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What are the toughest runs you've skied......

Tonyr4

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We've all seen the toughest ski run lists over the years but since there are a few more months until ski season starts and not much else to talk about right now I'm wondering what everyone's most challenging runs have been? To get started, below are my top 10 with a picture of each run.....

10. Red Pine Chutes - Park City....This run is accessed from the 9990 lift on the Canyons side, I think the terrain off of that lift is the best in Park City. If you stick towards the middle of the Red Pine Chutes trail you hit the steepest sections of the run which measures in at 43 degrees or so in certain areas. The Red Pine Chutes are much tamer if you ski the trail near the out of bounds ropes.
20210127_144306.jpg

9. Das Boot - Grand Targhee....This resort gets a ton of snow and has awesome trees but Targhee doesn't have alot of steep terrain, Das Boot is the exception. You need to hit mandatory air going over the worst part of this trail or scrape down it like I did! If the run was longer I would have ranked it much higher on my list. You can see how steep Das Boot is looking up from the worst section.
20210203_133900.jpg

8. 4th Alley- Arapahoe Basin....This run to me was the most challenging trail off the Pallavicini lift. (Without hiking) Conditions were awesome the day I skied it making it one of the best steep tree runs that I've ever been down.
20201229_133933.jpg

7. Goat - Stowe....Goat is one of the most famous trails in the Northeast, the run is over 2000 vert of non stop moguls and ice. Unfortunately the upper part of the run is not opened alot of the time and it is the most challenging part of the trail. Most people enter from the middle which is cheating in my opinion! Fully opened Goat is a total leg burner and lives up to its large reputation. As a side note, a hidden "locals" trail to the skiers left of the Upper Goat entrance called Pipeline is the toughest lift served run in the Northeast and probably the most challenging run on this list. The entrance is almost unnoticeable and the trees are so tight & steep you can barely turn your skis while getting through the worst parts. Since it's an off the map, unmarked trail I can't count it here though!
20200119_124517.jpg

6. Tower Three Chute - Jackson Hole....Unfortunately the tram was a two hour wait each day I was there so I didn't get to try Corbet's and the Sublette lift was down so no Alta Chutes either but the Tower Three Chute off of the Thunder chair is a good one. The run has a sustained 41 degree pitch pretty much the whole way down.
original_d5d67d94-b343-4797-ad30-fd20c239e22e_20210206_124648.jpg

5. Great Scott - Snowbird....I actually think the tree runs towards the frontside under the tram and the backside of the Cirque may be a little more challenging than Great Scott from top to bottom but those trails don't have all the pesky rocks to avoid on the steepest parts of your decent.
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4. Wipeout Chutes - Mammoth....So there are a couple of lines down the Wipeout Chutes that are easier than others but if you hit the very first line closest to chair 23 the drop-in is absolutely brutal as you can see from the picture. I skied this line 2 years ago in July, it was nice and crusty from the top. I don't think I've ever skied moguls that large and steep before or since.
20190630_114914.jpg

3. Daly Chute #4 - Deer Valley....This resort is not known for its steep skiing but Deer Valley does have one area with legit steeps called the Daly Chutes. The 4th Chute is the most challenging one according to the ski patroler that I was skiing it with. The run has a 45 degree pitch pretty much the whole way down. That photo is looking up from the first section of the run, it's no joke!
original_1e0b2d9e-65ff-4f60-b16a-6ca04a663cbc_20210212_142908.jpg

2. Paradise - Mad River Glen....This is the other famous challenging east coast trail known for a frozen waterfall that you need to jump over on the way down. This isn't the steepest run on the list with a 36 to 38 degree sustained pitch but what made this one especially tough for me was the conditions the day I skied it. A foot of snow came down from the night before and that foot of snow covered a sheet of ice which made me slip on every single turn the whole way down. I was never so relieved to get off of a trail in my life. Under normal conditions I would have ranked Paradise a little further down this list but it's still a great one!
20200118_100722.jpg

