While Outer Limits is steeper and usually has bigger bumps, Devil’s Fiddle has no snowmaking and is rarely, if ever, groomed and can get pretty gnarly. Killington: At Killington, head to the Bear Mountain area to scope out Outer Limits and its next door neighbor, Devil’s Fiddle. On Okemo Mountain peak, be on the lookout for Nor’Easter, Outrage and the aptly-named Double Diamond. These long black-diamond trails drop almost 3,000 feet to the bottom of the Jackson Gore Express Quad, where you can loop these runs over and over. Okemo: While Okemo is not known for its steeps, some of the resort’s gnarliest terrain is located at the Jackson Gore Peak, where you can find trails like Big Bang, Rolling Thunder and Eclipse. After 500 vertical feet of that fun, Black Magic opens up into Black Line where you confront another cliff area and a steep face covering an added 800 feet of vertical drop. You can look forward to two major rock cliffs and a third major headwall with large rock features, and pine trees. Black Magic, under the chairlift, is only about 15 yards wide with 40- to 50-degree pitches at the upper section. Magic Mountain: One of southern Vermont’s smallest areas has some great terrain for advanced skiers and riders looking for a challenge. For a longer run, take the gondola to the summit for a fast, carving run down Upper and Lower Spruce to get to World Cup, a steeper bump run that was the site of the 1978 FIS moguls competition on the World Cup. Stratton: Stratton’s double black diamond selection includes Grizzly Bear, Bear Down and Upper Tamarack off of the Ursa Express lift. On icy days, be sure those edges are sharp! While Ripcord has large, unpredictable moguls, Freefall is steep and fast. Freefall and Ripcord, both located on the northern aspect, plunge down the fall line with pitches at 37 degrees. Mount Snow: At the southernmost mountain in Vermont, look to the North Face for the most challenging terrain. If you’re looking for bragging rights, look no further. On Vermont’s classic advanced terrain, bailout routes are few (if any) and the narrowness means there’s no stopping for turns. A few have pitches of up to 50-degrees and technical features that really ramp up the difficulty, including cliff bands, huge bumps, ice falls, narrow chutes and trees - but we’re not talking about skiing the woods, here, just the named trails on the trail maps. With names like Devil’s Fiddle, Ripcord, National, Goat, Rumble, Middle Earth, Black Magic and Black Hole, some of Vermont’s toughest trail names are as enticing as their terrain. Want to amp up the level of difficulty? We name the best trails for the thrill seekers.
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