SAC skiing ratings

L (E Easy)

Steepness below 28˚ Grounds soft, hilly, subsoil is even narrow passes during downhill none Exposedness no danger of slipping Examples Sim, Niederhorn

WS (LD Little Difficult)

Steepness around 30˚ Grounds usually open slopes with some short steep sections, ditches, bumps, in case where there are rocks there is an alternative route, tour requires kick-turns narrow passes during downhill narrow passes are short and gentle, one can let skis go Exposedness short sliding sections, gently ending Examples Turnen

ZS (QD Quite Difficult)

Steepness around 35˚ Grounds short steep sections without alternative routes, good reaction necessary due to a sequence of obstacles in moderately steep grounds narrow passes during downhill narrow passes are short but quite steep, slowing down and downhill turns are necessary Exposedness sliding sections are quite long, some rises for purposes of slowing down (danger of injury) are present Examples Seehorn

S (D Difficult)

Steepness around 40˚ Grounds steep sections without alternative routes, experienced in kick-turns, a lot of obstacle require an advanced skiing technique narrow passes during downhill long and steep, subsoil even, short slalom turns possible Exposedness long sliding sections sometimes run into blocks, scree, forest (in case of hard snow danger of life) Examples Cheibehorn

SS (VD Very Difficult)

Steepness around 45˚ Grounds generally very steep grounds often interspersed with rock sections, a lot of obstacles shortly after each other narrow passes during downhill very long and very steep, rough subsoil, difficult slalom turns Exposedness sliding sections in steep areas drop off (danger of life) Examples Balmhorn South wall

AS (ED Exceptionally Difficult)

Steepness around 50˚ Grounds exceedingly steep flanks, no recovery possibilities while skiing downhill narrow passes during downhill sequence of very long and step narrow sections, often sliding down or cross jumps required Exposedness extremely exposed

EX (XD Extremely Difficult)

Steepness around 55˚ and more Grounds extremely steep walls and couloirs, only for absolute top skiers narrow passes during downhill possibly abseiling necessary

Notes

1. For the overall assessment of the rating of a route the maximum rating of the main categories is used
2. Starting with the rating WS one can use + or – in order to fine tune the rating
3. In the description header starting with WS, the steepness (and possibly the length of this section) is indicated: “WS+, summit slop 36˚ for 200m”.
4. If one or more auxiliary criteria are added, the rating is increased by 1/3 (for example WS+ to ZS-)
5. For the alpine sections the mountain tour ratings are used, if that rating is higher it is used for the whole route
6. In the description head this section should to be described: “SS, Gendarm at the summit ridge V+”
7. AS-routes are sometimes mentioned in the ski tour guide but only in exceptions, EX-routes are never mentioned.

Auxiliary Criteria

• Difficult orientation during ascent
• Course of the route not visible
• Route errors are hard to correct or not at all

(English translation by 360. Source in German)