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why do many use "vertical ft" to measure how much they've skied

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TS
Goose

Goose

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With a Vail pass, my days and vertical are now tracked however for reasons others have noted, I don't compare how much value I get each season from those numbers versus those of other skiers while instead using number of days from a personal perspective of skiing over decades. In other words, my 25 days in 2018 compares only to my numbers of days in previous seasons and not to other skiers. .

For me , this is what it means too. Its really just about how often I was able to get a day on the slopes within my life this years vs last or whenever. I could say then (mostly to myself) I got a lot of skiing in this year. Or I barely got any (such as I posted in the "how many days" thread).

The only time i mention runs is if within my limited ski days I am there with others (usually family) we like to talk (only between us) of how many runs we got. And being mostly at the small crowded pocono hills its usually an understandable thing to note among ourselves. Not so often we get to go and so it then becomes about how many runs did we make today. We can then judge and say "we got a decent amount of skiing in today" and feel good about it. Or we can say the lines were terrible and we didnt get much in as hoped for
Days is really just a generalization for how often we were able to put life behind and get out there to enjoy our choice of recreation. Speaking of which I may play hooky from work tomorrow and head up with my brother for what could be only a 4th day.
 
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Posaune

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We don't consider it a ski day until we've taken 10 chair rides, (though, we have two chairs we only count a 1/2 ride).

Vertical doesn't seem to make much sense to me. At Mt. Baker Chair 5 is mostly an intermediate cruiser. However, the chair takes the straight line from the bottom of the hill, right over the most technical of inbounds skiing at the ski area, a run called "Gabl's." The blue runs go around it, but the double diamond run is a straight line right down the chair line. When I ski the regular cruisers I almost don't feel any "work" to it and when I get to the bottom I'm not ever breathing very hard. When I ski Gabl's I know it big time. My legs burn, my heart rate is way up there, and I'm breathing hard. It's exactly the same vertical and a shorter distance, but a whole lot more skiing.
 

raytseng

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Vert is the simplest method like the odometer for a car. You can't tell if it's 100,000 highway miles or 100,000 racing offroad miles.
Even before GPS tracking and mobile apps, the vert of a lift is well known, then it's relatively simple accounting of the lifts x their published vert.

As everyone said, there are different perspectives to skiing. But also to keep an open mind that different people like to track different things, and some enjoy tracking vert. And to recognize and celebrate that difference rather then saying they are doing it wrong.
 

GregK

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I use days and vertical to measure my season and as others have said “days” to some mean skiing for 1 hour per day and others like myself are skiing 9am-4:30pm or 9am-7pm plus if there’s night skiing.

Vertical is used rather than amount of runs as it’s more of a constant when you’re skiing at different sized hills. I might only ski 25-30 runs a day at Lake Louise or Sunhine yet I’ll hit 120 runs some days on my home 500’ vert hill when I stay for night skiing.

I love the ski apps as it’s fun to track your data and find it interesting how it changes depending on the terrain and places I’m skiing. It’s fun setting goals for yourself for your season and these apps make it easy to track. Used to keep track of runs each day as a kid and now it does it all for you!

Funny side note-The local 95’ hill is so low, the ski apps stay at 0 runs the whole day as even the app can’t believe it’s been a complete run yet! Lol
 

James

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Why not track horizontal? Just as useless.
171d8aae-cf6d-4c82-91ac-04c9be495ea8.jpg

31.6 miles, 43mph, 18,340ft,
Berg fx ski weather app.
Which was annoying because the weather was either in the valley or the top at 3,300 m. "Hey it's going to be -10c tomorrow instead of +5c! Wait, no"
A couple photos are more useful.
IMG_5936.JPG

Col des Chassoure, Verbier. Goes down to Tortin. This was before I turned the app on.
IMG_5937.JPG

Return from Thyon/Veysonnaz. Somewhere at top of map in white area.
 
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Muleski

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Heli trips. Keeping track of vertical feet has real $$$ implications.

I never count days, or keep track of anything, other than on a heli trip. I want to know what we're facing at check out. With a big family group, depending on where you go and a lot of factors, you can easily double the vertical built into your package. Iceland in May? If your group has the chops, and skis well, you can be skiing EARLY and you can be skiing for hours after dinner. The 20K of vertical assumption can get blown apart.

