# Steepest trails skied?



## uphillklimber (May 6, 2012)

x


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## jimmywilson69 (May 6, 2012)

The steepest stuff I have skied is the expert terrain off of the Pallavinchi Chair at A-Basin.  It is steper than anything I have skied in the east. I have skied it in 9 inches of powder, when it was cut up the day after a storm, and when it was a lot of "western" moguls.  It is challenging and there are all kinds of lines to take including super steep trees in the alley's to more open "bowl" type skiing.


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## aveski2000 (May 6, 2012)

Probably the Alta Chutes at Jackson Hole or some of the other chutes and trails we skiied from 2/29 - 3/3 this year.


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## deadheadskier (May 6, 2012)

White Heat

Steepest, Widest, Mogul trail in the East.

gnar


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## steamboat1 (May 6, 2012)

I kinda remember Punch Bowl at Alta being rather steep & mogully. Is that a word, mogully?


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## Gnarcissaro (May 7, 2012)

deadheadskier said:


> White Heat
> 
> Steepest, Widest, Mogul trail in the East.
> 
> gnar



*Longest, steepest, widest.

Can't forget the longest part. White Heat needs all three in conjunction to make any claim!


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## Skimaine (May 7, 2012)

I do not get out of Maine much and steeps are not my favorite thing. But that said, White Nitro below the Spillway Crosscut is the steepest I have skied and that is at my limit.  White Heat and Gondi do not seem as steep to me.


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## Nick (May 7, 2012)

Tuckerman's although I can't recall where in Tux I actually skied.


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## Puck it (May 7, 2012)

in bounds, out of bounds or earned?

Need clarification.


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## hammer (May 7, 2012)

I think that Hurricane at Pats Peak and Middle Ptarmigan at Attitash are about the two steepest trails I've been on.  True Grit at Waterville seemed pretty steep but it was so wide that it wasn't a big deal to go down.

There was a groomed black at PCMR (Silver King) that also seemed pretty steep to me but I have not been able to figure out whether it was any steeper than trails I've been on in the east.

Pitch can definitely increase the pucker factor but I've found that other factors have more influence on how hard a trail is.


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## Mpdsnowman (May 7, 2012)

I went to iceface a couple of years ago. They just opened the new side. The chairlift was brand new and it rode like it. But I went down that new trail to the far right of the chair. It was the only one other than the main blue run. I dont know the name but boy that was steep!


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## skiadikt (May 7, 2012)

tucks. but at a ski area, i'll second the terrain off the palli chair at a-basin.


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## EPB (May 7, 2012)

The ER-5 chutes at Lake Louise.  In the east, probably something off the ridge at Jay Peak.


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## skiberg (May 7, 2012)

I would say Tucks but a bunch of stuff out west as well. Snowbird, Alta, Whistler cant remember whcih si the steepest. I will have to think about it a bit.


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## MadMadWorld (May 7, 2012)

White Wall and Dare at Kicking Horse
Milky Way in Delirium Dive at Sunshine Village


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## skiberg (May 7, 2012)

I have skied Sunshine as well. Delirium Dive is SERIOUSLY steep.


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## gregnye (May 7, 2012)

Whistler Peak Bowl---Whistler


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## EPB (May 7, 2012)

skiberg said:


> I have skied Sunshine as well. Delirium Dive is SERIOUSLY steep.



Would have loved to have gotten in there.  I was by myself so it was pretty much out of the question.


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## skiberg (May 7, 2012)

Glad you reminded me, I forgot about the shoot to the skiers right of the lift from top of Whistler peak. I skied it about 15 years ago and it was pretty damn steep. I think Delirium is steeper though.


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## MadMadWorld (May 7, 2012)

Since they put in the staircase, Delirium Dive has become a lot more accessible to skiers. If you enter in from above where Milky Way/Galaxy chutes are it gets quite a bit more steep. I believe Wild West is a lot more technical than Delirium Dive but that is a different discussion.


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## skiberg (May 7, 2012)

when was the staircase put in?


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## MadMadWorld (May 7, 2012)

5 years ago maybe. It allows them to close the upper chutes but still keep the rest of it open


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## ScottySkis (May 7, 2012)

I'm sure it was alta/snowbird but its not very hard to ski sick steep trails with 4 feet of powder.


