Blue Buttermilk, CO
Sterner Gulch drops 432 vertical feet over 2,335 feet of skiing, with a steepest pitch of 17° about 450 feet below the top. That's steeper than 23% of the 5,615 blue runs we've measured in North America, and the 29th steepest of 41 named runs at Buttermilk. It faces east.
Facing east at an average 11°, Sterner Gulch gets about 97% of the winter sun that flat ground at Buttermilk does, December through March. That's sunnier than 68% of the runs we've measured, and the sunniest named run at Buttermilk. Its top sits at 8,790 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 USGS lidar (1-meter where it exists, coarser elsewhere). 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.