Springtime GNAR at Kirkwood [4K]

DESCRIPTION:
March 27, 2024 was one of, if not, the best day(s) I've had at Kirkwood in my 6 years of skiing here! Because this was towards the end of the peak season, a lot of chutes had filled in completely. Lines like "The Fingers" and "Dick's Drop" would have definitely been out of my current skill level if not for all the snow we got in February and March.
I was shocked that I was able to ski The Fingers specifically. These lines usually require a combination of mandatory airs and straightlining, two things I'm not fully comfortable with yet. However, on the day of recording, pretty much every single Finger chute could be skied with sharp jump turns. Because of this, I decided to ski every last one, not knowing when the next time I'd be able to attempt them. Although The Fingers aren't that steep, each chute is very narrow which made for some very technical descents. Doing all 4 really helped solidify my ability to jump-turn in narrow spots. The Fingers were really the highlight of the day, I didn't think I'd be able to ski them till I was much more experienced.
Ski School Chute was a run that I was meaning to do towards the end of my previous visit to Kirkwood. I decided against doing it at the time as I was really tired and didn't want to risky injury. I returned only a few months later to attempt this line and I can safely say that it's one of my new favorite mini-chutes at Kirkwood! The entrance is pretty hairy, but the chute looks really cool and was an absolute blast to ski!
Dick's Drop or Waterfall is a chute that I've been meaning to ski for a very long time. This is one of the more technical marked double black diamonds on the mountain and it usually requires a mandatory straightline. However, like every other chute on this list, because of the snow, Dick's became wide enough to allow for some sharp turns. Dick's is another really aesthetic chute and I really enjoyed skiing it! I do want to come back when conditions are a bit more favorable and try to actually straightline Dick's (the way it's really meant to be skied), but till then, I'm very happy with my first attempt!
Hell's Delight was probably the toughest run of the day in my opinion. Even though it's not nearly as narrow as some other runs on this list, it's stupidly steep pitch made it a very challenging chute to ski. I attempted Hell's Delight for the first time in 2021 before I knew how to do jump turns. When I got to the run, the chute was too steep for me so I had to traverse across a cliff-band to get around it. I skied it really really poorly back then and I knew I had to get redemption one day. Flash-forward 2 years and I tried it again as a much more confident skier. Even though I hadn't skied through the proper chute before, it was every bit as steep and intense as expected! It was a very challenging chute to ski, but trying it a second time solidified it as one of my all time favorite runs at Kirkwood! Hell's Delight filters onto the lower half of Thunder Saddle which is a really fun area, so I had to include a clip of that!
I had heard rumors that The Wall could be groomed on certain snow years but I thought this was way too good to be true. Even though I'm big into extreme terrain now, I still love me a cruising groomer! If you've been following my channel, you know that The Wall is one of the most important milestone runs in my skiing journey. The thought of one of my all-time favorite runs being groomed top-to-bottom was just too cool. The other really special part of skiing this run was being able to do it with my dad. My dad is the one who got me into skiing and he absolutely loves groomers. Being able to ride Chair 10 with him and ski down this legendary run with him is one of my favorite skiing-related-memories! It's also worth noting that they groomed this run from the VERY TOP, meaning where the cornice starts. This is easily the steepest groomed run I've attempted in my life and even though it's a bit different from all the other runs in this video, I figured it was still worth including.
And that wraps up one of my best days at Kirkwood. I'm going to miss this place as I move to the Ikon pass for next season but I hope to come back as a better skier to try the remaining runs on my bucket list. 10/10 day!
Remaining Kirkwood Bucket List Runs:
1.) Once Is Enough
2.) Upper Chamoix
3.) Upper Jim's
4.) Norm's Nose
5.) Shot 5
6.) Vista
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Intro
0:07 - Finger #1 (1st Attempt)
0:31 - Finger #1 (2nd Attempt)
0:52 - Ski School Chute
1:10 - Finger #4
1:37 - Dick's Drop (Waterfall)
2:21 - Finger #3
2:49 - Hell's Delight
3:22 - Finger #2
3:41 - Lower Thunder Saddle
3:56 - The Wall (Groomer Edition)
EXTERNAL LINKS:
Skiing Bucket List:
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Double Black Diamond Runs I've Done:
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

[@scarface548]

looks like great fun ( and challenge) . Excellent conditions too !

[@arjunski]

By far my favorite day at Kirkwood that I've had! Bluebird, steep chutes, great snow, good coverage, you can't really ask for anything else!

[@DaleySpam]

Nice dude! Looks like you got some serious speed on the wall at the end there

[@arjunski]

Thanks man! I know it's a bit of a hot take, but I actually really like it when the groom The Wall. It makes for such a unique and fun cruiser! Plus that top section is seriously steep, definitely the steepest groomer I've done so far

[@DaleySpam]

@@arjunski Yeah I agree, I love a good steep groomer

[@Andrew-353]

Holy shit its spam

[@pranavmalavalli5582]

The only thing I missed this season was hell's delight and I chickened out of once is enough. Great skiing bro

[@arjunski]

Hell's Delight's a really fun one! You've gotta wait for the chute to fill out but once it does, it's a blast to ski! Hoping to do Once is Enough in 2026 when I switch back to Epic, I was going to do it this year but the conditions never lined up when I was in town

[@pranavmalavalli5582]

It's hard for conditions to line up when I got work and mostly ski weekends. I should have sent once is enough last year but I didn't. it just was never worth the risk this year the days I was there. But the wall being groomed this season was super awesome and I got hella t bar runs which normally is a little hike

[@arjunski]

Wall being groomed was definitely something I've always wanted to experience and I'm glad I did this season! I was shocked that they actually groomed it from the very top (the part that's typically corniced). Even though I've been skiing Kirkwood for so long, I've somehow never made it over to the T-Bar. Vista's an area I wanna check out at some point, doesn't look too extreme but definitely seems fun

[@pranavmalavalli5582]

@@arjunski most of the runs off that T-Bar are only steep at the drop in but very easy once you get about 10 percent down. there are some nice cliff jumps too when there is some fresh snow

[@Andrew-353]

Isn't T-bar closed like all the time and why do you have to hike to get to it💀

[@RyanDeSutter3]

POV: the ski school of first timers go on the Ski chute 💀

[@arjunski]

That would be darkly hilarious 😭

[@JP-GFR]

Gnarly. Well done! 😊