funktekk

The snow we got should be great for shaping. Its not like it was powder. The stuff we got packs out real quick. granted traffic always makes upkeep a battle, especialy when most of the traffice are rolling lips or casing every hit, but still its the park crews job to deal with this. there are plently of mountains that get a lot more snow and maintain fantastic parks. Obviously I am not letting BC off easy on this one. I think they need to step up the game. Grooming is what makes or breaks a park.

I was there at night... from like 5:30 to 9:30. the park was awful. I guess the park crew took the holiday because everything had a beat down landing. I usually take one trip through the park just to look at everything; guess at speed, check landing, ect. I was getting a little bored so I thought it would be safe to hit the picnic table, WRONG. The landing had a rut, no check that a canyon in it. I only noticed it once I was on the table. In a split second I opted to see if I could ollie far enough down the rut to be able to make it out alive instead of trying to pop over to the side of it. I made it to the flat and rode away but still tweaked my ankle real bad. some of the other rails and boxes looked ok. All the jumps looked like crap. The pipe was crap. The wallride was crap. I was in such pain after that landing that I didn't check out that new pile of snow with the mailbox stall/bonk and the flat down box, but I didn't see it getting much attention. Now, I am fairly loyal to the BC park, but they really need to get there act together. I was at Blue this weekend and let me tell you they learning how to put a decent park together. I have always said Bear was better, because they focused more on features that will get used where as Blue seems to focus on features that will turn heads but most will ride by. It seems like the Bear crew has sputtered out a little. They keep adding boxes and plowing jumps.... Remember when there were three airable features on Cascade before the rails. Remember when there were four airs down the main park... I guess what I am saying is, Come on BC park crew, I know you guys got better in ya!

that intermediate park sounds great! having a flow line and a session area would be amazing.

I'm not good enough "super park" yet so I'm more concerned with intermediate terrain that will help me improve without risking life and limb.

I wouldn't buy a pass that limited me to only particular areas on a moutain as small as bc. On any given day the park goes through phases of good and bad. During a day at BC I'll often give the park a rest and let the park crew have some time to do their job while I make some turns on the other side of the mountain. As far as the super pipe is concerned... it seems pipes aren't really in style right now. The only time they sell any lift tickets is when resorts host big time pipe comps. Right now people are more concerned about jumps and jibs.

I have been to Blue a couple of times this season and there are some things that gripe me about their parks, so I thought I'd post them here and see what you guys think. First off I think Blue's Sidewinder park got some of the most impressive features in PA. Those big cheese wedges, and all the gap on rails really provide a great array of challanges to the skilled freestyler. However the lower, smaller, park has a lack luster selection of neglected features. Much like alpine terrian it is very important for a mountain to provide freestyle terrian that is in tune with the applitude of its customer base. It appears to me that there is a severe imbalance in Blue's freestyle terrian. If we are to look at resorts known worldwide for freestyle terrian you'll obviously find those amazingly difficult features that find their way into video's and magazines, but what you'll also find is a plethera of well kept beginner and intermediate features. If Blue were to provide better amenities for its less skilled customers I feel that this would divert a lot of the unwanted traffic from the Sidewinder park. I think the Sidewinder park at Blue is developing real nicely, but I think they have to invest some money in an area with smaller features. The problems that need to be addressed with the lower park area all start with its location. It is at in the middle of a long fairly flat crossover to the quad. I have seen a lot of people ride through the lower park just to avoid having to pole/skate through the rest of the cross over. I have also witnessed similar situations at the Sidewinder park where customers find themselves in the wrong place and having to decide between the park and the double black diamonds. Of course the less experienced customers are going to choose the park because the terrain is not as steep. If parks were more difficult to access it would act to filter out a lot of the unwanted traffic. Perhaps, if accessing the terrain park meant having to hike or walk up a couple of steps, then maybe customers would see it as more than just another trail on the map. Another item that could improve the lower park is a steeper slope. The lack of grade in the lower park causes to increase the number of "cut off" incidents because long roll in's are needed to develop the speed needed to clear features. Also this makes it very difficult to gather enough speed to clear the on jump in the lower park, thus causing the landing to become bombed out very quickly. If there was more slope to the park it would allow riders to pick up enough speed to utilize the features without having to start there decent as far away. If the riders are closer to the feature it makes it easier for other riders to recognize that the feature is in use. Now concerning both of Blue's parks... it seems fairly obivious that the parks are setup in a "slopestyle" like layout. A layout where riders are expected to use features as they progress down the trail. This is the traditional way of utilizing a resort, ride... lift... ride... However, freestyle riders often will just ride one feature over and over, hiking to the top of it after each hit. The layout in both of Blue's parks is very unconducive to this behaviour and actually makes doing it very dangerous. I think that is great that Blue's park allows it to be ridden in the slopestyle fashion, but I think they should also commit so resources to some hike freindly features.... sorry for the disjointed commentary... my girlfriends sick so I'm just killin' a slow friday night.

Here's my two cents... Park Passes are a must, but I don't think an added cost is the important part, although parks take extra TLC from the resort staff so a little $5 kicker wouldn't be that unreasonable. the important part of the pass is that people should have to watch a video be tested on proper park conduct and then maybe sign a waiver. This process would discourge any people who weren't serious about park usage from persuing a park pass. I also think it would be a good idea to form the park crew to be like a park specific branch of the ski patrol. People who are not only able to to fix features, but also enforce rules, and also act as a first responder to serious accidents. ----- All this talk about park passes is a good step, but I see a lot of things Blue could to to help this problem without major administrative procedures. I think I am going to break this off into another thread...