There are many trails in this world that make the claim as the steepest. Ask anyone what the steepest run in Europe is and you might get 10 different answers. The most infamous is probably the Streif in Kitzbühel. But the Streif isn’t the steepest in Europe. It isn’t even the steepest in Austria. That honor goes to the Black Ibex, a monstrously steep run on the Kaunertal Glacier.
The Black Ibex features a steepest point with a near 88% grade, or around 47°. Starting on the Austria/Italian border, the run takes skiers around 1,640 feet, or 500 meters, down the glacier and into Austria. It’s pretty impressive.
“Whether it’s Harakiri, the Streiff or Direttisima: Steep slopes are just fun. Of course, I’ve tried a few – sometimes more, sometimes less successfully. For example, I fell over on the Le Tunnel descent in Alpe d’huez just like I did on the Swiss Wall. But this slope here on the Kaunertal Glacier beats everything mentioned above in terms of steepness.” – Marius Quast