What's With All This "Black Diamond/Double Black Diamond" Stuff? - Page 2

Degree of difficulty rating are very helpful for those of us who can not ski everything. Being able to compare the steepness of a trail you cannot see from the lift to one you have scoped out and successfully skied is invaluable. Of course, degree of difficulty has more to do with conditions than gradient, so aspect and traffic should be taken into consideration as well.

I've been told that the ratings are relative to the particular resort. Not unlike boot flex ratings. One man's black is another man's blue.

 

However, at Kirkwood the lift that accesses nothing but double black runs greets you with a written warning which includes a skull and crossbones. None of the other lifts there have that warning.

 The odd thing is that resorts are  now pulling up triple black diamonds...

One of my fav runs at my old ski hill (P.C.) was double blue (Stacy's) great run and a black at most any other ski area.

Or green with envy..which makes me blue. 

Personally, I think we need more designations....like "double green circle with a blue kicker", or "double blue square, black diamond high". That way we could describe every nuance of every trail in detail. We could even modify it based on snow conditions so if, for example, it was a little icy they could "add a blue square to all difficulty ratings today". Maybe just "double green circle" to describe a slope so flat that you have to shuffle your feet to move. I dunno, maybe I think too much.

Here's one from the bottom of the Castlerock chair at Sugarbush. I find narrative more helpful than shape/color combinations.

 

 

 

I

This

 

 

That's for a trail that is more difficult than itsself..
 

To me that sign says 'RENTALS ONLY'.

Well with me being color blind and seeing everything in shades of grey I sure like the shapes.

Same reason they have the triangle shapes and squares for water navigation. You can see the shapes before the color in fog. So if its foggy out and you see two diamonds you can be pretty sure the world is about to leave your feet.

I ripped the bottom off a pair of rental skis at Sunshine ( kindda glad I did now with everything thats going on)

Was a first day of the season and we rented them . Skied across some rocks like second run. Took them in to be replaced, they got a bit upset and said Id have to pay. Told them I was on a run so it was there run ,skies,rock and problem. They handed me anouther pair nothing more said.

I dont think they fixed that pair unless they extruded a new base I couldnt believe you could do that to a ski without snapping it.
 

It aint called the Rockies for nothin'.....

Okemo, VT

Novice 32%
Intermediate 36%
Advanced/ Expert 32%

 

The beginners area at Loveland.

^^^ cool site.  Don't have my area, tho.

I actually had to look up what I say!!!  Found on my profile, I'll ski "anything but double blacks".  So, I must not use the shape....  After reading all this, I couldn't remember which way I expressed it!  LOL!

red slopes are most common in Europe and almost never used in the United States.

Wow, we have a red diamond right around the corner from my house..

 

 

 

I do get a good laugh that places back east or a place like boreal in CA has 'black diamond' rated runs. 

I usually refer to runs by their color only.  I think black diamond, specifically, gets used more.  But the others I prefer strictly colors only.

triple black diamond runs now seem to be more frequent. Guess double  dosen't sound as good in the lift line any more, although haven't really noticed much of a difference. Was totally puzzled by the first double blue I have ever seen (Castle ?) think it indicates extreme mediocre. .

What is said above is true.

 

In a deep blizzard you can't really tell the difference between the colours, but the shapes are still distinctive.

 

Having the shapes plus the colours is helpful, as it aids people to recognise them in all conditions. That is the reason they have the shapes and the colours, there are two ways to recognise a run, which is like a failsafe mechanism.  If people think it is strange, get over it. One day it might stop an unexperienced skiier going off a blue onto a double black in a blizzard, which is a good thing!

 

On a cooler perspective, I saw an absolute ripping girl, probably around 16 last year wearing a shirt "black diamonds are a girls best friend"

 

Robbo

Alright what the heck, I'll share my memory. When I was growing up, we called them green, intermediate, and blacks. I do recall at some point, somewhere, there were double blues. Speaking of doubles, If my memory serves me correctly, about 28 years ago that some Tahoe resorts removed the double black designation. I think it was insurance premium related. For most part, I just ski on whatever it looks interesting.

Why?  As has been discussed many times, the "black diamond" rating is simply relative to that ski area.  i..e, the hardest trails at this ski area get rated black.

There are many runs/areas back east that are every bit as hard as double blacks out west, maybe not all of them, but some for sure.

As a kid growing up in winter park (28 years ago), there was no such thing as double black diamonds.  They did use blue/black on a few runs that designated that they were either usually very icy (Sleeper) or had small moguls good for learning bumps.

 

Even the back side Jane chutes where labeled black.  Not sure when but the chutes and the opened up ridge have been re-branded as doubles.  I assume to be like the rest of the areas to advertise they have expert runs too.

 

Personally the only signs I worry about anymore are cliffs and thin snow. 

 

Well, I find the "experts only" warning message funny on Ontario double blacks--they're skiable by intermediates.

I don't think that small ski areas should have double blacks.  There's no point.

 

There is a double-black at Philly's local hill.  It is never open, but if it was it isn't even close.

What is the local Philly hill?  The closest to where I grew up was Spring Mountain.