What are the longest, steepest, and narrowest trails in the Northeast?

[kingslug]

Anna Purna - Hunter

Yup. Can't comment on a lot of the other ones mentioned, cause I haven't skied them yet. Some of the stuff at Smuggs looked pretty insane, but they where all exposed when I was there. Under the Red chair at Magic is a straight shot down!!

 

[WoodCore]

Empire at Whiteface.

 

[fixedgrip16]

Wow, I can't believe this thread keeps on going. . . EXCELLENT. Really itchin' to check out WF, Stowe/Smuggs, S.Bush, Magic. More input the better. Thanks everyone.

 

[deadheadskier]

Wow, I can't believe this thread keeps on going. . . EXCELLENT. Really itchin' to check out WF, Stowe/Smuggs, S.Bush, Magic. More input the better. Thanks everyone.

with a name like fixed grip, I think Magic and Smuggs would be just your speed as that's the only option. Outside of the slides at WF, Madonna liftline at Smuggs is the hairiest marked run I've 'seen' in the east....never skied it. I'll be spending two days at Smuggs this winter, hope it's open when I'm there.

 

[fixedgrip16]

Too funny DHSkier. Me and fixedgrip chairs have a long working history. And FYI the one I run operates at 420 ft/min. They're good ol' reliable lifts that'll punish the inattentive-- worker or guest. Contrary to popular belief, detachables aren't always more efficient. They have they're own issues at times and a fast, efficient lift has as much to do with the operators running it as it does the machine-- especially on weekends.--$.02-- Anyway, I'd like to check out that liftline at Smuggs and maybe hit Stowe for a day. Maybe we could turn a few if there at same time?

 

[mattchuck2]

Empire at Whiteface.

I was going to toss this out there . . . Or that slide on the far far skier's left that no one ever skis . . .

 

[faceplant]

new 1 they just cut at WF- think there gonna call it Lookoutbelow

looks like it qualfies

 

[Highway Star]

Humm.....

IMHO, the overall winner here is the Pico Powerline, aka the Giant Killer Poma Line. About as narrow as it gets, 15-20ft, with a steep, rocky crux. Maybe 1000 ft vert?

 

[SkiingInABlueDream]

As much as I like Goat & Red Line Ive never considered them to be incredibly steep (unless you count the unofficial part of Redline part right above Witch).

Im surprised Tramline at Cannon hasnt been mentioned yet.

 

[deadheadskier]

Humm.....

IMHO, the overall winner here is the Pico Powerline, aka the Giant Killer Poma Line. About as narrow as it gets, 15-20ft, with a steep, rocky crux. Maybe 1000 ft vert?

I used to ski Pico a couple of times a year as a kid and I would lap Giant Killer on that Poma all day long. I'll be be back there this winter for two days. I hadn't even thought about the actual lift line, just Giant Killer itself. Now that you mention it, I'm salivating to try it.

 

[campgottagopee]

How 'bout Black Hole, Upper liftline, Freefall at Smuggs? Anyone skied those? Black Hole's the East's only triple black.

I've skied all mentioned and love 'em all. Black Hole a tripple??? Not really, but that sombeatch is steep and tight, tight trees. Liftline is da bomb---good stuff

 

[2knees]

As much as I like Goat & Red Line Ive never considered them to be incredibly steep (unless you count the unofficial part of Redline part right above Witch).

Im surprised Tramline at Cannon hasnt been mentioned yet.

I dont know but Redline seems steep to me, especially the last pitch. I guess the middle is kinda flatish with those two drops eating up so much of the vertical.

Is tramline ever open? i've ridden the tram in the summer and it looks like it would need copious snow to make it even semi-safe.

 

[Puck it]

Tramline is not tight. It is the boulders that make it tight. Kinsman Glade is by far tighter and just as steep. And throw a few snow snales in there as well. It gets even better if go off the run.

 

[SkiingInABlueDream]

Tramline is not tight. It is the boulders that make it tight. .

Right, which means it's tight :razz: Ok so if you were the first one down it with 6 ft of fresh then I agree you could ski with more elbow room. It's still not a wide trail by any means.

Kinsman Glade is by far tighter and just as steep. And throw a few snow snales in there as well. It gets even better if go off the run.

In my experience Kinsman (the main run at least) skis more cleanly with the same amount of snow.

 

[Puck it]

Right, which means it's tight :razz: Ok so if you were the first one down it with 6 ft of fresh then I agree you could ski with more elbow room. It's still not a wide trail by any means.


Remove the boulders and the run would ski totally different this is what I meant. The boulders add another degree of diffculty to the run along with the double fall line. It is not wide like Avalanche but it is some width to it as you get lower.

In my experience Kinsman (the main run at least) skis more cleanly with the same amount of snow.

The trees on Kinsman are the problem along with the pitch.

 

[riverc0il]

As much as I like Goat & Red Line Ive never considered them to be incredibly steep (unless you count the unofficial part of Redline part right above Witch).

Im surprised Tramline at Cannon hasnt been mentioned yet.

Tramline has its moments for sure. But I think of Tramline as more "knar" than steep. Along with Kinsman Glade, steepest in NH for sure. Not "narrow" either except at the Tower 1 pinch which in and of itself, that 20-30 foot section should be considered if not for the entire trail. Definitely one of the more challenging trails to successfully navigate with style and poise when conditions are at their worst. Perhaps steeper than Red Line and Goat overall but I think it fails in this category in that it is not entirely "narrow".

Goat and Red Line are certainly not amongst the absolute steepest trails in the northeast but certainly when you combine the straight and long factors...

I guess this thread is difficult to stick to the classification proposed as almost any trail except a narrow and steep liftline (or former liftline) misses on at least one criteria.

 

[riverc0il]

Right, which means it's tight :razz: Ok so if you were the first one down it with 6 ft of fresh then I agree you could ski with more elbow room. It's still not a wide trail by any means.

Good point. Except in the best of snow years, when Tramline is actually open, you really can only ski a narrow 10-15 foot wide path down skiers right for about half the run. So the trail is not wide but the skiable paths normally available are pretty tight.... so seems like that qualifier works for the criteria.

In my experience Kinsman (the main run at least) skis more cleanly with the same amount of snow.

Much agreed. But I don't think glades should count in this thread as they are narrow by default in that there is no more than 10-20 feet max width between any two trees and even less in many glades.

 

[fixedgrip16]

I guess this thread is difficult to stick to the classification proposed as almost any trail except a narrow and steep liftline (or former liftline) misses on at least one criteria.

No need to start a whole new thread as this one has had some nice migrations already but regarding former liftlines, I wonder where the steepest ones would be? http://www.nelsap.org might be a start.

 

[bvibert]

Steve, how do you compare the steepness of Kinsman glades to that of Redline? I've never skied Kinsman, but I hiked the Kinsman Ridge trail recently. The glades seemed pretty damn steep to me where the trail crossed. Certainly seemed way steeper (at least sustained steepness) than Redline, which I have skied. Maybe the trees just made it seem that way? Redline has steep sections, but nothing really sustained for very long. I guess it's kind of hard to compare a gladed trail to an open trail.

 

[riverc0il]

Kinsman Glade is steeper than Red Line and very much sustained. Lot's of folks get in over there head in there. When the snow is good, it is one of the best glades around. When the snow is bad, it is rock city.