1. Needle's Eye - Breckenridge....I've never seen this trail on any of the top 10 ten lists but it is without a doubt worthy of being on one. The trail has a 43 degree pitch all the way down through tight trees. You feel totally spent after making it to the bottom of this one especially if your not used to the high attitude at Breckenridge. Needle's Eye is non stop nasty the whole way down and if you like skiing challenging terrain this run needs to be added to your bucket list!
20191227_115609.jpg

Here's a great video of the run as well. (It's not me in the video)

Watch "Breckenridge 2017 - Needle's Eye [Double Black]" on YouTube

So that's my list, unfortunately when I was at Crested Butte the North Face wasn't opened and the tram at Big Sky while I was there had ridiculous waits or else I'd have some better runs to add to this list. Let's hear some thoughts on other tough ones to try this season!.....
 
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slowrider

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Willamette Pass, Oregon is best known for having one of the steepest runs in the world, "RTS", which at its steepest point is 52 degrees.
 

Philpug

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I have skied many of those runs but have also skied lesser runs in worse conditions that skied more difficult. I will say jokingly, the terrain can't be that difficult if you are confident enough to stop and take a picture. ;)
 

Philpug

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7. Goat - Stowe....Goat is one of the most famous trails in the Northeast, the run is over 2000 vert of non stop moguls and ice. Unfortunately the upper part of the run is not opened alot of the time and it is the most challenging part of the trail. Most people enter from the middle which is cheating in my opinion! Fully opened Goat is a total leg burner and lives up to its large reputation. As a side note, a hidden "locals" trail to the skiers left of the Upper Goat entrance called Pipeline is the toughest lift served run in the Northeast and probably the most challenging run on this list. The entrance is almost unnoticeable and the trees are so tight & steep you can barely turn your skis while getting through the worst parts. Since it's an off the map, unmarked trail I can't count it here though!
This :philgoat:is of me tumbling down Goat.

@Tricia had tumbles down Wipeout in Mammoth and Tower 3 in Jackson so, The Pugs have 3 of yout 10 covered. Which really makes me rethink my comment in the previous post. ;)
 

Bad Bob

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Conditions and visibility make stuff tough. Steep is fine, big bumps are fine. Put refrozen on flat light and perhaps a nice cold wind and which way to the blues?
Had the pleasure of skiing a lot of Snowbird in 71. On a pair of 210's it could be an adventure.
The ridge at Bridger 69/70 on long boards would get your attention to.
Alyeska was my home hill when i could ski okay. Any face with bad light and a foot plus of the wet and heavy is memorable there.
The Throne at Crystal Mountain deserves respect.
International at Alpental is a test.
Anywhere with frozen avi debris with heavy wet on top of it in bad visability can rank very high.
On the right day anything can be fun and on the wrong day anything can be tough.
 

firebanex

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Anywhere on the Alyeska North Face when a cloud rolls in and you have no idea where you are.

Also any time you try to follow 8-10year old's to where their friend crashed and needs extraction. Because of course a 6' tall adult with a backpack and 185cm length skis can fit in the little goat trails they like to ski..
 

KevinF

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Of the OP's list, the only two I've skied are Goat (Stowe) and Paradise (Mad River Glen). The statistics on both-- i.e, length, steepness, etc. -- isn't that impressive, but the prevailing conditions on both make them "adventure" skiing at its finest.

There's any number of "steeper" runs I've skied "out West", but since I've only skied them once or twice, it's hard to give any sort of objective ranking of their difficulty.
 

Uncle-A

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1. I don't know the name of the trail but it was in St. Anton Austria. It was an ungroomed mogul trail what I call a double black diamond. My wife and I made a wrong turn and ended up on this trail, she took a fall got upset and took her poles and walked down to a road. I had to pickup her 180 CM skis and ski down on my 200 CM skis carrying hers. When I got down to the road she was still upset but she put her skis on and continued to ski that day.
2. I have to mention the short but steep part of K27 at Hunter Mt NY. I only skied it on good days when I was young, but that was always on 200 CM skis.
That's all for now but if I remember anymore I post again.
 

