Hell Fire

• Rated:  
• Type of trail:  Long (3.3 mile), undulating cruiser.  Lots of great swooping roller coaster pitches above an area called Grand Junction.
• Coming off Chair One, head left towards Hell Fire.  Getting onto Hell Fire requires a bit of a straightline down towards Hell Fire because there is a bit of a hill where Hell Fire crosses the snowmobile track.  (DO NOT ASSUME THAT THESE GUYS WILL STOP!)  Unfortunately the first cat track is very flat, occasionally necessitating poling if the skier/rider's way is blocked by clueless types.  After the part of the trail that takes you uphill and bends to the left, keep up your speed for yet another cat track.  DO NOT STAND AROUND GABBING ON THE CAT TRACKS!!  
• The lower section below Grand Junction can be like a pinball machine as there are trees in the middle of the trail and the occasional crazy launching themselves into the trail out of the trees on either side without a thought to check for oncoming traffic.  A GREAT PLACE TO TEST YOUR REACTIONS.  This section can have "iffy" conditions at times, with ice, rocks, branches, etc.  I'd advise a careful approach the first time you go down this trail either early season or for the first time in a while.  
• I apologize if this page takes a long time to load.  It's a LONG trail!
• NOTE:  If there are signs warning that the trail has not been groomed (as opposed to just an entry on the grooming board), then be aware that lower level skiers could be in trouble on this trail.  Due to its length, pretty much every possible condition (ice, wind pack, wind whales, moguls, slush, thin cover, long flat sections of grabby snow, etc.) can be encountered in one run.  It is almost always groomed, but when it is not it can be 3.3 miles of "hell".

Overview of Hell Fire seen from Chair One:

Hell Fire is the horizontal cat track.

Route to Hell Fire coming from the lift area:

Hell Fire requires a straight schuss and then off to the skier's left:

Views along the first cat track:

First major bend in the trail:

Looking back:

Looking down:

The first pitch:

Looking down:

Continuing on the same pitch:

View of the first up-swoop:

After the big rise in the trail and towards the second cat track:

There is another, smaller swoop at the base of the pitch which FUNNELS onto another narrow, undulating cat track.  Keep your speed up if you don't want to pole.  And if the group ahead of you looks like they don't know this, give them a lot of space before you start.  It's almost guaranteed that they will be stretched across the trail, poling and taking up the whole width of the thing.

Looking back at the cat track from where the trail resumes its downward path:

Looking down towards Grand Junction from the same position:

Below Grand Junction, where Glory Hole comes in:

Looking back up from lower down:

The curve seen in the picture is looking AT the spot the picture above was taken.

Looking down at the next section:

Further along, looking back up:

Final run out towards the lift: