How steep are blacks out west compared to blacks in the east? Also with double blacks?
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It is not easy to give a general answer to this as some resorts are simply more difficult overall than others. Keep in mind that trail markings are done by the marketing department and they all strive for an ideal mix with a lot of blue runs. That being said double black runs in the west are almost guaranteed to be very difficult and at some places - Mammoth, CA and Jackson Hole, WY to name just two of many most of them are killer. That is not to say you won't find killer double blacks in the east - look at Stowe and Mad River Glen, VT. Black trails can be almost any level depending on what resort you happen to be skiing at. My daughter and I have season passes at a small area in Pennsylvania and they have a black run that could almost be a green at some places and it is nothing more than an easy blue. Obvously difficulty is also going to vary a great deal according to snow conditions on a given day or even time of day.Bode Miller quits U.S. ski team. Will he be missed?
It's not really an east/west thing, so much as a resort thing.Runs are categorized by difficulty compared with other runs at the same resort. I'm sure you are aware, a black at one resort might be a blue at best at another. The same holds for out west.
You will find blacks in the west as steep (more or less) as counterparts in the east, provided you compare apples to apples. So little Cockaigne (in western NY, where I spent my teen years) won't have blacks that compare to Alta (where I ski now).
But, if you compare blacks at Mad River Glen to those at Alta, you will find that overall the "steepness" is about comparable. What changes is technical challenges, and sheer vertical drop.
Of course, same goes for double blacks and the other ratings.
There's really no way to accurately compare resort to resort, whether it be the East in general compared to the West in general, or just any resort compared to another. They really vary by resort and not region, and it can be dangerous to assume that resorts will have the same ratings for their slopes
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