Being a dork I thought it fun to pull up the maps of Devil's, Granite and Chestnut. Did this long ago on Chestnut and compared to Sundown (in Dubuque area) as they claim 500 foot which I never quite believed.
Anyhow, on image from Google maps using terrain and distance, I can see where Granite as experienced flattens out a lot near bottom. Devil's Head is opposite where it's more flat on top, steeper on bottom. I pegged pretty much their longest straight runs, both's verticals are pretty close at ~560 and 500 foot respectfully. I'd agree I think I like Devil's Head layout more and being closer .. only 10 miles off route on way to or from my kids home a place to hit. Looks as if most their runs are along the 1400 to 900 start and stop, Granite not as many and as noted, many drop fast and then flatten out.
all three on same scale but terrain and distance measurements don't really require them to be.
Chestnut I like, it's just fun and views of Mississippi are amazingly lovely, but I won't claim their near the 500 verticle.
anyhow, thought it fun.
View attachment 51373
Devil's
https://www.google.com/maps/place/D...!8m2!3d43.4180036!4d-89.6268972!5m1!1e4?hl=en
Granite
https://www.google.com/maps/place/G...e7!8m2!3d44.929236!4d-89.683162!5m1!1e4?hl=en
Chestnut
https://www.google.com/maps/place/C...19!8m2!3d42.319017!4d-90.393793!5m1!1e4?hl=en
Interesting discussion for sure. I've always been highly skeptical of posted vertical drops. I recall Lutsen's skiing brochures showing places like Powderhorn at 400' or Indianhead at 525', all much lower than what they state. Then you have Chestnut at 460 and Devils Head at 500, Cascade at 430 I believe, etc.
I was bored one night so I spent a lot of time on Google Earth looking over all of this. Note it isn't perfect, however i was able to compare its posted elevations to topography maps, where available, and it generally lines up. Here's what I found:
- All places over state their vertical. It's like they count some antenna on the highest point of the hill or some remote area past the bottom of all the lifts. Wilmot is closer to 175, Chestnut is probably closer to 420, if someone can find me anywhere near 600' at Big Powderhorn I owe them a beer.
- Having consecutive skiable vertical of 500' anywhere in the Midwest outside of Lutsen and Bohemia is rare or close to non-existent. Sure some places post higher verticals than 500, but you won't get that on any single run. Indianhead I think eeks out a run closer to 550 via Google Earth, but Boyne Highlands, Powderhorn and many others don't.
- Next, and here's where it gets tricky, but I've been really into finding runs that actually have in your face vertical. Meaning anything at Devil's Head, eliminated, anything at Granite Peak, eliminated. I don't want a ton of flat areas with just a bit of real vertical skiing. Have you guys ever noticed that actual steep leg burn vertical of say even 400' seems to be hard to find? Cascade has about 300, Devils Head about 300, Granite Peak about 300, Powderhorn about 350. Indianhead like 350-400.
So what I found is that about 400' of vertical is the sweet spot for having a steep run with a constant slope to it. And no places have even close to 500' of "steep" vertical apart from again just a few aforementioned. Going back to Chestnut and its run Warpath, I highlighted this in my last post, this is a legit 400' of steep Vertical. I skied there a day where tons of ski clubs from around the Midwest were there and a handful of random people were all commenting that it beats anything at their local places (mainly WI resorts like Cascade, Devils Head, Nordic Mtn, etc).
Probably what makes places like Whitecap and Powderhorn popular for terrain. They may not give you the length of say Indianhead, but they have some runs with about 300-350' of legit steep vertical.
Anyhow, I'm sure I talked in circles and maybe didn't make much of a point. But to summarize, all vertical drops are embellished, and if you can find a fast run with vertical around 400' then you are doing as good as anywhere else in the Midwest outside of Lutsen & Mt Bohemia! Also to summarize, try Google Earth it is a lot of fun browsing terrain and tracking the altitude.