"No Easy Way Down"

What are some lifts that legitimately offer no easy way down? Lots of resorts post signs at the bottom of lifts saying "this lift serves advanced terrain only," but how many truly deliver on this?

Think of a lift like the Peak chair at Whistler. Yes, it serves some very steep terrain, but you can also go around the back to access either the roads to The Saddle or West and Bagel Bowls. So, really there aren't any lifts at either Whistler or Blackcomb that qualify.

I'll propose one: the double at Crystal Mtn called "High Campbell" on the trail map that goes to the top of Silver Queen.

What else?

Well for the past two years there was no easy way down alyeska because there wasn't any snow below chair six I hope I never have to see less than 100 inches at the base again

Sublette at JHole

Cubano

The Wall, Kirkwood

North Faces, Crested Butte.

BobMc

KT-22. SILVERADO. Squawllywood

(you could argue the saddle on KT as an easy way down, but I've seen plenty of gapers piled up like sandbags at the bottom, after skipping down the ice moguls)

The top cable cars at St Anton, Alpe d'Huez, Les Arcs and Argentiere.

http://www.ndh.net/home/korten/Skicl...z/PicBlanc.jpg
Pic Blanc cable car, Alpe d'Huez

'Challenger' double at Big Sky

For total gapes Id say the JH tram.
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The single chair at Mad River Glen. Sure, you can try snowplowing your way down the intermediate Antelope but you're bound to get caught in some bumps, ice, roots, rocks and other beginners thinking they could make it down from the summit.

Chair 9 @ Loveland.

Lionshead gondola at Vail. No matter what route you take it's very painful.

Silverton.

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Originally posted by Cubano
Sublette at JHole

Cubano

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You sure about that? From the JH trail map it looks like there's a route that runs along the ridge that's rated blue. I haven't been to JH, so I don't know for sure, just going by the map.

Mt. Allen Tram, Snowbasin.

http://www.snowbasin.com/images/jp-map.jpg

In fact there is a blue- It depends how you look at it- if u mean return right to the same lift then yes probably an 'easy' route- but from someone who lives EC- Jackon is extremely steep. The Tram is a definate

Edelwiess (Chair 2) at Alpental. The runs are tougher than the "easy" route down from High Campbell at Crystal.

The Tram and Challenger at Big Sky. An intermediate can make it down Liberty Bowl, but it will probably take them an hour of picking through moguls and rocks.

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Originally posted by Cubano
In fact there is a blue- It depends how you look at it- if u mean return right to the same lift then yes probably an 'easy' route- but from someone who lives EC- Jackon is extremely steep. The Tram is a definate

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I'm thinking when you get off the lift you say "how the hell am I going to get down from here?" Regardless of what direction or lift you head to. Literally no easy way down.

Castlerock at Sugarbush and (maybe) the Bear Mountain / Outer Limits triple at Killington (I forget what the "back way" is).

Alpental: Chair 2 (Edelweiss)
Crystal: Chair 6 (High Campbell)
Silverton: ya think?
La Grave: duh!
MRG: The Single.
Sugarbush: Castle.
Lone Peak, Aspen Highlands (or those are some pretty tough blues...)

Of course trams are sort of disqualified because you could download, but I'll allow them ;)

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Originally posted by Buster Highmen
Alpental: Chair 2 (Edelweiss)

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I always get such a kick out of this - I grew up skiing this hill and in particular this run. Never gave it a second thought - it's just what we had to ski.

They have this posted on all of the lifts going to pan dome on Baker. There is a blue run down, and when it is groomed, a gaper from philly could get down it. At one time, they had a "green" run listed, going down the cat road. It was one of the hardest green runs in the country- not least because of the half mile or so of flat poling to get back to the base.

They should, however, keep the sign up. 90% of the 360 degrees you can ski off it are going to give gapers fits, and when the snow is heavy and the visibility poor, so will the remaining 10%.

Personally, I think there should be more of those signs out there. Particularly anywhere I want to ski.

But Emma never grew up. She just got saucier!

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Originally posted by road trip
Castlerock at Sugarbush and (maybe) the Bear Mountain / Outer Limits triple at Killington (I forget what the "back way" is).

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Castle, ummm ok

Bear: no, everything at Killi has some easier way down...

