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most generous black diamond rating

Vaughn

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Feb 26, 2017
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I was at Wachusett yesterday and had never noticed that the trail below the Polar lift is rated as a black diamond even on the lower half of the mountain (Salamander Cutoff). Is this the most ludicrous black diamond around here? Honestly the headwall at Blue Hills is a more 'real' black diamond that this.
 

nkLottery

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Mar 29, 2015
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Rhode Island
For a mountain of their size, Okemo has the most gentle rating system. Which is ironic because they own Created Butte which is extreme for a Colorado resort
 

boston_e

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Jul 25, 2007
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Trail ratings are contained within each mountain. No national standard on what a black diamond is.
 

flakeydog

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Feb 7, 2014
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Vermont
Trail ratings are contained within each mountain. No national standard on what a black diamond is.

Bingo- trail ratings are designed to show the relative difficulty of trails at a particular mountain. Black means trail is the most difficult at this mountain, etc. Double black was created 20-25 years ago to further differentiate those that fell in the black diamond category.

There is not legit way to compare mountain to mountain though there are 2 exceptions-
1) at the bar blow-harding about your recent near-death experience on "fill-in-the-blank" trail and how trails at some other mountain just cannot compare
2) internet forums of course
 

NYDB

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Southeast NY /Southern VT
Trail ratings are contained within each mountain. No national standard on what a black diamond is.

Right. "So dad, a double black at Stratton is like a hard blue or easy black at Magic?" -my 9 year old

Worst rating I've ever seen was double black for Spruce at Stratton. It's got 1-2 steep pitches, otherwise its a nice cruiser. They rarely let it go au natural.
 

tumbler

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Lower Exterminator at SB. I think it's a black b/c Upper Exterm is a double black (legit) so how can a green be below a double black.
 

Cornhead

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Knee knocker
11f1852714e9daaba441f2bee707b10b.jpg


Sent from my Moto G (4) using AlpineZone mobile app
 

Vaughn

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Feb 26, 2017
Messages
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Bingo- trail ratings are designed to show the relative difficulty of trails at a particular mountain. Black means trail is the most difficult at this mountain, etc. Double black was created 20-25 years ago to further differentiate those that fell in the black diamond category.

There is not legit way to compare mountain to mountain though there are 2 exceptions-
1) at the bar blow-harding about your recent near-death experience on "fill-in-the-blank" trail and how trails at some other mountain just cannot compare
2) internet forums of course

That's mostly a fair point but then if you've skied Wachusett you know the bottom half of that trail still isn't in the top 1/3 of the trails there in difficultly. Maybe they're basing it on the steep little pitch next to the cider hut.

Of course it's all subjective but it is funny. I think most skiers assume it has a more industry wide meaning so I can imagine someone who skis Wachusett regularly being pretty unhappy going into Middle Hardscrabble on Cannon thinking it's the same as Smith Walton based on trail rating.
 

SkiMom80

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Sep 1, 2016
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The more "family" mountains have a different scale. The hardest black at BW is on par with some of the blues at Cannon. My then 3-year-old skied them last year.

As an aside, I wish mountains would all use the double black designation to help newbies gauge the trails. I find it to be a useful tool.
 

ThinkSnow

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Oct 25, 2005
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Bad Liver Valley
That's mostly a fair point but then if you've skied Wachusett you know the bottom half of that trail still isn't in the top 1/3 of the trails there in difficultly. Maybe they're basing it on the steep little pitch next to the cider hut.

If you ski at Wachusett, then you also know that the Crowley's have increased the hill trail count from 20 to 25 in just the past few years, and haven't cut a single new trail. Ridiculous trail ratings shouldn't be a surprise.
 

mbedle

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Barto, Pennsylvania
Trail ratings are contained within each mountain. No national standard on what a black diamond is.

I'll add to that that a trail rating is not solely based on its pitch. Width, curvature and grooming also play a part in what the trail rating is at each resort.
 

Vaughn

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Feb 26, 2017
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I'll add to that that a trail rating is not solely based on its pitch. Width, curvature and grooming also play a part in what the trail rating is at each resort.

Absolutely. If Smith Walton was 1/2 as wide then the top section would be a legit black diamond at most places. Or if anything at Bretton Woods was higher than like 50' tall, same.
 

tnt1234

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Right. "So dad, a double black at Stratton is like a hard blue or easy black at Magic?" -my 9 year old

Worst rating I've ever seen was double black for Spruce at Stratton. It's got 1-2 steep pitches, otherwise its a nice cruiser. They rarely let it go au natural.
Was talking to a stratton ambassador about that trail - he said they used to let it go ungroomed years ago. that's what it's rated double.
 
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