Trails with absurd difficulty ratings

[skiNEwhere]

I don't think there is a governmental ski trail rater.

Sssshhh! Don't give the state any ideas

 

[bdfreetuna]

Here is the only picture I could find of Chutzpah:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdnaski/497051759/

Looks fun. Any trail that has exposed ledge action could probably be a legit double D.

 

[hammer]

I noticed that Attitash/Bear Peak changed all of their double blacks to single blacks on the trail map (signs are still double black). Thought they also changed Illusion from a black to a blue.

 

[Tin]

Stratton has some legit double blacks but most are not. Why Not? is a glade with a nice 4-8' ledge going across it and has some pitch, the lower section of Test Pilot, and Free Fall gets really bumped up and tough late in the year.

 

[MadMadWorld]

Looks fun. Any trail that has exposed ledge action could probably be a legit double D.

I guess when you compare it to other mountains, then yea it should be a double black. I don't think a trail should be adouble diamond just because it has a rock ledge. If you can easily avoid it then it should be a single. Upper Exhibition at Smugglers comes to mind. Like I said, I've never skied it but I don't think an avoidable rock ledge should bump it up.

 

[SKI-3PO]

Grizzly Bear and Upper Spruce at Stratton

 

[abc]

Well, if Green= Easiest, Blue= More Difficult, and Black= Most Difficult , then we have a relative system for those.

However Double Black= Experts Only (or Extreme), and therefore this is not relative terminology. Experts are the same no matter where they are. Extreme is extreme.

Some ski areas simply do not have any expert terrain.. like I would argue with Stratton.. so maybe they should change a lot of their blacks to blues and then all double blacks to single blacks.

I agree on the double black part but disagree regarding the green/blue/black part.

There's some value on what a "gree" should be in general. And blue, and black. But beyond what a "typical black" is, double/triple or whatever symbol a mountain use to indicate "expert" terrain, should indeed be truely expert. Stratton doesn't really have any true "expert" terrain. There're easy blacks and more challenging blacks. But they're not double blacks because it's really not expert terrain.

People need to keep in mind "trail difficulty ratings are RELATIVE!". Stratton just doesn't have the kind of terrain Jackson Hole, Taos or Aspen has. And people just need to realize that.

Just as they need to remember the day after rain followed by hard freeze, every slope will be expert only!

 

[bdfreetuna]

I have a large collection of vintage trail maps and ski brochures. I remember one place in the Midwest had one or more "quadruple black diamond" runs. I LOL'd at this even as a kid when I was collecting these.

Gotta see if I can dig that up.

 

[riverc0il]

Ripsaw at Loon is a "double black diamond" - it would be considered a challenging blue in Northern VT

Like at Bolton?

 

[riverc0il]

Here is the only picture I could find of Chutzpah:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdnaski/497051759/

http://www.thesnowway.com/tsw/wp-content/uploads/1999/03/glade1.jpg

http://www.thesnowway.com/tsw/wp-content/uploads/1999/03/glade2.jpg

http://www.thesnowway.com/tsw/wp-content/uploads/1999/03/ski3.jpg

Though none of those have that cliff band. I can't remember it too well as it has been over a dozen years since I was last in there, but that cliff band is pretty much near the end of the skiable vert (which isn't much) of that "glade" and you can cut out before it.

 

[riverc0il]

Any trail that is a 100 yards wide, perfectly straight, and usually groomed can't be a double black.

Try telling that to Sunday River and Sugarloaf. :lol: And Stowe, they mark Liftline and National as doubles, right?

 

[Conrad]

Though none of those have that cliff band. I can't remember it too well as it has been over a dozen years since I was last in there, but that cliff band is pretty much near the end of the skiable vert (which isn't much) of that "glade" and you can cut out before it.

That's right, early on you can chose to stay to the left and get back on the trail or you can chose to keep going straight in to it. Once you get to the cliff (which is not visible to the chairlift), there is no going around it (otherwise I'm sure I would have when I was younger...I can remember having a very difficult time going over it). Once you get past the cliff, the trail is pretty much finished as you say. But it has been a few years since I've done it and it's not like a have a crystal clear memory of it.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Stowe, they mark Liftline and National as doubles, right?

Whoever made the decision to defang Liftline should be beaten. As for National, it's not a great trail, unless they get a decent snowfall and big moguls form on it. They I can see it getting away with double-black status.

 

[Conrad]

Another trail that has an incorrect rating is "America" at Saddleback. It is flat and should be a green but is officially a blue. Looking at older ski maps:
http://skimap.org/SkiAreas/view/446
...in 2008 America was considered a green run, but before 2008 was considered a black diamond...go figure!

 

[Anklebiter]

I have a large collection of vintage trail maps and ski brochures. I remember one place in the Midwest had one or more "quadruple black diamond" runs. I LOL'd at this even as a kid when I was collecting these.

Gotta see if I can dig that up.

Would this be it? Mount Bohemia

 

[Smellytele]

Whoever made the decision to defang Liftline should be beaten. As for National, it's not a great trail, unless they get a decent snowfall and big moguls form on it. They I can see it getting away with double-black status.

I agree with National which I have only skied when it has had huge bumps. When skiing down it you pockets can fill up with snow without falling from scrapping the bumps.

 

[snowmonster]

Would this be it? Mount Bohemia

I think Bohemia and Smuggs are both guilty of the travesty that is the triple black diamond rating. There are also some resorts in Canada that do this (Can't recall if it's Sutton or MSA). Anyway, I think it's a marketing gimmick. Just call it a double black and leave it alone. Most knowledgeable skiers will see the rating and know that it takes some skill to get down it. I prefer understatement and actually like those resorts that just leave the expert runs as a single black diamond (MRG, Jay for example).

 

[soposkier]

I think Bohemia and Smuggs are both guilty of the travesty that is the triple black diamond rating. There are also some resorts in Canada that do this (Can't recall if it's Sutton or MSA). Anyway, I think it's a marketing gimmick. Just call it a double black and leave it alone. Most knowledgeable skiers will see the rating and know that it takes some skill to get down it. I prefer understatement and actually like those resorts that just leave the expert runs as a single black diamond (MRG, Jay for example).

I agree with the whole triple black diamond being bogus, but I think a place like jay could be justified in assigning some double blacks. To have the face chutes rated the same as jet might give some the wrong impression that because they can ski a single diamond they can ski all. Havent been to MRG so cant speak on their ratings.

 

[MadPatSki]

I think Bohemia and Smuggs are both guilty of the travesty that is the triple black diamond rating. There are also some resorts in Canada that do this (Can't recall if it's Sutton or MSA). Anyway, I think it's a marketing gimmick. Just call it a double black and leave it alone. Most knowledgeable skiers will see the rating and know that it takes some skill to get down it. I prefer understatement and actually like those resorts that just leave the expert runs as a single black diamond (MRG, Jay for example).

I think it would be Sutton, although I haven't look carefully at a MSA in a long time.

Red Mountain BC used to have quadruple blacks in the early 1990s. I think that I should maybe post it in February's Ski Mad World Attic post. The January one is already lined up for next Monday.

 

[Smellytele]

Then you have the European ratings that are Green, Blue, Red and Black.