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North Cirque

Double black Alpine Meadows, CA

Steepest pitch38°
Vertical352 ft
Length617 ft
Average pitch35°
FacesE
Top8,354 ft

North Cirque drops 352 vertical feet over 617 feet of skiing, with a steepest pitch of 38° about 10 feet below the top. That's steeper than 59% of the 2,251 double black runs we've measured in North America, and the 40th steepest of 132 named runs at Alpine Meadows. It faces east.

How well North Cirque holds snow

Snow preservationPoor

Facing east at an average 35°, North Cirque gets about 119% of the winter sun that flat ground at Alpine Meadows does, December through March. That's sunnier than 86% of the runs we've measured, and the 26th sunniest named run at Alpine Meadows. Its top sits at 8,350 feet.

Angled toward the low winter sun, it bakes: powder turns heavy soon after a storm, and in spring it softens early in the day and refreezes hard overnight. Shading from ridges and trees isn't counted yet.

North Cirque profile

under 25°25–35°35–45°45°+ Hover to follow the line on the map.

Where it is on the mountain

Runs like North Cirque elsewhere

Nearby at Alpine Meadows

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.