Ski Slope and Terrain Safety

Ski trails come in a verity of shapes and sizes, and conditions are always changing. What may be a nice groomed run in the morning may be covered in fresh powder by the afternoon. Listed below are some guidelines to become familiar with the ski area terrain.

The colored symbols next to the trails indicate the level of difficulty of the trail. Green circles are the easiest trails, blue squares are intermediate trails, black diamonds are most difficult and double black diamonds are most difficult, use extreme caution. Before you ride a lift, make sure the trail symbols of that lift fit your ability. If you have any questions or need directions, talk to a lift attendant. Trail markings are relevant to one area only. In other words a blue square trail at a mid-west area, may be the same angle of slope you’d find a green circle beginner trail at a rocky mountain resort.

Always inspect the layout of the terrain park, and all the obstacles in it. Before you hit the jumps, know exactly where and how you will land. When you’re ready to take a run, give yourself space between other skiers and snowboarders. You don’t want to take jump and land on someone who was too close.

As in racing the gates, you should always be able to see and plan at least a couple of turns ahead. Don’t look straight at the trees. Focus on the spaces between the trees. Your body has a natural tendency to follow your eyes. Visualize your path through the trees. If you can 't see what's behind a tree, slow down or stop.