Choose Your Ability Level

Watch our video on How to Determine Your Skiing Level

Skiing

• Level One (First Time): I have never participated in this activity before.

• Level Two: I can stop, and I’m learning to turn.

• Level Three: I can stop, turn and ride a chairlift. I’m refining my wedge (pizza) turns on easy (green circle) terrain.

• Level Four: I am learning to control my wedge turns that finish in a parallel skid. (I start my turn in a wedge. I’m in a wedge in the fall line, when my skis point downhill. At the end of turn, when I’m traversing across the hill, I bring my skis together, parallel.)

• Level Five: I can ski parallel in the middle of a turn. (I start my turn in a wedge. I am parallel when my skis point straight down the hill in the fall line. I am still parallel as I finish the turn.)

• Level Six: I can ski parallel at the start of the turn and use poles to time my turns. (I usually need to traverse across the hill to control my speed before I start the next turn.)

• Level Seven: I can link (skid) parallel turns in the fall line. (I don’t need to traverse as I set up for the next turn.)

• Level Eight: I can carve short, medium and long turns in a variety of conditions. (I have worked on varying my carved turn sizes.)

• Level Nine: I can execute dynamic parallel turns in all conditions on any terrain. (I can link any size carved turn that is appropriate for the terrain, steepness and snow conditions.)

Snowboarding

• Level One (First Time): I have never snowboarded before.

• Level Two: I have been snowboarding before and I’m still learning how to turn to a stop.

• Level Three: I can stop, I’m learning how to traverse and make turns. I’m learning to ride the chairlift.

• Level Four: I can stop, turn and I’m getting more comfortable riding the chairlift. I am refining my turns on green terrain for more consistency and control.

• Level Five: I can link* turns using both toe and heel edge with control on green terrain, and I am ready to start on blue terrain.

• Level Six: I can link turns with control on some blue terrain including some steeper groomed blue slopes. I am learning how to make turns that are both carved and skidded.

• Level Seven: I’m comfortable on all blue and easy black terrain. I can vary my turn shape (small, medium and large radius) on all blue and easy black groomed terrain.

• Level Eight: I can link turns with control on ungroomed black terrain. I want to exhibit high performance in specific terrain:  Bumps, steeps, and powder.

• Level Nine: I can link short, medium and long radius turns in all conditions and all terrain (black and double black).

*Linked means there is no pause or gap between turns.