Route 66 Cities Beaches

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Slopes

Perfect North

Beginners
Rope Tow For someone just graduating from their first ski lesson, this offers a reasonable practice area. Taking the rope tow up and skiing off to the left, one can join the main Super Slide flow back down toward the lodge and the entry to the rope tow. Very gentle slope, but be careful of the high speed skiers finishing up their Super Slide runs.
Ski Wiz The second step up for new skiers. From the top of the rope tow, one can ski down to the right and catch chairlift # 2. It carries riders halfway up the ridge. One could bear to the right and join Super Slide back to the rope tow entry, or past it to the lodge. Or one could head straight down the slope and follow Ski Wiz for another loop on chairlift # 2. Ski Wiz is deceptive. The bottom two thirds is a nice beginner’s cruising run, very wide and smooth with a reasonable pitch. But the top is pretty steep and congested with skiers pouring off the chairlift, causing novices real problems until they get their fundamentals down. However, this is a great training run as long as care is taken not to drift over to the right where those Super Sliders are barreling downslope. PN posts this as a blue, but it’s not.

Little Bluff Also comes off chair # 2, and runs parallel to Ski Wiz on the westward side of the lift, but maintains the steep pitch halfway down the slope. A natural step up from Ski Wiz. Not quite as wide and bordered by trees on the left. Still a straight drop back to chair # 2, but offers the choice of bearing to the left and picking up chair # 5.
Meadow & Audition PN posts these as separate runs, but they’re the same slope, both coming off chair # 1, one to the right and the other to the left. They’re posted as blues, but the only challenge is their steep pitch. The slope is wide and smooth and not congested, so it’s a great place for novices to practice fall line techniques, whether snowplowing or carving. Beginners must be able to stop because the bottom feeds into congestion along the entrances to the lodge. Skiiers on these slopes are also part of the entertainment, within clear view of the picture window along the lodge lounges and deck. .
Intermediates
The Far Side One of the top 10 cruising runs in the SMW region. This is a classic ski trail, wandering a mile through the forest on the western side of the ridge, then emerging from the trees to views of the tubing hill and the old family farm down in the valley.

It could be considered high novice, except for several challenges. First is the exit from chairlift #5, which is not very user friendly. Second is the entry drop, which is quite steep and funnels into a narrow chute, requiring beginners to show quick control. Third is the narrowness and sudden tilts and angles of the trail until it comes out of the trees, where it widens and smooths out. Nevertheless, this is a great trail for developing skills, a relaxing run for the whole family on a winter afternoon. Widened and smoothed for 04-05 season.
Hoyt Connection This is merely a connecting run across the top of the ridge from one chairlift to the other. An offshoot of Hoyt drops directly down to intersect Clyde’s Super Slide. Both arms of Hoyt are wide and smooth, but the drop to Super Slide steepens considerably.

The top of Far Side in late afternoon shadows.
Outer turn of Far Side widened and banked.
Far Side stretch run with long tubing lift behind

Clyde’s Super Slide The toughest of PN’s intermediates, this is wide and smooth but has an angled first drop, then a sharp right turn and high speed chute through the trees until it opens out for the lodge run. That first drop can test skiiers’ carving or speed skills, but once past the turn this could be considered high novice.

Backstage Intended as a mirror image of The Far Side, this trail down the eastern shoulder of the ridge drops much faster over a much shorter distance. It is steeper than Far Side, but not unmanageable. It could be considered high novice for anyone with snowplowing or carving skills.

Tuff Enuff A true intermediate, this trail runs parallel to but much steeper and narrower than Backstage. Tuff Enuff opens out onto the NASTAR racecourse. Very narrow on top, then steep drop. Some bumps, uneven terrain.

