what's here
I like to take on challenges in my skiing, and we've got some in the
Mid-Hudson region.
A simple kind is to get someplace on skis (and back),
like from Minnewaska out to the Lake Awosting viewpoint. Or to ski a
whole route, like the trails all the way around the perimeter of the ski
center (or my favorite golf course) -- or even all the groomed ski
trails on the map. Another challenge is racing on skis, but that hasn't worked much for
me.
My favorite kind of challenge for skiing is to try to climb up a
hill. In the summertime I like doing that on a
bicycle or on inline-skates. And just like I can try different gears
on a bicycle, on skis I can change the challenge by restricting myself
to a special style or equipment -- more on that below.
These are approximate rough measures of the size and steepness of
each hill climb, listed in order of steepness. For more details see
further below, or follow link for each hill.
"v ft" = vertical feet of climbing
"2.5%" = steepness grade of 2.5%
Minnewaska: Castle Point --
500 v ft, avg 3%
Mohonk: Skytop -- 330 v ft, avg 3.5%
(or from Gatehouse 570 v ft)
Mohonk: Laurel Ledge -- 360 v ft,
avg 3%
-- inclu 180 v ft 6%
Fahnestock: Mt Laurel -- 150 v
ft, avg 6-7% -- some sections steeper
Mohonk: Guyot Hill -- 500-600 v ft,
avg 6-8%
High Point NJ: Steeny Kill
-- 275 v ft -- some might be steeper than 10%
Minnewaska: Lower Awosting
-- 770 v ft, avg 3.5% -- inclu 170 v ft 11%
Fahnestock: Hemlock Grove --
80 v ft -- I suspect some at 12-15%
Mohonk: Old Minnewaska Rd --
360 v ft, avg 7% -- inclu 130 v ft 12%
[ see also climbs up North ]
Different styles for accomplishing these climbs:
- A -- any way you can, as long as it's with skis on.
- B -- with no rest pauses along the way.
- C -- with some glide in every stride.
(Hikers and runners step up the hill. Downhill
skiers glide down the hill. The unique challenge for cross-country
skiers is to glide up the hill).
- D -- personal Time Trial.
Capture how much time it took you to climb it --
see how it compares the next time you do it. The problem with
using this approach for skiing is that the results can vary widely
due to snow conditions, more than from changes in your own effort
and technique.
Each kind of skiing equipment or technique offers a different
challenge:
- normal skating or classic striding with poles.
- no-poles skating or striding.
Not just a different challenge -- also can also be
excellent for developing technique.
- other:
? All poles (no leg-push)
? Pulling a child on a sleigh
? Two people climbing in tandem connected by a bungee cord
? etc.
Here's my list of hill challenges . . .
Warning: Many of
these hills include "Most Difficult" trails, advanced or expert
skiing terrain. Trying to ski down these hills can be dangerous.
Often it is less dangerous to go down a different way than you
climbed up. Sometimes just traveling to the bottom of the hill
can be dangerous. If you have any question about whether a trail or
the current snow conditions might not be suitable for your skills
and equipment, talk to the operators of the ski center.
Rewarding Hills (without getting real steep)
Climb from
the ski shop by the lake up to the Skytop tower and big view.
About 330 vertical feet (100 meters) of climbing
through a one-way distance of 1.8 miles (3 km). Average steepness
grade around 3.5%. This trail has been carefully designed to provide
a moderate route to an amazing viewpoint.
Gatehouse start: Longer and with a steeper section is to start from the Gatehouse
parking area on Mountain Rest Rd, and it requires taking skis off partway
up to cross a
road. About 570 vertical feet (175 meters) of climbing, including a
steeper section on Hemlock Lane, about 100 vertical feet at a
steepness grade of around 6%. Near the Gatehouse is a narrow section
with short climbs, then down to the end of the Whitney Rd. The main
climb starts with North Lookout Rd, then a sharp Left to climb
Hemlock Lane, take skis off to cross the road, sharp Right onto
Huguenot Drive, Left on Skytop Rd to the top.
From Lake Minnewaska, climb up the Castle Point
carriageway to Castle Point, for a grand view.
About 500 vertical feet (150 meters) of climbing
through a one-way distance of 3 miles (5 km). Average steepness
grade around 3%. This trail has been carefully designed to provide a
moderate route through dramatic terrain.
Warning: The route goes close to steep
drop-offs and cliffs in several places. Sliding or falling off the
trail could result in death.
