Piste 5

[Rosalyn Pomposo]

NorthAmericans employ its common European antonym, 'off piste', to describe backcountry skiing, especially when referring to skiing outside officially approved areas of a ski resort.[citation needed]

Pistes are not naturally occurring features, and must be created through human means. This can be done by "clearing" (removing the trees only) or by "grading" (clearing followed by reshaping of the surface by machines like graders).[3]

Pistes are usually maintained using tracked vehicles known as snowcats to compact or "groom" the snow to even out trail conditions, remove moguls, and redistribute snow to extend the ski season. Natural snow is often augmented with snow making machines and snow reserves, early in the season or when the snowpack is low, and to ensure the snow lasts throughout the season.

Typically, grading is done by the resort, and grades are relative to other trails within that resort. As such, they are not classified to an independent standard; although they are likely to be roughly similar, skiers should be cautious about assuming that grades in two different resorts are absolutely equivalent.

The steepness of ski trails is usually measured by grade (as a percentage) instead of degree angle. In general, beginner slopes (green circle) are between 6% and 25%. Intermediate slopes (blue square) are between 25% and 40%. Difficult slopes (black diamond) are 40% and up. However, this is just a general "rule of thumb". Although slope gradient is the primary consideration in assigning a trail difficulty rating, other factors come into play. A trail will be rated by its most difficult part, even if the rest of the trail is easy. Ski resorts assign ratings to their own trails, rating a trail compared only with other trails at that resort. The resort may take into consideration the width of the trail, sharpest turns, terrain roughness, the direction of the fall line, and whether the trail is groomed regularly.

This trail rating is fairly new; by the 1980s, technological improvements in trail construction and maintenance, coupled with intense marketing competition, led to the creation of a Double Black Diamond rating.

Non-standard symbols for standard ratings may be encountered at some ski areas. Bogus Basin, a resort near Boise, Idaho, uses orange diamonds on trailhead signs considered to be more difficult than double black diamonds; however, those trails are indicated on the trail map as double black diamonds.[5]Jiminy Peak, MA uses two variations of normal trail ratings; one is a blue square with a green circle inside of it used to represent an easy-intermediate trail. The other is a blue square with a single black diamond in it, used to represent an intermediate-hard trail.

Usually, the terrain park will carry its own trail rating, indicating the level of challenge. A terrain park with a Black Diamond or Double Black Diamond rating would contain greater and more challenging obstacles than a park with a Blue Square rating. Typically, a skier would be able to descend through a terrain park without necessarily negotiating any of its features, making this a possible easier way down than other options.

In Europe, pistes are classified by a color-coded system. The actual color system differs in parts for each country, although in all countries blue (easy), red (intermediate) and black (expert) are used. Shapes are often not used, sometimes all ratings are circles as being defined in the basic rules of the German Skiing Association DSV.[6] The three basic color codes of the DSV have been integrated into the national standards DIN 32912 in Germany and NORM S 4610 f in Austria.

Slopes marked green, blue or red are groomed in all countries; blacks are groomed in Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Scandinavian resorts, while in France most black slopes are not groomed, but some are. All other classifications are generally not groomed. Sometimes slopes are marked on piste maps as dotted or as dashed lines, this also signifies that the slope is not groomed.

Alpine slope classification in Europe is less rigidly tied to slope angle than in North America. A lower angle slope may be classified as more difficult than a steeper slope if it requires better skiing ability because, for example, it is narrower, requires carrying speed through flatter sections or controlling speed through sharp hairpin turns, or features off-camber slope angles or exposed rock.

Japan uses a color-coded system, but shapes do not usually accompany them. Some resorts, mainly those catering to foreigners, use the North American or European color-coding system, adding to the confusion. The usual ratings are:

Japan has more than 1000 ski areas (115 in Nagano Prefecture alone),[9] many of them small and family-oriented, so comparisons between slope classifications in Japan and "equivalent" slopes in Europe or North America can be misleading.

