Cross-Country Skis, Norwegian Style by Richard Starr Fig. Draw an outline of the ski bottom along one edge of the board. Draw in secondary ridge lines. The main mountain ridge isn’t a monolithic unbroken ridge. There will be spurs that broaden the mountains on either side. If one side of the mountain range is a dramatic escarpment, and the other is more broken and spreading – that can make for a very striking feature.
Learn how to distinguish trail difficulty. You can tell how hard a trail is by the symbol on the trail marker or ski map. In North America, trail difficulty is indicated as follows:- A green circle indicates an easy, or beginner, trail. These trails are not too steep, will contain few or no obstacles, and usually aren't too long.
- A blue square indicates an intermediate trail. It may contain some obstacles, moguls (many small bumps of snow), or have a steeper grade. You shouldn't go on these until you've mastered the easier trails.
- A double blue square indicates a difficult blue, and under bad snow conditions, can be closer to a black diamond trail. However, these are less commonly found across North American resorts.
- A black diamond indicates a difficult trail. It may contain obstacles, steeper moguls, and a steep grade with a narrow way down. Don't attempt a trail like this if you are uncomfortable with the most difficult blue runs. If you doubt you are ready, you probably aren't. Many people have been injured by attempting too difficult a run too early.
- A double black diamond, or a black diamond with an exclamation mark in it, indicates a run that should only be attempted by very advanced skiers. Do not go down a run like this unless you are completely comfortable with all other single black diamond runs. It's a good idea to ski these runs with a partner. Once you are ready for a double black, be sure it does not have 'EX' in the middle. This indicates an 'Expert Only' trail, the only thing harder than this is heli-skiing. (Where they drop you off in helicopters. These slopes are very avalanche prone.)