Steepest Back/Sidecountry Hit?

[Deforestation]

Skiing in Utah last year and hit a sidecountry chute with a friend where I could easily touch the hill above me while standing perpendicular to the mtn. Took some measurements when I got back and it turned out to be a little over 60 degrees (way steeper than I expected). What's the steepest you've shredded?

 

[ShredMasterPlus]

Just out of curiosity how'd you do the measurements after you came back?

I've got a inclinometer on my beacon, I've measured high 50's lots and def been in steeper places where I couldn't be fucked to take my beacon out and measure it haha. I do know it won't measure anything over 60(orthovox s+) because one couloir we booted up to access a steep face we wanted to ski I had to tunnel my way up through the snow using a shovel to make it up as i couldn't boot pack up the powder and when I took the beacon out for shits and giggles i couldn't get a reading until i pulled the beacon out to replicate a less steep slope and it gave a reading of 59, so i'd say that was like 62 degrees or so., though really didn't feel crazy to think of skiing it because the snow was so good.

Steepest turn I've made was just basically skiing part of a cornice on the top of a couloir so really it was only 1 steep turn then the rest was just low 50's till the fan.

I find it fun to measure lines with mt inclinometer because you always hear rumors about classic lines, the Aemmer couloir in LL for example some people say that its over 60 degrees and others say it barely goes over 42. Measuring it several times on the way up I found it averaged at about 48degrees for the lower half, the upper chokey section was low 50s and the first 5-6 turns were a good bit steeper but I would say still below 60.

I'd also be interested to see how a lines steepness changes based on snow depth. I've never really seen a model to describe it, nor have I put any research into it. But a lot of the lines in the rockies got pioneered in the summer months when they were basically just firn snow and glacier ice and old school racers got down them real grimy like. Obviously thats gnarlier regardless of slope angle but it would be interesting to see if the line gets a significant angle increase due to the lack of chowder.

Not my pic but here's the first few turns on the Aemmer, maybe not 60 but still pretty puckering have 600m vertical relief below you and if you were to tumble skiers right at the bottom theres a 300m cliff but its not really fall line loool

 

[minihef]

This is probably the steepest thing I've hit out of bounds. This section was only for a few turns before the final exit air with the rest of the line above and below not quite as steep.

&size=994x662

 

[ShredMasterPlus]

^^dude, that pocket rocket line is money, so exposed and so classic. One of these days I'll have to crank er!

 

[Deforestation]

Just out of curiosity how'd you do the measurements after you came back?

I've got a inclinometer on my beacon, I've measured high 50's lots and def been in steeper places where I couldn't be fucked to take my beacon out and measure it haha. I do know it won't measure anything over 60(orthovox s+) because one couloir we booted up to access a steep face we wanted to ski I had to tunnel my way up through the snow using a shovel to make it up as i couldn't boot pack up the powder and when I took the beacon out for shits and giggles i couldn't get a reading until i pulled the beacon out to replicate a less steep slope and it gave a reading of 59, so i'd say that was like 62 degrees or so., though really didn't feel crazy to think of skiing it because the snow was so good.

Steepest turn I've made was just basically skiing part of a cornice on the top of a couloir so really it was only 1 steep turn then the rest was just low 50's till the fan.

I find it fun to measure lines with mt inclinometer because you always hear rumors about classic lines, the Aemmer couloir in LL for example some people say that its over 60 degrees and others say it barely goes over 42. Measuring it several times on the way up I found it averaged at about 48degrees for the lower half, the upper chokey section was low 50s and the first 5-6 turns were a good bit steeper but I would say still below 60.

I'd also be interested to see how a lines steepness changes based on snow depth. I've never really seen a model to describe it, nor have I put any research into it. But a lot of the lines in the rockies got pioneered in the summer months when they were basically just firn snow and glacier ice and old school racers got down them real grimy like. Obviously thats gnarlier regardless of slope angle but it would be interesting to see if the line gets a significant angle increase due to the lack of chowder.

Not my pic but here's the first few turns on the Aemmer, maybe not 60 but still pretty puckering have 600m vertical relief below you and if you were to tumble skiers right at the bottom theres a 300m cliff but its not really fall line loool

View attachment 760221

This is probably the steepest thing I've hit out of bounds. This section was only for a few turns before the final exit air with the rest of the line above and below not quite as steep.

&size=994x662

Shred, that looks really fun lol. To measure, since I could touch the ground above me with my arm at a right angle to my body, I measured my arm and the height from the ground to my pit and just used geometry to find the angle.

Minihef, that is steep af. It actually looks vertical from that angle

 

[minihef]

^^dude, that pocket rocket line is money, so exposed and so classic. One of these days I'll have to crank er!

Yeah dude, it's easily the scariest thing i've ever dropped in on, all you can see is the valley floor hundreds of metres below you until you get to the first drop/crux and then you still have all the exposure below you.

It's on my list to hit again but with better snow so I can hopefully ski it more fluidly.

 

[snomaster]

Shred, that looks really fun lol. To measure, since I could touch the ground above me with my arm at a right angle to my body, I measured my arm and the height from the ground to my pit and just used geometry to find the angle.

I'm sure it was steep af but that method is inaccurate as you don't know if your body was perfectly upright. And when it's that steep, it's likely you were leaning into the hill slightly. I don't mean to burst your bubble... but that's how it is.

Go back with a slope meter.

 

[Deforestation]

I'm sure it was steep af but that method is inaccurate as you don't know if your body was perfectly upright. And when it's that steep, it's likely you were leaning into the hill slightly. I don't mean to burst your bubble... but that's how it is.

Go back with a slope meter.

Except for the fact that I made sure I was upright, not leaning, and with my arm extended, so that I could measure accurately.

 

[VD.]

Except for the fact that I made sure I was upright, not leaning, and with my arm extended, so that I could measure accurately.

So all your weight was on the inside edge of your downhill ski? That's kind of sketchy ...

Out of interest how tall are you?

 

[Deforestation]

So all your weight was on the inside edge of your downhill ski? That's kind of sketchy ...

Out of interest how tall are you?

I think you mean an evenly distributed weight but I'm like 5-5 5-6

 

[heitsy]

I'll bite. Couple of buddies and I skied the western couloir on Gray Wolf peak out in the Missions in Montana three weeks ago. 55 degrees at the choke (measured with an inclinometer, not some janky trigonometry method). I'm an east coaster and although it felt pretty steep, the difference maker for me was that the line was around 2000 vertical. I've skied several lines in Tuckerman Ravine with similar numbers, but there's nothing in the White Mtns that has a sustained pitch like that.

Here's a link to my (shitty) gopro edit from the trip (Gray Wolf is at the end).

A Few Days in Montana (GoPro Edit) from Ryan Heitsmith on Vimeo.
https://vimeo.com/123365725

 

[methscratchface]

I'll bite. Couple of buddies and I skied the western couloir on Gray Wolf peak out in the Missions in Montana three weeks ago. 55 degrees at the choke (measured with an inclinometer, not some janky trigonometry method). I'm an east coaster and although it felt pretty steep, the difference maker for me was that the line was around 2000 vertical. I've skied several lines in Tuckerman Ravine with similar numbers, but there's nothing in the White Mtns that has a sustained pitch like that.

Here's a link to my (shitty) gopro edit from the trip (Gray Wolf is at the end).

A Few Days in Montana (GoPro Edit) from Ryan Heitsmith on Vimeo.
https://vimeo.com/123365725

sick!!!! that line is beastly