Very different than being in interior B.C., or Alaska, and missing a number of days. Or nearly an entire week. Still they count the vertical. Or lack thereof.
 

eok

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The only tracking I do is ski days. But I only keep track until the number of days equals the "break even" threshold for my season pass cost. After that, I really don't care. I just ski.
 

David Chaus

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We don't consider it a ski day until we've taken 10 chair rides, (though, we have two chairs we only count a 1/2 ride).

Vertical doesn't seem to make much sense to me. At Mt. Baker Chair 5 is mostly an intermediate cruiser. However, the chair takes the straight line from the bottom of the hill, right over the most technical of inbounds skiing at the ski area, a run called "Gabl's." The blue runs go around it, but the double diamond run is a straight line right down the chair line. When I ski the regular cruisers I almost don't feel any "work" to it and when I get to the bottom I'm not ever breathing very hard. When I ski Gabl's I know it big time. My legs burn, my heart rate is way up there, and I'm breathing hard. It's exactly the same vertical and a shorter distance, but a whole lot more skiing.

I’m of a similar mind; it does take a lot longer and more effort to ski Gabl’s than, say Dielh’s/Nosedive for the same vertical. Or at Stevens taking a run on 7th Heaven and then Parachute, Wall Street, or Mirkwood, ending up at the bottom of Skyline versus just lapping Skyline.

I’m wondering if the amount of time moving down the slope, combined with physical exertion (perhaps measured by increase of heart rate over baseline) could provide an “effort matrix”? With Apple Watches and Fitbits this kind of app might be possible.

But in the end I don’t really care. Granted my ski experience could be quantified by times riding a lift/amount of vertical skied/amount of effort required, though I just feel it when I know I’ve had a full day. It often happens when I ski from 9-noon or 1 (no crowds or lift lines), and then drive into town to see appointments in my office. I have done a lot of skiing in that time, often more than I would have done on a weekend, so it doesn’t have to be a long day.
 

James

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Standby for some sort of skiing triathlete/ironman web based (or not) contest to break out after some new app becomes available. Like someone who does crossfit will tell you, you'l be told in the liftline or on the chair they're competing.
 

graham418

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Quantitative vs Qualitative studies are something I have been exposed to by my SO. The key would be to try and merge the two, perhaps a weighted formula. Yesterday I got my 30000 ft the hard way....550 ft hill, in the rain , nobody there.Up down, up down, repeat long past boredom sets in. The same vert in the Rockies, Glorious sun, ( or deep pow) definitely seems to have more worth. Factor in smiles had, runs with friends, how many beers on the deck, maybe an powder inch / vertical foot constant multiplier.. . You get the idea...;)
 

Sibhusky

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Speaking as someone who has tracked their vertical since 1989.

It all started when a co-worker said his annual week long trip to Colorado amounted to more skiing than my every single weekend skiing in the Poconos. He said that his 40,000 per day amounted to more skiing than I could get on an 800 foot vertical hill. So, of course, I had to prove him wrong!

I started just with number of runs and vert in a spreadsheet. Added comments about conditions, weather, which runs, with whom, etc. over time, which has actually proved to be quite useful. Then I added which skis I used, and when they were last tuned. Then I added cumulative feet for the prior year for that ski day to help gauge my increasing (or lately, my decreasing) fitness.

Sure the local area tracks my vert. And there was a time my position on the vert list was a huge factor. (My best year ever was number 25 -- the year I slammed into a tree and ended my season. That resulted in a complete rethinking of the competitive aspect.) Relying on the mountain for tracking makes you a bit of a pain when the liftie is feeling lazy, so I do my own tracking. And I've largely let go of that focus on my relative performance to others and mostly look at my performance compared to myself in other years. As I age, that comparison is both upsetting and yet an incentive, depending on my mood.

