Kirkwood Expert Skiing
Kirkwood’s expert skiing is on par with anywhere in North America. The best area is accessed from chairs #6 and 10 and Thunder Saddle (off chair #4) while the toughest skiing is Look Out Janek; Steep and Deep Wagon Wheel Bowl and Thunder Saddle.For powder it has to be Palisades Bowl, Wagon Wheel Bowl, Thunder Saddle and Fawn Ridge. For advanced or expert skier the classic route really depends on the weather and conditions. Powder days are totally different than non-powder days and there are many powder days at Kirkwood.
On a non-powder day perhaps take a few warm- up runs on chair #11 (Wagon Trail and Conestoga). Next head to chair #6 and ski Sentinel Bowl, Olympic, and Monte Wolfe. When conditions are good off-piste, go for Lost Cabin and over to Rabbit Runs. After a few laps on each of these trails head to chair #10 and look for the best lines from the chair. The Wall, Eagle Bowl, and Norm’s Nose are all popular trails. Finally make your way over to the backside and take a few trails off chair #4 before heading in via Thunder Saddle.
Boundaries are open at management’s discretion and there is unlimited expert terrain accessible. Wagon Wheel Bowl from the top of the cornice (accessed by chair #6 or chair #10) offers steep terrain, which funnels into narrow chutes. Chamoix from chair #6 is a narrow, steep chute. If you continue to explore right of Chamoix, there is a series of great steep pitches with often some of the best snow (no sun exposure). There are numerous snow-filled steep chutes in the Thunder Saddle area, the toughest being Hell’s Delight (right along the Cirque boundary line).