Ski Slope

Ski slope crossword clue. 5 letters on Dominion Post, New Zealand newspaper on May 8, 2017.

The answer is PISTE

A piste is a marked ski run or path down a mountain for snow skiing, snowboarding, or other mountain sports.

This European term is French (“trail”, “track”) and synonymous with ‘trail’, ‘slope’, or ‘groomed run’ in North America. Pronunciation varies slightly in English, with British English using a long “i”, (e.g. rhymes with “beast”), and American pronunciation using a short “i” (e.g. rhymes with “list”).

Increasingly, North Americans employ its common European antonym, ‘off piste’, to describe backcountry skiing, especially when referring to skiing outside officially approved areas of a ski resort.