EMSC
Well-known member
No time to post much. Very mixed weather day. Did get some headwaters and got a lap in Big Couloir with almost no wait at the "penalty box" checking out with patrol. Six shooter broke down for 20min at some point too.
Big Sky, MT Mar 2 & 3, 2018
- Thread starter EMSC
- Start date
EMSC
Well-known member
Nearly identical weather day on the 3rd. Patrol wouldn't allow 1st timers on the north snowfields and the wait for Big would have been 2+ hours so we opted to just do a backside run with a couple others from our group that had come up the tram.
In the afternoon we did a hike run in headwaters area which is always quite interesting due to the rocky, narrow and kind of sketchy hike route. A couple of areas even have ropes to grab, while attaching skis to a pack is required (no putting skis over your shoulder). Multiple other Headwaters runs on the traverse in stuff, but nothing else of big interest. Very similar chalky hardpack mixed with a few inches of soft on many areas.
In the afternoon we did a hike run in headwaters area which is always quite interesting due to the rocky, narrow and kind of sketchy hike route. A couple of areas even have ropes to grab, while attaching skis to a pack is required (no putting skis over your shoulder). Multiple other Headwaters runs on the traverse in stuff, but nothing else of big interest. Very similar chalky hardpack mixed with a few inches of soft on many areas.
Attachments
I read 43 degrees average for over 1,000 vertical, so yes the steepest parts could be pushing 50. That may be the scariest run I've ever skied as it was 2:30PM in late March so the upper part above the dogleg had had morning sun and was firming up. Little Chute at Alta is way more confined, but it's 2/3 as long and I got it on its opening day in 2014 in hero snow.EMSC":k4uetomc said:
Then there are the much longer steep runs at Las Lenas and La Grave. Our guides correctly kept us off the really crazy stuff at La Grave as it hadn't snowed in a month.
EMSC
Well-known member
Marc_C":35ziipe8 said:
Which Hikes? the ones at Big Sky? or the ones Tony mentions at La Grave or etc...
At Big Sky, everything off the summit Tram is downhill, no hikes needed (though many require patrol check-out). Headwaters hike to Headwaters or A-Z chutes is the same knife ridge (one side will be good while the other is wind scoured scratch) and starts at the top of the Headwaters lift.
Which is interesting since when I just did a google several sites/articles list a consistent 50 degree pitch...Tony Crocker":35ziipe8 said:
Either way, it's got solid pitch for a very nice and long vertical descent relative to many other places.
Marc_C
Active member
Yes, the ones at Big Sky. And I use the term "hike" more figuratively - meaning a gate and a traverse as well as uphill hiking. I skied there once but was entirely clueless about what gates lead where. At the time it didn't really matter as my skiing ability eliminated a lot of them (eg: the summit tram was strictly a sightseeing ride for me).EMSC":2eqnjxk7 said:
The closest Headwaters runs can be reached by a short traverse. But as you go farther (which I have not done) the ridge angles slightly upward and it rarely holds much snow. So its definitely a bootpack and I agree skis should be secured to a pack and not be carried over your shoulder.