The Vertical Drop Thread

[raisingarizona]

Many foggy memories of hot boxing out of Northeast Passage

I bet! ?

 

[Brownski]

I’m sure that’s right. Killington used to have another tiny base area way over to the East. I think it was called Sunrise. Getting there was practically cross country but it added another few hundred feet of vertical to the stats. At least the Skye gondola has nice intermediate cruisers down to it

 

[x10003q]

There must have been a time where eastern ski areas were competing for the longest top to bottom lift with the most vertical. The killington gondola and gores old gondola both falling into that category of lifts with big numbers on paper but in reality it just doesn’t make sense to ski the area like that.

It also had to do with the longest runs. Long green runs were great when you had kids because you were skiing, not waiting in a liftline. My Dad always made sure there was we were skiing at a place with a long green trail.
Killington - Great Eastern, 4 mile trail
Mt Snow - Long John/Deer Run
Okemo - Mountain Road
Stowe - Toll Rd/Tyro
Gore - Cloud/Sunway
Stratton - Mikes Way/Meadows/Wanderer
Belleayre - Roaring Brook
Plattekill - Powder Puff and Overlook
Loon - Upper and Lower Bear Claw

 

[tirolski]

I like the ones with the best snow

I the ones with the best snow too.
Vertical schmertical.
If it’s deep then the steeper the better, up to a point, for me.

 

[trackbiker]

I haven't paid attention to their garbage for years. They claim Killington is 1645. I have skied from the top of the K1 gondola to the bottom of the Skyeship gondola several times. If you put together the right combination of trails it's a fun run. They then claim Sugarbush is 2552 but you have to take two lifts to do that. In the end does vertical really matter? Most people ski pods at bigger areas, not top to bottom.

 

[raisingarizona]

With really big vert you can find all sorts of different conditions. You may not ski all of it during most runs but you can usually find something worth skiing.

as far as quality powder skiing goes, I like 1500 to 2k of consistently pitched terrain. 30 to 40 degrees is perfect for deeper snow. Rolling terrain is better for groomer skiing imho.

 

[MarzNC]

With really big vert you can find all sorts of different conditions. You may not ski all of it during most runs but you can usually find something worth skiing.

as far as quality powder skiing goes, I like 1500 to 2k of consistently pitched terrain. 30 to 40 degrees is perfect for deeper snow. Rolling terrain is better for groomer skiing imho.

Certainly so much more than vert involved when it comes to good powder skiing. A long time instructor at Taos told me after a good powder storm that hiking was required to ski deep powder. Meaning the short hike up above Lift 2 to the Ridge in order to ski powder in steep trees. I didn't argue but in my head I was thinking that at Alta and Snowbird I knew plenty of ways to get to powder without hiking as much. Plus the top of Taos is over 11,000 ft while Alta and Snowbird are a bit lower. For someone who lives at 300 ft, that makes a difference for hiking. For me and my friends, the hike takes 30 minutes instead of 5-10 minutes for the locals. The Ski Week group she had did do the hike to do the easiest tree run. While it was good fun to ski untracked up to my thighs, I go to Taos hoping for good snow to enjoy lift-served bumps and trees, not deep powder.

Clearly the MountainVertical folks weren't particularly careful. Had to use Search fo Taos because the other NM ski resorts are listed under "Colorado." The Snowy Range Ski Area in Wyoming snuck into "Colorado" too. But I never used MountainVertical for places out west.

 

[raisingarizona]

I prefer to ski packed pow at Taos because I don’t know where the rocks are. There sure is a lot of em there. The bumps, trees and technical steeps at Taos are so much fun!

if you like to ski big and fast you kind of need vertical to do that. Two turns can be 500 or 600 feet of vertical alone, personally to get into my flow state I need around 1000 or more.

1000+ for bumps, 1500+ for groomers.

 

[Ripitz]

Skiing down the 3,430ft drop at Whiteface after skinning up in the morning is hard to beat. We went up one morning after a storm. The mountain was on wind hold as usual. Boot deep pow up top. Hard pack down below. Flying down the twisting turns of Excelsior on a pair of Stockli 188s, it’s a good thing no one was around. Eyes tearing behind the goggles. Ludicrous speed to the bottom. Only one run that day.

 

[SayvilleSteve]

It also had to do with the longest runs. Long green runs were great when you had kids because you were skiing, not waiting in a liftline. My Dad always made sure there was we were skiing at a place with a long green trail.
Killington - Great Eastern, 4 mile trail
Gore - Cloud/Sunway

You forgot Juggernaut and the old Tannery trail!