Profahoben_212This is true. If you are skiing blacks fairly confidently 3. If you are charging blacks without having to think about it...3+.
The 3+ is kinda pointless though. Only ever had one shop set my binding above at a 3+ din (11)...all other shops keep it low for liability I would guess(7to8ish normally).
The 1 through 9 system is actually a ton more in depth and useful...used to know all the levels but I can't rattle them off any more. Essentially 1 is equivalent to a 1 on the 1-3 scale. A 4-5 is about a 2. And I 7-8 is a 3. A 9 is a 3+ kinda.
1-9 is definitely more of a PSIA/Ski Instructor thing. Useful if that's a route you're interested in pursuing, but pretty irrelevant for most of the kids on here honestly. It usually is based more on traditional piste skiing and race technique. Unless you're a ski instructor or in an actual lesson you won't hear or see too much about it. Usually kids on here already know how to ski, don't give a damn about race technique, and want to huck themselves and progress.
Race technique is super helpful for your overall skiing and a necessary set of skills for really gnarly/tech big mountain stuff, but for your typical mid-west or east-coast NS park rat its usually not a focus. That being said, I'm a firm believer in being as strong a skier as possible in all areas of the sport.
If you're a younger kid (or anyone) really trying to progress as an overall skier, try to diversify as much as possible. Force yourself to ski new terrain that pushes you outside your comfort zone and scares you; try and emulate racers and mogul skiers on your way down to the park and send every side hit you see, trying grabs, 1s, and 3s and link it all with good looking turns. Not only will you have a blast mixing it up like that, you will start to progress and really break into that 3+ type shit where gapers are squealing with joy, confusion, and sheer terror when you blast past them.
For park progression, I would argue that this website is your best resource, especially if you don't have access to coaching. Curious about trying a new axis? Watch some videos and try that rodeo or switch cork 5 on the tramps for as long as it takes to make sense. Think butters and handdrags are the coolest thing since sliced bread? Confused on how to set that blind two? There are probably a dozen "how to?" forums for any trick you could think of, and like I said before, watch edits and analyze them. Instead of just saying "woah that was sick," take a better look at it and try and figure out what he actually just did there.
If skiing is really important to you, and you're thinking about it all day in class and literally dream about it at night then go after it. Head up north with your buddies or your family at every opportunity, hike rails at the local landfill until you're sweating through your outerwear, and save up, borrow, beg, or steal to get your ass to summer camp. The more you can progress before your twenties the better. Learn tricks and get familiar with as many different feelings on your skis as possible. When you get a little older and have been skiing for 10-20+ years with 50-100 days a year for the last few you will really start to feel like a boss, regardless of what your focus is at that point.
Kind of a tangent here, but basically all I'm saying is that levels are irrelevant, get out there and get after it.