Crank

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Re. Wipeout Chutes at Mammoth. I used to ski there back in the early '80s when the only way up to the top of the ridge was the gondola. Hence low skier traffic and no bumps. Everything was steep yet flat, Made it fun and probably somewhat less hard.

Tower 3 at JH. First time I skied it it was snowing so hard I couldn't really see what I was getting into and I was just really enjoying the bottomless pow and the strange sensation of my slough passing me.
 

Brian Likes Pow

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Theres these chutes off a traverse at Taos that scared me, I dont remember the name but they're sorta short but super technical.

Grand junction at loon on a Saturday is far more dangerous though
 

Tricia

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This :philgoat:is of me tumbling down Goat.

@Tricia had tumbles down Wipeout in Mammoth and Tower 3 in Jackson so, The Pugs have 3 of yout 10 covered. Which really makes me rethink my comment in the previous post. ;)

Tumble. Interesting way to phrase it. Neither of those incidents were my finest of moments. :rolleyes:

I redeemed myself in Wipeout Chute and have skied it and Dropout several times since then.
I still need to redeem myself on Tower 3.
 

markojp

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Like Phil said, it's all about the conditions. I've skied 'no fall' zones in different parts of the world, but the snow was great, so it seemed fine. Last season I was coaching up at Alpental on chair 2 on a truly crappy refrozen day that felt much more 'no fall' than the real deal stuff in good conditions.
 

Mike Thomas

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There was a day about 5 years ago when Stowe received about an inch of rain and the flash froze over night. Almost the entire mountain was closed to skiing the next morning, just one groomer off the Quad was open. I think I was the one of about 5 people who skied, it was horrifically bad. To make it interesting for a few runs I poached the front Four trails (Goat, National, Starr, Nosedive) + Lookout, that was 'interesting'. Possibly the most fun I've had skiing here, also about as technical as it gets.
 

Philpug

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Weren't you on straight/retro skis at the time?
#totallycounts
Yes I was...1974 The Ski with Tyrolia 350R bindings, with safety traps. Thoughout the tumble, the ski repeatedly wacked me saying "You stupid $%$@, why did you take these skis down this trail".
 

mdf

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There was a day about 5 years ago when Stowe received about an inch of rain and the flash froze over night.
The last Eastern Gathering at Stowe (might have even been the same day) it rained hard all day, then a hard freeze overnight, followed by about an inch of non-binding new snow. The new snow collected between the ice pyramids on the top part of National, which stuck up like islands in the sea. That was tough.

Skiing the bowl past Spanky's Ladder at Whistler in true whiteout was scary and difficult. @Philpug , didn't you ski over a drop off you didn't know was there?

The other variable beyond conditions is your development as a skier. The first time I skied Tower 3 Chute at Jackson was one of the scariest things I've done. Now I love that run. Years before that, the first time I skied Outer Limits at Killington (back in the huge bump, pre-winch-cat days) I fell on every single mogul. (Spectator watching from the lodge, deadpan delivery: "nice run, man.")

Back to conditions... during the last Gathering at Jackson Hole, we were lapping the ridge with the Alta Chutes. One of them (maybe 2?) had a few strategically placed melted-out spots that made the run very challenging. I don't remember who was in the posse that day, but I think @Ogg was one of them.

Probably the scariest thing I've done recently is the Big Couloir at Big Sky. The apprehension was way worse than the reality. The snow was grippy and smooth, and it wound up being easy to ski.
 

Philpug

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Skiing the bowl past Spanky's Ladder at Whistler in true whiteout was scary and difficult. @Philpug , didn't you ski over a drop off you didn't know was there?
Funny, one of the first runs I thought of was Spanky's, not because of the (unknown to me) terrain but the milk bottle conditions. Fortunately, we had @KingGrump guiding the run. As far as that drop off/small cliff, I don't think that was Spanky's but another area.
 

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