What is the most challenging glade trail here in the East coast?

[KustyTheKlown]

I suck at trees..which suck because now I'm a regular at Stowe. I didn't start skiing trees until around 10 years ago and that was out west. I tried to hang with a local at Stowe but he scared the hell out of me..ala The Kitchen Wall..the trees in there weren't too bad but the traverse was sick..if you fall off the side your toast. I just can't get through tight trees without picking up too much speed ..then I fell like I'm going to hit one eventually. But I keep trying as the best conditions at Stowe are usually in the trees. Just hate going in there alone.
The sickest line I have ever seen is Octopus Garden at MRG..you can see it from the chair and I think Krusty skied it the day I was wandering around there.

Easily the most technical line I’ve skied in the east. Mandatory triple cliff section

Here’s the random dude I skied it with clearing the final drop. the cliffs higher are bigger. and all cliffs look smaller from below than when you're standing on them. in octopus, above this photo to lookers left and not in sight in the photo, you need to jump a ~10 footer and stick the landing into an immediate turn to dump speed and avoid trees. not much margin for error.

the kitchen wall traverse is not scary, come on. to your right is a wall. to your left is tree skiing. its not like you're skiing along a razorblade with death falls on either side.

 

[bdfreetuna]

^^
one of the few off-map spots I've made a conscious decision to not even mess with

If I was in high school again I'd be all over that (there's some pretty big cliffs at Berkshire East if you know where to look)

These days I'm pretty sure I'd hear my knee go "Pop!" and say goodbye to skiing

You guys/gals brave and competent enough to ski that without even doubting yourself, have my admiration

 

[kingslug]

Just one section where the drop to the left would be in a mess of unskiable trees/brush. Couldn't slow down as much as I wanted to..which sometimes is the prob I have in tight trees...the no way out flume ride.
Although not as nerve wracking as the Saratoga Bowl traverse at JH..thats misery.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

im glad i didnt wind up in there alone. every time ive ever skied paradise ive stood at the entrance to OG and contemplated, but i am almost always alone at mrg, and none of my close ski friends would fuck with that line anyway. two guys right in front of me went for it and i followed without even asking. linked up on top of the cliffs. good dudes. good skiers. dude in photo was on some moments. i was skiing my moment belafontes that day, so we were kindred. if you go in there alone and things go bad, you're fucked.

 

[shwilly]

Maybe bowling but the skills at high school football nowhere near a pro.

Yeah. Bowling's weird because there's a max perfect score that isn't *that* far out of reach for mere mortals, but I get the impression that there are similar, multiple levels of unworldliness for most of the major sports.

A great high school QB might even be able to throw the ball farther in drills than Brady, but would get PTSD facing Bama's defense, much less the pros. A great high school power pitcher might be able to get a few strikes or even an out or two against pro batters, but would get blasted as soon as the players in the dugout figured out their tendencies.

I expect it would be similar for most sports. Normal people playing elite athletes wouldn't get seriously injured like I would trying to race on the Hahnenkamm, but they'd be no less out of place.

Fortunately, it's fun to be active even for us normal shlubs.

 

[kingslug]

Watching children huck small cliffs at MRG is rather humbling..and their parents are cheering them on...different world up there.

 

[bdfreetuna]

Speaking of wimping out on stuff.... here's another one I've always just walked past and said "nope"

Have skied Pump House off the ridge a few times (which is a good contender for this list) but the Saddle (below) just seems like a long way to fall

If I ever ski it , certainly would be on a sunny spring day like these guys are attempting to do on their butts

 

[KustyTheKlown]

lol wtf is that butt sliding and heel riding about. this guy is the worst, why would he ever upload this.

cool video tho solely for seeing the terrain, ive never actually gone up to the ridge at jay. i need to.

 

[bdfreetuna]

lol wtf is that butt sliding and heel riding about. this guy is the worst, why would he ever upload this.

cool video tho solely for seeing the terrain, ive never actually gone up to the ridge at jay. i need to.

On the ridge go all the way to "the end" of the ridge and you'll see Valhalla straight ahead of you below and the tracks will be going around a rock to your left. That takes you into Pump House which I'm pretty sure you'll love. It's almost as steep as Saddle but you're sort of committed before you realize that, so you get a nice little chute thrill ride for about 10 turns before it turns into Valhalla-style trees.

You'll know when you've passed the Saddle because it's obvious, keep going and you can't miss Pump House.

