The World's Steepest Ski Runs
15 marked runs that scare good skiers: how steep they really get, what makes them hard and how many of our members have fallen on them. Been there? Tell us if you fell, and send a photo that shows the slope.
#1
Big Couloir
Big Sky, United States
It starts at 50° right below the summit of Lone Peak.
#2
Corbet’s Couloir
Jackson Hole, United States
You have to drop off a cornice, about 3 to 6 m depending on snow, into a narrow slot between rock walls.
#3
Gamsleiten 2
Obertauern, Austria
The slope starts at the highest point of the resort, 2313 m, and reaches a 1:1 pitch.
#4
Kandahar (Freier Fall)
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
The Freier Fall section is the steepest pitch on the World Cup downhill circuit.
#5
Streif (Mausefalle)
Kitzbuhel, Austria
The Mausefalle comes seconds after the start.
#6
Swiss Wall (Pas de Chavanette / Le Mur Suisse)
Champéry, Switzerland
You enter through a narrow notch at about 40° and look straight down a long mogul wall.
#7
Grand Couloir
Courchevel, France
You start along a ridge track about 2 m wide with drops on both sides, then turn into a rocky couloir.
#8
Langer Zug (ski route 215)
Lech Zürs, Austria
This narrow gully hits 80% in its upper third.
#9
Harakiri (piste 34)
Mayrhofen, Austria
This is often called Austria's steepest groomed piste.
#10
Le Tunnel
Alpe d’Huez, France
You reach it through a 200 m tunnel cut through the rock.
#11
Tenbo Course (Happo-one)
Hakuba, Japan
This short, south-facing wall below Usagidaira is the steepest marked course at Happo-one, averaging 30° and reaching 37°.
#12
Goat (Front Four)
Stowe, United States
This narrow, twisting trail on Mount Mansfield has ledges, boulders and frozen water flows.
#13
Tortin (Chassoure–Tortin itinerary)
Verbier, Switzerland
The face is wide and north-facing, and it builds large moguls for most of the season.
#14
La Face de Bellevarde
Val d’Isere, France
It stays steep for almost 1000 vertical metres, so your legs get no rest.
#15
Olimpia delle Tofane (Tofana Schuss)
Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
The Schuss is a narrow chute between two rock walls near the top.
Questions
What is the steepest ski run in the world?
Of the marked in-bounds runs we track, Big Couloir in Big Sky is the steepest, with a maximum gradient of about 119% (50°). Off-piste couloirs can be steeper, but they are not marked runs.
What is the difference between gradient in percent and in degrees?
A 100% gradient means the slope drops one metre for every metre forward, which is 45°. Percent grows much faster than degrees near the top of the scale: 70% is about 35°, 50% is about 27°. Resorts like to quote percent because the number sounds bigger.
How steep is a normal black run?
Most black runs in the Alps peak somewhere between 40% and 60% (roughly 22° to 31°). The runs on this list go well beyond that, usually over 35° on their steepest pitch.
Gradients are the steepest short pitch of each run, as published by the resort or measured by independent sources. Sources often disagree by a few percent, and each run page lists the ones we used.