Let me preface by stating I'm a level 5 skier. One of my fears when trying out a new ski resort is the 'Uh-Oh" factor. Meaning I go down an apparent benign trail (green, easy blue), then all of a sudden......'uh-oh!!!", and it drops off to the darkest of blues (dare I say blue/black or black).
So, question for the crowd. In your opinion, are there any green/easy blue trails that look very do-able for someone of my level, but get 'real bad, real quick" that you'd advise to watch out for?
One that causes a lot of OH S*** is Tomahawk, especially after the push piles get built up later in the morning/day and traffic is heavier. There is one place near the start that is steeper than the rest of the trail and causes some fast heart beats. If you are a Level 5, it should not be a problem. If it is, there is a cut off that takes you around that section. All of the Sunshine Peak trails have at least one steeper section that should be well within in your limits since the rest of the trail is basically a green.
IMO the only blue runs that get "bad" are Vagabond and Heavenly Daze after a day of abuse. Both get heavy traffic and some ice and crud that can make them a little challenging. All the easy blues in Wally World provide no "uh-ohs".
#1 Don't let anyone tell you Lower High Noon is a comfortable blue. It's a high traffic run that gets all carved up by midday. I hate it. Even when I was at your level I remember clearly that I opted to take Westside slow (black) or Broadway fast (green) than go down Lower High Noon.
#2 Tornado Lane is not green/blue but sometimes people try it after Buddy's Run. As the name implies it is narrow (not good for traversing when you are scared) and has always been icy when I've been on it.
#3 Stay to skier's right where Sunshine Lift Line opens up. Last year skier's left was all bumps and tight rollers nearer the end. I saw more than one person be surprised and find themselves with a yard sale after catching unintentional big air. One other thing, this run is great but it is directly under the lift. That can give some people stage fright when they are just learning to challenge themselves.
Finally, I asked my kids and they said that Eagle's Nest was scary the first time because they picked up speed quickly (it's steeper but short). They are in the 5+ range. It's fairly open though so you just take a little wider traverse the first few times. It has an uh-oh factor because once you head over to Eagles Nest there's no other way out but black. But you have to do Eagles Nest to efficiently utilize the mountain and avoid the roads. Most of the greens at Steamboat flatten out and can be exhausting trying to navigate. Why Not at the end where it becomes Right of Way resembles a trans Siberian hike with all the newbie skiers all hunched over attempting to pole and skate their way across to find even the slightest grade. You'll have to do it once since this is your first time out but in my opinion it is so not worth it. That's why you need Eagles Nest.
Yes. That's why it's totally doable even for a 4. It's just a short slightly steeper pitch to easy greens. I guess I should have said you need Eagles Nest to avoid Right of Way.
Permalink Reply by Kup on December 11, 2008 at 8:24am
wow! great info. and thanks for the detail Trudeska! I have a trail map in front of me, but cant find half of these. I'll have to open up the trail map on line so these can be pointed out to me. How you guys remember all this stuff truly amazes me!!!.
Here's anothe stupid part of the question: on the trail map,some of the tail areas are not just while, but are tinted blueish. does this mean ice or something? its not listed on the legend.
Kup
I think the blue tinting is just artistic freedom to show depth. Hint; I have the main website's zoomify map up while answering questions about the mountain.
Map suggestion: bring the grooming report up with you, it's smaller and easy to carry.
Additional Trail UH-OHS not mentioned: Sunset is a blue black and can drop into Lights Out if you're not paying attention so can Rainbow- bottom of Rainbow can be like bottom of High Noon if it's skied off, but worse. Drops off into a pretty steep pitch that used to make my stomach drop out.
Which leads me to Drop Out, Buddy's is nice, until you take it all the way to bottom and oops yourself right into Drop Out. Without snow, any direction at the bottom of Buddys is dicey... as mentioned with Tornado Lane above. Also not a big fan of Longhorn, P-Ridge can get chewed up quick...
And I agree with Skiwoods et.al. above that nowhere in Wally World can you get in a tough spot unless you wind up on a bumpy tracked-out version of Ramrod, that run will toss you if it's not been groomed but has been skied off after a few days of powder.
-AJ
If you are 50+ you could join up with the free Over the Hill Gang ski along program. They ski blues and groomed blacks and if their are some who want to handle some bumps and trees, you can do that as well. The Gang meets near the Chuck Wagon in Gon…
Hey Andrew,
Thank you for the tip, in the right direction.Most of the time on family ski vacations, without my ski buddies on the scene I always end up skiing alone,which means I ski very lazy at times.....I have always loved skiing with a pack,so…
Hey Laura,
Thank you for the real world advice on kids with poles......The more i think about it, you are 100% correct about their stance being hard to fix,after picking up bad pole habits.The more I think about it,the only time I saw some kids the…
Thanks so much for your interest in our products. The mens club program was designed with the all conditions all terrain idea in mind and in my experience they tend to ski quite a bit off piste. I think a better way for you to go if you want to go o…
What a wonderful time in Steamboat: the conditions last week may not have been up to Steamboat standards, but they were awesome to me:
I haven't skied in at least 5 years, 7 years since I was last at the boat:
Day 1...nice groom runs to get my leg…
Matt does rock (and Dave does too). My 4 year old was doing bumps, blue blacks, and glades after these 2 great instructors ran him and a couple of other rowdy boys all over the mountain. Thank you!!!!!!!!!
Not many people realize that very often March can be one of our biggest snow months of the season. I believe that today's conditions were no exception! As I approached the Gondola to make my way up the mountain, the first thing I noticed was the lay…
Not many people realize that very often March can be one of our biggest snow months of the season. I believe that today's conditions were no exception! As I approached the Gondola to make my way up the mountain, the first thing I noticed was the lay…