Pistes

Piste Maps
Proposal status:	Proposed (under way)
Proposed by:	*
Tagging:	various=various
Statistics:
RFC start:	2008-01-04

This proposal is for a whole set of tags that are required to describe piste maps. Until now there are few possibilities to map a ski resort. (Few) Information is given here: OpenPisteMap, WikiProject Piste Maps, Key:aerialway. josm for example already supports parts of the proposed features here, like the piste:difficulty or aerialway=station.

Last winter (2005/6) some experiments were performed to record tracks and tag piste maps. This proposal builds on that experience but takes into account the development of additional techniques (such as areas) that have been developed since then.

Tag prefix

Piste map specific tags will use the piste: namespace to avoid potential conflicts with similar tags used in other contexts (eg capacity, speed, classification).

Areas

• landuse=winter_sports
  • name=name of resort or ski area (e.g. Espace Killy)

Ski lifts

aerialway

Key:aerialway has already been accepted onto Map Features, but this proposal involves making the following changes to that key:

• Split 'gondola' off as a new value, distinct from 'cable_car'
• Split aerialway=drag_lift into several types of surface lifts, typically used in ski areas. These can be considered aerialways due to the aerial (or partially aerial) cable, even though they don't actually carry people through the air. aerialway=magic_carpet isn't an aerialway at all, but it fits better here than placing it in a new tag. This means, that old aerialway=drag_lifts should be changed. (i.e. deprecation of aerialway=drag_lift)
• additionally add a 'pylon' node value.
• add several attributes which aerialways may have.

The resulting set of values would be as follows:

Key	Value	Element	Comment	Example	Icon
aerialway	cable_car		cablecar or tramway. Just one or two large cars. The cable forms a loop, but the cars do not loop around, they just move up and down on their own side.
aerialway	gondola		gondola lift. Many cars on a looped cable.
aerialway	chair_lift		chairlift. Looped cable with a series of single chairs (typically seating two or four people, but can be more) Exposed to the open air. This implies oneway=yes. Any two-way chairlifts should be tagged oneway=no
aerialway	mixed_lift		A mixed lift, containing both gondolas and chairs.
aerialway	t-bar		t-bar lift. This automatically implies oneway=yes.
aerialway	j-bar		a j-bar lift, like t-bar but just on one side. This automatically implies oneway=yes
aerialway	platter		Platter lift, similar to a t-bar, but with a disc instead of a bar. Single-person only. This automatically implies oneway=yes. Not rendered by all renderers due to disscussion wheter a platter lift is an aerialway or not. Alternate tag piste:lift=platter can be used instead.
aerialway	rope_tow		a rope tow. This automatically implies oneway=yes.
aerialway	magic_carpet		magic carpet. This automatically implies oneway=yes.
aerialway	pylon		Supporting tower for an aerialway. May be numbered with ref=number
aerialway	station		For stations, especially when they are in the middle		●

(for completeness: Railways going up a hill are discussed and proposed separately: railway=incline)

Aerialway attributes

The start and end nodes of a way tagged as a piste:lift are assumed to be a station. These nodes may have their elevation documented with ele=*. If additional information should be given, the way (of the lift) should get a new tag:

Key	Value	Element	Comment	Example
aerialway:occupancy	number of people in each car, chair, etc		piste:lift:occupancy=1 implied for platter and piste:lift:occupancy=2 implied for t-bar
aerialway:capacity	number of people per hour		piste:lift:capacity=2600
aerialway:duration	number in minutes		average/typical time for journey on lift from one station to the next
aerialway:bubble	yes/no (default)		yes if there is a bubble
aerialway:heating	yes/no (default)		yes if there is a heating

Pistes

A piste may be a route through a variety of different terrains. It might be a meadow or a mountain road or part of a glacier. Pistes may be defined as ways or as areas.

Survey of some piste types like nordic or skitour lave considerable freedom of judgement to the mapper of what a nordic/skitour is. It is suggested to tag recommended routes by some tourism authority and pistes used by many people during a season. But do not add pistes that are only used by very few people (e.g only yourself), or that are dangerous (averlanche etc.). Keep in mind that adding a piste is a recommendation to other people for using the piste.

Type

Key	Value	Element	Comment	Example
piste:type	downhill		An alpine/downhill ski route. ways should be use for trails connecting the routes. This automatically implies oneway=yes.
piste:type	nordic		A nordic/cross country ski trail (also see #Style or kind of grooming). The direction of the way should be the downhill direction. Nordic pistes are circular ways if the first and the last point are the same and cannot be rendered as areas. Currently implemented in this way by Osmarender.
piste:type	skitour		A recommended ski tour way or area that is generally used by many skiers during a season for the purpose of a nordic ascent and a downhill descent in the backcountry. Generally the descent is recommended near the ascent route for safety and terrain judgement and the descent is not mapped. To map an alternate descent, use piste:type=downhill with piste:grooming=backcountry. Implies piste:grooming=backcountry. Also defined in the wikipedia Ski touring. Rendered as area if first and last point are the same. If a circular way is needed, do not close the way (first and last point is not exactly the same).
piste:type	sled		Use this tag exclusvely for a sledding piste or add this tag to a way or tack that is prepared for or commonly used by sleds to go downhill. Sleds are smaller vehicles that are pulled by a human or propelled only by gravity. This automatically implies oneway=yes. If the way is used also for ascending to the top (e.g. by foot) use oneway=no. The combination with lit=yes is the only way to indicate sledding ways with lighting. Implied grooming is piste:grooming=classic for natural luge track grooming, but alternatively one can use piste:grooming=backcountry for ungroomed sledding trails.
piste:type	sleigh		A piste exclusively for not self propelled sleighs. This might be horse/husky drawn sleighs (Santa Claus style). Definition: A sleigh is typically a partially enclosed vehicle with seats for passengers that is drawn by animals and slides on runners.
piste:type	ice_skate		A piste exclusively for ice skating.
piste:type	snow_park		a funpark with rails, quarter pipes, etc
man_made	piste:halfpipe		a halfpipe. This automatically implies oneway=yes