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## deadheadskier (May 7, 2012)

uphillklimber said:


> Is there any way to actually get measured grades as to how steep the trails are?



for a general idea at many areas

http://3dskimaps.com/


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## AdironRider (May 7, 2012)

The Claw, backcountry of Teton Pass, but it all kinda blends together out here. 

Tux is just as steep. Better vibe too if you ask me.


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## Hockley Valley (May 7, 2012)

Spanky's, blowhole, any DD off whistler peak, prima cornice are a few from the west
east bears ass and terrian beyong paradise....


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## skiersleft (May 7, 2012)

The Cirque at Snowbird. Crazy steep.


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## Hawkshot99 (May 7, 2012)

For me it would be the Daily chutes at Deere Valley.  But all they have is blue square groomers.  Everyone knows that.


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## Geoff (May 7, 2012)

Christmas Trees at Whistler the year Mount Baker broke the world snowfall record.   I was skiing lines down what is usually a cliff band to Franz's.   You can only ski steeps like that at coastal areas.   In Utah or Colorado, it would slide.   I was probably skiing things that were more than 45 degrees.


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## skiNEwhere (May 7, 2012)

40 foot cliff at Squaw valley, didn't mean to ski to the cliff, but it was too steep to hike back up, so I hucked it and thankfully stuck the landing and didn't get hurt. Could have ended my skiing career. Would NOT do that again, very scary


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## MadPadraic (May 7, 2012)

Recently steep but fun: Pali at A-Basin and Lover's Leap at Vail. 

Recent, not fun, wouldn't do again: Birds of Prey at the Beav.

Long time ago: slow ghost at schweitzer..


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## skiadikt (May 8, 2012)

MadPadraic said:


> Recently steep but fun: Pali at A-Basin and Lover's Leap at Vail.
> 
> Recent, not fun, wouldn't do again: Birds of Prey at the Beav.
> 
> Long time ago: slow ghost at schweitzer..



what didn't you like about birds of prey? not a fan of the downhill run but peregrine is a great bump run when there's enough snow.


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## rocojerry (May 8, 2012)

Black Magic, @ Magic early season....

Not sure if i'd call it skiing...


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## elks (May 8, 2012)

Maybe Cirque at Snowbird, which I've never hit on a comfy powder day.  I recall the Alta Chutes at Jackson Hole being up there too.


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## kcyanks1 (May 8, 2012)

Probably a chute, the name of which I forgot, out of bounds at Jackson Hole somewhere in the Rock Springs area.  I think that was likely steeper than any of the stuff I skied in-bounds at JH, which would probably otherwise be the steepest (Corbets, Tower 3, Alta Chutes, the very last Expert Chute at the end of the traverse).


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## john1200c (May 8, 2012)

I guess it would be Ptarmigan at Attitash since that's where I do most of my skiing.  There may have been steeper runs when I was younger, but I dont recall.....


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## kcyanks1 (May 8, 2012)

kcyanks1 said:


> Probably a chute, the name of which I forgot, out of bounds at Jackson Hole somewhere in the Rock Springs area.  I think that was likely steeper than any of the stuff I skied in-bounds at JH, which would probably otherwise be the steepest (Corbets, Tower 3, Alta Chutes, the very last Expert Chute at the end of the traverse).



Forgot to mention, Alta Zero (since it's not part of the normally open Alta Chutes) is steeper than Tower 3, other Alta Chutes, Experts.. Also a ridge off to skier's left of East Ridge Traverse is pretty steep and steeper than most other stuff inbounds probably, but not Alta Zero, I don't think.


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## 4aprice (May 8, 2012)

Highlands Bowl at Aspen Highlands , steep and long.  Don't know if its the steepest but certainly one of the hardest I ever skied and perfectly named, a trail called Elevator Shaft on Ajax.  The front 4 in Utah all have great drops all over the place.  

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ


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## Cannonball (May 10, 2012)

Geoff said:


> Christmas Trees at Whistler the year Mount Baker broke the world snowfall record.   I was skiing lines down what is usually a cliff band to Franz's.   You can only ski steeps like that at coastal areas.   In Utah or Colorado, it would slide.   I was probably skiing things that were more than 45 degrees.



