Key:piste:difficulty
 piste:difficulty
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| Description |
|---|
Used to define the difficulty of a ski run, including downhill, nordic and others. 
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| Group: sports |
| Used on these elements |
    |
| Requires |
| Useful combination |
| Status: de facto |
| Tools for this tag |
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Used to define the difficulty of a ski run, including downhill, nordic and others.
How to map
This property is used with piste:type=* on 
ways or 
areas and route 
relations of route=piste.
If possible, describe the difficulty of each part of the run if it is not homogenous.
In addition, piste:grooming=* can be used for the type of runway preparation and do not forget that incline=* is a well established tag beyond pistes and with more possible values than up and down.
Note: For showing signposting color of pistes (notably for crosscountry skiing and snowshoeing), user may wants to use the route=piste with a colour=*, and keep the difficulty tag to give information on the actual difficulty of the way.
Downhill / Alpine
| Value | US/Canada/Oceania | Europe | Japan |
|---|---|---|---|
| novice | "bunny hill" | green | |
| easy | green circle | blue | green |
| intermediate | blue square | red | red |
| advanced | ♦ black diamond | black | black |
| expert | ♦♦ double black diamond | orange (Alps),
double-black (Scandinavia) |
|
| freeride | orange oval | yellow | |
| extreme |
Note: While piste:difficulty defines a progressive scale for other type of pistes (skitour, nordic,...), when used with piste:type=downhill, piste:difficulty=freeride is used more or less interchangeably with piste:type=downhill + piste:grooming=backcountry. Both denotes an 'Off-piste' ride.
For these runs, it is important to specify patrolled=yes or operator='Resort name' if the piste is part of the official pistes of a resort or patrolled.
Nordic / Crosscountry
This tag is optional for Nordic skiing. In many countries, for example the Nordic countries, there is not a tradition for providing an official difficulty grade such as in downhill skiing.
Note: For showing signposting color of pistes (notably for crosscountry skiing and snowshoeing), user may wants to use the route=piste with a colour=*, and keep the difficulty tag to give information on the actual difficulty of the way.
| Value | Nordic (crosscountry) | Nordic (crosscountry), Europe |
|---|---|---|
| novice | Strictly flat terrain, no effort needed | green |
| easy | Soft hills, short steep sections | blue |
| intermediate | Steep sections are present in the piste, or short narrow on average slopes. User gets away with sweat. Used for the relevant sections only | red |
| advanced | Steep sections are present in the piste, with narrow steep passages or sharp turns in steep passages, often icy pistes. Used for the relevant sections only | black |
| expert | Steep sections are present in the piste, with narrow steep passages or sharp turns in steep passages, often icy pistes. Dangerous terrain surrounds the piste. Used for the relevant sections only | |
| freeride | Not relevant | |
| extreme | Not relevant |
Skitour
| Value | Skitour- Swiss Alpine Club Scale[1] |
|---|---|
| novice | L: inclination <30 degree, no sliding, soft hilly terrain, no narrow passages |
| easy | WS: inclination 30-35 degree, short sliding areas, open terrain with short steep passages and easily avoidable obstacles, short narrow passages |
| intermediate | ZS: inclination 35-40 degree, longer sliding areas, terrain with steep passages that cannot be avoided, short narrow but steep passages |
| advanced | 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) |
| expert | 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 |
| freeride | AS: inclination 50–55 degree, very exposed terrain, no spot to rest during descent, narrow passages require many crossjumps. (e.g. off-piste). |
| extreme | EX: inclination >55 degree, extremely exposed terrain, need to use ropes to go downhill. Climbing equipment required. |
Sled
| Value | Europe |
|---|---|
| novice | |
| easy | blue |
| intermediate | red |
| advanced | black |
| expert | |
| freeride | |
| extreme |
Maps
- OpenSnowMap.org
- XCTrails.org
- Waymarked Trails: Winter Sport Slopes also with OpenTopoMap as background
See also
- Piste Maps – for a summary and description of tags for mapping pistes and ski resorts