Skip to main content

Worlds Best Ski Runs: top 100 via CNN Alpine Edge


As it happens I can only claim 3 on this list.

No 60, Curnius, Laax, Switzerland




 

Laax -- long runs, high quality.
Pro skier Chris McCormick cites No 60 as one of his favorites.
"This is because of how long the run is, but every feature is of really high quality," he says.
Watch out for: Sudden changes in grade.
Rating: Red
LOOONNNNNG runs some of them. On the day we were there we skied down through 3 distinct thermal zones. Up near the top of one run we start just above 2400m and ski down to 1600m.  At the top is very crisp powder and pack powder, toward the middle we got into some crud, corduroy, and corn snow. The very bottom was like skiing on a slurpee. Ride two lifts back up on and right back into the pack powder.
This bowl is nearly 250 degrees skiable. From here down to the lift in the very center of picture with no traversing a few degrees of fall line brings us right there.
 LAAX is an expansive area. The Flims-Laax-Falera ridge line will definitely take some serious time to traverse. We had the misfortune of parking closer to Falera once then finding ourselves on the Flims side of the valley as the lifts started closing. Some tricky traverses and a little bit of off-piste skiing took us only as far as the village of Laax and then a bus back to the car.




 laax.com

43. Rambo, Crested Butte, Colorado

I was there but predating my digital camera and StringGirl by a long shot. Back in 1996 went there with my now wife then girlfriend. She did not brave RAMBO but my fraternity brother and I did. Most memorable part of that run. I did 2/3rd of it with a ski on my shoulder. He had a yardsale after 4 turns and I brought his gear down to where the sliding stopped more than halfway down.
Once you commit to this 300-meter run with a 55-degree pitch, there's no going back.
For steep terrain, it's one of the best runs in the United States.
Watch out for: Other skiers and snowboarders. It gets crowded.
Rating: Double black diamond
skicb.com

18. Rotegg, Titlis, Engelberg, Switzerland

 I have mixed feelings about Titlis. I have been there probably the second most times of any swiss resort. It is reasonably close to Zurich and offers some great terrain at very nice elevations. EVERY single time I have been there the weather in Zurich was the worst. Two of the four times the mountain and glacier were great, and two of the times disastrous.
Dynastar World Cup Ski Racer Dominique Gisin loves the first run he ever skied.
"My favorite slope in the world is called Rotegg and it's part of my home ski area, Titlis in Engelberg," says Gisin. "It's the first black slope I skied as a kid. It's a steep and impressive couloir that connects the glacier to the rest of the ski area.
"There are big bumps all over the place. I think that's why I was never that impressed with all the tough courses in World Cup."
Watch out for: Local speed demons.
It is the fall back if the snow is falling at the lower elevations as the only show in town for skiing without a 4 hour train ride from Zurich.

This day the skiing above 2200m was good, the snow was really falling below, Rottegg is 90 degrees off camera to right 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hints for the Geocache Hidden in Zurich

GeoCaching is a global game for users of GPS devices. A global treasure hunt with millions of hidden locations, and a multinational following. www.geocaching.com  is where you can go to play as well. I have placed my first in Zurich. It is a mystery cache, so the players will have to locate clues along the way to solve a puzzle for the location. View Larger Map  Puls ? How many films play here? View Larger Map Did you take a tram to EscherWyss? Which one? View Larger Map How many containers tall is the Freitag tower? this is just one of their locations,  AKT Get GeoCaching swag: travel bugs GPS units Super magnets Search for Travel Deals What does the cache look like? Maybe one more hint . an obscure view standing near the cache.
Post a Comment
Read on >>

Moonrise Kingdom, a cozy craft beer bar in Tokyo-Shinjuku

Craft Brewing is not what normally comes to mind when people ask about Japan. They'll ask if you like raw fish (there is more to Japanese cuisine than Sashimi or Sushi), or they'll comment about Sake (there is more than just rice wine in Japan); but if you look, you will definitely find some. Our recent trip to Tokyo, this April just after the Sakura had been swept away by rain :-( we were able to find a perfectly suitable refuge for the Craft Beer Lover.  Moonrise Kingdom(via their Instagram) StringGrrl with one of the NEIPA/Hazy IPA on tap from Japanese Craft Breweries As a treat, the owners shared an American Milk Stout from Left Hand Brewing out of Colorado Local ExPat who gave up their stool to make room for StringGrrl and Kam Carryout beer from Kyoto Brewing Company, Vertere
Post a Comment
Read on >>

Brewery Tour by Canoe: Boardman Lake, Traverse City, MI

 Boardman Lake is smack-dab downtown in Traverse City, MI. Easily accessible from the lake are three, maybe even four breweries. Local kayak liveries have scheduled tours to kayak and bike to several local breweries and taprooms. So on this August Sunday, StringGrrl and I decided that we should make the tour ourselves.  Coffee first! It would be irresponsible to embark on day drinking un-caffeinated Boardman Lake Trail Bridge and entry to the River There is a free public launch in Hull Park, just behind the Traverse Area Public Library. Parking adequate for up to 5 cars and up to 5 trucks with trailers, right near the launch and more parking elsewhere in the park made for an easy launch that morning. We paddled our way into the river first to have a coffee while drifting through town. Ideally, one should be able to portage the canoe past the dam and connect directly into Grand Traverse Bay, but construction near the dam made that portage just inconvenient enough that StringGrr...
Post a Comment
Read on >>