One of our gang is up at Outer Limits today. This deserved its own new thread
One of our gang is up at Outer Limits today. This deserved its own new thread
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It gets worse than huge icy bumps sometimes. Glare ice with small isolated bumps 20 feet apart. Hit one bump to slow down, then aim for the next one. Each time I ski it in those conditions I ask myself why when there is real snow on other parts of the hill.Mid-winter that run is a nightmare. Huge icy bumps.The run is longer than it looks in this photo. At least it feels that way. It is steep and consistently so. I never conquered it.
I have, or at least the sticker from 1992 says I have..Mid-winter that run is a nightmare. Huge icy bumps.The run is longer than it looks in this photo. At least it feels that way. It is steep and consistently so. I never conquered it.
Because it's a requirement to ski OL and Devil's Fiddle if they are open.It gets worse than huge icy bumps sometimes. Glare ice with small isolated bumps 20 feet apart. Hit one bump to slow down, then aim for the next one. Each time I ski it in those conditions I ask myself why when there is real snow on other parts of the hill.
I have, or at least the sticker from 1992 says I have..
I don't remember Little Dipper, but, I used to ski Gun Barrel. Outer Limits is similar. However, the bumps on Outer Limits are bigger than any I have ever seen.
I had one of my worst ski experiences ever on a groomed OL. Nobody was skiing it but I decided to try it anyway so I could say I skied OL that weekend. It was boilerplate. I went down and lost a ski and slid for what felt like half the run. I had to make my way over to the soft snow in the roped off area under the lift to climb back up to retrieve my ski. I then gingerly made my way down to the bottom. I'm sure this was good entertainment for the people riding the lift and I would like to think I got some sympathy for being young and stupid.They do flatten OL occasionally. I skied it earlier this season and it was completely flat, must have just groomed it and they were blowing snow on it. I don't know why the bumps get so big on it, but they certainly do. I don't think they make snow on Devils Fiddle, so its not open and skiable nearly as often. Kind of like Shockwave next to White Heat at SR. I actually prefer Shockwave because they never groom it as opposed to White Heat which they flatten quite regularly. White Heat is not nearly as steep as OL in my judgement.
...and in the lodge with those big slope-facing windows.I'm sure this was good entertainment for the people riding the lift
That is back when OL got it's rep. I have been trying to find an old "Outer Limits, stop the brutal grooming" T-shirt or sticker for a while but nobody has produced them for a long time....and in the lodge with those big slope-facing windows.
The very first time I ever skied Outer Limits was before winch cats, back when the moguls really were the size of volkswagons. I think I fell on every single mogul. It took me the better part of an hour to get down.
At the bottom I dragged myself into the lodge. A mountain-hippy-looking guy sitting in the window turns to me as I come in the door and says "Nice run, man."
Here's the Caltopo profile for Gunbarrel at Heavenly... 26 degree (49%) average with a 33 degree (65%) peak.SSSdave, care to measure the slope of Gunbarrel for us?
Yes, they do groom outer limits. Devil’s Fiddle is steeper in spots than OL but the pitch is not as sustained. They made a lot of snow on OL this year. The Fiddle opened on natural snow and I skied it in February. It is a great trail. The trick to skiing OL well is breaking the run into thirds - essentially the upper section, mid section, lower section. A lifetime of skiing OL has enabled me to ski @SSSdave ’s favorite Dipper run at Heavenly.I haven't skied Outer Limits in 20 years. I skied it a few times back then, probably when I had no business being on it. I do remember that it does have some legitimately steep sections.
Do they still occasionally groom out Outer Limits? I remember a while back they started grooming Outer Limits every now and then.
I remember from the times that I've skied Outer Limits that the bumps are big, which is surprising as it's such a wide run. The bumps down the left side of Stowe's Starr are the biggest ones I've skied regularly in the Northeast. A combination of the relative narrow-ness and the left-leaning fall line combine to suck everybody into one section.
I've never skied Devil's Fiddle.