27 replies to this topic

[liftmech]

The most unique trail I've ever skied has to be the Razorhone Canyon at Mt Baker. It begins as the outrun of a shallow upper-mountain bowl, and quickly narrows down to a slot about one snowcat wide. It drops around a thousand vertical feet and has several twists. The only way into it is to ski the upper bowl, otherwise you're dropping off 20'-30' cliffs.
Bachelor's Cirque, specifically the Pinnacles near the top, is another cool run. The Pinnacles are remnants of Bachelor's volcanic history and are basically basalt spires that you can ski between.
Any others?

[Bill]

I definately remeber that run. Thats the run I almost got nekkid on... now thats a story...

Did I tell you that one at dinner John?

[SkiBachelor]

Willamette Pass has a few areas but they arn't considered trails by the ski area. SDN which might be turned into a run but if too many people did it, they would run into a tree and ski patrol would have a hard time getting them out. SDN stands for Steep, Deep and Narrow. This run is located on the backside and terminates and the end of RTS.

[liftmech]

Bill, I don't remember that story, and it sounds as if I would
Does RTS stand for Really Tough $#!t?

[Bill]

I also remember a run from Jr Hi up at Crystal that we dubbed "Hell's Alley" which was a gladed run off the cat track above C-7. Since then they have roped off the trails to that side, but it was a narrow steep trail that made a 90 degree turn half way down. The trick was to give your poles to a buddy and he would ski around and meet you cause you needed your arms to grab the tree and slingshot you around that 90 degree turn. Now there was no room for side to side skiing and any attempt to snowplow and the trees would make your skis straight again. I got a couple of bad hits on that run. Would be neat to see it again after they re-install C-7.

[SkiBachelor]

John, I'm not really sure what RTS stands for but that's what people call it for the fun of it, at least the ones on my ski team. But it probably really stands for Really Tough Stuff or something dumb like that.

[Bill]

Had to do with me losing my keys and I stripped down to find them after a major wipeout on that trail.

[KZ]

One unique series of trails is at Northstar, Loggers Loop at the split between it and Woodchuck down to the Woods. The Woods is unlike any other trail in tahoe, I haven't skied the east, but I'm guessing it is similar to more trails over there. It is narrow with many twists and has a decent pitch so you can bomb the whole thing and still be comfortable. It is probably 1000 or so vertical, maybe more if you count from the top of Vista, and there is a bridge and if you are going fast enough some fun air is possible. It is also the least traveled trail on the mountain, kind of hidden in a way.

[edmontonguy]

The Sapphire Glades at big white are probably is most untracked terrain on the Mountain. The entrance is unmarked and is not obvious. Once entered it provides about 400 m vertical of deep powder on a modest pitch.

[CAski]

KZ: I will whole-heartedly agree with Logger's Loop to The Woods at Northstar. The terrain features placed on it greatly diminishes its appeal though.

I'd have to say that Gunbarrel at Heavenly is pretty unique too. Where else can you ski 1600 vertical feet of bumps straight into one of the largest alpine lakes in the world (well, at least that is what it feels like you are doing).

Squaw Valley has some really unique stuff, especially off of Broken Arrow and Silverado. Headwall does too, to a lesser extent. And then there is that gully off of Red Dog where there is that huge drop under the lift. I seem to be the only person on the planet incapable of appreciating KT-22. I just don't get why it is everyone's favorite lift.

This post has been edited by CAski: 11 September 2004 - 10:19 PM

[iceberg210]

There is a little run at snobird off wibur in some trees called bobsleigh and it is exactly as describedd steep with huge banked turns although you got to be careful otherwise you can pop out of the turns and end up stuck in trees.

[KZ]

KT is fun, you just need some good snow and a lot of luck to enjoy it. I've had 3 amazing runs off it, all in april of a storm that dropped 4 inches, but the wind gave the west side of kt over a foot.

Also near the end of last season all of the features were moved off of loggers loop so there were some big rollers nice for picking up some decent speed.

I'd also have to agree with the red dog gully. No one seems to go in it, so if its a snow day, thats the place to go. You'd be suprised if you ride it on a day when the rest of the mountain is closed. Almost every run is fresh tracks with good visibility because of the tree shelter. Good stuff.

[CAski]

Sure KT is fun, but I like Headwall, Silverado, and Broken Arrow more.

[hyak.net]

Who has taken this run and have you ever been on any run like it......

The top 1/3 of the run is covered in stumps in the summer which makes quite an interesting terrain in the winter..... On a powder day this run can't be beat.

This post has been edited by hyak.net: 12 September 2004 - 04:40 PM

[Kicking Horse]

somewhat like outhouse @ wp. Minus the Tree Stumps

[edmontonguy]

much of marmot has similar terrain. but i know the saticefaction! nothing like that kind of run

[Bill]

Nice, now thats what kind of pictures Skitrails.org needs to have on its site.

[liftmech]

I used to ski the run Jack's talking about (Blowdown) all the time. It was all jumps and kickers, which is great when you're 8-10 years old and that's all you want to do. The side of chair 2 near the condos (possibly near your house, Jack) was also like that.
On a side note, Jack- 1)have you ever ridden the Powder Bowls, to skier's right of Chair 1 off in the trees, and 2)is the water tower still painted up like an Olympia Beer can? D)

[hyak.net]

liftmech, on Sep 13 2004, 04:33 AM, said:

I used to ski the run Jack's talking about (Blowdown) all the time. It was all jumps and kickers, which is great when you're 8-10 years old and that's all you want to do. The side of chair 2 near the condos (possibly near your house, Jack) was also like that.
On a side note, Jack- 1)have you ever ridden the Powder Bowls, to skier's right of Chair 1 off in the trees, and 2)is the water tower still painted up like an Olympia Beer can? D)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, I've cut the trees to the right of the dino (chair 64, trail through the trees) to the area where the Milwaukee ski bowl jumps were located. Its a great place to go get some powder runs when everything else is chopped up.

As far as the Beer Can,.......yea, they re-painted it with some changes. It no longer says Olympia, but now says Summit and some other minor changes....it was featured in the last Transworld Snowboarding magazine..

[liftmech]

Well, it may not say Oly on it anymore, but it still is a kitschy NW icon :---: I was talking to my dad the other night and he mentioned the Powder Bowls. Apparently when he was working there (1964-68, 1971-73) the bowls were designated runs and had to be controlled as part of the routine avalanche programme.