Arapahoe Basin - Steep Gully #4 (SG-4)

Skiing the Steep Gullies. SG 4 starts at 2:00
The part before that might be useful for finding your way there from the Pali lift.
The walk back to the Pali takes about 20 minutes.
Video was taken on April 24, 2022

[@MsMsmak]

Sounds like New England after a thaw freeze cycle.

[@daneg]

the lighting conditions weren't so great (for the cam), but not being able to tell shallow covered rocks from ice freaked me out from behind my computer monitor! 😀

[@timizer1]

You would have more control if you steered with your tips instead of your tails!

[@austindobbins8957]

thanks for the tour 😊

[@coloradocamera]

The gullies, those are heady

[@saintrroy]

This Steep Gully seemed markedly steeper than your excellent video on 1st Notch, though the hike to 1st notch not exactly comfortable given the drop on the backside off the ride. What is your experiential opinion ? Because access to Steep Notch is easier than to chutes on the East Wall. Thx

[@allenskis]

Hard to really say about SG4 vs. 1st Notch as they are fairly close in difficulty. 1st Notch is certainly harder than some other upper east wall runs, like north pole and narrow north pole... When I skied it a few years ago it wasn't very rocky, but it was quite icy... I skied it twice this year and it was less icy but a lot more rocky. It can be hard to tell from the top how rocky it is. Steep Gully #4 and 1st Notch might be be pretty similar in difficulty, but it can be hard to figure out what the conditions are on the 1st Notch until you are actually skiing the run. If the rest of the east wall is icy, 1st notch probably is too, but 1st notch might be rocky even if north pole has plenty of snow. I think that is the hardest part about 1st notch. The conditions on SG-4 can vary as well, but skiing down some other pali runs will give you a decent sense of what the snow conditions are like - for example, you can do Pali to Gauthier without even needing to hike and the snow conditions there will probably be similar to the snow conditions on SG-4. SG-4 does frequently have mounds of heavy snow or patches of powder mixed with hard pack that almost border on moguls sometimes - this can make skiing SG-4 rather tiring (although the moguls tend to mostly be in the less steep lower section). In comparison, 1st notch rarely has heavy clumps of snow that cause fatigue.

[@darinsmith2458]

were they struggling on snow this year? i see they got fresh snow but i could see all the rocks underneath and i could see and hear all of the ice

[@vipahman]

Impressive! Are these chutes ever open during Christmas break?

[@allenskis]

I think it's usually a bit later in the season before the more extreme terrain opens - they don't make any snow for the double black diamonds and there are a lot of rocks that need to get covered up before the skiing is any good.

[@CraigFleming-bn8ey]

Practice

[@coloradocamera]

Are 5-8 closed now?

[@allenskis]

They were closed when I was there last weekend, but I'm not sure what the weather has done since then.

[@logionjaravana4733]

looks like a blue hill mate 🤣

[@PappyP]

Buddy. Go pros make things lot WAY less steep. If it looks even somewhat steep then its like a straight drop. The steep gullies are 45-50 degrees. You fall and you dont stop until youre at the bottom or all the way up ifykwim.

[@jackbarnhart7394]

my man grew up skiing el capitan