I realize that's thirty years of what some would call obsessive behavior. But ultimately vertical, not runs or days, is the only way to compare "amount" of skiing. If this was cross country, maybe mileage would make sense. But this is downhill. I've tried hours, but you'd need a stopwatch to eliminate chair time, line time, talk time, etc. It's too exhausting. I just start my altimeter each day in the locker room. Turn it off when I return, then enter that info on my spreadsheet when I get back to the house. Takes about three minutes for all those actions combined. Most of which is the time opening the spreadsheet.
 

noncrazycanuck

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Because for those who are in to keeping track it just doesn't sound nearly as good in meters.

but when it snows sounds better in metric .

I often still think in feet (old habits are hard to break)
once wasted an entire day doing high speed non stop laps on an empty chair at Whistler just to see the max vertical (in feet) possible in a day.
now with all high speed lifts that number is pretty easily passed,

those who count by vertical on a small hill should get extra credit per foot .
 
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Bill Miles

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I track vertical because I am a retired engineer and have a warped mind.

Unfortunately, my tracking is teling me I am getting old.

The issue of quality vs quantity can be easily solved by getting that guy that ranks resorts to come up with an algorithm.
 

Paul Lutes

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Jeezo .... this is the same blah blah blah as the physics of mount points. You can never account for the human side of the equation: for some people 3k' of greens results in 3 days of post-skiing physical agony; others jitterbug the whole night through after 30k' in 5 hours. Personally, I measure things by mls of alcohol in the 1-6 hour period post-skiing.
 

Supergaper

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We just got a new feature at JHMR, your days and trams since RFID was introduced

I have always tracked days, for over a decade it was 110+ a year, now while adulting, it is 80-90.

Somehow since 05-06 I have managed 10,314,388 vertical feet on the tram. Need to extrapolate 99-00 to 04-05.

Tram laps are 90% top to bottom with lower faces 90% of those, whether they are open or not. 4139 vertical feet is my sweet spot.

If you ski top to bottoms here, you will definitely become a better skier. Refrozen, zipper crust, upside down, full blower- love it all.
 

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Thread Starter
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Goose

Goose

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Speaking as someone who has tracked their vertical since 1989.

It all started when a co-worker said his annual week long trip to Colorado amounted to more skiing than my every single weekend skiing in the Poconos. He said that his 40,000 per day amounted to more skiing than I could get on an 800 foot vertical hill. So, of course, I had to prove him wrong!

I started just with number of runs and vert in a spreadsheet. Added comments about conditions, weather, which runs, with whom, etc. over time, which has actually proved to be quite useful. Then I added which skis I used, and when they were last tuned. Then I added cumulative feet for the prior year for that ski day to help gauge my increasing (or lately, my decreasing) fitness.

Sure the local area tracks my vert. And there was a time my position on the vert list was a huge factor. (My best year ever was number 25 -- the year I slammed into a tree and ended my season. That resulted in a complete rethinking of the competitive aspect.) Relying on the mountain for tracking makes you a bit of a pain when the liftie is feeling lazy, so I do my own tracking. And I've largely let go of that focus on my relative performance to others and mostly look at my performance compared to myself in other years. As I age, that comparison is both upsetting and yet an incentive, depending on my mood.

I realize that's thirty years of what some would call obsessive behavior. But ultimately vertical, not runs or days, is the only way to compare "amount" of skiing. If this was cross country, maybe mileage would make sense. But this is downhill. I've tried hours, but you'd need a stopwatch to eliminate chair time, line time, talk time, etc. It's too exhausting. I just start my altimeter each day in the locker room. Turn it off when I return, then enter that info on my spreadsheet when I get back to the house. Takes about three minutes for all those actions combined. Most of which is the time opening the spreadsheet.

The beginning of your post is why I brought up the part about ego I my first post. That's where (for some people) it goes from one simply wanting to gauge the day they had vs one wanting to outshine another for bragging rights. What better way to do that than to advertise the impressive number associated with vertical vs using days or runs. Ive found enough people like to interject their vertical into conversations every chance they get while knowing that or not had no real bearing on the conversation because its wasn't related to that. But since it fit into a sentence they felt the need to sing it. Not that keeping vertical is something Im at all against, Do whatever one wishes. But there is some extra ego involved for some people when it comes to using vertical.
 

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