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My Personal Guides for all the extreme terrain in the ski resorts that I have been to
Wow, that's a long title.
This is the first (and worst) ski resort I have ever been to. It has absolutely no extreme terrain whatsoever, and it has only green runs. Just look up a picture of it. My only advice is that you go on the terrain park, which is the only really exciting thing there.
Cascade mountain is another beginner resort in which extreme terrain is truly absent. Here is my advice.
Go to the Emerglades run, off of Far Out on the lookers left of the mountain. It is insanely shallow, but has a lot of good rollers, jumps, and trees.
Go to the cliff thing right after the patrol shack at the top of the North Wall run.
Try all the powder at the sides of the runs and ski in it for a fun run.
DON'T BE AFRAID!!! Nothing here is even remotely challenging, and so have all the fun you want. This place is risk free! My favorite spot to go here is the trees in between Manitou, Mogul Monster, and North Wall.
Granite Peak is definitely another beginner resort. Unlike the other midwest resorts I have mentioned, though, this place has some actual double blacks and an almost big-mountain experience. Here are my tips.
The three chutes at the top of the mountain off of the Blitzen lift are incredible couloirs that have really steep drop ins and great steep run-offs. The one closest to the lift, "Mamma Mia" is definitely the easiest of the three with basically no huge drop in, along with being the least steep of the runs. Caroline's Couloir is my favorite of the three, with a huge drop in and a good run out. The farthest one from the lift is maybe the hardest, with a steep entrance and some huge boulders in the run out, but they can be quite fun on a snow day as you can use them as jumps. The other double blacks, Carver and Superstition, are not really double blacks and would be named blues at any other big resort. You can lap these double blacks all day. The only bad things about these runs are that you need to do a 30-second hike or even sidestep to get to the chutes, and they can be icy if there is not enough snow.
The trees here are great, without being steep or rocky at all. If you find a less-popular glade run, you can find powder there any time of year, since no one goes there.
Loveland is a good area in summit county, and though it is not known for extreme terrain, it has a lot of good double black runs.
The best bowl runs are definitely Patrol bowl, a nice steep powder run with a huge cornice at the top, and No. 4 Headwall, another steep run that is hump-shaped. If you ride chair 9 you can lap these forever!
The double blacks off of the Chet's Dream run, to looker's left, are really steep and hold lots of powder. These are great if you like open skiing with glades easily accessible.
If you are willing to hike, you can get to a lot of extreme chutes along the very top of the mountain. Wild Child is one of the steepest runs in Colorado!!!
Arapahoe Basin, as ZRankings calls it, is the "High Altitude King of Summit County". It has massive extreme terrain swaths, and a ton of good chutes, bowls, and glades. I went here first on a great bluebird 6 inch powder day, then on a 60 degree spring skiing day. The first time I went, I was a beginner and did blues most of the time, though the second time I went I was an expert and just lapped the Pali area with my friend, Jojo.
The best spot for inbounds lift-accessed terrain is around the Palivinchi area. It is mostly double blacks, and has a ton of great cliffs, trees, ect. The terrain is endless and there is always powder if you know where to look for it.
Another good inbounds lift-serviced area is the Montezuma bowl area. If you go the the Zuma map and look at the lookers left, you can see a ton of double black bowls that lead to some challenging glades. This is a epic area as it is less traveled and is really steep.
The North Wall is full of chutes that are really narrow, technical, and steep. You need to hike to get to them, though.
The Steep Gullies are more really challenging runs that are the steepest in A-Basin. Christmas Trees and Janitors Only are other runs in the area that are really good for people who love the trees. Bald Spot is a great open bald spot that is actually ridiculously steep. All of these runs require a hike.
I love Taos SO MUCH. What's not to like about it? Great powder, no lines, amazing extreme terrain with a modern rustic charm. This is a great resort and I had a lot of fun at it. The first time, it was sad, with ice everywhere and nothing open. The second time I went, though, it was a huge storm day, with 1'+ of snow. There was lightning so after 2 it was all closed, though that meant the next day there was 2 feet of fresh powder, with the entire resort to ourselves. That day was by far the most fun I've ever had skiing. Some of our favorites were...
Under chair 2, there are some super steep great glades not for the weak of heart. The farther you traverse along the double blacks, the more pow you get. It never gets old. There are some decent sized cliffs in that area too, if you know where to find them. Follow the lift line until you get to an open bowl. Save your speed until the blues, and then there you are! All along the sides there are rocks to jump.
Chair four, specifically Huntzinger bowl, is the best cliff and powder area I have ever been to in my life. There are cliffs everywhere, from little rocks to 20+ foot beasts. All the powder slides from the walls of the bowl to the bottom, so you can ski the whole day without running out of snow.
Kachina Peak is an amazing option, though it is open only half the time and is trash without okay snow. I have never skied it because it always was closed.
The chutes along the ridge are crazy good, but everything after Cabin Chute requires a short hike.
Snowbird is the best extreme Utah resort. It has an insane amount of steep double black terrain, and a lot of famous runs with a ton of snow.
