A relatively narrow trail which can be a challenge when bumped-up, this lower segment of Route 66 is a little steeper than the image conveys. The expert terrain of East Wall Glades is off to the left and the renowned black diamond slope Extrovert is just up the hill out of sight. It bisects both Route 66 and Lower High Hopes trails (HH parallels 66 on right). Good natural snow is needed to get the most enjoyment out of the steep lower mountain at Blue Knob.


http://community.webshots.com/photo/114526126/114527926VPNAEu

That photo speaks volumes about BK and its potential. Just think of what a draw it could be with better snowmaking. It's got the narrow, New England type trails that we all yearn for in our heart of hearts.

Anyone having trouble viewing the link? Maybe it's blocked via our firewall...

John, as I recall you haven't skied Blue Knob before. The tough trails and glades there are much more challenging than those found at Timberline.

The Knob has some trails which are very narrow, even by New England standards. The narrow trails are not that steep or bumped up (with the exception of one face on Shortway), so they ski much easier than a trail such as Goat. However, the difficulty factor of Lower Route 66 is upped tremendously by the fact that it's right under a low lift. If you have a bad run or a wipeout, chances are you'll later ride up with someone who saw it. I recall a ski patroller having a real good yard sale on Lower Route 66 a few years back...

JohnL:

I was going to ski it last season but the negative posts here on the forum dissuaded me (plus I ran out of time).

JimK probably has the most experience on that mountain. From I understand, he basically grew up skiing it.

BK has some affordable ski real estate that I suspect will be snapped up very quickly given recent developments. I guess the million dollar question is what will this company do with the property once the deal closes?

Jim K,

Must have been a firewall issue, the page works at home. Thanks for the link. Next picture in the series wasn't too bad either. Not your typical BK sweetie.

(Hope I wasn't cyper-gawking at a relative of yours. )

If you considered Lower Route 66 a "relatively" narrow trail, what do you consider a narrow trail?

Snow coverage is real good in the picture. Bare spots in the middle usually appear in a few hours, even on powder days. Adds to the challenge I guess. My favorite line is on the far skier's left side of the trail, doing a series of "check/hop" type turns in a real narrow corridor. In spots you can go off the trail to skier's left and bounce back up onto the trail. I think that line is actually easier than negotiating the chairlift poles, bare spots, washboard bumps and stranded skiers in the middle of the trail.

First two pictures in the series are the top of Extrovert. Looks like it was a nice powder day. The difficulty of a slope never translates to pictures or video.

Thanks for the nice picture of Lower Route 66...at it's very best. I love skiing that slope; unfortunately Lower Route 66 isn't really open all that often. And, I agree that when it IS open, the center of the slope gets skied/boarded-out pretty quick and starts to show some bare spots. Perhaps if Blue Knob received as much natural snow as Snowshoe or the Canaan Valley ski areas, Route 66 would be more of a player in the Mid-Atlantic extreme/expert skiing/boarding scene.

I would like to see some ski pictures of the GLADES at Blue Knob; preferably some of the double-diamond Glades like: the Ditch Glades, the East Wall Glades, the Bone Yard Glades, Mine Shaft Glades, etc. While I have several hundred pictures of the BK Glades that were taken in the off-season, I have only a couple of pictures of the expert Glades that were taken during the ski season, and the Glades didn't have a full cover of snow (when the pictures were taken). Given that that most of the ski acreage at BK is now taken up by Gladed ski runs and there's plenty of BK Glade fanatics, it would be nice to view some ski pictures of the Glades at their very best. I'm often told that BK has the most Glades South of Mad River Glen and the Glades represent Blue Knob's future.

When i skied blue knob last year for the first time it was one of those days where everything was pure blue ice so the first trail i decide to go down is lower 66 the picture of that slope doesnt do justice for how narow it is. At best there is two lines down it with zero room for error and when you factored in the giant mounds of ice the challenge of the slope increases greatly. it took about 10 feet of that trail for me to realize this was the toughest thing i have ever skied. getting to the bottom with out falling is my greatest skiing acomplishment to date. After that i went over to extrovert and seeing my reflection in the snow i decided that it was better suited for ice skates then skies that day