Route Hardest Difficulty

tells you out of all the criteria listed below, what is the hardest difficulty you will encounter. So lets say all the criteria is rated green, but the slope angle is rated double black, the hardest difficulty you would encounter will be a double black on the slope angle. Read below for descriptions for each degree of difficulty and how each category is broken down.

Slope Angle
Green = Anything less than 25 degrees
Blue = 25-35 degrees
Black = 35-45 degrees
Double Black = 45+ degrees

Slope Type
Green = This starts at blue difficulty.
Blue = Anything that does not require skiing a chute or couloir.
Black = If it has a chute, gully or glacier.
Double Black = If it has a couloir

Tree Density
Green = None.
Blue = Sparse.
Black = Nicely spaced.
Double Black = Dense and Super Dense.

Ascent Type
Green = Lift Access, Snowmobile.
Blue = Bootpack,Skin, Bike.
Black = Easy Crampon/snow axe.
Double Black = Technical Climbing.

Exit
Green = Clean.
Blue = N/A.
Black = Sketchy but doable.
Double Black = Rappel or parachute.

Ascent Mileage
Green = 0-1 miles.
Blue = 1-3 miles.
Black = 3-7 miles.
Double Black = 7+ miles.

Vertical Gain
Green = less 1000 ft.
Blue = 1000-2000 ft.
Black = 2000-5000 ft.
Double Black = 5000+ ft.

Avalanche Terrain Rating
Blue = Simple.
Black = Challenging.
Double Black = Complex.