Oh, hell ya!!  I was at Whistler skiing those trees that year.  And at Baker the week before.  Can we just talk about that season some more???  Dreaming......

Steeps: The above mentioned Whistler stuff, plus some others in Harmony Bowl.  Pali chair and East wall at the Basin.  Katchina at Taos. Headwall and Chute at Tux.  Chutes at Alyeska. Looked over the edge at the Cirque Snowbird and backed off....but mostly 'cause it was bulletproof.    Like most of these discussions, the conditions at any given time have at least as much to do with it than physical aspects of the trail.


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## Mr MRG (May 10, 2012)

New England:
Paradise at Mad River Glen
Black Hole at Smugglers Notch
Headwall of Tuckerman Ravine


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## Puck it (May 10, 2012)

Fischer Cat Glade is up there!!!!


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## MadPadraic (May 10, 2012)

skiadikt said:


> what didn't you like about birds of prey? not a fan of the downhill run but peregrine is a great bump run when there's enough snow.



Zero bumps. Smooth racing surface the whole way down. i bailed and went into the trees. Terrifying.


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## Newpylong (May 11, 2012)

I haven tbeen out west in years but this was one of my favorites:

http://cdn.epicski.com/f/f9/f9fe3c42_SaudanCouloir.jpeg


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## MadMadWorld (May 11, 2012)

Newpylong said:


> I haven tbeen out west in years but this was one of my favorites:
> 
> http://cdn.epicski.com/f/f9/f9fe3c42_SaudanCouloir.jpeg



Wow......that is a blast from the past! Only the hardcore know it by that name. Most people know it as Couloir Extreme (the old name is so much better)


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## bdfreetuna (Aug 2, 2012)

Well like I said in another thread I passed on Delirium / Wild West at Sunshine when I was there. Possibly if I went there now (I used to race, now I ski more steeps) I might take another look at it... if the conditions were excellent.

Anyway my list in no particular order: Paradise @ MRG, Ridge / Chutes @ Jay, Church and chutes in that vicinity @ Sugarbush, and Hell's Kitchen @ Sunshine Village.

I am open to more East Coast suggestions. Whiteface chutes are on my list.


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## steamboat1 (Aug 3, 2012)

Paradise @ MRG (check) further out skiers left is crazier, Chutes @ Jay (check), Church @ Sugarbush (check) I know that area as the Cathedral.

The glades skiers left off Goat at Stowe (check), Starr & Lookout glades @ Stowe (check).

Otherwise lower Ovation at K & sections off the Snowfields at the Loaf are good. Honorable mention to a few things @ Smuggs.


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## deadheadskier (Aug 3, 2012)

^^^^^

Pipeline specifically skiers left of Goat (starts behind the Octagon) is about as steep of in bounds terrain as I've skied in the east, especially for how long it is.  It's got to be 500 plus vertical of rentlessness.  If you're not one of the first 3 or 4 skiers to hit it after a storm it really isn't worth doing though as all the snow will be pushed off of it and it just becomes long ass ice luge.  

I found this image online where you can see where it widens out at the bottom and re-enters Nosedive, but it extends all the way up to the Octagon with the top 75% of the chute being no wider than 7 feet, many places narrower.






There's some stuff off the Kitchen Wall that is steeper that you can get to hiking up to the weather station and cutting across, but nothing that I've found is as relentless as Pipeline.


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## AdironRider (Aug 3, 2012)

kcyanks1 said:


> Forgot to mention, Alta Zero (since it's not part of the normally open Alta Chutes) is steeper than Tower 3, other Alta Chutes, Experts.. Also a ridge off to skier's left of East Ridge Traverse is pretty steep and steeper than most other stuff inbounds probably, but not Alta Zero, I don't think.



Thats because its a cliff band in all but the deepest years (consisting of Cupcake and Birthday Cake). I think its been open for like a week or two in the last 6 years. It doesnt really count as an inbounds run. 

Just to lookers right is the 50-70 footer known as the diving board (kinda sorta part of Alta Zero), which goes off once or twice a year when the big dogs let em rip. Most people just blow out femurs. 

East Ridge Traverse is not that steep, outside of like 20-30 vert at the very end. 

