Ski season is officially here. For those that are avid skiers, they might be looking for a challenge and are wanting a ski trail that serves up difficult pitches and steep drops and requires intricate footwork. For those thrill seekers out there, here’s our list of the most intense ski trails in the country.
The Slides at Whiteface in Lake Placid
This trail was formed by landslides and avalanches many years ago. The highest vertical drop on The Slides is about three times as high as the Empire State Building. This trail can be difficult to navigate as about halfway down it there are frozen waterfalls underneath the snow. Overall the trail consists of a lot of narrow, steep chutes, drops and glades.
Corbet’s Couloir at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Jackson Whole
Some people have described this trail as the scariest ski slope in America. Named after a local ski instructor, Corbet’s Couloir proves to be difficult from the beginning. The entrance involves a free fall and then a sharp slope. It’s important to navigate this correctly or you may actually fall all the way down to the bottom. The whole trail is about 10,450 feet high.
S1 at Aspen/Snowmass in Aspen
What’s interesting about this trail is that almost the entire thing is vertical. It’s surrounded by Aspen trees and is 900 feet long. It has a drop of 540 feet. This trail takes careful navigation as there are parts of it where the skier must make their way through some trees.
White Nitro at Sugarloaf in Carrabassett Valley
This is the steepest trail that is serviced at Sugarloaf. There is a pitch of 43-degrees which makes it feel like the ground under you is falling away. For those that are brave enough to try to conquer White Nitro, it’s best to go early in the day because as the Sun starts to go down, it gets hidden behind the mountain and the snow freezes and becomes hard. This makes for a very difficult trail to ski on, even for pros.
Body Bag at Crested Butte Mountain in Crested Butte
With a name like Body Bag, you know the trail must be difficult. The run consists of about 700 vertical feet and a vertical drop of 275 feet. This trail is often difficult to navigate because of downed trees.
Have you ever been on an intense ski trail? If so, let us know about it as we are always looking for an adventure!
