Just Go Places Skiing in the Western USA Just Go Places Skiing Western USA | Page 25

Things to know
European and North American ski trail symbols are not the same. Note that there
are no red trails in North America. Depending on the resort, they equate with a
blue square or a black diamond. North American symbols are also more than just
colours but also shapes.
In addition to the standard symbols below, there are also variations on these symbols.
Sometimes doubling of a symbol is used to indicate a harder variation of the type
of slope. For example, a double blue is harder than a single blue. Alternatively, two
different symbols can be used to indicate that parts of the trail are at the higher level.
For example, a diamond overlapping a square indicates a blue/black in difficulty.
In Colorado, a double black diamond with an “EX’ marking in the center denotes
extreme terrain.

Gre en circle, white centre : Beginner

Gre en circle : Novice
The slope gradient will be less than
25%.
Blue square : Intermediate
The slope gradient is 25%-40%. The
trails are gro omed and very popular.

Black diamond : Advanced
These slopes are ste ep (40%+
gradient) and may not be gro omed.

Double black diamond : Extreme skiing

Terrain parks are marked by an orange sign with rounded corners. They have sporting
obstacles like jumps and half pipes. Terrain parks have their own trail signs, with
blue being the easiest and double black the hardest.

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