Never been there, but there's gotta be something at Taos?

Texans ski Taos. Every lift there has a "relatively" easy way down.

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Originally posted by Buster Highmen
But Emma never grew up. She just got saucier!

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Esp since they Knighted her :cool:

(my hair is getting really long - after seeing that pic over and over I'm thinking I may just get it cut to that length)

Chair 1 @ Baldy
Chair 1 @ Waterman

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Originally posted by Haus
Chair 1 @ Waterman

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Isn't that, like, the only chair at Waterman?

What more do you need?

Quote:

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Originally posted by Haus
What more do you need?

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Agreed!

It's a pretty cool-looking lift too, must be, what, 40 years old or more?

I've never skied there, but I've run the trails in that area extensively. There's a trail crossing Hwy2 at Cloudburst Summit, about a half mile from Waterman and I parked there many times.

Red chair at Red Mountain. It has one run that is a hard blue. I have seen many people scared shitless sliding down the mountain on thier asses with thier skis in hand. I gave one girl a piggyback ride down the mountain once. I made minimal turns cause it was easier that way. I scared the shit out of her but she still considers me her hero. :D

Summit platter at Lake Louise is a pretty gaper unfriendly lift on the way up, but does have an easy way down.

I've seen many a gaper eat shit and do a slide for life while trying to get up the headwall.

Edit-

The North American Chair (AKA the big chair) at Mt Norquay just outside of banff. 1300ft of really steep sustained pitch with moguls which usually dwarf small cars. One run named "Memorial Bowl" is named as such after a Japanese tourist did a slide for life from the top and met his untimely demise at the bottom after sliding off a cliff. Doesn't open too often due to lack of snow, but when it does there is a day or two window you get some of the best sustained powder runs around.

I'll vouch for that one. I completely forgot about that chair at Norquay! That's now number two on my list, just after Challenger at BS.

Of the others mentioned above, I have a feeling the single at MRG is much like Challenger and North American, just from seeing pics of it.
I haven't skied MRG and missed out on skiing it last time I was out that way. I skied K and Okemo instead. I realize now I should have skied MRG rather than Okemo.
Oh well, I'll get it next time. :)

I was going to list Chair 1 at Baldy, but Haus beat me to it. The funny thing about Chair 1 is that there's a blue run right underneath it, so you would think that any gaper could get down. However, the run in question is about as steep as any blue run you've ever skied, it's ungroomed, in a narrow gully, usually bumped up, and there's lots of rocks and roots to dodge.

What about the Bear Peak Triple at Bear? It only accesses one run (Geronimo). It's your basic steep, icy, groomed black run (think Cornice at Mammoth, but narrower). Fortunately the bottom half is really steep, so you don't get a lot of gapers looking up at it and thinking, "I can shred that, yo"

Had a long thread on this at the powder board a couple years back. Zapped from the Powder drive with all the rest of the forum stuff. When you actually examine the trail maps with a topo map, many chairs skiers thought had no easy way down actually do simply because those skiers never bothered taking the easy escape or actually examining the map. Very few chairs have no escape.

Alkasquawlik "KT-22..."

Would say maybe Olympic Lady is moderately more difficult any way down for an intermediate than KT-22 Saddle. Probably second most difficult chair in the Sierra with no easy way down. Per DJsapp, Chair 10 aka Wagon Wheel down The Wall at Kirkwood has no easy way down and is most difficult in California. Most of the present KW maggots would have loved Ch10 back during its first season. There was no escape ramp off the cornice like today. Was either over the cornice for a steep drop or later in the year over the All The Way into that ugly cratered cat track. Most skiers got off the lift to the LEFT instead of the right today and skied a gruesome narrow slot of brutalized pointy nose sharpened drop moguls. For you KW skiers just look at how steep that is sometime. -dave

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Originally posted by Buster Highmen
Alpental: Chair 2 (Edelweiss)

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Isn't there a blue off that? I have only wasted a little bit of money at alpental but I didn't find to much hard shit anywhere except that one run thing and thats only hard cuase it's mogaly and weird.

I guess the 7th Heaven chair at Stevens Pass qualifies, too. The other thing that makes this chair somewhat unique is there's really no flat area even at the unloading area. You ski off the ramp then it's all downhill.