Slope difficulty levels and their meaning (2024)

FAQs

What are the difficulty levels of ski slopes? ›

The steepness of ski trails is usually measured by grade (as a percentage) instead of degree angle. In general, beginner slopes (green circle) are between 6% and 25%. Intermediate slopes (blue square) are between 25% and 40%. Difficult slopes (black diamond) are 40% and up.

Slope difficulty levels explained. What do the different colours and symbols mean? Most winter sports enthusiasts have skied blue, red or even black ski runs before. You probably also know that blue means “easy”, red means “intermediate”, and black means “expert”.

The Big Sky definition for a triple black diamond is “exposure to uncontrollable falls along a steep, continuous pitch, route complexity, and high consequence terrain”.

Green runs are typically for beginners, blue runs are suitable for intermediate skiers and snowboarders, while black runs are reserved for advanced skiers and snowboarders who know how to handle challenging slopes. Red runs represent something between blue and black levels of difficulty.

Level. Level 7. Ski. Can control speed through turn shape while parallel with a pole plant on all Blue and easy Black terrain. Developing skiing and carving on variable Black terrain.

Located in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the Corbet's Couloir is one of the steepest ski runs in the world. Named after mountaineer Barry Corbet who spotted the narrow couloir in 1960, it is considered a real challenge for professional skiers let alone advanced skiers on a ski holiday to the USA.

Type I is considered green/beginner, Type II is blue/intermediate, and Type III is black/difficult. For Type I or “cautious” skiers, bindings will release boots quite easily, which is a good things since spills and falls are to be expected.

In general, there are three basic classifications of skiing: beginner, intermediate, and advanced or expert. However, there are more specific levels that typically fall within these three broader categories. Altogether, there are nine more specific levels of skiing.

In the United States, these levels usually follow those defined by the Professional Ski Instructors of America. Level 1 is a first-time skier (never skied before, can't stop or turn) and level 9 is the highest, expert, level (and is a higher skill level than is required for instructors teaching most classes).

After several days of skiing Big Sky's 45-degree slopes, I should've found my nerve, but Big Couloir is as intimating as anything I've attempted during 40 years of skiing. Reminding myself this is, after all, Wild West country, I take a deep breath and drop in.

What is the steepest ski run in North America? ›

Rambo at Crested Butte is the steepest human-made run in North America, with a pitch of 55 degrees. An experience unlike any other, dropping down at the Rambo is no easy feat for even the most seasoned skier.

Fancy black diamonds and Carbonados are both extremely rare. Only one in 10,000 natural diamonds are colored diamonds and only a portion of these colored diamonds are black. Because of their scarcity, natural black diamonds and Carbonados are the some of the most valuable and most costly.

Green Circle

Sometimes you'll hear people refer to the “Bunny Hill” or “Bunny Slope,” which usually means a specific area of the mountain (usually near the lodge or base area) that has the easiest runs and is specifically for young or novice skiers. But there are also green slopes all over the mountain.

: a hill or part of hill that is not very steep and that is used by people who are learning how to ski. — called also bunny hill, (British) nursery slope.

Dry ski slopes tend to be more unforgiving than snow. Dry ski slopes are made up of plastic bristles which can tear at your clothes and even hurt when you fall over. Although this might not be seen as a bad thing to some and may even encourage you not to fall.

Generally, beginner slopes are between 6% and 25%, intermediate slopes are between 25% and 40%, and expert slopes are 40% and up.

LEVEL 5. Able to ski strong parallel turns with a pole plant on all blue runs and easy black runs. Learning, short turns, off piste, moguls, powder and more difficult terrain.* *Terrain features/parks may be used in any lessons.

In general, there are three basic classifications of skiing: beginner, intermediate, and advanced or expert. However, there are more specific levels that typically fall within these three broader categories. Altogether, there are nine more specific levels of skiing.

Green Ski Runs: The Beginner

If you're hitting the slopes for the first time, opt for green ski runs. Remember that all experienced skiers started out as beginners, so there's no shame in taking it slow! These pistes are wide and shallow, and the gradient is less than 25%.