Level of skiing required for different slopes

There real difficulty of a piste may well not be directly linked to it's grading!

There are those that are overgraded to make the area seem like it's got some difficult terrain to interest skiers who like the challenge and there are those that are undergraded so that newbies still come to the resort (after all once you've paid for your accomodation and lift pass they've got your money).

If your technique is sound and you are not spooked by steeps then even a relative novice can get down a lot of blacks, perhaps inelegantly and not ideal for improving technique (although it can be a stimulus to do so)

A snotty mogulled blue can be far more difficult for a novice than a wide smooth steeper red.
Blacks can be black for a variety of reasons - steep, steep & narrow, mogul field and may be so because of relatively short difficult stretches yet be blue/green for much of their length. Certainly scout them out before you take less able skiers down them - skiing is meant to be fun and a testing piste can be fun providing it's not beyond the skiers abilities or so far out of their comfort zone that they get spooked or even worse get injured. That shouldn't happen if they are not made to feel pathetic for side slipping where they need to.

Someone mentioned the Grand Vallira area of Andorra as a relatively easy graded ski area, I would also add that they were consistent in their grading with no hidden horrors and generally quite wide pistes so you have pleanty of space for skiers and boarders to spread out into.

As well as the grading of a slope it's the actual 'type' of slope that either gives me confidence or leaves me shivering at the top like a lemming with an uncontrollable survival instinct!

By 'type' I mean is it tree lined, in a bowl/vally or does it have drop offs either side. I'm a happy hacker intermediate skier, I'm always in control (just) but my technique needs a lot of work. I am much happier skiing tree lined pistes or those in a vally than anything with a drop at one or both sides. I think it may be my fear of heights that does it (or fear of a terrible mangled heap of a death!) - even if I know for a fact that the drop-off may be very gradual or almost non-existent i just can't get past the fear.

Maybe the better, more confident and more in 'total' control I get the better I'll be eh.

Off to Obergurgl in March and apparently I may have to conquer my demons as quite a few runs have drop offs.

I think this can be the fear of exposure, not just the heights. But as you can control your skis better it will become less pronounced. Even when there is a drop on the side there is no reason for you to fall there. No more than to ski into a tree.

Yeah no worries, weird that trees don't bother me at all when hitting one, even at relatively, low speed would do me far more damage (potentially) than dropping off an edge (of the World!).

Great video and def red, probably more difficult in areas due to the narrow gully and traffic!!! Nice Fall!
I agree on Italy they call black but is a french red as ive seen french blacks that are really scary!! In Canada they call double blacks but they are reds too!!!
Stick to reds for Happy skiing if you are intermediate otherwise you will be coming down blacks badly like I do!!