Thinking of throwing myself down this -

A snowHead

saikee, It is marketed as the "steepest groomed run in Austria", not as "the steepest ski run in Austria".

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

alex_heney,

See this for yourself.

It is not a speculation but what the sign says exactly at the top of Harakiri. The 78% is marked at another sign.

The photo desn't lie and I tried to explain it with

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I hadn't noticed what the sign said when I was there. I didn't ski it, although I went past the sign at the top 3-4 times.

I was going by what it says on the website http://www.mayrhofen.at/index.php?id=1368&L=2 and what I remembered the piste map saying.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I would be surprised if even any itinerary were steeper but it is possible. For me the word run is very ambiguous but would certainly include any marked route which is marked with a line on the piste map. In North America I get the impression that many routes are considered in this way which in Europe would be just named off piste routes (such as Chardonnet in Tignes - though off piste includes everything that is not piste so the possible routes are almost limitless). The tendency in Europe is in the other direction - to make black runs into itineraries and itineraries into off piste routes. Personally I use the word piste to include itineraries if they are marked along their length and on maps. These are, of course, avalanche controlled. The mechanical grooming of almost all green, blue, red and black runs is relatively recent, so I find the equation of piste with grooming quite strange.

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alex_heney,

I got about 10 "different" piste maps after the Zillertal trip. There are at least 3 of them from the Mayrhofen area alone. Only one piste map actually indicates "Harakiri" next to this run on the map. Nowhere else in any other piste map I could find any description of Run No. 18 or even the name of it. If one does not have the right map and set out to seek for it then it is nearly impossible to know where it is located, except to go through the 5 to 6 black slopes in turn. This is same for the Devil's run. In one of my posts I report a British skier actuall told me the run No. 17 was Harakiri. No. 17 is actually the Devil's run.

I don't think Zillertal Valley actively markets this run at all. It is just reports by various web sites. However at its top there were 4 permanent signs about the run. All other information are just the interpretations of these signs.

snowball

I was bought up on groomed pistes. I am interested in Harakiri because it is groomed and I want to know if I could do it or not.

Groomed piste is a lot easier than ungroomed piste because we could have a full width to choose a truning point to avoid obstacles, fellow skiers, balld patches, icy bits, loose snow etc. The full width has the space for one to recover from a temporary imbalance and easier to plan for the descend. To me, at the age of 59, to go down a groomed piste is mainly a matter of skill at a modest level whereas to do the same piste in an ungroomed condition with moguls one needs a pair of strong legs and a higher level of skill.

I am rather pleased to know there wouldn't be many "groomed" piste steeper than Harakiri.

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Runs are groomed, otherwise they are routes!

After all it is free

tuck in and bomb it, that is if legs can take it! Macho aside it doesn't look that bad in all honesty I mean if its icy then I would be nervous but I've skied (to me at least) scarier looking mogul fields. Though i'm sure my heart would be pounding a million beats a minute when standing at the top! ahhh I wish I could be skiing Sad

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Sounds like its not worth the effort unless its icy !! Twisted Evil

The idea of doing the off piste alongside sounds more of a challange.

I'll let you know my opinion once I'm back.

BTW looked at G2 in Levi (the one I mentioned earlier) - it has a 'final 50 degree pitch' - thought it was quite easy for a black.

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Odin, I like your style sir (even if it is more akin to Loki)! Very Happy

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You know it makes sense.

I seem to remember the reps telling us the Black down from the Gamsleitenbahn-2 chair in Obertauern was the steepest Austrian run?

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Fergus,

The Harakiri is quite new, possibly only a couple of years old as there were news when it came out.

Winterhighland,

I think the Italians and the Austrians take grooming rather seriously. From the excellent preparation of some resorts Italians appear to be obsessed with it.

In a recent trip to Ischgl I witnessed 10 snow bashers, one following the other in a convoy overlapping formation, to groom a blue run in the mid day because it was badly trafficed. This is an example I saw how serious the Austrians treat their groomed pistes.

Unless you misunderstood the message which suggests if on an Austrian piste map a piste is showned as a solid line then it will be groomed. The dotted lines, which can be red or black, are not groomed and labeled as "skirouten". As Harakiri is groomed everyday and the sign stated "Austria steepest ski run" it was my suggestion that the word "run" could signify a groomed piste as far as Austria resorts are concerned. This is more to do with clarification with alex_heney at the top of this page.

I have seen one or two ungroomed "runs" too, normally black slopes, but that is more to do with the snow bashers haven't got time to reach them after a recent big dump. Judging from the experience I find I could rely on the Austrians, in the main, groom all the "runs" on the piste map. Other countries may not be as rigorous. The two black slopes showed in this thread could be left ungroomed in other countries, winching a snow basher to groom a piste is not a widespread practice in any resort.

There is nothing to stop skiers to open a route or mogul field to look like a ungroomed black but that will not be the responsibility of the resort owner or will it be marked on the piste map. Only the recommended routes are marked as "skirouten" which are in very small number in the Austrian resorts I have visited.

A snowHead

A snowHead

Word timmah, that was a fun run Very Happy

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Ooo not long to go now !!! snowHead

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Right I'm back (and no damage) Cool

its signposted and marked on the piste maps. its (very) steep in one section, and just steep the rest of the way. fairly wide so getting in turns is not a problem, providing not too many people have already fallen !!

did one careful(ish) run, then one run more down the fall line - wow was that a fast rush. then skied again after a snowfall.

Couldn't get onto the 'off piste' bit at the side, but could on some of the other runs

its good fun - but once done its done. did the other black and red runs and enjoyed them too.

only downside was the lift queues on first two days (Sunday and Monday) snowHead

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

skied this last season, looks far more exciting

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waynos, It is ! Cool

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

That well known extreme skiing resort, Kitzbuhel, has a piste, Diretissima, which is 35 degs (70%), and it's doddle unless it's very icy, in which case you have to keep your wits about you.

Help!!

Thinking of throwing myself down this -

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