snorovr

Definitely a good time. I'm contacting some people here and there so that we can have as much product as possible for the giveaway. I think last year we had more product than I've ever seen at a local premiere. This being the second year we are sure to have as much and most likely more. Can't wait!

1) Amen! I've seen some sillyness in parks out west, but I can count the number of times on one hand, and you can be sure it wasn't by some locals. 2) I'm basically repeating what you said, but I agree. Parks around here have generally been given a narrowish trail with a low grade. Hopefully now that mountains are widening terrain (Blue) and dedicating more of it to parks (Boulder), some of those congestion issues will ease up a bit. I've felt that although Bear has always had some of the best terrain for their parks, the in runs are what kill them. That area in the tubing section has sooooo much potential. Rope tow please? 3) Opinion: I don't want the park to become a place of red and yellow jackets. We need people what want to be in the park to be there, not the people who kinda cruised on down to enjoy the scenery. This is one of the goals of the Good News II thread. We need ideas to keep the park as limited as possible to those who know the rules and are there on purpose. Gates and mounds are the ones I've heard. My own opinion is that there needs to be something which requires the user to take off their gear to enter. Steps, barbed wire, etc... There are alot floatin around between park crew members and people up at Blue who are pretty much residents, but the best ideas often come from the places where no one looks. Please don't mention park passes. 4) I know you weren't. I was pullin your chain a lil bit. I would love for park crew to be able to help with educating the masses, but the way in which we would do has been a topic of more than a few discussions. If you hand out brochures or little leaflets, you'd have an even bigger littering problem. I've found Blue Mountain trash on the AT... Sux. Personally I do park crew because I like to ride features that are maintained and I know my buddies do too. Its sweet to see someone you know and have them throw a thanks your way because the lip to the last feature they nailed was spot. I've been educating by coaching Freeriders. This is where I get most of my knowledge of how flawed park education and Smart Style is. Try telling a 9 year old, "Respect gets respect," and asking them what that means. Its not educating everyone. But its something...

We are going to try some new things up at Blue. I've talked to people in the past who shouldn't be in the park, and most of them are glad to oblige to go down Lazy and to the lower park or lower sidewinder. We can't really clip passes or things like that if it is a trail that they have every right to be on, even if they shouldn't be there.

Yes I am part of the problem in the park. C'mon Papa... Not a very good opinion, in my opinion. I do agree that park crews could be part of the solution. How so I don't really know. I'm not sure if we are allowed to spot, but to be honest I don't think I would. Part of skiing park is having a buddy spot. No one does because everyone wants to hit everything on every run. If people jump over our gear and knock us over while we are fixing features, the how will a spotter stop someone from going off of a jump. Give them guns?

This is not meant as a slam at all Nick, but I don't think "I heard" is exactly what Papa is lookin' for...

We cannot really enforce stuff. That seems to be a job for ski patrol. Park crues job is the maintenance of the park, not the enforcement of proper park etiquette. Its just a bad situation in the parks out here. No one really knows how to treat them. Ski areas and their parks are more of an amusement park and less of a destination. When people go out west the majority of them know how to ski at least on blue squares and know the rules of the road and know how to handle themselves accordingly. The one or two weekend a year people that patronize many of the mountains we ski and board at don't spend enough time on the slopes to get to know these rules that are understood by people that use the mountains more often. Last year we had some interesting run ins with customers. When we close off a feature we do so by setting up obstacles with our equipment (X with skis when possible or lay snowboards on their edges perpendicular to the snow) so as to block the in run to the feature. You would think that people would get the hint that maybe they should bypass this feature on that particular run down the park, but no. Every night we would have people crash through our gear and then hit the feature while we were working on it. Setup a sign you say? Nope. Tried that too and people would just go around it. People who aren't on the mountain that often have no idea what the language is up there, and that is one of the areas where I think Smart Style fails. It is written in the language of people who are engrossed in the sport, exactly who it should not be targetting. I think its a great idea to have SOMETHING at the entrances to parks and posted on lift towers etc..., but the current Smart Style isn't doin it for our local hills. Wonder if Smart Style beta will do anything...

