Yeah I should have just jumped those, but the drop right afterwards was pretty intimidating so I didn't want to just launch from the small drop direct to the big.
I have been skiing in Kirkwood for years and about 3 years ago I became aware of this feature but couldn't find it. Then I saw another dude here (Spam Daley) show it and caught a glimpse of where it might be. Last weekend I thought I spotted it from chair 2 and watching this I'm pretty sure it's the ridge between the 1 & 2 man chutes. This weekend I'll poke around there, what could go wrong...
@@zerapio It's actually a bit lower down than that, and slightly closer to the cirque. If you zoom in to the top of the path in this fatmap link (fatmap.com/routeid/17927/@38.6685768,-120.0560504,663.5029651,-14.4775190,-166.9569074,2620.0241916,satellite) you can see the actual handrail feature directly to the right of the line. It is very easy to miss. I went by the first couple of times and didn't ID it until I was too far past it. I got there by taking Hell's Delight until I got to the clearing where it cuts back into Thunder Saddle proper. Then if you go slightly skiers right, you'll see that large tuft of trees coming up with a clearing to skiers right. Go directly to the right of that group of trees and you will suddenly see it there. Once you find it you will know.
@@aaronhoy1664 thanks a lot for the map and description. From the map I think that's what I was trying to describe but incorrectly attributed it to two-man chute because I saw the sign for it but still haven't gone there.
A big part of skiing is pushing the limits of your comfort zone and skiing over things that push the limits of your abilities. If you never even risk falling or scratching up your equipment then what are you even doing with your life? Skis can tolerate a fair bit of scraping with no noticeable effects, and can be repaired easily with PTEX. I don't want to die without any scars and I wouldn't want that for my skis either :)
lol there will always be haters. I'm very glad I did it and will certainly be back to do it again. You never get any better if you never try anything that you might fail on. 😂
Yeah I could have maybe gone around those little rocks to the left, but it was pretty narrow between them and the drop-off. In hindsight I should have just straight-lined them and then continued right into the final drop. There's always next year!
