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Just in case anyone was wondering, I had a few things wrong on my account of the May 5 Tuckerman adventure. I had a chance to examine the topo map and my altimeter (yes--there is a memory function on one of those cool Casio watches) after I got home. I said the lunch rocks were at 4000 feet. Wrong. They are at about 4700 (altimeter read 4760). And then we climbed over the headwall to 5620 feet. That means we probably crossed the Lawn Cutoff (5360), which is above and to the left of the Alpine Garden trail (5160. The snow fields are on and above the Lawn Cutoff trail. So the descent from the top of the snow fields over the lip of the headwall to the lunch rocks is about 1000 feet of adrenaline rush--still a big drop of awesome steepness. I also have an article from Snow Country 1992 comparing some of the steepest trails in the U.S. and Canada for a bit more trivia. Tuckerman's is at the top of the list at 49 degrees--less than the 55 degrees that I reported, but then that probably means the entire slope, not the steepest part, which could still be about 50+ degrees. (I measured the slope of the throat of the Hourglass above Stowe at 50 degrees.) Here are some of the Snow Country factums for your party conversations: Typical household staircase 32.2 degrees (63% grade; basically you can double degrees to get %grade and not be too far off. 45 degree slope = 100% grade: a ratio of 1:1 for rise over run.) Tuckerman's headwall 49 degrees (116 %grade) Great Scott, Snowbird 44.5 degrees Goat, Stowe 19.5 degrees (they did not list Upper Starr) Corbet's Couloir, Jackson Hole 38.6 degrees (but remember, it is very narrow) Palivacinni, A Basin 30 degrees Exhibition, Squaw Valley 22 degrees Saudan Coulior, Blackcomb 41 degrees Spiral Staircase, Telluride 20 degrees Prima, Vail 20.5 degrees Outer Limits, Killington 23 degrees White heat, Sunday River 21 degrees So, we can still be puffed up and proud about our steeps in the northeast--and sometimes they are even icy!