When planning a ski holiday at one of the many ski resorts in
Alpine Europe it is important to be aware beforehand of your
abilities and limitations and to familiarise yourself with the
European ratings system, devised to notify the difficulty of a
particular ski trail.
Although individual coding systems differ from country to
country, it is standardised for pistes across Europe that
Blue denotes easy, Red
intermediate and Black is for the experts. The
following list shows the difficulty ratings you may come across at
ski resorts throughout Europe:
Green
Nursery slopes. These may not even be marked as a ski
trail, but being a large, gently inclined area offering plenty of
room to practice, they are ideal for children, unsteady beginners
and those who've never skied before.
Blue
This will be an easy ski trail, suitable for
beginners and those not wishing for too much of a challenge early
on. The snow will usually have been prepared through the process of
grooming, ensuring a smooth, nicely compacted run.
Red
The intermediate level of ski slopes. It will, in
most cases and where possible, have been groomed and is suitable
for those who've successfully mastered the blue slopes, looking to
move onto the next challenge.
Black
The definition of the 'Expert' ski run is open to
interpretation. The black ski slope may simply be a ski resort's
next step up from the red ski slope or a death-defying run suitable
for only the virtuoso or foolhardiest of skiers.
Black ski trails should be approached with caution and
sufficient prior research undertaken to ensure the level of skill
required when tackling the run.
The following ski ratings are particular to certain European
countries:
Double or Triple Black Diamond
A Scandinavian ski rating used to denote the difference between an
expert black run and an extremely difficult ski run. As with the
standard black ski trail it is rarely groomed, unless creating more
of a challenge (e.g. seeding moguls).
Yellow
The yellow ski run has emerged only recently, with some ski resorts
reclassifying black runs to notify a ski route for non-groomed,
unpatrolled, off-piste skiing in a designated area. Austria mark
ski routes with orange squares.
It is important to remember that a ski resort will assign
its own classification to a ski trail and what may be easy for the
beginner at one resort may be more difficult at another. Always
heed on the side of caution and find out what skill level the
individual ski resort suggests with regards to each
rating.
La Plagne is
made up of eleven ski resorts and offers combined skiing with the
region of Les Arcs, collectively they are known as Paradiski.
The La Plagne region is made up of:
- 11 Green trails
- 70 Blue trails
- 33 Red trails
- 6 Black trails
La Rosiere, thanks
to its link with the Italian resort of La Thuile, is the only ski
resort in the Savoie region to offer international skiing.
Combined, these resorts are known as L'Espace San Bernardo, which
roughly translated means the Saint Bernard space (or area).
La Rosiere has:
- 6 Green trails
- 25 Blue trails
- 35 Red trails
- 16 Black trails
Les Sept
Laux (Les 7Laux) is the third biggest resort in the Dauphine
Alpine region and offers:
- 7 Green trails
- 6 Blue trails
- 14 Red trails
- 10 Black trails
Grimentz sits in
the Valais region of Switzerland and is the "undiscovered gem" of
Swiss Alpine skiing, offering:
- 6 Blue trails
- 5 Red trails
- 7 Black trails
Mountain Heaven Ltd. offer luxury ski chalets in
the all of the above ski resorts.