Should I quit carving on a high note or..........

[Chubz]

seek other steep carvable runs

Got back yesterday from quick 3 day jaunt to Sunday River, ME with a friend who had never been out of PA to ride. Great 3 days and Day 3 was just the cherry on top that made it my favorite snowboard trip of all time.

Spent Day 1 exploring and relearning the mountain.

Day 2, optimizing runs found on Day 1, plus it was warmer at minus 8 F

Day 3 Soft snow, cranking out runs and continuing to eyeball the run I had been watching for 3 days. they had been making blowing snow on it and huge whalebacks, so I wasnt interested. Day 3 it was groomed I guess as well as it could be.

Heading back to the lodge and tell the guy I am there with, I gotta hit one more run before we leave. He says have at it, I will wait here for you.

The lift ride up show the rollers, ruts, ice , small whaleback and bump fields on each side. I know if I go down it and show any semblance of carving, it would be my steepest carving run to date. I have done steeper in softies, and some close in HB's, but with eveything going on on this slope, it made it that much more exciting for me.

I get to the top, exit left.

Clip in, shallow turns over the first few introductory whalebacks, then it drops in. I sideslip the first handful of turns, then pick my spot tilt to toeside, arc#1, tilt to heelside, arc #2, I link a few more then lose an edge. Back up sideslip a few while still in the sunshiny top part, I tilt again just before the steepest section (biggest shadowy part), and back into a rhythm and proceed to link the rest of WHITE HEAT to the bottom except for one small hiccup. The turns I made on this run were the meatiest ones I have ever made. I could feel the force of the mountain pushing back against me and I was leaving gargantua-ruts. No matter how hard I pushed tht edge into the mountain, it held and made this loud gouging noise, but not that irritating east coast boilerplate noise. Such a great sensation!!!

Boston Globe

Don't be deterred by the signs warning you that a fall on this trail could be fatal. Nor by the fact that as you enter White Heat you can't see the pitch of the slope or the condition of the surface. This run at Maine's Sunday River is purported to be the steepest and longest in New England. Though it does not look it from the chairlift that rises over the face, White Heat clearly has more than the average pitch of the other mountains in the area.

Other sources say 70% grade

Whether it is the steepest or isnt, I can sure say it got my blood flowing and jacked my adrenaline enough to fuel me the 8 hour drive home. The pics and vids dont do it justice, but tis one exhilerating slope.

I know the skillset of many on BOL far outweigh mine and many slopes might be steeper than White Heat, but for me , it was magic. I'm still grinning from it and happy as a clam that I broke the golden rule by saying "just one more run." It turned out to be the best run I ever took.

I'll post the base video and helmet cam vid when I get a chance.

Thanks goes out to Bruce for making a board that offers me the confidence to go after steeps like this.

Mr. Smith , add it to your bucket list;)

Meet White Heat and pic of my last turn in the run out.

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[b0ardski]

Never quit, you have many more steeps to conquer, just come out west for Rutapalooza next year, Schwietzer has no less than 10 winch cat runs.

[Jack M]

"That's good. You have taken your first step into a larger world."

[Buell]

That makes for one good buzz!

[bobdea]

ohh BOY!

in the spring you you want the most and best variety of the bumps in the east SR is where it's at. after whitecap closes you can walk over from lift 1 at barker about a 5 min walk. awesome, also on pow days when whitecap is closed due to wind the heat and adjacent trails can be waist deep from wind blowing it in after only a 12 to 20 inch storm. I've lived in CO and CA but yet some of the best inbounds powder runs I've had have been at SR. too bad it does not snow more there!

if you go back give me a holler I can give you the heads up on the place as far as trees and other dirty little secrets.

[Boarder_Ted]

Chubz,

Ah so it was you who I saw on Monday. I was carving with a friend of mine and we were trying to figure out who you were. Not many people carving in a full face helmet. I'm there enough to recognize most carvers on the mountain. I would have spoken but I was never at a lift when you were. I only ever saw you on the slopes when I was on the lift.

Congrats on White Heat. I heard it was fantastic. My brother was raving about it after the grooming. I never made it over because of the race course set up that bisected the mountain. Makes it a pain to get back and forth.

Anyway, glad you had a good time. You'll have to make the extra hour drive to Sugarloaf next time for even more carving excitement. Maybe if you're real nice, Jack will show you around.

[jtslalom]

Sounds like you are starting to catch the bug for steeps. Be careful because once you start riding them it seems that nothing else will quite quench your thirst for carving. You will FOREVER look for them at any resort you go to. Whiteface may even become your favorite resort.

As far as the 70 % grade, I think it would be difficult for snow to adhere to that type of slope without striations appearing. The steepest I have ever seen in the east was somewhere in the 40's.

[Chubz]

I'd never quit, just look at trail maps more intently and ask questions before I get there.

