Mountain Layout—Skiing

Here is a larger, more detailed trail map.

Expert, Advanced: Experts, advanced skiers and riders, this is your mountain. Even without riding the Golden Eagle Express Gondola to the 7,700-foot top of the main peak, there are black-diamond runs to the bottom. The Pioneer double chair, at the head of the parking lot, gets you to all the serious lower-mountain runs. A good warm-up is Race Place. It’s the longest of the lower runs and is normally groomed. Bumpsters will want to drop into Pioneer right under the lift. The trail map of the higher peaks can be misleading, since most of the terrain is unnamed. The marked trails are merely “suggestions” to guide you. Turn right or left as you get off the gondola and drop into whichever bowl beckons. These were heliskiing runs with steep headwalls before the gondola was built. To the left is Bowl Over, reached by tight trees off CPR Ridge, the Flying Dutchman, or by hiking up to Terminator Peak. To the right of the gondola is Crystal Bowl. When heading to the bottom, steer skier’s left of the chair to avoid It’s a Ten cat track, hooking up instead with several single-diamond trails that drop you off right at the parking lot, or blue cruisers that dump out at the base lodge. When heading to the hike-to terrain, check in with ski patrol, ask about conditions and tell them where you’re going. Rescues off the higher peaks can be harrowing because of cliffs. [TOP]

Intermediates: Intermediates can take any lift to access good terrain. To get into Bowl Over, take Sluiceway from the top of the gondola. It veers left as you get off the lift, follows a gentle ridge and then descends into Bowl Over. Continuing past treeline, the run becomes Knee Deep, aiming back toward the gondola, eventually joining It’s a Ten. As you glide along It’s a Ten, you have a choice of four blue runs to the bottom, plus a few blacks and a few greens. If you want to stay up on the higher mountain for several runs, enter Crystal Bowl from the top of the gondola. You can do laps in Crystal Bowl off the Stairway to Heaven lift. [TOP]

Beginner, First-timer: Beginners have a way down from all of the lifts except Stairway to Heaven. You can get on the gentler part of It’s a Ten from the top of the Catamount quad chair, or simply go down Big Ben, where you’ll find a slew of green trails going in all directions. All the terrain off Catamount is gentle and delightful. After some warm-up runs here, confident beginners can take the gondola to the top and ski down the longest run on the mountain—the 10-km.-long cat track It’s a Ten. Check to see if it’s been groomed before you go. First-timers will not want to do that. Instead, stay on the Pony Express carpet until you’re feeling comfortable enough to try some longer trails off the Catamount quad. The lift’s new midstation makes it easier for novices to work their way up to longer trails. [TOP]