What Separates a Double Black Diamond from a Black Diamond? In North America, the common metric for displaying terrain difficulty is by using a combination of colors and shapes. From easiest to most difficult the system goes green circle, blue square, black diamond, and double black diamond. Although there is a “common” method for trail rating, it’s important to note that there is no underlying organization that determines what each […] Brains Luke Guilford | March 5, 2025 3 Comments
Steamboat Ski Resort, CO, Releases Further Detail for Sidecountry Maps and Signage Known for its Champagne Powder, Steamboat Ski Resort is tucked up in Colorado’s Park Range Mountains. For years, skiers have enjoyed the bounty of fresh tracks in the Mahogany Ridge and Fish Creek Canyon sidecountry terrain. In the 2023/2024 season, Steamboat added 650+ acres of sidecountry terrain within the ski area boundary. Related: New Wild Blue Gondola at Steamboat Resort, […] Industry News Luke Guilford | January 6, 2025 0 Comments
Jay Peak, VT, Report: Pushing Myself Over the Edge on the Face Chute Report from Sunday, February 25th, 2024 Out of all of the East Coast resorts, Jay Peak is the one where I end up most. It’s diverse and challenging terrain, from steep groomers off the Jet Triple to tight glades like Timbuktu and Beaver Pond to its extreme Face Chutes directly under the tram; whenever I show up to Jay, I […] Conditions Report Liam Abbott | February 28, 2024 1 Comment
Palisades Tahoe, CA, Introduces Upgraded Trail Ratings to Include 1st Ever Double-Black Diamonds Palisades Tahoe, CA, known for some of the most extreme inbounds terrain in the country, has just reclassified a number of runs and introduced a double-black diamond rating, reports Peak Rankings. Related: Big Sky Resort, MT Introduces TRIPLE Black Diamond Trails to Denote ‘High Consequence Terrain’ The 22/23 trail map available on the Palisades Tahoe app shows a number of […] Industry News SnowBrains | November 21, 2022 3 Comments
Fire Engulfs Gondola Station At Summit of Glacier 3000, Switzerland Shocking pictures reach us from Switzerland, where on Monday, September 19, 2022, the summit station of the Glacier 3000 gondola burst into flames. Glacier 3000 is a ski resort in the Swiss canton of Vaud, about 20 minutes from Gstaad and 40 minutes from Montreux. The fire appears to have started on the fourth floor of the upstairs restaurant “Botta” of […] Fire Julia Schneemann | September 21, 2022 3 Comments
Construction Underway on Tunnel Through Mountain to Insane New Double Black Diamond Ski Run in Switzerland Have you ever seen a fantastic slope that was entirely inaccessible and thought longingly: “If only I could get there, that run looks sick?” Well, dream no more, because that’s exactly what the billionaire owners of Glacier 3000 in Switzerland were thinking. Unlike you and me, they had the resources to dig an 870ft (265m) tunnel from the main resort to […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | August 26, 2022 2 Comments
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