Piste

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This article is about the ski piste. For the fencing piste or for other meanings, see piste (disambiguation).

A piste is the name given to a marked ski-run or path down a mountain for the purposes of skiing, snowboarding, or other mountain sports.

[edit] Piste Maintenance

Pistes are usually maintained by the operator of the ski resort, where skiers may travel from one piste to another via a mechanical ski lift system.

Pistes are usually maintained using tracked vehicles known as "piste bashers" or "groomers", which compact the snow in order to improve the skiing conditions, remove moguls, and most importantly preserve the snow so the ski season can last for a greater length of time. Pistes are often lined with artificial snow making machines so that snow can be created for skiing when the snowbase is low.

Pistes are usually graded according to difficulty. See Skiing#Ski trail ratings for more information.

[edit] See also

• Skiing and skiing topics