How do they rate trails at ski resorts?

ski resorts
In need of help asked:

How do they rate trails at ski resorts? I was looking it up and it says that beginner trails are from 6% to 25%. What does the percent mean? What makes a blue a blue, a black a black, and so on?



Comments (3)    Posted in Snow Skiing    

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3 Responses to 'How do they rate trails at ski resorts?'

  1. Jim W - September 3rd, 2010 at 4:42 pm

    In North America, the trails are rated in 4 groups and it is relative for that area only. Green runs are the easiest marked with a green circle, Blue runs are more difficult than green and are marked with a square. The most difficult are marked with a black diamond, extreme difficulty are marked with 2 black diamonds known as double black diamond runs. A blue run in one area may be black in another or green in another. In North America there are few if any runs that would go beyond a double black run, since this would be nearly unskiable terrain and most likely marked as danger cliffs.

  2. Kathy P-W - September 4th, 2010 at 4:04 am

    I always think of them as beginner (easy), intermediate, and expert (difficult). Where I ski, the green squares are the beginner runs, blue circles are intermediate, and black diamonds are difficult.

  3. Cole C - September 6th, 2010 at 2:30 pm

    Trail ratings go in measures of difficulty from Green Circle to Blue Square to Black Diamond to Double Black Diamond. Sometimes you’ll see a mix of these symbols to denote trails with intermediary difficulty levels. (examples would be a double square or a square within a diamond)

    Each ski area marks their trails differently, there are many factors which influence the rating and there is no standard for ratings. Therefore a blue at one resort may be a green at another, and a black at another, depending on how they rate trails.

    The percentages you posted refer to grades. A 100% grade refers to a 45 degree angle, a 25% grade is therefore around 11-11.5 degrees. This isn’t the only factor, as I stated, other factors include obstacles and grooming.


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