Groomers, chutes, glades, etc. There are a ton of different terrain types that you might encounter on a ski resort. It usually depends on where you are in the world, how skilled of a skier you are, and what kind of terrain you prefer, but there’s a ton of different types to explore and push yourself on. SRG Skiing took a look at the primary terrain types you might encounter in the United States.
Depending on who you ask, there are usually two primary types of terrain: On-piste and off-piste. On-piste tends to include any terrain that’s manipulated by machinery like groomers, traverses, and moguls. Moguls can be natural, occurring simply through a lack of grooming and frequent use by skiers and snowboarders, or they can be made by a snowcat. Groomers, a category that traverses often fall into, are always made by a machine.
Off-piste is usually all-natural and untouched by machines. This category can include bowls, gullies, trees (glades), and most expert terrain. In expert terrain, you’ll see chutes, couloirs, cliffs, and much more.
The two bonus categories include terrain parks and adventure zones. Neither are quite on-piste, nor are they off-piste. Parks are focused on freestyle skiing with jumps, boxes, rails, and more. Adventure zones are often more of a family-friendly, terrain-park like area, including banked slalom courses and more.
