Depending on the area, the default nordic skiing practice differs a lot. While in western Europe one can expect a wide area for skating plus tracks for classic style skiing, this is not the case everywhere in the world.
In some regions, the piste preparation is much lighter and the majority of pistes are just signposted crosscountry ski routes for crosscountry touring with extra-large skis.
On OpenStreetMap, we use the tag piste:grooming to describe accurately the various practices.
Yet today (25.06.2022), there is no way to know what kind of gear is well-suited to run 24 % of the nordic skiing pistes already mapped, that is 22’303 km.
This summer, no need to get the snowcat out of its shed, just take your mouse to update the tags on pistes you know !
On Opensnowmap.org, these pistes appears with a dashed pattern from zoom 12, and display a perplexed skier from zoom 15 onward.
You can also find pistes where the piste:grooming tag is no set on a way nor a relation from this overpass query : https://overpass-turbo.eu/s/1jEl
[out:json][timeout:90];
way["piste:type"="nordic"][!"piste:grooming"]({{bbox}}) -> .nogroomingway;
rel(bw.nogroomingway)["piste:type"="nordic"]["piste:grooming"] -> .groomingrel;
way(r.groomingrel) -> .groomingway;
(.nogroomingway; - .groomingway;);
out geom;
Here is a reminder of the wiki’s definition:
piste:grooming=classic Two rails for classic style nordic.
piste:grooming=classic;skating Wide piste for skating and at least one set of classic rails.
piste:grooming=skating Wide piste for skating (or ‘free’) style nordic.
piste:grooming=scooter Classic style groomed by a smaller snowmobile, which means that the piste is often much looser and single lane.
piste:grooming=backcountry Un-prepared itinerary for cross-country skiing, tracks are made manually by skiers.
Very good point raised. Will update some paths in the forest nearby where in the winter I (and a lot of other amateur skiers) usually ski with piste:type=nordic + piste:grooming=backcountry
Really good news. I love the new tags.
The last point in my opinion important is the rendering of the alpine ski slopes with « piste:grooming=backcountry »
Which merge with the ski touring routes.
Ah! Skitour and backcountry downhill. I always wonder what to show in this respect when people seem to map their backyard like here:
https://www.opensnowmap.org/#map=16/6.109/46.437&b=snowmap&m=false&h=false
Anyway, do you think some improvement could be done showing them on the map ?
Yes I think there must be 3 different renderings :
The first concerns marked but ungroomed downhill ski trails (indicated on the resort’s piste map) :
piste:grooming=backcountry
piste:type=downhill
Like here, the slope Schwarzkogel n°56
https://www.opensnowmap.org/#map=15/12.335/47.381&b=snowmap&m=false&h=false
The second is ski touring, like the one you showed I believe (the ascent and descent) with :
piste:grooming=backcountry
piste:type=skitour
The ascent and descent must be mapped with the same tags.
Finally, the off-piste routes (for example, the descent of the white valley in Chamonix)
https://www.opensnowmap.org/#map=14/6.93/45.88&b=snowmap&m=false&h=false
piste:difficulty=freeride
piste:grooming=backcountry
piste:type=downhill
The issue with your definition is that it seems to me they don’t really match the wiki (https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Piste_Maps), not saying that the wiki is clear enough on this subject !
There’s also the tag ‘patrolled’ that could differentiate ‘official’ backcountry pistes from wild ones.
Indeed, but the wiki can be modified too.
On Openskimap, you can see the difference when you click on the track.
https://openskimap.org/?obj=782d504484ff31ab3c33a0b71af5ed61d4c9ef50#14.81/46.43704/6.10108/0/16
This indicates « skitour » for the descents of ski touring tracks