9 Knobs Backcountry Ski Trail If you love nature and can ski, skiing the trees has got to be one of your favorite things to do. NorthRidge Backcountry Ski Area will help you satisfy that need. The ridge itself is a mile long, with a flat top punctuated by 9 knobs that project skyward, giving nice starting points for your run downhill through the trees. These knobs give this skiing experience its name: the 9 Knobs Backcountry Ski Area.
The vegetation on this ridge is almost entirely mature lodgepole pines, most over a foot in diameter, and nicely spaced 10 to 20 feet apart. Using computer technology, we know there are over 10,000 lodge poles in NorthRidge’s 380 acres, providing a lifetime of unique tree- skiing experiences.
How steep is 9 Knobs Backcountry and how long are the routes? Steepness ranges from so gentle that on powder days you’ll do some poling to adrenaline-rushing black diamonds. On average, the steepness averages about 10% to 12%,
which is at the low end of intermediate if the routes were groomed. Almost all the routes going down from the knobs have steep sections that average about 35% grade, which is at the low end on what are black diamond runs at most ski areas. The length of these ski routes is between about 1,000 feet to over 3,000 feet, meaning between about 50 turns per run to about 150, if your average turn radius is 20 feet, typical for tree skiing.
What about lifts? Simple, there are no lifts. This is backcountry, remember? The operator of NorthRidge will help you skin up the ridge by carefully packing the snow in select locations, mostly in areas used by the 5 Loops Ski/Bike Trail. Skin up; ski down. That is what backcountry skiing is all about.
9 Knobs Backcountry Ski Trail If you love nature and can ski, skiing the trees has got to be one of your favorite things to do. NorthRidge Backcountry Ski Area will help you satisfy that need. The ridge itself is a mile long, with a flat top punctuated by 9 knobs that project skyward, giving nice starting points for your run downhill through the trees. These knobs give this skiing experience its name: the 9 Knobs Backcountry Ski Area.
The vegetation on this ridge is almost entirely mature lodgepole pines, most over a foot in diameter, and nicely spaced 10 to 20 feet apart. Using computer technology, we know there are over 10,000 lodge poles in NorthRidge’s 380 acres, providing a lifetime of unique tree- skiing experiences.
How steep is 9 Knobs Backcountry and how long are the routes? Steepness ranges from so gentle that on powder days you’ll do some poling to adrenaline-rushing black diamonds. On average, the steepness averages about 10% to 12%, which is at the low end of intermediate if the routes were groomed. Almost all the routes going down from the knobs have steep sections that average about 35% grade, which is at the low end on what are black diamond runs at most ski areas. The length of these ski routes is between about 1,000 feet to over 3,000 feet, meaning between about 50 turns per run to about 150, if your average turn radius is 20 feet, typical for tree skiing.
What about lifts? Simple, there are no lifts. This is backcountry, remember? The operator of NorthRidge will help you skin up the ridge by carefully packing the snow in select locations, mostly in areas used by the 5 Loops Ski/Bike Trail. Skin up; ski down. That is what backcountry skiing is all about.