Start from Rhododendron Bridge,
climb up Laurel Ledge Rd to Humpty Dumpty Rd to Short Woodland Rd to a
seat on the north side of the trail.
About 360 vertical feet (110 meters) of climbing
through a one-way distance of 2.5 miles (4 km). Average steepness
grade around 3%, but includes a long section at 6%. Starts gentle, gets
progressively steeper up to some gentle rollers through the amazing
rocks of the Humpty Dumpty section, then some more short climbs to
the top.
The "athletic" part is one section of about 180
vertical feet (55 meters) of climbing in about 0.6 mile (1 km), for
a steepness grade around 6%.
Optionally followed by the
ski shop to Skytop climb -- for a total
of about 700 vertical feet (215 meters) of climbing, through a
one-way distance of about 3 miles (5 km).
Get to Spring Farm Rd,
climb south, then turn Left onto Bonticou Rd and climb northeast,
then turn Right (south) onto Cedar Drive. Near the intersection with
Bonticou Rd, turn Right to climb up to the northern summit of Guyot Hill -- with a view down
over Bonticou crag (and most of the Mid-Hudson valley).
Depending on how low you start skiing, about
500-600 vertical feet (150-180 meters) of climbing through a one-way
distance of around 1.3-1.6 miles (2-2.5 km). Average steepness grade
around 6-8% -- with some sections steeper.
From the south, it's about 150 vertical feet (45
meters) of climbing up from the trail junction, through a one-way
distance of about 0.5 mile (0.75 km). Average steepness grade around
6-7%, with some sections steeper. (Also tough from the north.)
Ski clockwise on the Steeny
Kill trail, first long down, then long up.
Something like 275 vertical feet (85 meters) of
climbing. Substantial portions might be steeper than 10% grade. (So
maybe it's more than just "athletic" difficulty.)
Start from the bottom parking area (next to Rt
44), go southwest on Lower Awosting carriageway, gentle for about
2.5 miles (4 km), then a rather steep climb to the shore of Lake
Awosting. Continue climbing a short ways to the junction with Upper
Awosting road. Turn Right and climb a short ways to the viewpoint
above the lake, then lots more climbing to junction with the
Hamilton Point trail. Turn Left for still more climbing up to Castle
Point for a giant view over the Hudson Valley.
The steep section on Lower Awosting is about 170
vertical feet (50 meters) of climbing in not more than 0.3 mile -- I
think the steepness grade is around 11-12%. Actually that's beyond
"athletic" difficulty, up into the "animal" range. Make sure
you know how you're going to get back down safely before you climb
up it.
Total climbing about 770 vertical feet (235
meters) of climbing to Castle Point, through a one-way distance of
about 4.5 miles (7 km). Average steepness grade around 3.5% -- but
includes one section at 11-12%. (To climb up only to the
junction with Upper Awosting carriageway is about 500 vertical feet
/ 150 meters of climbing.)
Lack of snow where the trail passes under a
dramatic overhanging rock almost always requires removing skis at
least once near the top.
Warning: The route goes close to steep
drop-offs and cliffs in several places. Sliding or falling off the
trail could result in death.
From Canopus Lake, climb up through the Hemlock
Grove.
Total climbing is something like 80 vertical feet
(25 meters). I suspect some sections have a steepness grade of 15%
or more.
Not just very steep, but tricky terrain --
sometimes slanted, sometimes narrow.
Start from Rhododendron Bridge,
climb up Old Minnewaska Rd to Short Woodland to a seat on the north
side of the trail.
About 360 vertical feet (110 meters) of climbing
through a one-way distance of 0.9 mile (1.5 km). Average steepness
grade over 7%.
The "animal" part is one section of at least 130
vertical feet (40 meters) of climbing at a steepness grade around
12%.
Summary of Climbing Challenges
These are approximate rough measures of the size and steepness of
each climb or route.
"v ft" = vertical feet of climbing
"2.5%" = steepness grade of 2.5%
Prospect Mt:
perimeter + Mountain Trail -- more than 700 v ft -- with steep
sections
Prospect Mt:
downhill
trail system -- 500-570 v ft, avg >15% -- sections over 20%
Garnet Hill:
regular -- 600 v ft, avg 3% or less -- inclu some 5%
Garnet Hill: extra shots
-- 830 v ft -- inclu 220 v ft 11%, 150 v ft 7%, + other steeps
Mt Van Ho: Olympic
15km -- 1565 v ft -- several 150-230 v ft 7%, sections >10%
Details
rated "Animal" -- tougher because the Mountain
Trail has narrow sections. I'd guess the vertical difference between
the ski center base lodge and the top of the old ski lift is
something around 550 vertical feet (170 meters). But the route given
here has extra hills that make the total climbing larger.