Proficient
Center Stage May be shorter than black diamonds at the major resorts, but is no less challenging. This is the showcase run at Perfect North, the one people gather on the sundeck or in the lodge to watch. Quite a few pretty good skiers in the region have never successfully descended Center Stage. Many major resort black diamonds begin with a long approach and conclude with a long exit runout, so their actual black diamond drop is no longer than this one, which drops immediately from the lift and stops abruptly at the lodge. Includes moguls and a jump.
Deception Runs parallel to Center Stage but the ridge face turns slightly and angles out further, allowing a lesser pitch. Still a challenging descent, without the moguls or jump. Not smooth at all; bumpy and narrow.
Center Stage from the lodge deck, showing the runout at the bottom. It's not a level runout, especially considering the speed skiiers build up on the main dro

Left: Center Stage from the base of the main drop. This is Perfect North's crown jewel, and competes with any of the region's black diamond runs.

Right : Deception from its intersection with SuperSlide. The skiiers on the inside are coming down the narrow but smoother track. Outside are moguls and drifts, offering a semimaintained run for those up for a little adventure.

Skiiers are allowed to cut through the trees between runs and the maintenance staff keeps most of the brush cleared out.

Encore Angles off the Far Side and drops straight down the shoulder. Steepness is complicated by uneven terrain and narrow trail, so carving is not an option.

Runway & Intermission Runway angles off Encore and is a fairly level approach run to Intermission, which drops down parallel to Encore but only about half as long. Very narrow; bumps and drops.

Showtime A hairy mogul descent through the trees below # 5 chairlift. PN’s toughest run but short. Provides entertainment for chairlift riders; expect cheers or hoots as you come down.


Showtime with three skiiers up in the trees.
Showtime as one skiier hits the chairlift clearing.
Runway and Intermission emerging from trees.
The Tubing Hill may be a recent addition, but it's no afterthought. Perfect North's Chuck Heist studied rival installments across the region and set out to surpass them. The runs are longer and faster than all others except Winterplace. They are not really steeper, but are maintained smoother, so nothing slows or deflects the tubes. The twin conveyor belts take tubers back to the top faster than the usual rope tows, allowing many more runs per hour. There are more tracks, cutting lines at the top. It is a well designed slope. PN offers a complete tubing “lodge,” an inflatable bubble housing rest rooms, food counter, tables, second floor observation deck, and an outside fireplace with tables and benches. There’s a parking lot just for tubers. Different runs have different dips and rollers. There are "expert" runs, which begin higher on the hill and curl to the right. A beginners hill lets toddlers have fun under parental supervision. A modern ticket shed is very efficient. With its snowmaking and grooming equipment and plenty of room for future enhancement, PN’s tubing hill should prove a great asset for years to come.
The Terrain Parks are the only differentiated facilities in the region. PN has a green park to the left of the lodge, where beginners can work on their skills mostly out of sight. But the black diamond park adjacent to Center Stage and in clear view of the lodge audience is a challenge. Snowboarding rails (two shown to the left and a long S shaped version visible in mid photo at the right toward the top of this page) test their skills, and numerous hairy ski jumps keep the hot doggers humble. It's the best show in town.
The upper Magic Carpet serving the gentler of the two ski school teaching slopes.

The Ski School & Learning Area is the best in the region for two very good reasons : location and location. The Ski School, situated in the center of a circle of Indianapolis, Louisville, Lexington, Cincinnati and Dayton, has a tremendous choice of outstanding skiiers either currently in college or working some white collar job, and wanting a weekend seasonal job as a ski instructor. There are great instructors at every resort, but Perfect North has more.

And the teaching area is better than anybody else's. PN has two 50 square yard slightly tilted meadows with room for magic carpets, special turning courses, bleacher seating for parents, and other features (shown at left and lower left).

These, coupled with the outstanding low and middle green runs, make PN the ideal facility in the entire region to bring a group of kids to begin their skiing careers.

The lower Magic Carpet serving the steeper of the two ski school teaching slopes.
The beginner Terrain Park to the left, with Back Stage emerging from the trees on the right.
Tubing Hill, with blue runs to the left and longer black diamond runs to the right.
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