Comparing steepness of runs.

losh

losh

Active member
Came across this on Al's blog and thought it was pretty interesting and could spark some good conversations. It can be hard to judge how steep some runs actually are, but this is a pretty cool article that addresses that. If you're not familiar with the blog, I'm pretty sure he's the COO of A bay and posts about conditions, and general A bay news. Pallivincini was at the top of the list here on the steepest runs, so that's why he posted it. Anyways, check it out, pretty cool stuff.
http://www.skibum.net/do-it-up/comparing-steepness-of-ski-trails/
 
"But put on a pair of skis, and even most advanced skiers will pause at the top of a 19° slope to pick their route."

Should I keep reading?
 
I think its fair to say, that in person these degrees seem steeper when looking down a slope than they would if you look at a triangle with a 45 degree angle.
 
13908615:theabortionator said:
"But put on a pair of skis, and even most advanced skiers will pause at the top of a 19° slope to pick their route."

Should I keep reading?
Click to expand...

Haha, yeah 19 isn't exactly scary, but the valuable part of the article is for sure the stats and comparisons.
 
13908637:losh said:
Haha, yeah 19 isn't exactly scary, but the valuable part of the article is for sure the stats and comparisons.
Click to expand...

For sure. They mentioned a lot of mellower, east coast claim to fame steeps. I get it but I was surprised not to see highlands on the list. Place has pretty steep inbounds terrain, and a decent amount of it.

Not saying that it's the steepest stuff out there but steeps is pretty much their selling point. A lot more expert terrain than other places.

There's a bunch of stuff in the 30s, and some of the runs in the bowl might even average close to to 40.
 
I like to look at 3d maps, there are a few iphone apps that have them. They aren't perfect, but they give you the general idea for a slope.
 
13908657:The.Fish said:
I like to look at 3d maps, there are a few iphone apps that have them. They aren't perfect, but they give you the general idea for a slope.
Click to expand...

Theres an iphone app that can give you distance, elevation, slope, and some other things. I don't have an iphone and it's not available for android though. Would be cool though.

There were some semi similar android apps, can't remember what they were lacking though.
 
the how fast the sluff moves usually is a pretty good way of measuring steepness that few people use
 
Sick article, I think it has the potentially to be really interesting conversations of comparison.

"Would the 31° of Al’s Run on Taos powder be more or less challenging than the 29° on Killington concrete? Would 100 yards of 53° packed powder on Corbet’s Couloir be hairier than 100 yards of 35° blue ice on Ripcord?"

quote from the article that got me thinking
 
Yeah, definitely not comprehensive in the least, but still interesting.

If you guys aren’t familiar with caltopo just google it and you can overlay slope angle on topo maps. It’s pretty cool.
 
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