Start by skiing counter-clockwise around the
perimeter of the groomed ski trails: From the base lodge out to the
Beaver Pond loop, then Duke's Loop and Chickadee (the hard way),
then Catamount to Workout to near junction 8. Take
Hill 2290 to Sling Shot to the Mountain Trail to the high trail
junction 21, then Left up the last steep section to the top of the
old ski lift at the top of the "downhill trail system".
Could make the distance much shorter, and include
a much steeper climb, by starting near junction 8, directly up the
Hill 2290 trail.
Warning: This climb is only for
skiers with expert downhill skills in good snow conditions. We do
not know any gentle or moderate route down from the top. If not sure about
descent routes or snow conditions, ask the ski center operators
before trying this climb.
I do not know what to advise for how to get back
down from the top. I have never skied down the Mountain Trail
(though I've climbed up it twice). The trails in the "Downhill Trail
System" have sections much steeper than the Mountain Trail, but are
often much wider. When I was there in January 2006, some or all of
the other trails up high had not been groomed recently.
rated "Alien Animal": Prospect Mountain has trails
much steeper than the Mountain Trail. The trail map we
received on January 2006 includes trails rated "Expert", in an an
area labeled "Downhill Trail System". These climbs go from the base
of the main mountain near the ski shop and restaurant up to the top
of mountain and the top of the line of old ski-lift towers.
I think the trail way to the northeast side
(toward the Left while looking up from the base) is a bit less steep
than some trails more in the center closer to the old ski-lift
towers.
about 500-570 vertical feet (150-175 meters) of
climbing. Average steepness grade 15% or more. Long sections with
steepness grades around 20% or more, sometimes could get to 25%
grade. (Note that 25% is a slope angle of 14 degrees. Many active
downhill ski centers have most-difficult black-diamond trails which
are twice as steep.)
Though much steeper than the Mountain Trail, most
of these trails for most of their length are also much wider than
the Mountain Trail. But
when I was on one of those "Downhill Trail System" trails in January
2006, only a narrower part in the center had been groomed, and
that much less recently than most of the "regular" cross-country ski
trails outside the "Downhill Trail System".
Warning: These climbs are only for
skiers with expert downhill skills in good snow conditions. We do
not know any gentle or moderate route down from the top. If not sure about
descent routes or snow conditions, ask the ski center operators
before trying any of these climbs.
From Rogers Rd bus pick-up to the the Log
House (or could declare victory at the Ski Shop).
rated "Athletic". I think something like 600
vertical feet (180 meters) to the Log House through a distance of
around 4 miles (6.5 km) -- depends on the exact route. I think the
average steepness grade is a bit less than 3%.
I give it an "athletic" rating for how long it
goes, and for some sections in the 5% range.
rated "Animal". Total is something like 830
vertical feet (250 meters) of climbing, through a one-way distance
of likely not more than 5 miles (8 km). I think the average
steepness grade is a bit more than 3% -- so what makes it hard is
the steeper sections . . .
Skullbuster Hill is about 220 vertical feet (67
meters) at a steepness grade of around 11%. The initial climb up
from Rogers Rd is over 150 vertical feet (45 meters) with much at a
steepness grade around 7%.
Start from Rogers Rd bus pick-up, climb up to
Sugar House, down a little to Solitude trail for at least two steep climbs,
then rolling on Bobcat Run, and down a little to Skullbuster Hill (long steep
climb), then to the Ski Shop, and finally up to the Log House.
rated "Animal" -- the course includes virtually
all the tough hills on Porter Mt, East Mt, Hi Notch, Ladies 5K.
Several climbs of 150-230 vertical feet (45-71 meters) with
steepness in range of 6-8%, with sections over 10%.
Route -- Find
a map of the route on the wall of the base lodge -- or
see this description.
Total climbing is 1565 vertical feet
(477 meters), through a loop distance of 9.3 miles (15 km). I give
it the "animal" rating for the length and steepness of some of the
climbs -- and for the number of those tough climbs.
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