Monday, January 3, 2011

How Steep Is It?


The Flume a/k/a Certain Death
Have you ever skied Upper Goat on Stowe?  How about Devil’s Fiddle at Killington?  Middle Hardscrabble at Cannon?

How do they compare to the Headwall at Tuckerman’s, or the Flume, or that unnamed slide that keeps catching your attention on your trip through Crawford Notch?

 As I’ve been pondering different glades, slides and balds for skiing this winter, the question inevitably  arises: How steep is it?

Google Earth might just have a tool to help us all find the answer.



Lincoln's Chin (Note the Dimple)
Answering the all important question of steepness formerly involved measuring the number of contour lines, doing some mathematical equations, and developing an average steepness of a given line. 

Enter Google Earth’s “Path” tool.

Simply draw a path over your targeted area and name it.  Then right-click on your new path in the window to the left.  From the list of options that appears, select the “Show Elevation Profile” and let Google work its magic.  Several hours of tedious work is done for you.  Not only do you get the distance, and elevation change, but it will also give you the average slope and maximum slope for your given line.

Likely to show on the Path feature.
Not likely to show on the Path feature.
The Path tool has its limitations.  It won’t tell you if there’s a 40 foot ice bulge, or whether the spot you’re looking at is likely to get wind scoured. But then again, neither did measuring contour lines.

It does, however, give you a rough idea of the steepness of the line.  

While it is impossible to answer whether a given line is skiable until someone actually skis it (or doesn’t ski it), it’s nice to know what you're up against.   For example, it might be nice to know whether you’re looking at something as insanely steep as the Headwall or as “tame” as the Deliverance Glade on Jay Peak before skinning three miles with a beginner level skier to check out the line.
Baldface Variations

I put together a list of some backcountry lines I’ve been pondering recently, as well as some popular ski trails to give you an idea of the relative steepness. 

You’ll note that these slopes are not expressed in degrees.  Given that the purpose of this chart is to provide a comparison to known trails, this is really unnecessary.

In any event, here is the list from the highest Max Slope to the lowest:
Name Avg. Slope/% Max Slope/% Distance/ft Elev. Loss
Lowell Mt. Slide, NH 59.8 93.4 1631 1029
Whitewall, NH 63.2 87.5 1318 864
The Headwall, Tuckerman's, NH 50.3 87.2 1333 736
Left Gully, Tuckerman's, NH 47.9 84.1 1930 875
Saddle Chute, Mt. Kathadin, ME 43.5 81.1 1802 846
Hillman's Highway, NH 51.1 80.9 2491 1324
Percy Peak North, NH 50 78.6 1285 585
Osceola Slide, NH 51.4 78.3 1104 541
Ammo Ravine, NH 45.3 78 5386 2339
Hunger Mountain, VT 50.4 77.6 1158 595
North Tripyramid Slide, NH 59 77.3 1807 1090
Landslide Gully, NH 56.4 77.2 2904 1705
Mt. Cardigan Snowfields 39.3 76.4 1379 458
Burt Ravine, NH 50.1 75.1 2357 1183
Main Gully, Gulf of Slides, NH 42.9 75.1 2494 1114
The Flume, NH 62 74.9 1392 867
Face Chutes, Jay Peak 56.5 73.9 691 392
The Chute, Tuckerman's, NH 52.5 73.6 1670 860
South Baldface, NH (North Var.) 46.3 73.4 1900 892
Devil's Fiddle, Killington 42.1 72.5 2277 976
Near Cathedral, Mt. Kathadin, ME 41.4 71.7 2904 1220
North Twin Slide 28.1 70.1 5069 1399
Upper Nosedive, Stowe 47.7 68.8 872 424
Upper Goat, Stowe 44.5 68.8 2152 971
South Baldface, NH (South Var.) 37.8 68.7 1833 704
Mt. Magalloway, NH 55.9 66.2 889 508
Lincoln's Chin, Haystack, NH 36.9 62.2 2472 928
Middle Hardscrabble, Cannon 40.7 61.5 1601 618
Deliverance, Jay Peak 47.5 61.2 1137 542
Braintree Gap, VT 15.2 33.5 3062 408
The Whitewall Line
Here it is again, with the highest Average Slope to the lowest:
 
Name Avg. Slope/% Max Slope/% Distance/ft Elev. Loss
Whitewall, NH 63.2 87.5 1318 864
The Flume, NH 62 74.9 1392 867
Lowell Mt. Slide, NH 59.8 93.4 1631 1029
North Tripyramid Slide, NH 59 77.3 1807 1090
Face Chutes, Jay Peak 56.5 73.9 691 392
Landslide Gully, NH 56.4 77.2 2904 1705
Mt. Magalloway, NH 55.9 66.2 889 508
The Chute, Tuckerman's, NH 52.5 73.6 1670 860
Osceola Slide, NH 51.4 78.3 1104 541
Hillman's Highway, NH 51.1 80.9 2491 1324
Hunger Mountain, VT 50.4 77.6 1158 595
The Headwall, Tuckerman's, NH 50.3 87.2 1333 736
Burt Ravine, NH 50.1 75.1 2357 1183
Percy Peak North, NH 50 78.6 1285 585
Left Gully, Tuckerman's, NH 47.9 84.1 1930 875
Upper Nosedive, Stowe 47.7 68.8 872 424
Deliverance, Jay Peak 47.5 61.2 1137 542
South Baldface, NH (North Var.) 46.3 73.4 1900 892
Ammo Ravine, NH 45.3 78 5386 2339
Upper Goat, Stowe 44.5 68.8 2152 971
Saddle Chute, Mt. Kathadin, ME 43.5 81.1 1802 846
Main Gully, Gulf of Slides, NH 42.9 75.1 2494 1114
Devil's Fiddle, Killington 42.1 72.5 2277 976
Near Cathedral, Mt. Kathadin, ME 41.4 71.7 2904 1220
Middle Hardscrabble, Cannon 40.7 61.5 1601 618
Mt. Cardigan Snowfields 39.3 76.4 1379 458
South Baldface, NH (South Var.) 37.8 68.7 1833 704
Lincoln's Chin, Haystack, NH 36.9 62.2 2472 928
North Twin Slide 28.1 70.1 5069 1399
Braintree Gap, VT 15.2 33.5 3062 408

North Twin

Mt. Magalloway

3 comments:

  1. Very cool. For anybody who wants these values in degrees, simply run an arctan on the slope %

    arctan(.632) for whitewall, for example

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pretty cool post. I'm going to start using this feature!

    ReplyDelete
  3. It is pretty fun to play around with it on crappy weather days like today. There's a pretty decent discussion of the feature (and its limitations and conversion to degrees) here: http://www.telemarktalk.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=73197

    ReplyDelete