Alexandra, your forgetting my illustrious employer is BANNING me from doing any kind of extreme sport in which they include hiking
so the only option is injury free survival or
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Two more over-hyped runs................
classic Vallee Blanche..... which is a path for most of the way albeit through fabulous and outstanding scenery which many will not get close to otherwise. But as for the skiiing..?? a good side slip will do for most of it. Far better to do the variants above left which if you do them unguided then you will find some VERY interesting bits, like 10mtr ice chutes/drops..
Monterosa... very long and therefore almost by definition not steep..the most taxing bit will be trying to make ground on the hordes hung up on the dam section above Zermatt. It is long though and you will know you have done some work. 65 kms, IIRC.
That said, I'd go back to both places like a shot and try to get some different routes down.
And again, if the weather/snow is kind then no problem..if not, then a whole new ballgame.
Not really through choice, but I'm betting everyone else in my group will throw me down it unless I drop in willingly.
Being a snowboarder I fancy the slide down until one's fingertips lose grip (as per the earlier video post).
At least it looks like an easy and safe chute but for the drop in, rather than one of those endless, Chugach, 45 degree, narrow, straight-line couloirs.
Any other snowboarders got advice on best entry technique?
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I'd hate to do corbetts on a snowboard.
Saying that, I'd hate to do anything on a snowboard.
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Quote:
Any other snowboarders got advice on best entry technique?
I am told by the lady wife that it always helps to find the "correct" hole...
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
David Murdoch wrote:
I am told by the lady wife that it always helps to find the "correct" hole...
Jackson's Hole?
Mmm... perhaps that can be taken the wrong way.
As I said, I'd not really be inclined to do this without considerable pressure from my fellow intrepid skiers who regard me with withering tolerance.
It would be difficult to watch them all drop down the chute and tell them I'll get the chair down to see them at the bottom.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
There's always Harakiri in Mayrhofen, which is 78 degrees and marked as a black piste - but with warning signs!
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
ousekjarr, but it is 78% not 78 degrees I believe?? and 78 % is nearer 40 degrees. Nice argument about it in the last ski club mag.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
78 degrees would be stupid, unskiable pretty much.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Tell that to the extreme skiers
Poster: A snowHead
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ousekjarr, did it a week ago when it was in what I'd guess is good conditions ie a bit icy, nothing very special, there's a steep bit but the whole run is very short and there's a safe run out, whole thing over in seconds. I'd guess it's always a bit icy and could imagine it being a bit trickier if large tracts were sheet ice but most runs would be.
And yes, it is 78% - my mistake, and its a common one - but I'm not sure whether your 40 degrees is correct either, as it is much more than that. My understanding is that 78% is 78% of vertical, so 78% of 90 degrees, i.e. 70 degrees. And believe me, that is skiable. If it was 40 degrees, I've been on steeper red runs...
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
ousekjarr, 100% means a 1 in 1 ie 45deg. Relatively very few people put themselves into the situation of skiing, or indeed are even capable of skiing, on slopes of 70 degrees.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
slikedges,
I doubt there are many slopes of 70 degrees that actually hold snow.
T Bar, I think you might be right - IIRC slopes much over about 45 deg usually don't avalanche 'cos they're too steep; any excess snow would come straight off rather than build up. Anyone know what the steepest angle cold dry snow can hold onto is?
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Remember reading an article in a ski mag that suggested anything of 60 degrees won't hold snow, apart from in Alaska because the snow is much colder and drier. The article was about extreme skiing and featured the late Doug Coombs. It suggested that skiing anything above 50 degrees was really the preserve of pro extreme skiers. Fall Line I think, a couple of years ago
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After all it is free
I dont know about over hyped, but skied Highlands Bowl the other year and that seemed quite steep. Average slope angle was between 40 and 48 degs.
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ousekjarr wrote:
My understanding is that 78% is 78% of vertical, so 78% of 90 degrees, i.e. 70 degrees. And believe me, that is skiable. If it was 40 degrees, I've been on steeper red runs...
Arf, I'll smoke what you are having.
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I've done Corbets a load of times and the actual couloir is not hard. Its all about the entry. Its is an offical piste and so to have a drop of between min 10feet and max 25 feet then you can hardly call that over hyped as its certainly not a "gimme" to the majority of holiday skiers. Each year its slightly different entry. The last time I was there you HAD to jump straight off the top. The time before you could slide slip on the left hand side down about 7 feet and then hop round to the right and drop another 7 or 8 feet, then as soon as you land turn the left and off you go.
In terms of it being a piste then its on another level so I think it deserves the hype. If the entry as a simple ski in then it would not have the reputation.
And yes, it is 78% - my mistake, and its a common one - but I'm not sure whether your 40 degrees is correct either, as it is much more than that. My understanding is that 78% is 78% of vertical, so 78% of 90 degrees, i.e. 70 degrees. And believe me, that is skiable. If it was 40 degrees, I've been on steeper red runs...