I get a sense now that I dont want to go to my home mtn now, but I will.

I didnt get my real taste for steeps until I got on metal and Mr. Smith showing me his love for them.

I will be in search of steeps for future trips and thanks for all of the input on other locations. and dirty little secrets.

Ted, I saw three HB's on Monday, you and someone else together and another guy HBing by himself with some friends. I only saw you guys in the lower park by the chondola. Only there 3 days I was trying to gobble up as much as I could, plus I was showing my friend around the mtn.

yea 70% seemed way too high, cant believe everything you read.

Jack, great quote

Gotta run

[Corey]

70% slope is only 35 degrees. No problem having snow stick to that. http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/108034.html 35 degrees feels plenty steep when you're on a board though!

I love riding black runs when I can find them. It really raises your awareness and focus. My local hills don't have anything steeper than a steep green or a mild blue run, so it takes me a few runs to get my confidence up when I do find some. It's really fun to have to manage speed by ending your turns going slightly uphill!

[b0ardski]

It's really fun to have to manage speed by ending your turns going slightly uphill!

carving back uphill and throwing your body down the fall line is the most addictive part of carving for me.

oxbow or ribbon candy carves where the tracks start & end going uphill is what I'm always striving for on steep groomers:1luvu:

I love having a selection of near 100%/45* slopes to practice on!

[Neil Gendzwill]

As far as the 70 % grade, I think it would be difficult for snow to adhere to that type of slope without striations appearing. The steepest I have ever seen in the east was somewhere in the 40's.

As Corey pointed out, you're probably mixing up %grade (100*rise/run) with the angle of the slope (arctan(rise/run)). 40% grade would be a 22 degree slope, blue by most western standards. Sorry to introduce math geekery into the conversation. 70%/35degrees is quite a steep black diamond even by western standards. I'd be interested to know if that's the average grade of White Heat or the steepest part.

[scrapster]

"That's good. You have taken your first step into a larger world."

I can attest that progress feels fantastic--even on the other end of the spectrum. For the first time, my last run of the day yesterday, I finally started to link carves consistently without any signs of skidding.

Once I stopped thinking so much and just started to chase the feeling, it all came together. It was like night and day compared to what I had been attempting earlier. (Part of that was the introduction of metal , but even that wasn't an instantaneous fix.) Now, I imagine I'll be able to start slowly bringing the thinking back in to improve.

There are always new hills to conquer!

[KingCrimson]

Did somebody say steeps?

Good luck carving here, hope you like moguls and trees!

[bobdea]

just a FYI the heat's stats are deceptive, it's the longest widest sustained pitch in the east.

it's not even the steepest thing at sunday river, by a long shot. it is however long wide and steep. the closest thing to riding sun valley you can get in the east or most places actually

[JBS]

Mr. Smith approves!!!!! :D

Ole Blue just does not seem the same after you tackle heart pounding steeps that make your knees weak and your thighs scream by the time you make it to the bottom.

[Cindy Kleh]

Steepness is a state of mind. You'll feel gravity more and will need to sink into your heel turn to avoid skidding, but once you conquer steeps, every other run will seem easier.

Copper Mountain has wonderful steep (40+ degrees) groomers under B Lift. No slope pigs, go as fast as your legs will carry you.

[jtslalom]

Sorry about that but I was confusing degrees with %. The above reply from Neil is correct. I just looked at the number not really thinking it was in % but rather degrees. Though 35 degrees is still pretty steep.

[Chubz]

Not into bumps or trees, at least not yet. Riding in PA, we dont get that kind of exposure, so we carve what we can. Same thing with steeps, we dont get much stuff here at Blue Mtn Pa to make our stomach tingle.

I'd ride steeps all day if it were an option in PA. I was just jazzed about riding it b/c I had never been down it before, so rollin in over the top headwall was pretty cool sensation, I had been eyeballin it, had no idea what to expect, hadnt been down anything real steep in a couple years and it all came together.

Bob, I did go down some other stuff that was fairly steep too, but they were all iced up, moguls and odd rollers. I think it was the "sustained" part that made it so great for me. The hill just kept coming and coming . So use to riding here in PA and you get 8-10 nice turns and runs over.

Cindy, my mind has moved to a deeper love of gravity and carving on it and I look forward to more.

JBS, no problem with the thighs, all that jumping around in my garage for the past 2.5 months helped more than I can describe.

[Chubz]

Finally able to upload video from the run. not great quality, shot from an old small hand held point and shoot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6Bfd9_nVqs

Pardon my buddy's giggling at the end of the video. It was an exclamation point to the end of 3 great days in Maine

[carvedog]

"I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell!"

Looks like you were having a ball. Well done.

The giggling was perfect. I probably would be too.

[Thor VonRippington]

Chubz... you lost me at "quit carving"