The tyranny of ski’s vertical drop…

In recent years, and with the advent of ski resorts apps, vertical drop has become the new hot pursuit for many skiers. It’s no longer “Didn’t I ski the zipper on these moguls?” or “I had face-shots all morning long…”, but “I’ve just clocked 27,421 vertical feet today!” 

This is to the point that some skiers whom I know very, very well will take some serious risk to reach their daily dose of vertical thrill some days. Could be dangerous, right? Then, there are some huge differences between vertical and vertical. 

Yes, it all depends on what’s being skied. Terrain, snow quality, grooming or lack thereof, deep snow, etc. I surmise that skiing two runs on Thaynes non-stop, my favorite steep ski run at Park City (vertical 856 feet) in bumpy and irregular snow conditions, is worth at least 10 Apex (vertical 1,780 ft) at the resort’s Canyon side, non-stop too, but on a perfectly groomed slope. That’s more than 10 times the nominal, total vertical. 

This means that next time someone tells you “I skied 25,000 feet on such and such groomed run” you can easily divide that number by 10 to equate the work it represents to see the equivalent on much rougher and steeper terrain. 

Finally, there are the “Vertical Snobs”. Let me explain; one day, this winter I was stuck on a broken down chairlift for one hour with 5 other passengers. 

My neighbor was a 50 something lady who not only complained that she was stuck 25 feet up in the air, but that Park City was a terrible ski resort because it had just a 3,100 vertical drop to offer, compared to Whistler-Blackcomb (5,280’), Jackson Hole (4,139’), Snowmass at Aspen (4,406’) ot even Telluride (3,845’). 

I tried to tell her that there was much more to great skiing than an impressive number of vertical feet, but she wouldn’t have any of it. Sure, Whistler and its impressive drop often only offers rain at its base while the good snow can only be found at its very top, but that wouldn’t change her mind. That’s right, too much focus on vertical drop far away, always ends up spoiling the very best skiing available nearby...