Crested Butte Rambo: A Run Down North America’s Steepest Tree Cut Run

A journey down Crested Butte's expert Rambo run, the steepest tree-defined ski trail in North America.

This is one of the hardest tree defined trails you’ll find anywhere. It’s not every day you end up on a trail where you can see the bottom before you can see the full actual run, but Rambo is one of these. At a 55 degree pitch, Rambo is for all intents and purposes the steepest lift-serviced tree-cut trail in North America. But the phrase “tree-cut” should be used with an asterisk—the resort has decided that tree-clearing is not a priority on this expert-level run, and as is plain to see here, shrubs are popping up all over the place. And hidden amongst these shrubs are even more obstacles like rocks and stumps. 

There is very little room for error here—you need to know what you’re doing when executing every single turn. You do not want to fall on this run—not only because you’re for sure yard-saling to the bottom, but also because you’ll be banging yourself up against these bushes on the way down.

Typically as runs get further down they get easier, but Rambo does not let up. The gnarly pitch maintains itself the entire 900 feet of the run, and there’s no bailing out once you commit. The only way to get down the mountain once you enter is to complete the run.

Crested Butte is a remote ski resort in southwest Colorado. This video was filmed across in early March 2021; conditions were typical for the time of year. See our full resort breakdown and written review for Crested Butte here.