The best and most famous terrain at Snowbird is definitely off of the Cirque traverse. All the double blacks off of that traverse are tons of fun, and really steep. I really like the Barry Barry steep run, and Great Scott.
The High Baldy traverse also goes to some extreme terrain, though they require a long but flat hike.
Mineral basin (Snowbird's backside) has a lot of great cliff areas and on the looker's left, there are a lot of great bowls with a ton of powder any time of year.
Alta is an insane resort with great extreme terrain and the most powder in the nation. There are literally no double blacks! mwahahahaha
All of the runs off of the high traverse are incredible black diamonds that would be double blacks for sure at any other resort. My personal favorite is Gunsight, though it is a huge pain to get to and to get out of.
All of the runs off the top of the Supreme chair are amazing, especially the ones on looker's left. I love Supreme Bowl. Catherine's area requires ten to fifteen minutes of hiking, but it may as well have the best powder in the country.
The Baldy Chutes are the kings of Utah. They reach fifty degrees, with super tight rock walls, and not only that, but the hike is one of the hardest in the country.
Jackson Hole is the mecca for cliff jumping and all things extreme skiing. It has incredible powder, and has the most legendary run in all the world, Corbett's Couloir.
Sublette. "The Quad". This, besides the Arial Tram, has the most famous extreme terrain in Jackson Hole. The cliffs are incredible, and all of the runs off of it are amazing. It also accesses some runs like Downhill, Broadway, and the Expert Chutes.
Thunder chair is also amazing. It has really extreme runs with a ton of cliffs also. My favorite thing to do is the glades/lift line mogul run and then cut back under the chair when you get to the steep section where you can see the bottom of the lift. Turn a sharp right and you can get some huge cliffs with amazing powder and a steep runout.
All of the Tram runs are insane, and have so much fame that they (Corbett's) is #1 in the most extreme runs in the world according to Google.
Mammoth Mountain is a good resort for extreme terrain, except for the time that I went there. The last time it snowed was six weeks ago, so all of the runs were rock-hard and brutal for the skis. There were gusts of wind up to 50 miles per hour, and all of the runs were covered with ice because all the wind blew the good snow off. The only good snow we could find were some tiny patches of wind buff on top of ice on Dave's run. The second day we went there, they closed the whole mountain because of all the wind. People were literally getting blown over in the parking lot and couldn't get to the base area.
The top of the mountain has some steep chutes and bowls with a lot of snow (on a normal day, of course), and the runs can be super fun on a powder day.
The Avalanche Chutes and a lot of glade runs off of the Chair 23 area are great and are great fun with good snow. On the day we went, though, the glade run was undoubtedly the most torturous run of my life. The snow was not snow, it was bumpy ice. I actually said at the end, "Finally! A groomer!"
Terrain parks are the pride and joy of Mammoth, and I have to admit that they are top-notch. There are a lot of different types of parks, from hidden stashes of cliffs in some thick trees, to 50-foot jumps right underneath the Gondola.
There are a ton of other double blacks scattered around the mountain, don't forget to check those out!
We (my dad and I) had an interesting experience at Squaw/Palisades. The first day we went, we lapped blues the entire day, since the entire resort was completely covered in ice. There was a huge ski race going on the entire day on Julia's Gold, and so after the racers were gone we used the race course as groomer practice. Once I was about to go down the second part of the course, which is totally allowed, when this huge guy screamed "Don't go down!!!" right IN MY FACE. My dad comes down after me, almost goes down the second part of the course, and the guy yells at him too! People these days... Anyway, the second day, we got a huge 9 inch powder day and since my dad thought it didn't snow, we got terrible parking and a trash KT-22 lift line. It still was one of the best days I've ever gone skiing.
The clear best place to go extreme skiing maybe in the world is KT-22. It has so many double blacks and cliff runs that it cannot go wrong. We basically lapped this the entire second day. Check out Squallywood at a library for a huge guide to every extreme run at squaw valley. Everything on the nose is good, and everything on the sides is amazing! I would recommend Downhill Cliffs or Enchanted Forest.
Everywhere else on the mountain, everywhere there is a black diamond symbol, is good.
Here's yet another weird experience at a famous resort. It was 50+ degrees (temperature AND slope), and the runs were really soggy and slushy. We did A LOT of moguls, and some Steeplechase runs, along with a lot of glades. We were planning on doing the Highlands Bowl, but the lower runs on the bowl were closed and we didn't want to hike.
All the double blacks are great, especially Highlands Bowl. These are some of the most famous runs in Colorado. A snowcat will pick you up and drop you about 15 minutes' hike up, where you can drop in anywhere along the ridge.
The Deep Temerity (steeplechase) area has super steep (sometimes moguled) runs that I know from experience are insane in spring snow.
I've never been, but Olympic Bowl I've heard is super good, especially on days that needs good snow preservation, because it faces north while much of the mountain doesn't.
I found some of the glades in between the blue runs near Exhibition to be some of the best glades of my life.
I came here expecting to ride terrain parks all day. There were terrible freeze-thaw conditions and in the morning there was a lot of ice. When you have bad conditions, you usually will ride the groomers all day. (or terrain parks if you are better). Instead, I got one of the best ski days of my life.
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