Blue Kirkwood, CA
Bud's ALley drops 133 vertical feet over 1,092 feet of skiing, with a steepest pitch of 25° about 60 feet below the top. That's steeper than 78% of the 5,615 blue runs we've measured in North America, and the 39th steepest of 58 named runs at Kirkwood. It faces east.
Facing east at an average 7°, Bud's ALley gets about 99% of the winter sun that flat ground at Kirkwood does, December through March. That's sunnier than 70% of the runs we've measured, and the 7th sunniest named run at Kirkwood. Its top sits at 8,380 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.