Key:mtb:scale:itrs:technical_difficulty

mtb:scale:itrs:technical_difficulty
Description
Technical difficulty of a mountain bike trail section, rated with the International Trail Rating System (ITRS), 1 to 5.
Group: bicycles
Used on these elements
Requires
highway=*
Useful combination
mtb:scale:itrs:exposure=* mtb:scale=* mtb:scale:imba=* highway=path highway=cycleway highway=track
Status: in use
mtb:scale:itrs:technical_difficulty=* More details at taginfo
Tools for this tag
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mtb:scale:itrs:technical_difficulty=* records how much riding skill a section of mountain bike trail demands, as rated with the International Trail Rating System (ITRS), from 1 to 5.

ITRS rates mountain bike trails and routes on four aspects: technical difficulty, endurance, exposure, and wilderness. Trained ITRS trail raters survey and rate a trail as a series of segments that each has its own ratings for technical difficulty and exposure.

(Endurance and wilderness describe a whole route, a relation, rather than a section of trail, and are not covered here. In the future these could be covered by mtb:scale:itrs:endurance=* and/or mtb:scale:itrs:wilderness=* applied to relations.)

Two keys represent the per-segment ITRS ratings in OSM: this one, and mtb:scale:itrs:exposure=* for the consequences of a fall off the trail.

ITRS ratings are separate from mtb:scale=* and mtb:scale:imba=*. They use different criteria and one should not be derived from another. It is possible for a way to be tagged with ratings from all three systems.

ITRS keys and values

mtb:scale:itrs:*	1	2	3	4	5
technical_difficulty	Beginner	Intermediate	Advanced	Expert	Extreme
exposure	Normal injury risk	High risk of serious injury	Life threatening consequences	Fatal consequences	(none)

Applies to

• highway=path
• highway=cycleway
• highway=track

Other highway=* values may be used if their primary designation differs, such as highway=footway or highway=bridleway.

ITRS does not present a rating for paved or surfaced roads; this key is not used on them.

How to map

Tag the ways that the rated segments run along. Ratings may change part-way along a trail, so a way may need to be split where the rated sections end.

• Only tag ratings that come from an ITRS survey. Don't estimate an ITRS value from riding a trail or from another scale.
• This key and mtb:scale:itrs:exposure=* are independent. A section can have one without the other.
• Leave existing mtb:scale=*, mtb:scale:uphill=*, and mtb:scale:imba=* tags alone.

Notes

• ITRS rates a trail in its usual, locally prevailing condition. Wet weather can make a trail much harder than its rating.
• A segment with a rating of 0 in the ITRS data was not rated for that aspect. Leave the key off rather than tagging 0.
• A suggested changeset source is source=ITRS trail rating survey, with the ITRS version and survey date where known.

Values

A segment's technical difficulty describes the technical skill needed to ride it.

ITRS technical difficulty

Tag	Symbol	ITRS level	Colour	Skills needed
mtb:scale:itrs:technical_difficulty=1		Beginner	Green	Basic bike handling; no mountain bike experience. Suits families with children who ride safely.
mtb:scale:itrs:technical_difficulty=2		Intermediate	Blue	Basic mountain bike skills: body position, braking on loose surfaces, cornering, and choosing a line.
mtb:scale:itrs:technical_difficulty=3		Advanced	Red	Well-practised skills for steeper and more varied terrain: tight corners, confident jumps and drops, and lifting either wheel.
mtb:scale:itrs:technical_difficulty=4		Expert	Black	Precise braking and balance; very tight corners (eg: pivoting on the front wheel), and larger jumps, drops, and obstacles.
mtb:scale:itrs:technical_difficulty=5		Extreme	Orange	Professional-level downhill, freeride, slopestyle, or trials skills.

See ITRS: Technical difficulty for the full criteria.

Rendering

ITRS publishes official colours for each level and asks that maps showing ITRS ratings use them. Graphic details are available in the Graphics Toolbox available for download from ITRS.

• trailmaps.app-map-generator reads mtb:scale:itrs:technical_difficulty=* and mtb:scale:itrs:exposure=* on maps set to the ITRS scale. It draws the ITRS symbols, colours trails by technical difficulty or exposure, and shows both ratings in the trail popup.

Usage

The Copper Harbor Trails Club in Michigan, USA, has begun rating its trail system with ITRS, including new ITRS signage. See Copper Harbor, Updated Wayfinding, and the International Trail Rating System (ITRS) (Copper Harbor Trails Club, 2025-Dec-04).

Licensing

The ITRS – International Trail Rating System is used with permission from Mischa Crumbach and Edoardo Melchiori. The ITRS symbols on this page come from the ITRS graphic resources and are used under the ITRS licensing conditions (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 with a CC+ agreement).

See also

• mtb:scale:itrs:exposure=*: the ITRS exposure rating for the same trail sections
• ITRS: International Trail Rating System
• mtb:scale=*: a classification scheme for the difficulty of trails for mountain biking
• mtb:scale:uphill=*
• mtb:scale:imba=*: the IMBA Trail Difficulty Rating System, for purpose-built trails
• Mountain biking
• sac_scale=*: a classification scheme for hiking trails