I am a beginner in alpine skiing. It means I can ski parallel and now am trying to increase my speed plus avoiding awkward mistakes in turnings. I want to begin skiing in natural slops and off-piste. Since now I used narrow and very light skis in pistes and now need to choose appropriate skis for off-pistes. Can you describe differences between the equipments which I have to choose for these two different reasons if there is any?

When Off-piste, you will be skiing in deeper snow. For this purpose, it is helpful to have slightly wider skis. But to be honest, it mostly depends on your skill. Skiing in deep snow is different then on-piste. Very different.

Be warned - you will spend much time digging yourself out of the snow and trying to get up - which is a much greater challenge when the ground keeps falling away from you (as soon as you push on the snow, it gives away, so you have to use your skis as leverage to get up comfortably).

If you're set on doing off-piste skiing and are prepared to invest a little into it, I strongly suggest getting a pair of "Big-mountain" skis. These are of the wider variant with bigger turning circle and are stiffer than "normal" skis.

I personally would recommend to start with something like freestyle crossover skis, which are 50/50 piste/offpiste, they are fun on the slopes and also can be decently rode in forests and not too deep. Big fat ones are actually veery fun, but also quite challenging to ride.

Btw. they actually are significantly softer than the carver or piste skis, as you don't need that much control, which is the case while riding on the tracks, and also the weight considerations, so riding them on the piste is actually challenging as they tend to start vibrate at high speeds (going over 80 - 90 is pretty "interesting").

Good recommendations in addition to getting the shovel and some recco jackets, is actually take an avalanche course, it's going to be the decisive thing when issues happen. And going riding alone is always a bad idea.

I do not think that a different pair of skis is necessary for off piste skiing, rather a different technique.Skiing on a groomed trail allows you to use your edges for turning, which are useless in deep powder. You need to keep your skis close together and use them as a platform to push against the powder and make your turns.I hope you are an accomplished deep powder skier before you attempt to ski off trail as those trees come up pretty fast!

The piste:type=* tag indicates the type of a piste, i.e. for what winter sports it is. It can be added to already existing ways, like for example a forestry track or hiking path if they can be used in winter for skiing, sledding, or winter hiking.

Especially for nordic skiing, sledding, winter hiking and skitouring, it is common that a way is used for multiple winter sports. Such dual use pistes are either tagged as several route=piste relations that all use the same way as a member, or sometimes also with a semicolon like piste:type=downhill;sled.

If the piste is composed of several existing segments/parts, e.g. that are in the summer ways or paths, a relation shall be used. The same applies if different values apply for different uses of the way, e.g. the piste and the underlaying forestry track have different names. Create a Relation:route with the property route=piste where you find more detailed information. Add the segments as members.

Frequently, ski pistes are used for several practices. For instance groomed Nordic tracks used as hiking tracks and sledding tracks for skitouring and hiking. There is two way to map several use of a piste when they are official: either use semi-colon separated values on the way (piste:type=downhill;sled), or create several route=piste relations, one for each use.

This is how bendy the boot is and ranges from 70 (soft recreational boot) to 140 (world cup race boot). This rating is not scientific or comparable across brands, so 100 in one brand might be 110 in another. Heavier, more advanced skiers will need a stiffer boot, whilst light intermediate skiers would benefit from a softer boot. Off piste skiers usually need a mid-range stiffness boot, too stiff and it doesn't allow you to utilise the boot flex, throwing you back on the boot and ski.

Freeride ski boots are all about the downhill and now form the biggest selling sector of off-piste footwear. Freeride skiers usually want a boot that can do a bit of uphill either on foot or skins. They all have a walk mode and some sort of grippy sole.

Freeride boots are compatible with ski touring bindings and alpine bindings, and some have pin tech fittings. To allow these compatibilities some boots have interchangeable sole units. These boots are usually heavier and stiffer than touring boots and have a restrictive range of movement when skinning or walking.

Freeride ski boots are ideal for skiers who want performance with day touring ability. These boots are ideal for all our Off Piste Adventure Courses. Whilst learning on our Off Piste Introductory or Development Coaching, its important skiers use a supportive boot like these or a soft flex downhill boot. Having said this if they are comfortable and your aerobically fit plenty of people do hut to hut tours in freeride boots.

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