The Most Unusual Trails

[Nick]

Saw a Facebook update from Epic asking about "unusual trails", and it got me wondering ... what do you consider an "unusual" trail? I don't really know how to define that, but I suppose it can mean a trail that has some characteristic that sets it apart. I'm also thinking that probably means something not standard, i.e. something that goes beyond "bumps", "woods", or "steepness".

Do you have any?

Maybe some combination of conditions can create an unusual trail ... for example at Sugarloaf near the bottom of Brackett there is a runout that is glades, but they trees are very thin and there is no brush underneath, and it's pretty low angle, so you can really cook through it and it doesn't feel like a typical glade, more like a trail with a bunch of trees in the middle of it.

 

[Puck it]

At Cannon and not on map, but there is a gladed run that ends with a runout on a stream for a few hundred yards. 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.

 

[SIKSKIER]

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

 

[Smellytele]

Kind of perplexed by "unusual". But also at Cannon not on the map is on the way to Banshee slopes between banshee and Avy there is a whole river bed that can be skied

 

[deadheadskier]

Summit Glade at Pico is a pretty unusual trail for the East. Not really a glade, more like 2-3 trails that are divided by tree stands, yet periodically rejoin back together as one trail.

 

[drjeff]

Great Eastern at Killington down below Northbrook Crossover heading towards Skyeship base- always thought it was interesting/unusual that you get to ski both over and under a bridge on the same trail

 

[deadheadskier]

Great Eastern at Killington down below Northbrook Crossover heading towards Skyeship base- always thought it was interesting/unusual that you get to ski both over and under a bridge on the same trail

Sachem Trail at Okemo has that experience as well. Pretty cool.

 

[drjeff]

Beartrap at Mount Snow - not too many trails have their own dedicated sound system

 

[cannonist]

If you take the high country double up to the top of Waterville and then hike to the little used trail called upper express, the trail is quite erie, always ungroomed, and the remains of the summit quad and lift shack are right in the middle of it.

 

[noreasterbackcountry]

Burke's East Bowl run-out. I always feel like I need to look over my shoulder for cars.

 

[BenedictGomez]

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.

 

[AdironRider]

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.

Tramline at Cannon?

 

[Puck it]

Tramline at Cannon?

Profile at Cannon is worse when you crest the knoll about 2/3 of the way down and hit the boiler plate that you did not see.


Yard Sale!!!!

 

[AdironRider]

Profile at Cannon is worse when you crest the knoll about 2/3 of the way down and hit the boiler plate that you did not see.


Yard Sale!!!!

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

 

[snowmonster]

Juggernaut at K. It's a trail more suited to nordic skiing located on a section of the mountain devoted to alpine skiing.

 

[Puck it]

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

On a Powder day, it is okay until skied off. It is amazing what the DPW can do with a bulldozer and ignore the ski area designer prints.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Tramline at Cannon?

I've never skied at Cannon, but Liftline at Smuggs is my nominee for hardest on-map trail in the east (that I've skied), and the ski lift is not only right above it, but the chairs are pretty low in spots. So you're skiing on a very difficult trail and you can literally hear people's conversations above you. It's a little weird.

There's another chair at Smuggs over on Morse that sometimes closes if they have too much snow (oxymoron phrase) because the chairs do not have enough clearance with skier's heads (this makes it a great poaching run that you can enter via a small stanchion of woods).

 

[SIKSKIER]

Profile at Cannon is worse when you crest the knoll about 2/3 of the way down and hit the boiler plate that you did not see.Yard Sale!!!!

Thats what that 8 foot fence across the bottom is for.

 

[Puck it]

I've never skied at Cannon.

That is no excuse!!!!!!

 

[bdfreetuna]

The Devil's Playground @ Bolton Valley ... this trail starts off as a normal glade, then turns into three steep chutes (you have to choose one), then turns back into a normal lowish angle glade. The kind of trail that begs for a repeat.

Preacher @ Bolton Valley ... very narrow and steepish in some places, and ends up curving around the Devil's Playground. Very unique run.

Valhalla @ Jay

Paradise @ Sugarbush, half bump run with an interesting and scenic approach, half glade with interesting terrain just beyond the official trail

The Jug @ Berkshire East... narrow, steep, and the whole trail is sort of concave from side to side, which is probably how it got the name

Azalea Path @ Jiminy Peak ... narrow windy little green circle detour


I tend to equate unusual with more interesting and more fun. These are some of my favorite runs, listed above.