Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Skiing in Ohio?

It's true, there is skiing in Ohio. One of the areas (there are more than one?!?) is only an hour's drive from Dayton, where I will be for the next two weeks. Here are some of the "features" of Mad River Mountain Ski Area, taken verbatim from it's website:
  • 144 Ski-able/Ride-able acres
  • 1,460-foot mountain elevation
  • 300-foot vertical drop (this is a feature?!?)
  • 2 Lodges, The Mad River Lodge and The Timberline Lodge, with kitchens and restrooms
  • Indoor/outdoor picnic areas
  • Learning Center
  • National Ski Patrol
  • NEW Beginner Terrain Park
  • 7,000 gallons of water is pumped up the hill per minute, bringing you the best quality snow available
First off, I'm pretty sure most every standard definition of a "mountain" puts the lower limit at 2,000ft. Second, they only managed to harness 300ft of that, yet they have an express quad and even claim to have advanced runs:



Ok, the double blacks are terrain parks, and it's in Ohio. I'm sure the rating system is no less inflated than here in SoCal where damn near everything at Baldy was rated a double black (for the record, I always that that the second diamond was earned with the presence of couloirs, cliffs, or slopes above 40 degrees, but I guess that's just my opinion).

Also according to the website, this area gets an average annual snowfall of 36". That's thirty six inches. Per year. Total.

My intrepid labmate Dan and I feel that we just have to go to this place. It is a moral imperative.

5 comments:

  1. Edit: 40% (where 100% = 45 degrees), not 40 degrees. So basically you just need a slope greater than 18 degrees to call it a black diamond.

    But have fun! Practice skiing backwards.

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  2. Yeah, but for a double black? 18 degrees isn't particularly steep.

    Actually, I may try snowboardeing.

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  3. I think the "steepest" developed run is 38 degrees. Squaw claims the Palisades are the steepest in-bounds riding there is (http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27483) but I've riden them and I bet anything off the ridges of Alpine are at least as steep.

    But who gives a shit.

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  4. No way, I know I've skied on inbounds runs steeper than 38, and at many different places. At that link they claim there are 70 degree pitches on the Palisades (definitely looks like more than 38 to me).

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