Hike Ski Resort mountain: All of it!

[hikingfish]

Hi All,
Basically, it's a slow afternoon here at work, so I'd figured I'd post this Since we can't quite make it to the Adk / Whites anytime soon, a friend and I are planning on putting together a little home-made challenge which involves a ski resort mountain close to Quebec City (Mt Stoneham).

It has three small peaks (I believe the heights are 580m, 610m, and 630m). Since going up a ski slope is not that big of a challenge, I proposed to hike as much of the mountain as possible, using nearly all of the ski slopes. This will involve hiking the peaks a total of 10 times (3, 3 and 4 times respectively). And even though the elevation gain isn't that big, it would cummulate to a total of close to 4000m after the end of the day.

I was hoping to be able to do this without resupplying (food or water), but now that I think of it, one would have access to streams and such in real mountains, so we may allow ourselves to fill up on water.

We're planning this for mid-september, so it shouldn't be too hot.

Any thoughts?

Fish

 

[Raymond]

The weeds or flowers or whatever get pretty long by September, so you’ll probably find youself wading through chest-high flora. There are usually streams and other ditches on ski slopes, too, and they’ll be well-hidden by then, so watch your footing. And the slopes can be too steep to make descending fun.

You’d probably want to go on a cloudy day, too, as there won’t be much relief from the sun on the open slopes.

Maybe it would be better to wait until next spring. I climbed Loon Mountain in New Hampshire at the end of May on a misty day and it wasn’t unpleasant at all. The grass was short and I found $4.72 in change. Paid for 60-70 miles of my drive up.

 

[Waumbek]

Difficulty depends upon the ski slope and the mountain so I would not agree with a blanket statement about challenge. Ski trails are not designed as hiking trails. Recall the October 2005 fatality of a hiker who attempted to descend the difficult ski trail under the Cannon tramway. Also, some resorts prohibit hiking on ski trails, Cannon for the obvious good reason.

 

[DougPaul]

Difficulty depends upon the ski slope and the mountain so I would not agree with a blanket statement about challenge. Ski trails are not designed as hiking trails. Recall the October 2005 fatality of a hiker who attempted to descend the difficult ski trail under the Cannon tramway. Also, some resorts prohibit hiking on ski trails, Cannon for the obvious good reason.

Also as steep open slopes not hardened for foot traffic, they can be very prone to traffic-induced erosion.

Doug

 

[hikingfish]

The weeds or flowers or whatever get pretty long by September, so you’ll probably find youself wading through chest-high flora.

Hmm, I hadn't thought about that part. It's not that much of a big deal though, we'll just have to be more careful about where we put our feet down!

You’d probably want to go on a cloudy day, too, as there won’t be much relief from the sun on the open slopes.

True, but in September, the sun shouldn't be too hot anyways and the air starts to cool a bit.

Maybe it would be better to wait until next spring.

It's actually just a challenge to keep us motivated to train hard. We wouldn't want to drag it out all the way until next spring!

Fish