RUN STATS:
Run Name: Hell's Delight
Location: Kirkwood
Rating: ♦♦ (Double Black)
My Personal Rating Opinion: ♦♦ (Double Black)
Lift Taken: Sunrise (Chair 4)
Maximum Pitch: 41 degrees
Run Type: Chute
Run Length: 1.2 mi.
Total Vertical Drop: 1,420 feet
Run Aspect: North
SNOW CONDITIONS: Mostly soft packed powder
DATE OF RECORDING: March 26, 2024
DESCRIPTION:
Hell's Delight is an ultra steep chute located next to the boundary of The Cirque at Kirkwood. Getting here can seem a bit unintuitive at first, but isn't too bad once you figure it out. Essentially, start off with the traverse which can be found looker's right of the Sunrise lift. Take this traverse all the way to Larry's Lip and the Cirque boundary. Keeping the boundary line in sight, follow the rope until you reach the first opening that isn't closed off (as I did in the video). Then traverse skier's left until you reach the top of the chute. Hell's Delight is more of an area than a specific run and there are several other entrances further down. While these entrances aren't as steep as the main chute in this video, they're definitely more technical.
Like The "Y" at Heavenly, Hell's Delight was another run that really stumped me when I was trying to progress into more big-mountain terrain. When I first tried this run in 2022, it was so steep for me that I had to bypass the chute at 1:24 by heading skier's right onto a traverse over a cliff. I didn't really know how to turn on terrain this steep and was just completely out of my league with this run.
The main chute itself starts off relatively mellow but quickly steepens towards the middle. On lower snow years, this choke can be a lot more narrow and technical. Luckily, since this video was filmed in March, the chute had widened significantly, although it was still extremely steep. Luckily the snow quality throughout the entire run was absolutely fantastic. Once you clear this main chute, the hardest part of the run is over and the run mellows out temporarily. The run steepens once again around 2:35ish. This section is usually much rockier, however, due to the ample coverage it was nicely filled out. From here, Hell's Delight merges onto the epic second half of Thunder Saddle which was a nice place to catch my breath and enjoy some fun turns all the way to Devil's Corral. Lapping Hell's Delight, and all the runs in the Thunder Saddle and Soul Searcher zones, is definitely a bit of a pain since you have to take both Chair 2 and Chair 4. However, this terrain is some of my favorite at Kirkwood so for me at least, it's well worth it.
Just like The "Y", Hell's Delight was such a fun run to come back and try 2 years later after I've become a far better skier. I really enjoyed my run and this terrain is now one of my new favorites at Kirkwood. Even though I definitely skied far better this time around, I'll still say that this run ranks up there with the most challenging that I've done. I didn't alter Hell's Delight's position on my hardest runs list which is a testament to its difficulty. I would go as far as saying that this is the hardest double black diamond trail at Kirkwood (although, I haven't tried the remaining chutes looker's left of Hell's Delight. From looks alone, they don't look nearly as challenging but I'll reserve judgement until I try them). I highly recommend this run to any expert looking for a really fun way to exit the backside of Kirkwood at the end of the day, it's definitely one of the most exhilarating and enjoyable chutes I've skied at the resort!
PERSONAL ENJOYMENT RATING: 9/10
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Intro
0:05 - 2022 Attempt
0:16 - Title Card
0:21 - Larry's Lip Traverse
0:32 - Larry's Lip
0:47 - Hell's Delight
2:55 - Lower Thunder Saddle
3:53 - Devil's Corral
EXTERNAL LINKS:
Skiing Bucket List: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Double Black Diamond Runs I've Done: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Негізгі бет Hell's Delight - Kirkwood [4K]
Пікірлер: 5