Outer Limits today

[mdf]

Of course, the entrance (marked in red) is the really tricky part -- it's narrow to start, and often melted out to be narrower. And it's a blind corner, so the masses come around the corner, say "oh sh**" and brake, create a truly jumbled mess of "moguls".

 

[Rdputnam515]

This is the steep part of the Birds of Prey course at Beaver Creek. It includes a few flat benches that you can and will launch off Also the WNW aspect doesnt help at all. The top part can get scraped by the wind. This was my testing ground to see if a ski can hold an edge.

View attachment 130760

What does this translate to in degrees?

I also wonder about Wild Child at Loveland, Gauthier at AB and High Anxiety at Monarch.

 

[Ken_R]

What does this translate to in degrees?

I also wonder about Wild Child at Loveland, Gauthier at AB and High Anxiety at Monarch.

Max 37º depending on your specific line (its up to 40º in spots) 24º average.

 

[Ken_R]

What does this translate to in degrees?

I also wonder about Wild Child at Loveland, Gauthier at AB and High Anxiety at Monarch.

The ridge at LL is generally a small 300 ft drop with average steepness from 30º to 40º or so. Most of it is closer to 30.

 

[KingGrump]

I also wonder about Wild Child at Loveland, Gauthier at AB and High Anxiety at Monarch.

C'mon down to Taos. The various perspectives get clarified real quick.

 

[Rdputnam515]

C'mon down to Taos. The various perspectives get clarified real quick.

I’ve been.

Taos has some nice steeps for sure. I was there before Karchina Peak was loft served and still have a rock from up there lol. Zdarksky was serious business, all those chutes were

 

[Chris V.]

This is the steep part of the Birds of Prey course at Beaver Creek. It includes a few flat benches that you can and will launch off Also the WNW aspect doesnt help at all. The top part can get scraped by the wind.

Oh, yeah. Was there February last year. That first 37 to 40 degree rollover is a doozy, gets real *interesting* when wind polished.

This was my testing ground to see if a ski can hold an edge.

On that first bit, if conditions are *right*, unless you're superhuman, you won't. Of course, the downhill racers fly over it, so they don't have to worry about holding an edge until they drop to where the pitch is a bit less and they have to make a big right turn or fly into the net.

 

[KingGrump]

I’ve been.

Taos has some nice steeps for sure. I was there before Karchina Peak was loft served and still have a rock from up there lol. Zdarksky was serious business, all those chutes were

Kachina peak is the tourist attraction for sure. Looks impressive but nowhere near the most technical terrain at Taos. Some of the best technical terrain doesn't even require hiking.
Spitfire, Oster, Fabian, Stauffy and Zdarksky are all really nice off the West Basin Ridge. My favorite is still St. B around the corner.

Had season passes to Killington for 8 season starting back around 2004 when American Ski offered gold passes for like $400 or $500. I could say I have been on Outer Limit a few times over the years. Couple memories stands out.

The first was skiing with wife and son the weekend after coming back from a ski week with Jean Mayer at Taos. Skied OL from top to bottom non-stop. My son was pissed at me not waiting for him. Just wasn't thinking.

The second was from about 14 years back. Jumped into OL one early weekday morning with my BIL. The bumps that day didn't resemble any bumps we have ever seen before. It was like they dumped several truck loads of office furniture on the hill and sprayed some snow on top. Lots of rectangular shapes and right angles. We go to the bottom, looked back up and muttered "WTF was that?" Have to say that was the most unpleasant bump run I have ever skied. I have skied much better feeling avy debris.

 

[Ogg]

Of course, the entrance (marked in red) is the really tricky part -- it's narrow to start, and often melted out to be narrower. And it's a blind corner, so the masses come around the corner, say "oh sh**" and brake, create a truly jumbled mess of "moguls".
View attachment 130770

I've found you're usually better off taking the top section under the chair and avoiding the often polished section you marked. Often that section has the best lines on the run.

 

[Scruffy]

Of course, the entrance (marked in red) is the really tricky part -- it's narrow to start, and often melted out to be narrower. And it's a blind corner, so the masses come around the corner, say "oh sh**" and brake, create a truly jumbled mess of "moguls".
View attachment 130770

The woods to skiers left of OL are nice too. Same pitch and moguls as OL, just with trees for added spice.

 

[KevinF]

The second was from about 14 years back. Jumped into OL one early weekday morning with my BIL. The bumps that day didn't resemble any bumps we have ever seen before. It was like they dumped several truck loads of office furniture on the hill and sprayed some snow on top. Lots of rectangular shapes and right angles. We go to the bottom, looked back up and muttered "WTF was that?" Have to say that was the most unpleasant bump run I have ever skied. I have skied much better feeling avy debris.

