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How to Capture Steepness?

Noodler

Sir Turn-a-lot
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Whale’s Tail has that view, but I don’t know Breck very well. I almost got blown off Whale’s Tail once……:eek:

No need for more suspense. IIRC, it was Art's Bowl. So you were close.

And I really wanted to have a witty comeback pun, but my brain has beached itself. ;)
 

Slasher

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I find that the only way to really capture steepness/vastness of terrain is to use an ultra wide angle lens, i.e. <15mm focal length (full frame equivalent). Recent iPhones have one built in. Composition might suffer, but it really conveys the sense of vertigo.

I don't have an example handy, but what comes to mind is those viral videos of someone walking along the spine of a summit, captured by a fish-eye helmet cam.
 

Slasher

Getting on the lift
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I find that the only way to really capture steepness/vastness of terrain is to use an ultra wide angle lens, i.e. <15mm focal length (full frame equivalent). Recent iPhones have one built in. Composition might suffer, but it really conveys the sense of vertigo.

I don't have an example handy, but what comes to mind is those viral videos of someone walking along the spine of a summit, captured by a fish-eye helmet cam.
Here's an example:
 
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James

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This one is from W/B at the bottom of West Bowl where it flattened out a bit.
The slope against the sky look very clean.
View attachment 147361

Panning downward definitely lose the real sense of how steep a slope actually is.
This is about half way down Diamond bowl at W/B. Looks like a walk in the park. It is actually much steeper than Mineral Basin in the pics above.
View attachment 147362
9EAEDD43-1E1C-40BF-94EC-347D7573E99B.jpeg

Is that near this in the youtube clip? I think she tries to jump in without skis on. It goes badly after 2:15, but is pretty lucky.

Showing steepness by other means.

 

James

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I think we've all agreed on multiple occasions that the answer to the question, "Should I take my skis off?" is almost always "No."
It’s the equivalent of “getting out of the boat”-
 

KingGrump

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View attachment 151895
Is that near this in the youtube clip? I think she tries to jump in without skis on. It goes badly after 2:15, but is pretty lucky.

Showing steepness by other means.


The chute on the video is on the off the skier right of Whistler peak. The shot with Lady Salina is in Diamond bowl in Blackcomb.
 

SSSdave

life is short precious ...don't waste it
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A couple of shots from Friday as I began my ski season. This is looking up at the top of Zachary under Cornice Express, Chair 6 that is 55% to 60% percent grade and usually winch cat groomed during most days of a season. Notice how trees frame right and lift towers are vertical showing camera is not tilted. If you are experienced, you will understand how good the cold dry snow quality is just by its loose look. Having people at the top also provides some size perspectives.

cc_8431.jpg


Another way to show slope steepness looking across at Vista Ridge at 8947 feet from about 3/4 mile away at 8300 feet below Norm's Nose. That area was often used on preliminary days during the NA Freeskiing Championships before they skied The Cirque in the finals. Notice how tree shadows show the afternoon sun altitude is low and snow itself has texture. Lots of places to air over rocks. The complex character of the rock garden slope in good light aids in ways that we easily perceive as steep without even being on such a slope. The lift at top is a surface lift.


cc_8450.jpg


Here is the map of that area and note The Cirque is the area that drops away north of Thimble Peak. Permanently closed except for special events. Where the red "35" shows is where we in the crowd watched and where they usually had this huge beer bottle standing upward from an advertiser.

 
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James

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The Whistler video is just insane. That could have gone so wrong so easily. She was so over-terrained in that situation, what the heck were they thinking?
I know, crazy. I’ve never seen anyone rocket downhill that fast in a fall from essentially a standstill. I guess the snow was just hard enough packed powder. It looked like that guy was going to try to stop her, which probably would get both hurt.
 

LiquidFeet

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Showing steepness by other means.

So this guy takes this woman up to this couloir. She tries to go, clings to the hill, and decides to back up out of the drop. She can't manage, so he grabs her jacket and pulls her up out of it. She stands up on the ridge and for some reason takes her skis off.

And then he skis down it, leaving her to figure out what to do on her own? What was he thinking she would do? She was obviously unable to ski it on her own.

Were they really together, or was she by herself up there and he just got there as she was starting down?

The comments are disturbing.
 
Thread Starter
TS
Tony S

Tony S

I have a confusion to make ...
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So this guy takes this woman up to this couloir. She tries to go, clings to the hill, and decides to back up out of the drop. She can't manage, so he grabs her jacket and pulls her up out of it. She stands up on the ridge and for some reason takes her skis off.

And then he skis down it, leaving her to figure out what to do on her own? What was he thinking she would do? She was obviously unable to ski it on her own.

Were they really together, or was she by herself up there and he just got there as she was starting down?
There can be a lot of gray area in "together." The younger you get, the grayer. We weren't there, so we really don't know how it all went down. She may have been adamant about her independence. Who knows?

This is why smart groups often articulate some self-imposed norms around safety at the beginning of the day and as needed thereafter. The more challenging the navigation and/or terrain and/or conditions, the more appropriate. Skiing Stratton with friends you know well and have skied with a bunch? Probably way overkill. Skiing couloirs at Whistler with people you don't know well, or whose skills are not well known? Probably a good idea. E.g., "I will run sweep on this one. Please stop behind the rock halfway down and wait for me."
 

dbostedo

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And then he skis down it, leaving her to figure out what to do on her own? What was he thinking she would do? She was obviously unable to ski it on her own.
Although it was hard to hear, she seemed to say/indicate she was going to walk down, and he seemed to be OK with that. IMO, that was both of their mistake. I think she should have realized, or he should have indicated, that if there was no other way out, side slipping and side-stepping her way down on skis was a better answer.
 
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James

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So this guy takes this woman up to this couloir. She tries to go, clings to the hill, and decides to back up out of the drop. She can't manage, so he grabs her jacket and pulls her up out of it. She stands up on the ridge and for some reason takes her skis off.

And then he skis down it, leaving her to figure out what to do on her own? What was he thinking she would do? She was obviously unable to ski it on her own.

Were they really together, or was she by herself up there and he just got there as she was starting down?

The comments are disturbing.
They weren’t together at all as I understand it. He happens upon her, and at the end skis off to meet the person he was skiing with. I thought initially the cornice was going to break. Sitting on it was a bad move.

I don’t know about “walk down” the couloir. I thought it was walk down the entry.

She clearly was there for awhile, as the people in there saw her, and thought she had some “common sense”.
 

UGASkiDawg

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Even the steep photo @SBrown took of the snowboarder is actually skewed a bit flatter than it really is based on the trees in the background. Wow that's a steep run.

It's Taos. If you've ever been that's all you need to know that it's steep if not you should go. There really is nothing like it. I think it's the most consistently steep mountain I've ever been to. Not the longest steeps but lots of them
 

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