Difficulty

Key	Value	US/Canada/Oceania	Europe	Japan	Skitour: Swiss Alpine Club Scale	Example
piste:difficulty	novice	"bunny hill"	green		L: inclination <30 degree, no sliding, soft hilly terrain, no narrow passages
piste:difficulty	easy	green circle	blue	green	WS: inclination 30-35 degree, short sliding areas, open terrain with short steep passages and easily avoidable obstacles, short narrow passages
piste:difficulty	intermediate	blue square	red	red	ZS: inclination 35-40 degree, longer sliding areas, terrain with steep passages that cannot be avoided, short narrow but steep passages
piste:difficulty	advanced	black diamond	black	black	S: inclination 40-45 degree, long sliding areas with scarps below (life danger!), steep terrain with many obstacles, long narrow passages (short swings still possibe)
piste:difficulty	expert	double black diamond	orange (Alps), double-black (Scandinavia)		SS: inclination 45-50 degree, long sliding areas with scarps below (life danger!), steep rocky terrain with many obstacles, narrow passages may require some crossjumps
piste:difficulty	freeride	(e.g. off-piste)	yellow		AS: inclination 50-55 degree, very exposed terrain, no spot to rest during descent, narrow passages require many crossjumps
piste:difficulty	extreme	climbing equipment required			EX: inclination >55 degree, extremely exposed terrain, need to use ropes to go downhill

Grooming

Intended for use with piste:type=nordic, piste:type=downhill (classic, mogul, backcountry), or piste:type=sled (classic, backcountry) to describe the style of piste preparation.

Key	Value	Comment	Pictogram	Suggested rendering
piste:grooming	classic	Groomed for classic style nordic or downhill skiing. If omitted for sledding runs (piste:type=sled) it implies groomed as "natural luge(sled) track". Default value is assumed if piste:grooming is omitted.	||
piste:grooming	mogul	A piste:type=downhill groomed for Mogul skiing (Buckelpiste)	\/
piste:grooming	skating	Groomed for free style or skating	\/
piste:grooming	classic;skating	Both of the above	|/
piste:grooming	scooter	Classic style groomed by a smaller snowmobile, which means that the piste is often much looser and single lane.	|!
piste:grooming	backcountry	Off-piste cross-country skiing, where tracks are made manually by skiers. Use only with marked and cleared, but ungroomed ski trails. Use only with often used, but ungroomed sledding trails.	!!

Many providers of ski preparation data draw a line between tracks groomed by wikipedia:snowmobile, and larger wikipedia:snow grooming vehicles that produce cross-country ski-trails conforming to FIS standards (reference needed).

Other Features

Key	Value	Element	Comment	Pictogram	Suggested rendering (nordic)	Suggested rendering (downhill)
lit	yes		Lit for night time skiing.	-o-		semi-transparent yellow underneath?
abandoned	yes		Former, now unofficial and unmaintained ski-trail	:		dashed version of current?
gladed	yes		Pistes with trees or entire areas of thinned-out trees	^	n/a?	tree icons?
patrolled	no		Pistes that are not patrolled, though they may be marked and maintained	NP	letters NP	letters NP

If a ski trail is ungroomed due to having no-one to groom it (e.g. a permanently-closed commercial ski area), abandoned=yes may be used. The difference between a backcountry, not groomed and abandoned may seem fuzzy: Important difference is that low vegetation can be expected, and lack of clearing could be due to issues with land owners.

Grooming condition and priority

Ski-trails can be marked with piste:grooming:priority=1-3 to indicate the order in which they will be groomed.

As OSM is not directly suitable for live-ski-trail-condition monitoring, this will allow rendering maps that have a static way of depicting ski-trails that will be more likely to be in the best shape under less fortunate snow conditions. One example of a such map in Norway use different line widths for this.

Start counting from first priority and downwards. Assume the priority is relative within each area.

Other

Amenities and Related Sports

• ski school (building=yes, amenity=ski_school)
• ticket office (shop=ticket)
• mountain restaurant (amenity=restaurant, building=yes)
• mountain rescue and ski patrol (amenity=mountain_rescue)
• mountain hut/refuge (amenity=shelter)
• bobsled track (sport=bobsled)
• Hot pools (sport=swimming)
• piste maps/skiing maps (tourism=information, information=pistemap)