- Green = skinning, removable climbing skins on skis (160cm min length men, 150cm women) with full metal edges, and bindings that free heel for ascents (plus fix heel for descents in Full Competitive Course, with both lateral and forward/vertical release).
- Yellow = booting, skis affixed to pack (on back), *not* held in hands.
- Red = skiing, with skins stowed in clothing or pack, *not* held in hands.
- Blue = transitions (at which your ski poles must be placed flat on the snow).
- Mountaineering-style wands (usually planted in snow) with colored flags (green, yellow, red only).
- Surveyor-style flagging tape, tied to trees, towers, pipes (same four colors as other marking materials).
- Broken-off race gate shafts (i.e., not full alpine race height), blue only.
- "Turf" paint, on snow, with green and red lines of travel for skinning and skiing (respectively), and blue rectangular boxes for transitions.
You must always:
- Adhere to the travel modes indicated by the course marking.
- Transition between modes where indicated by the transition zones.
Examples of specifically prohibited actions include (but are by no means limited to) the following:
- Continuing a ski descent past the transition zone into the skintrack or bootpack = potentially dangerous because of skiing at speed past transitioning racers.
- Skating without skins on a skintrack = potentially dangerous because flaying poles & skis take up more trail space, and then the eventual transition might be in the way of downhill traffic.
- Skiing down with skins still affixed to your skis = potentially dangerous because of the unpredictable behavior of skiing with skins affixed.
- Holding onto pack when approaching the transition to or from a bootpack = potentially dangerous because a pack held this way can be dropped onto other racers.