For Jackson, the most consistently steep skiing is off the backside into Granite. 4000 vert 40 degree sustained couloirs. You certainly earn those turns on the traverse out though. Rock Springs has a couple really short shots (say 40-50 vert) that are pretty damn steep, but Granite is where you'll get the pucker factor. Well, and Pucker Face as well, but thats more just because its a convex rollover with a cliffband halfway through.


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## kyle555 (Jan 7, 2013)

White Heat at Sunday River.. Double Black and total Ice.


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## BeefyBoy50 (Jan 7, 2013)

I'll start with Out west:
*Snowbird*- tons of steep runs. Upper Cirque is pretty damn steep, so is the cliff band near the base of the run called Fields of Glory if you hike mount baldy. The thing that really scared the SH*T out of me though was the doors near the Gadzoom High speed quad- they are 3 short but incredibly steep chutes down a virtual cliff band.One of them is so steep that skiiers/riders need to hold onto a rope and slide down just to get into the run. That was two years ago and probably the most recent run I've skiied that I thought I was gonna die. Of course some insane boarder dude was there and hucked a 40-60 foot cliff during all this.
*Alta*- Never skiied anything at Alta as steep as what's at the Bird, I haven't spent as much time there.
*Heavenly*- For the most part this mountain is flat compared to Snowbird but Killebrew/Mott Canyons have some pretty steep runs.
*Crested Butte*- The headwall is a steep, sustained pitch. IDK what in degrees but i'd like to guess over 45˚ (doubt its true though). Banana Peel is also steep. Rambo I have not skiied (never enough snow) but that run looks like DEATH.
*Big Sky*- The Big Couloir ( i don't have avy equipment so I couldn't ski it) is one of the steepest in bounds runs I've ever seen. The Gullies on Lone Peak are the steepest runs I skied there.

In the east-
From just a guess, the steepest thing I've seen has to be the face chutes at Jay. I've never skiied there but I wish I could.
Outer Limits, the bottom section of Superstar, and the bottom section of Julio at Killington are all very steep in places.
The Slides at Whiteface look steep but they weren't open when I was there.


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## MadMadWorld (Jan 7, 2013)

BeefyBoy50 said:


> I'll start with Out west:
> *Snowbird*- tons of steep runs. Upper Cirque is pretty damn steep, so is the cliff band near the base of the run called Fields of Glory if you hike mount baldy. The thing that really scared the SH*T out of me though was the doors near the Gadzoom High speed quad- they are 3 short but incredibly steep chutes down a virtual cliff band.One of them is so steep that skiiers/riders need to hold onto a rope and slide down just to get into the run. That was two years ago and probably the most recent run I've skiied that I thought I was gonna die. Of course some insane boarder dude was there and hucked a 40-60 foot cliff during all this.
> *Alta*- Never skiied anything at Alta as steep as what's at the Bird, I haven't spent as much time there.
> *Heavenly*- For the most part this mountain is flat compared to Snowbird but Killebrew/Mott Canyons have some pretty steep runs.
> ...



I thought your parents never took you with them?


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## RISkier (Jan 7, 2013)

In my mind, part of the downhill course at Snowbasin was the steepest stuff I've ever been on. It was rolling off so fast I couldn't really see the bottom. The steepness scared me and I skied it pretty defensively. But, the snow was good and it really wasn't that hard. Conditions make a huge difference. Steep and icy is just in a different category than steep and soft.


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## goldsbar (Jan 7, 2013)

IME, steepest and longest inbounds is Whistler (vs. JH, Alta/Bird, Park city areas, Steamboat).  Can't remember the trail names.  East Coast style snow and ice with really long steeps.


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## Wally Brown (Jan 7, 2013)

All of the following you must hike to ski. Tuckerman Ravine left gully, right gully, Hillmans Highway and sluice. Haven't done the headwall yet. In Utah, the Baldy Chutes at Alta; these are not always open due to the avalanche danger.


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## kingslug (Jan 7, 2013)

Wally Brown said:


> All of the following you must hike to ski. Tuckerman Ravine left gully, right gully, Hillmans Highway and sluice. Haven't done the headwall yet. In Utah, the Baldy Chutes at Alta; these are not always open due to the avalanche danger.


