A ride in the park
Terrain parks at Mt. Bachelor offer thrills to any skill level of skier or snowboarder
By
Mark Morical /
The Bulletin
Published: January 30. 2009 4:00AM PST
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Hames Ellerbe, the terrain parks manager at Mt. Bachelor, tries out his wall ride under the Pine Marten chairlift last week.
Andy Tullis / The Bulletin
MOUNT BACHELOR —
They can often be seen in the slopestyle area from the Pine Mountain chairlift, impossibly young snowboarders twisting their bodies in unimaginable ways as they soar insanely high off a tabletop jump.
Most skiers and snowboarders watching from the lift think: “Wow, I’ll NEVER do that!”
Perhaps not at that level. But the terrain parks — areas with jumps, rails and other free- ride features — at Mt. Bachelor ski area are actually set up with different skill levels in mind.
The beginner can start out at the Sunshine terrain park and progress to the advanced features of slopestyle.
Riding a terrain park for the first time is a lesson in humility even for more seasoned skiers or snowboarders, who look on with amazement as kids as young as 4 or 5 years old fly off the jumps and grind the rails with relative ease.
“It seems every year they just get younger and younger and better and better,” says Hames Ellerbe, the terrain parks manager at Mt. Bachelor.
But Ellerbe contends that older snowriders can get started in terrain parks and find their comfort levels.
“I’ve seen 50- to 60-year-olds sliding boxes,” Ellerbe says. “It’s a wide age group. It’s just practice and learning, just like anything else. The more you do it, the better you’ll get.”
Following the trend of the last few years, the terrain parks at Bachelor are among the most popular runs on the mountain. The area near the Skyliner chairlift from Chipper to iPark, which includes medium to large features, has been the most frequently used run this season, according to Ellerbe.
When riding terrain parks, skiers and snowboarders should keep a typical riding stance, according to Ellerbe, with their knees bent and their weight centered. When they hit a jump, they can “pop” with their legs, affecting how high and far they travel through the air.
“The main thing is keeping an aggressive, ready stance,” Ellerbe says. “If you’re stiff-legged, it’s not a good thing. Keep your weight distributed evenly, so when you go in the air, you’re nice and balanced. Whereas if you’re sitting back, you’ll be flailing backward.”
Ellerbe emphasizes a terrain park code called Smart Style that addresses safety issues and how to effectively progress in the parks.
A recent session in the Sunshine Park left this snowboarding reporter — though humbled by the 6-year-olds flying higher than me — ready to move on to the Chipper area.
Terrain parks can be intimidating, because they can include jumps, tabletops, hips, pipes, boxes, rails, jibs and wall rides. Or, as Ellerbe puts it: “Pretty much anything you can imagine.”
On a recent cloudy day, Ellerbe surged up the slopestyle area’s wall ride — a 25-foot-high wood construction on which snowriders can slide up and down. He turned his skis on the wall, stalling before sliding safely back down to the snow.
“Making it safe is the main thing,” Ellerbe says of shaping such features. “Smooth takeoff, smooth landing. No jagged spikes anywhere.”
Ellerbe’s staff of six groomers goes to work when Mt. Bachelor closes every day at 4 p.m. They fill in ruts with snowcats and shape the features. The park crew of eight, called “park pals,” checks the parks each morning and puts up flags and signs so riders know where to find the features.
Heavy snowfall can make the grooming and shaping job more difficult.
“We try to keep up with the snow as much as possible, but you know how much it snows here,” Ellerbe says. “That’s when powder comes into play, and you should be out shredding that.”
Ellerbe is constantly switching features or adding new ones. In fact, he says the terrain parks are at only about 40 percent of what he plans to build this season. The late opening of Bachelor and the recent dearth of snowfall has him running behind.
“A couple more weeks and we should be fully up and running,” he says. “It kind of depends on the weather.”
Still, the terrain parks crew has been adding two to three features each night. Currently, the main expansion is taking place in the iPark and Chipper parks. Ellerbe says he will soon turn his attention to rebuilding the slopestyle area.
Skiers and snowboarders on the mountain can also give their input as to what they would like to see in the terrain parks.
“A lot of park riders come to us with ideas or things they don’t like,” says Jarrod Donatelli, the lead park pal at Bachelor. “We take that into consideration and try to give people what they want.”
Donatelli and other park pals also make sure snowriders are staying within their abilities.
The addition of more intermediate terrain with Upper Chipper and Pat’s Way parks this season appears to be a success, according to Donatelli.
“It seems to be working out great,” he says. “People are loving it. It’s the perfect pitch for a park.”
Ellerbe hopes to eventually have all the terrain parks located in the same area on the mountain, allowing riders to move more efficiently from park to park.
“The goal with moving everything to Chipper was getting all the riders in one spot so the progression is right there,” he says.
Ellerbe admits terrain parks are not for every skier and snowboarder. But the emergence of the parks and their popularity cannot be ignored. Most ski resorts in the country — including Hoodoo Mountain Resort and Willamette Pass in Central Oregon — have terrain parks.
“It’s fun and challenging, and it’s different,” Ellerbe says. “People don’t want a flat run all the time. If you keep doing the same thing over and over, it gets somewhat bland.”
And terrain parks are anything but bland.
Super Pipe stats...
400 feet long with 18½-foot-high walls. Located below the Pine Marten chairlift.
The largest features on the mountain. Located below Pine Marten.
Geared toward intermediate riders, but with features challenging enough for seasoned pros. Located below the West Village Getback off the Skyliner chairlift.
Nearly a mile long and covering 1,000 vertical feet, Chipper is a highlight of the terrain park system. Located near the Skyliner chairlift.
For those just learning or trying to move up to a more medium-sized park. Located below the West Village Getback off the Skyliner chairlift.
For the first-time terrain-park rider. Located next to the Sunshine chairlift.
SOURCE: www.mtbachelor.com.
Safety tips
• Every time you use freestyle terrain, make a plan for each feature you want to use.
• Your speed, approach and takeoff will directly affect your maneuver and landing.
• Before getting into freestyle terrain observe all signage and warnings.
• Scope around the jumps first, not over them.
• Use your first run as a warm-up run and to familiarize yourself with the terrain.
• Be aware that the features change constantly due to weather, usage, grooming and time of day.
• Do not jump blindly, and use a spotter when necessary.
• Know your limits and ride within your ability level.
• Look for small progression parks or features to begin with and work your way up.
• Freestyle skills require maintaining control on the ground and in the air.
• Do not attempt any features unless you have sufficient ability and experience to do so safely.
• Inverted aerials increase your risk of injury and are not recommended.
• Respect the terrain and others.
• One person on a feature at a time.
• Wait your turn and call your “drop.”
• Always clear the landing area quickly.
• Respect all signs and stay off closed terrain and features.
SOURCE: www.terrainparksafety.org