No you haven't.
Most red runs average somewhere in the general region of 1 in 5 - that is 20%.
1 in 1 is 100% - 45 degrees, and you will not find anything that steep pisted anywhere. 78% is somewhere in the region of 40 degrees, and is very steep for a pisted run.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
alex_heney wrote:
1 in 1 is 100% - 45 degrees, and you will not find anything that steep pisted anywhere. 78% is somewhere in the region of 40 degrees, and is very steep for a pisted run.
Who heard Nick Fellows make just that mistake on Channel 4 the other day? Describing part of the St Anton course as 78 degrees
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
ise wrote:
alex_heney wrote:
1 in 1 is 100% - 45 degrees, and you will not find anything that steep pisted anywhere. 78% is somewhere in the region of 40 degrees, and is very steep for a pisted run.
Who heard Nick Fellows make just that mistake on Channel 4 the other day? Describing part of the St Anton course as 78 degrees
Heard it, was amused and appalled in equal measures, He really should know better. Still laughed out loud though
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Have only fleeted through the posts but Marc Giradelli in the 1970's commented that extreme slopes like these are only ever really skied by tourists (in direct reference to the absurdity of the Swiss Wall in PdS circuit). It's funny how so many people claim to have 'skied', for example, poubelle in Chamonix when, in fact, they merely got down in one piece. I cannot see what most of us can gain from skiing silly slopes like this (and I should know) except for testosterone driven one upmanship in the bar afterwards.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I just like coming down steep stuff with powder and not too many bumps. It's fun
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Quote:
I cannot see what most of us can gain from skiing silly slopes like this (and I should know) except for testosterone driven one upmanship in the bar afterwards.
I believe you may have just answered your own question
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I'm not sure which "silly" slopes are being refered to. Most of the ones that have been talked about are 40º or less and, as long as it isn't a tight couloir, that can be skied with linked turns OK - you don't have to be an extreme skier. Even 45º is OK on an open slope, especially in nice powder. Extreme skiing starts at 50º
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Thu 27-12-07 16:49; edited 2 times in total
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
It is quite easy, if you fancy it, you do it, if you don't you can take the blue run down and sometimes that is the good idea...but that is a bit difficult when you are out back somewhere and the alternative..if there is one, isn't obvious.
That is when you have to be able to dial in another method..and safe becomes the key word. Skiing 40 on a short section of piste can bring a few problems, but at least it will be ok to ski.
Different types of snow, with a few rocks about can bring on a whole new definition of scary..what was passable one day, isn't the next, but you might not know that until you see it which is too late.
I can't recall my worst time or steepest, but I've had a few and nothing prepares you more for it than doing it.
PS I just looked on my table of Tangents and 78% is approx 38 degrees. 40 degrees is approx 84%
The Good Ski Guide used to mention if a black run was 30º or more - which was notably and unusually steep. There weren't many.
The Swiss wall is, I would guess, a bit over 30º ? It is only difficult because of all the bumps.
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Thu 27-12-07 18:23; edited 1 time in total
It's funny how so many people claim to have 'skied', for example, poubelle in Chamonix when, in fact, they merely got down in one piece.
Getting down in one piece is always uppermost in my mind and yes I would include that as a definition of skiing
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Poubelle - um, is that the one off the bridge between the two tunnels at the top? If so I haven't skied it or got down it. Or are there 2 poubelles?
After all it is free
After all it is free
snowball wrote:
Poubelle - um, is that the one off the bridge between the two tunnels at the top? If so I haven't skied it or got down it. Or are there 2 poubelles?
Nope...its at the top of the Bochard lift at the Grand Montets. Come out the top of the gondola and go straight on and its just there. Last year was an easy entry as quite a bit of snow up top all last year contrary to what some people may think.
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The Swiss wall is, I would guess, a bit over 30º ? It is only difficult because of all the bumps
Sounds about right. It's about the same as Tortin in Verbier which is 32 degrees at the top (tragically I went out in Verbier one day with a clinometer to measure some of the slopes). Skier's right of the front face of Mont Fort is the steepest piste I measured, if you go in right at the top over the fence it's 41, if you cut across the rocks and drop in a bit lower it's 38. As someone said above the angle probably isn't as important as the snow conditions, exposure, width and so on. There is some crappy helmetcam footage of me skiing Mont Fort with a mate here http://youtube.com/v/OmPGWfuhiJQ The bit you can see when I start skiing is 38, then it drops off to about 30 half way down.
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There's also the Poubelle on the Midi, it's on your right as you head down the ridge...Don't turn left unless you fancy the Mallory...
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Although usually gung-ho + insanity has the opposite effect on men! 
