Black diamond Alpine Meadows, CA
Lower Cliffs drops 189 vertical feet over 349 feet of skiing, with a steepest pitch of 40° about 30 feet below the top. That's steeper than 95% of the 4,740 black diamond runs we've measured in North America, and the 34th steepest of 132 named runs at Alpine Meadows. It faces west.
Facing west at an average 33°, Lower Cliffs gets about 94% of the winter sun that flat ground at Alpine Meadows does, December through March. That's sunnier than 65% of the runs we've measured, and the 51st sunniest named run at Alpine Meadows. Its top sits at 7,490 feet.
With little slope to hide behind, it takes nearly the full winter sun of open ground: powder settles and turns heavy sooner after a storm, and spring snow softens early. Shading from ridges and trees isn't counted yet.
under 25°25–35°35–45°45°+ Hover to follow the line on the map.
Measured by ZRankings from 1-meter USGS lidar. Steepest pitch is the steepest stretch of about 50 vertical feet along the skiable line. Run lines come from OpenStreetMap and can sit a little off the skied path.