Japan Uses 3 Ski Run Ratings … or Does It?
Japanese Ski Run Difficulty Ratings are unique and different from other countries. Unlike anywhere else in the world of skiing or snowboarding, and according to wikipedia.org, Japan has a very simple ski run difficulty ratings system. Generally, Japan categorizes slopes into the following groups: beginner, intermediate, and expert. Furthermore, there is no agreed definition of each ski run difficulty. In other words, the three difficulties are relative to one another at each resort. By and large, you should expect them to be similar, but there is no guarantee that they will be — caution is necessary.
Where Does Freshsnow.jp Get Ski Run Difficult Ratings From?
In Openstreetmap.org (OSM), where in part freshsnow.jp gets its data, it seems the convention is quite different and does not follow the basic 3 categories as described above. OSM categories Japanese runs into 6 categories: novice, easy, intermediate, advanced, expert, and freeride, along with numerous unrated pistes (e.g., no data provided) which is very similar to Europe. In fact, take a look at the European ski run difficult rating to the right.
Freshsnow.jp’s Solution to Japan Ski Run Difficulty Ratings
Ski run difficulty rating in OSM covering Japan is very varied. Some resorts have 3 categories and some have 7 categories. So, while some mountains follow the Japan standard, other mountains do not. The maximum number of categories any resort uses as of Aug, 2024, was 7 categories as follows: novice, easy, intermediate, advanced, expert, freeride and unrated (no data available). Because the data is so variable in Japan, freshsnow has decided to group all difficulty levels into to just 3 categories. The three categories are; green (beginners), red (intermediate) and black (expert). Therefore, green includes novice runs. Red includes only intermediate runs. Black includes advanced, expert and freeride. You will also see pink. Pink is unrated (no data available).
Map Legend Access for Japan Ski Run Difficulty Ratings
You can access the maps legend by click the “L” bottom normally located at the bottom right corner of the map. A partially transparent legend will appear over the map giving you a legend for ski run difficulty. See the example to the right.
