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November, 2024

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Cirque (kirkwood)

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thatoneguyattyrol
Posts: 1497 - Karma: 14
do they really only open this for the freeskiing comp at the end of march?

Can you hike it? Do they throw you out if you do?
Nov 26 2005 8:50PM
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skimack
Posts: 2458 - Karma: 33
if you poach that, ski patrol will eat your soul, it's that simple, same thing at squaw.
Nov 26 2005 8:58PM
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thatoneguyattyrol
Posts: 1497 - Karma: 14
why not just mark it as out of bounds and let people with proper equipment and training take their own risks?

Come on now, it has to just eat at you on an epic powder looking at some of those lines knowing you cant hit em am I right?
Nov 26 2005 9:12PM
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skimack
Posts: 2458 - Karma: 33
because things don't work that way in the wonderful free land that we call America.
Nov 26 2005 9:15PM
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thatoneguyattyrol
Posts: 1497 - Karma: 14
ok, so the best terrain in tahoe is strictly off limits. LAME
Nov 26 2005 9:27PM
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Alpinestheshiz
Posts: 80 - Karma: 15
yep welcome to corporate america with the huge land of liabilities and people suing eachother, if they had it as OB and take it at your own risk, un doubtly stupid ass gaypers from san fran would hit it up and give the ski patrol more then they could handle. The wood's got ALOT of in-bounds gnar to keep it real tho.
Nov 26 2005 10:00PM
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zackskis
Posts: 482 - Karma: 11
the cirque is officially the gnarliest thing i have ever seen its just a big ass rock that has death written all over it. speaking of k wood, how gnarly is the white pole on the wall chair lift?
Nov 26 2005 10:12PM
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4skizzle
Posts: 2384 - Karma: 10
I think it's mostly California...I'm not 100% sure but I think in Colorado and Utah they're a little more liberal with how they mark their terrain.
Nov 26 2005 11:16PM
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thatoneguyattyrol
Posts: 1497 - Karma: 14
in colorado you go at your own risk, and if avy rescue has to send the chopper to rescue you......then you get the bill.

How it should be ya know? You break it, you buy it...with your checkbook or worse.
Nov 26 2005 11:49PM
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4skizzle
Posts: 2384 - Karma: 10
i hear that...

i think in 'the hit list' they were talking about how liberal the resorts are in europe...must be nice.
Nov 26 2005 11:51PM
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thatoneguyattyrol
Posts: 1497 - Karma: 14
in europe, or the alps for that matter, the chair lift is considered an access point to the hike ahead......
Nov 27 2005 1:14AM
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Alpinestheshiz
Posts: 80 - Karma: 15
ya zack that white pole on the top of the wall is the gnarliest thing known to man, remember when the lift stopped at it in the wind...sketch...even better zack remember the trip when we went to kirkwood and that chik almost fell off the lift as it was leaving and she was hanging off and it lifted up her shirt and we could see her tits? we were like 15 then it was rad everyone in line started to cheer. good memories for sure haha
Nov 27 2005 1:45AM
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Scottness
Posts: 1123 - Karma: 10
I know that I'll get torched for this, but you should get a bc pass from either Dodge Ridge or Bear Valley. The resorts suck on the whole, but there is some stuff out of bounds that is intense and pretty easily accessible. Bear Valley is on the backside of Kirkwood pretty much (you can see one peak from the other). When I used to board, we hiked some stuff that was pretty shreddy.
Nov 27 2005 5:06PM
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freeskierdave
Posts: 105 - Karma: 10
dude, Jamie and Zack we need a kirkwood trip this year. We've had damn good times there.
Nov 27 2005 9:51PM
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thatoneguyattyrol
Posts: 1497 - Karma: 14
how much?
Nov 27 2005 9:54PM
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S.Harkins
Posts: 645 - Karma: 373
circue is to gnar for most people on this site let alone the gaper crowds from the bay - i hiked the cirque after they closed last year - so steep and lots of rocks. i wish it was open but then it wouldnt be what it is today
Nov 28 2005 2:31AM
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SnowMedic
Posts: 2132 - Karma: 25
Bear Valley is on the backside of Kirkwood pretty much (you can see one peak from the other).

To bad it is not even near kirkwood other wise it would be one of the Tahoe resorts, it is a yupie resort for the bay area.
If you want skiing like the cirque go out to the left of chair 4 and start hiking toward emigrant lake. There are some great chutes and then if you go further there is some of the best skiing in the Sierras
Nov 28 2005 5:13PM
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Scottness
Posts: 1123 - Karma: 10
dude...go look at a map (they're like less than 10 miles from each other). And yuppy, no. Tahoe takes the cake for that. I'm just saying that the BC stuff around there is incredible. Plus there is some snowmo' access about 10 miles past Dodge that has good terrain for booters. Get your facts !!!
Nov 28 2005 6:59PM
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PacificRimJob
Posts: 24725 - Karma: 29,948
Yuppie? are you serious? they are barely even corperately owned. no highspeed quads whatsoever, and most of the people there are from stockton or arnold or something. Thats like saying Homewood up at tahoe is yuppie...

as for being close to each other, sure.. they are close physically, but if you tried to walk between them thru the moklumne wilderness, its more like 40 miles thru all that terrain and stuff. not to mention the rocks and gnarly stuff in the valley.

