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Wow

Black diamond Vail, CO

Steepest pitch31°
Vertical1,450 ft
Length4,302 ft
Average pitch20°
FacesSW
Top11,244 ft

Wow drops 1,450 vertical feet over 4,302 feet of skiing, with a steepest pitch of 31° about 2,260 feet below the top. That's steeper than 61% of the 4,740 black diamond runs we've measured in North America, and the 45th steepest of 194 named runs at Vail. It faces southwest.

How well Wow holds snow

Snow preservationPoor

Facing southwest at an average 20°, Wow gets about 133% of the winter sun that flat ground at Vail does, December through March. That's sunnier than 94% of the runs we've measured, and the 16th sunniest named run at Vail. Its top sits at 11,240 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.

Wow profile

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

Where it is on the mountain

Runs like Wow elsewhere

Nearby at Vail

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.