Black diamond Ski Mystic Deer Mountain, SD
Needle's Eye drops 135 vertical feet over 638 feet of skiing, with a steepest pitch of 16° about 100 feet below the top. That's steeper than 2% of the 4,740 black diamond runs we've measured in North America, and the 36th steepest of 52 named runs at Ski Mystic Deer Mountain. It faces west.
Facing west at an average 12°, Needle's Eye gets about 110% of the winter sun that flat ground at Ski Mystic Deer Mountain does, December through March. That's sunnier than 80% of the runs we've measured, and the 11th sunniest named run at Ski Mystic Deer Mountain. Its top sits at 6,490 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.
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.