Sounds like the Mad River Glen gathering a few years back... The moguls that day were cubes. It was brutal.

 

[Marker]

I'm still working up the skills and nerve to ski OL, so usually hit the shorter easier black bumps runs at K to flail on, but we ride the BM quad to get to Wildfire, which is often bumped up. Early February the OL bumps looked awesome with all the fresh snow we were getting, but most skiers were still just working their way down. Then we spotted a 30ish to 40ish group of five skiers, both men and women, that were repeatedly just ripping it down the steepest bumpiest part.

My most rewarding runs in the bumps at K this season was a few days after they had blown snow and had a decent dump on Superstar without grooming. The terrain on the last pitch was just insane for me to tackle, but I worked my way down twice, once on the far left and once on the far right, without too many embarrassing moments. Type 2 fun!

 

[Chip]

One of my memorable runs down OL was back in the 80's in the spring. I was skiing on a pair of 212s. Don't remember the brand- but I got them as demos for $100 at a local shop when I was living in NJ- the salesman said if I break them he'll replace them. So here I am skiing the massive spring bumps hitting the tops all the way down when something doesn't feel right- I look down and the one ski is slapping around just in front of the binding- guess who got some new skis .
I need to get back there- haven't skied K since the early 90s- lots of fond memories there...

 

[Wilhelmson]

Skied hard icy bumpy outer limits last year. It looked ok from the lift. Not my best run.

Our buddy showed us some nice woods towards skier left. Those fun steep drops where you don't want to stop the flow.

 

[Superbman]

Old Superstar to Ovation used to be one heck of a steep mogul run...but last few times at Killington I was shocked and saddened to see they groomed ovation. I think my favorite Mogul run at Killington was what they used to call West Glade-now I think it's called Powerline or something like that-a classic, narrow run of moguls hiding in plain sight.

 

[mdf]

Powerline ... hiding in plain sight.

 

[Marker]

Old Superstar to Ovation used to be one heck of a steep mogul run...but last few times at Killington I was shocked and saddened to see they groomed ovation. I think my favorite Mogul run at Killington was what they used to call West Glade-now I think it's called Powerline or something like that-a classic, narrow run of moguls hiding in plain sight.

We skied Old Superstar many times as an messy ungroomed run to true moguls over the last few years. I didn't think it was that steep. Ovation headwall is steep moguls (Skyehawk as well), too steep for me, but the middle typically was just ungroomed, not really moguls, when we hit it this year for the first time. You can bail out from both to Superstar groom to avoid Ovation's last pitch.

We ski Ridge Run bumps regularly and pass the Powerline entrance. I look and think "Nope, not this year...". On firm days you can hear folks skiing it from the North Ridge chair even if you can't see them.

I know someone here is called the Minister of Bad Ideas, but I dub @Guy in Shorts the Assistant. He is just so positive and encouraging that I end up trying to ski stuff like Skyehawk headwall that I have no business with. Moving to Killington has forced me to become a better, more flexible skier.

 

[SSSdave]

The most viscerally enjoyable bump runs for the majority of accomplished bumps skiers are not on the steepest, firmest, iciest, most stale metamorphosized snow, with most weirdly shaped challenging bumps, or those with fewest others descending, in other words, not the most difficult and challenging. Rather runs on slopes of moderate advanced gradients with packed powder natural snow conditions, with good numbers of accomplished bump skiers regularly skiing down them keeping surfaces loose and well formed, with a fun playground variety of changing slope gradients, trees and or obstacle changes. That is a prime reason as an example why MaryJane bumps are so loved by its fans with its high altitude snow, an army of practitioners, and nicely variable slopes with trees and lanes making it interesting.

I also prefer a run that starts out at lower gradients before encountering most steep sections so one can first develop a rhythm. Dropping into immediate steeps can be fine after one has already been skiing awhile during a day so one is already feeling their inner animal, but not so much early during a day. In the 80s, I skied a lot with a good friend that went to school at Stowe and he would often want to ski down Scott Chute at Alpine Meadows first thing in the morning when we had barely woken up. Examples of such slopes are Chute 75 at Squaw, Climax at Mammoth, and many others where immediate ridge line steep slopes have evolved so due to wind blown in snow eroding over centuries less sun exposed north facing steeps. Will also add, a bump slope that has a lift riding audience right along its slope rates highest for we show-offs haha. The negatives noted, Outer Limits can undoubtedly be that ideal slope on days after cold fresh snow storms before sun and weather changes surface conditions.

 

[mdf]

but I dub @Guy in Shorts the Assistant.

"Deputy Minister"

 

[Marker]

"Deputy Minister"

Wait, are you the Minister of Bad Ideas?