Yup..I've been told that the Comma chute is super rare as its pretty much cliff skiing to get there...I'm glad I had a very good guide when I went, the chute wasn't too bad...Little Chute off Blady was a whole other ballgame...very narrow and 50 degrees at the top..I will not do that again...Tux was pretty steep...The Dictator chutes at Big Sky where up there, The Big couloir was socked in but looked pretty nuts...


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## MadMadWorld (Jan 7, 2013)

Whitewall Chutes and several ridiculously steep chutes off of T1 at Kicking Horse.

Did Whitewall twice and the second time I had a near death experience when I slid down 3/4 of it's rocky face. All caught on my helmet cam though!


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## BeefyBoy50 (Jan 8, 2013)

MadMadWorld said:


> I thought your parents never took you with them?



I just looked at my old "Hello Everybody" post and realized the wording is not very clear. My parents both love skiing and we all go out west as a family once a year in March, and I love them for that. They never take me up East to ski, though, because my mom doesn't like driving for 6-7 hours.


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## ScottySkis (Jan 8, 2013)

BeefyBoy50 said:


> I just looked at my old "Hello Everybody" post and realized the wording is not very clear. My parents both love skiing and we all go out west as a family once a year in March, and I love them for that. They never take me up East to ski, though, because my mom doesn't like driving for 6-7 hours.





We have buses that go to south Vermont every weekend from NYC and usually they will go to north Vermont for a whole weekend, do you have buses from Philly check the local ski shops, you could take the bus to NYC and do it from here but that would be a lot of hours on a bus.


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## dmc (Jan 8, 2013)

Sharksfin - Gulmarg Kashmir...


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## mlkrgr (Jan 8, 2013)

Scotty said:


> We have buses that go to south Vermont every weekend from NYC and usually they will go to north Vermont for a whole weekend, do you have buses from Philly check the local ski shops, you could take the bus to NYC and do it from here but that would be a lot of hours on a bus.



Nacski is a great provider who operates in the NYC and the Boston area. For this year, they raised the prices but they are still a good deal after their Facebook coupons. Still I see Killington 1/19 is $98 after the Facebook coupon from NYC. Still, extremely good deal for letting someone else do 10 hours of driving and that's probably a good $50/$60 savings on gasoline.


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## David Metsky (Jan 8, 2013)

BeefyBoy50 said:


> *Crested Butte*- The headwall is a steep, sustained pitch. IDK what in degrees but i'd like to guess over 45˚ (doubt its true though). Banana Peel is also steep. Rambo I have not skiied (never enough snow) but that run looks like DEATH.


I've skied the Headwall and Banana Peel and they are both steep, as well as lots of pretty hair stuff in the back bowls, but Rambo is steeper and scarier than all of them.


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## MadPatSki (Jan 8, 2013)

Really hard to say...perception versus reality. When did I ski it, how old was I. How much steep stuff experience at that time.

Here are good candidates for the steepest stuff that I've skied - again real hard:

Tuckerman and Great Gulf, NH
Chic Chocs, QC
Whitehorn Chutes, Lake Louise AB (it wasn't a trail when I skied it, but I believe its on the map now)
Stuff at Blackcomb BC (on the map)
Big Sky/Moonlight Basin MT (on the map)
Alta Chutes/Tower 3? at Jackson Hole WY (on the map)
Hangman's Lip at Mammoth on July 1.  (on the map)

Les Trois Vallées (Stuff in Courchevel and Val Thorens), France (on the map)
Les Arcs, France (on the map)
La Hoya, Argentina (sort of on the map)
Las Lenas, Argentina (off-piste)

edit: just realized the topic was trail.


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## Hawkshot99 (Jan 9, 2013)

Got a ride in the winch cat tonight. Rode along for 2 trails at Jiminy. Jericho and Wild Turkey. 
The pics are from the steepest part of Jericjo. A 1-200 yard section that the operator said was around 45 degrees. The rest of the trail is steep but not nearly to that level.

The pics dont show nearly the steepness.

Sent from my SGH-S959G using Tapatalk 2


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## boston_e (Jan 10, 2013)

By far for me the steepest stuff was stuff on a heli trip in Valdez.  Clench up your butt cheeks steep.  Actually surprised I did it, but, once the heli leaves, you don't have much choice. :-o


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