I wouldnt trust going out into the wilderness to do backcountry, beacons dont work as well back in there and its way harder to find you because its so desolate. Try places like the Tahoe backcountry in and around donner pass. some of that shit is the gnarliest crap you will ever see. C.R. Johnson will back me up on that one...
Dec 17 2005 1:30AM
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thatoneguyattyrol
Posts: 1497 - Karma: 14
im stoked to check out donner pass with some of you all....is it a hitchhike pass or how do you access?
Dec 17 2005 8:59AM
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PacificRimJob
Posts: 24725 - Karma: 29,948
backcountry in donner pass is really fun, all that shit drains down into where the cabins are by donner lake, but I would only go down there if there was absolutly prestine conditions, it can get pretty sketchy at times.
Dec 18 2005 12:44AM
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feezy
Posts: 2022 - Karma: 23
yuppie.
yeah right.
its almost as trashy as dodge.
squaw is pretty yuppie from what i hear...
Dec 22 2005 2:31PM
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tahoearmada20
Posts: 972 - Karma: 357
the Cirque is open game once the ski area closes. We got some nice lines in there this past May. Long hike, but worth it...
Dec 22 2005 5:06PM
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SnowMedic
Posts: 2132 - Karma: 25
You might not get a chance to ski it this year if this crapy weather continues.
Dec 23 2005 12:55AM
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WoFIowz
Posts: 9791 - Karma: 72,406
Genuinely curious about this place. Has it always been off limits or only after lots of avalanches and deaths from falls? Not saying I could ski it but I'm sure plenty of you on here could.
Nov 23 2021 6:33AM
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profa_212
Posts: 8946 - Karma: 36,426
HypeBeastGenuinely curious about this place. Has it always been off limits or only after lots of avalanches and deaths from falls? Not saying I could ski it but I'm sure plenty of you on here could.


I mean I wouldn't doubt that wayyy back in the day it may have been open. But I've never heard of it. Pretty much only open during season when they used to do the FWT 5* stop there. And after the resort closes it "opens".

Shits buck
Nov 24 2021 2:27AM
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BrandoComando
Posts: 1486 - Karma: 18,758
HypeBeastGenuinely curious about this place. Has it always been off limits or only after lots of avalanches and deaths from falls? Not saying I could ski it but I'm sure plenty of you on here could.


Oldest article I could find about it. It's been permanently closed since at least 2001. I'm sure it's for safety more than anything. Unless you 100% know the route down, it's pretty easy to fall off a cliff, let alone all the newbies who go up Wagon Wheel and end up shitting their pants at the top of the Wall. The resort doesn't want that liability.

https://www.skimag.com/uncategorized/the-cirque-kirkwood/


Some good photos from when it was a stop on the 2013 Freeride World Tour. The lower half of the cirque can be accessed via Hell's Delight, Thunder Saddle, or Eagle Bowl. There are some really fun spine lines between the chutes on the left side of the first photo. Youtube also has vids from the FWT and 4* qualifiers. It's a cool spot. I'm jelly Prof got a chance to ski it

http://www.xgames.com/xgames/gallery/8996873/image/1/the-cirque
Nov 24 2021 1:51PM
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WoFIowz
Posts: 9791 - Karma: 72,406
BrandoComandoOldest article I could find about it. It's been permanently closed since at least 2001. I'm sure it's for safety more than anything. Unless you 100% know the route down, it's pretty easy to fall off a cliff, let alone all the newbies who go up Wagon Wheel and end up shitting their pants at the top of the Wall. The resort doesn't want that liability.

https://www.skimag.com/uncategorized/the-cirque-kirkwood/


Some good photos from when it was a stop on the 2013 Freeride World Tour. The lower half of the cirque can be accessed via Hell's Delight, Thunder Saddle, or Eagle Bowl. There are some really fun spine lines between the chutes on the left side of the first photo. Youtube also has vids from the FWT and 4* qualifiers. It's a cool spot. I'm jelly Prof got a chance to ski it

http://www.xgames.com/xgames/gallery/8996873/image/1/the-cirque


The whole right half (skiers left) doesn't look awful. Left half looks gnarly. Pictures make stuff look easy tho but looks like plenty of lines and traversable options to me
Nov 24 2021 2:07PM
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betz
Posts: 250 - Karma: 2,041
I'm in agreement you can't just have the cirque as part of open terrain where any Jerry can just try and send it down it. It's a big fucking death rock that is only skiable with high snow pack.

Idk, if you can't find something challenging enough for you at Kirkwood, you're doing something wrong. Maybe if you can do heart chute without breaking a sweat then you can go hike up the cirque in may or something or honestly just start backcountry skiing cus you're above resort terrain at that point.
Nov 25 2021 2:41PM
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