What Level Am I? Piste, Freeride and Touring Levels Explained

"Intermediate" and "advanced" sound clear until you ask: on what? A skier who carves any black piste with ease can be a complete beginner in knee-deep powder. A strong freerider may never have put skins on. One word cannot describe all of that, and getting it wrong means booking a trip that is too easy, or one that is too much.

So at Snowbusters we describe every rider and every trip on three separate scales: your piste level, your freeride level and your touring experience. Each scale has its own vocabulary, so they cannot be mixed up.

1. Piste level: by colour

On groomed slopes we use the piste colours you already know. Your level is the hardest colour you ride comfortably on a normal day, with your speed under control and your turns linked. Getting down it once does not count.

• Blue rider: comfortable on blue pistes.
• Red rider: controls speed and links turns on any red piste.
• Black rider: does the same on black pistes, in normal conditions.

2. Freeride level: F1 to F4

Off-piste is a different discipline, so it gets its own scale. Your piste level tells us very little about how you ride in powder, crud or steep ungroomed terrain.

• F1, First Tracks: a black rider with little or no off-piste experience.
• F2, Freerider: rides off-piste regularly and links turns in powder, but struggles in crud, tracked snow or on steeper pitches.
• F3, Advanced Freerider: in control in any snow, and comfortable on steep terrain up to about 35–40°.
• F4, Expert Freerider: couloirs of 40° and more, exposure, confident and fast in any conditions.

3. Touring experience: T0 to T2

Touring is about getting up the mountain under your own power: skins, touring bindings or a splitboard, transitions and avalanche equipment. It has nothing to do with how well you ride down, which is why it is a third, separate line.

• T0: never toured.
• T1: has toured, knows the gear and how to use the avalanche kit.
• T2: tours regularly and is fit for 1,000m or more of ascent a day.

How to read a trip page

Every trip states the level it needs on each scale. "Freeride F2 to F3, Touring T1" means: you ride off-piste regularly, and you have toured before. "Piste Red to Black, T0" means: you ride red and black pistes well, and no off-piste or touring experience is needed.

Which Snowbusters trip fits which level

• Performance Prep: Piste Red to Black. No off-piste or touring experience needed.
• Intro into Ski Touring & Splitboarding: Piste Red to Black, Touring T0. We teach you touring from scratch.
• Improve Your Off-Piste Riding: Piste Black, Freeride F1 to F2. No touring.
• Deep & Steep Austria: Freeride F2 to F3, Touring T1.
• The Accursed Cat-Ski Expedition: Freeride F2 to F3, Touring T1.

How to judge yourself honestly

• Go by your normal day, not your best run.
• If you are between two levels, pick the lower one.
• Rate each scale on its own. Being a black rider does not make you an F3.
• Levels describe the most a trip may ask of you. On the mountain, the conditions and the group always come first.

Still not sure where you fit? Tell us how and where you ride and we will point you to the right trip.