BTW if anyone here is this guy "MyBadVideos" speak up and take credit. I've watched so many videos from this guy, he just explores every nook and cranny and does it solo. Here's a nice example of if you go off trail at Smuggs and don't know where you're going:

And just a post script: If you watch this guys videos he's very chatty and usually does a lot of whoops and whallops. I'm 100% sure I met this fellow at Stateside Lodge a couple seasons ago in the spring, he was chatting me up out of nowhere and saying his favorite places are all the places in his videos, it looked like him, he was alone, same gear, same voice. So pretty much a celebrity sighting as far as I'm concerned. I kind of didn't realize it until after I was walking out of the lodge and never asked/confirmed though.

 

[kingslug]

I don't know how people ski that kind of stuff...

 

[BenedictGomez]

these guys are attempting to do on their butts

That video's title should be changed to, snowboarder destroys terrain.

 

[BenedictGomez]

BTW if anyone here is this guy "MyBadVideos" speak up and take credit. I've watched so many videos from this guy, he just explores every nook and cranny and does it solo. Here's a nice example of if you go off trail at Smuggs and don't know where you're going:

So basically, he's an idiot.

I've occasionally seen tracks there & had no idea where they went. That doesn't look fun at all though, so thick you're barely skiing as opposed to making 1 turn around a tree, then 1 turn around a tree, etc...

 

[NYDB]

That video's title should be changed to, snowboarder destroys terrain.

That was tough to watch, especially the first 2 min. Should be shot on site and put out of misery. To do that to a fresh powder line is unthinkable. He seems to not know how to ride powder on a snowboard.

 

[bdfreetuna]

That was tough to watch, especially the first 2 min. Should be shot on site and put out of misery. To do that to a fresh powder line is unthinkable. He seems to not know how to ride powder on a snowboard.

Well it looks more like spring slush to me. Just thinking a lot of people end up on their butt on that run and perhaps overestimating the damage done to a Jay Peak spring snowpack at the summit.

Let's be real 9 out of 10 people attempting the Saddle will be side slipping and survival skiing (or wipe out / yardsale), if you can even call that skiing. It's too steep for most typical "expert" skiers to link turns on. Lots of lines off the Face for those who want 100% virgin snow.

So I'm not really hating on the snowboard kids... its not like a glade just opened with minimal snow pack and they left it with exposed rocks and dirt. Couldn't find a better video though

 

[KustyTheKlown]

i'm hating on him. and i'd ridicule him if i were there.

 

[bdfreetuna]

i'm hating on him. and i'd ridicule him if i were there.

I sure as hell wouldn't have uploaded that video, that much I can tell you!

 

[cdskier]

I can't believe they actually fist bumped each other at the end of that run on the video...I wonder if in their own minds they actually think they handled that trail well...

 

[bdfreetuna]

That's the "we survived" fist bump. Anyone going up there with a GoPro this season? :lol:

 

[urungus]

BTW if anyone here is this guy "MyBadVideos" speak up and take credit. I've watched so many videos from this guy, he just explores every nook and cranny and does it solo. Here's a nice example of if you go off trail at Smuggs and don't know where you're going:

And just a post script: If you watch this guys videos he's very chatty and usually does a lot of whoops and whallops. I'm 100% sure I met this fellow at Stateside Lodge a couple seasons ago in the spring, he was chatting me up out of nowhere and saying his favorite places are all the places in his videos, it looked like him, he was alone, same gear, same voice. So pretty much a celebrity sighting as far as I'm concerned. I kind of didn't realize it until after I was walking out of the lodge and never asked/confirmed though.

I love this guys videos and his whoops. Seems like he has posted videos of the hardest runs at just about every major northeastern resort, which I have found invaluable for pre-scouting unfamiliar runs just to make sure I won’t be getting in over my head.

 

[NYDB]

I snowboard. That was fucking terrible. At least try and throw a turn. That looked very edgeable at the top even if it was a bit slushy. except for that one boney section. And plenty open to do turns. I can excuse some of the lower stuff since sometimes you get stuck in tight spaces and can't initiate turns when you want.

Well it looks more like spring slush to me. Just thinking a lot of people end up on their butt on that run and perhaps overestimating the damage done to a Jay Peak spring snowpack at the summit.

Let's be real 9 out of 10 people attempting the Saddle will be side slipping and survival skiing (or wipe out / yardsale), if you can even call that skiing. It's too steep for most typical "expert" skiers to link turns on. Lots of lines off the Face for those who want 100% virgin snow.

So I'm not really hating on the snowboard kids... its not like a glade just opened with minimal snow pack and they left it with exposed rocks and dirt. Couldn't find a better video though

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