWorld]

Fur Ball at Wildcat? You can't see what you're in for from the sign but with a name like that you've gotta give it a shot.

Hairball. And I remember doing it as a kid with my dad thinking it was just an average mogul trail. Once we got to that first drop though I was scared as hell. When I did it as a kid, they still had the lift stansions in the middle of the trail (not sure if there used to be a lift or if they planned to install one). Anyways, I have learned to enjoy that trail now but I refused to ski it for so long because of that experience.

 

[MadMadWorld]

I would have to say Fall Line at MRG. You can ski it 10 times and find 10 different ways to ski it. If that's not unusual I don't know what is.

 

[skiNEwhere]

I've skimmed all 4 pages and I'm amazed no one has mentioned Paradise at MRG. Short traverse to the trail, then a glades trail with a frozen waterfall.

Shock Wave at Sunday River because of the double fall line