Park lovers hate the midwinter thaw, so from our standpoint, all is well! For myself, I'm just hopin' for it to be balls cold from November till April. Amen!

Ya I've never really liked the Smart Style program. I posted it up because it is the only thing there is that is "official." I always felt as though it came across as trying to be too cool, and because of that the people who really need to benefit from it get nothing from it. No one outside of people who spend alot of time in the park understands it, which has always made me wonder what good it is. Young people think its dumb, older people don't understand it, seems like a waste of a paint and wood to me. Maybe time for some sweeping change...

Haha I knew someone would ask. You might be in luck DH cuz I'm actually looking for a board right now. PM me or something.

The Clarion has an RCA input that I used to hookup an Ipod directly to the unit with a RCA to 1/8th" hookup. You just scroll through the mode to get to it. ie CD, Tuner, Aux, and you run the Ipod in the Aux mode. A similar setup for the Alpine costs around $12, or you can buy Alpines dedicated Ipod dock. PM me with offers if you are interested. I've had this stuff sitting in my room for a while and would like to move it.

Well it seems like more car audio stuff is sold here than ski equipment, so I figured I'd throw some more into the mix before it goes up on ebay and craigslist. I'm just gonna post the model names. All the specs are easily googled. Barely used Clarion DXZ545MP CD Headunit. Was in a car for a month or so before the car was retired. Hs been in box ever since. Asking $100ish. Brand new never been opened Alpine CDA-9820XM CD/XM Headunit. This receiver has an XM tuner built in. All you need is an antenna and you're ready for XM radio in your car. Asking $250ish. Brand new Alpine MRV-T320. V12 2 channel amp with a bridged max of 400 watts. If I need to tell you that you shouldn't compare this amp to a Dual amp, then you probably shouldn't buy it. Asking $150ish. Used Infinity 3002cf 3 1/2" 2 way speakers. Still sounded great when I took them out. Never ran them off an amp, just a lower end Alpine headunit. Asking $20ish. Used Bazooka Tube Powered Sub. 8" x 100 watt. This sub is great for adding just a bit of low end to your tunes. If you want your neighbors to hear you comin then buy the Alpine up above and hook it up to some 12s. If you are look for a cheap way to get some decent bass then this thing does the trick pretty well. I had it in a Suburban which is way to much space for this sub, and it did a decent job with it. Includes everything you need to wire it up to most cars. Asking $75ish. Thanks for shopping.

Skiing out west is kinda like surfing. If you are stuck at a resort, then stuff gets tracked out after a few days. Say it doesn't snow for a few weeks. Just like the waves die down. Thats where parks come into play. It gives people something new and exciting. This board is a rough place to ask that question because the majority of people are in PA. Whenever I'm somewhere with big mountains I'm gonna ski the bowls whether they are crappy or not. Lots of kids out west ski the park primarily. Ya I think they're crazy, but different strokes for different folks.

I dunno man. That trail could be hit or miss for a park. They'll never do it. I think the reason they are building it is to give Sidewinder back in a sense. They took away a Blue cruising run for a park, so now they are givin it back.

ya a feature like that would be soooooooo sick. Everyone tries to hit a wall. (By the way, thats one of the most satisfying sounds in the park, when a noob just rides straight into a hollow wall made of steel. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.) But no one would hit that except people who knew their shiz.

Need I say anything...

I already work three programs that I get paid for. That would be sweet if I could afford to volunteer at Blue. I'd definitely do Ski Patrol if it was paid position and duties included setting avy charges and "testing" the back bowls after a dump. Given the fact that park passes don't seem to have the approval of management, the mound idea and some type of gates are the best ideas/things that I've seen that might work. Management is keeping in mind the people who still enjoy skiing Sidewinder as a regular trail. It has long been practice at Blue to not deny access to a trail that paying customers have bought tickets/passes to ride. The one exception to that is whatever trail the race program is using. If Razors is closed for a day, Blue gets alot of e-mails, because many people come to Blue to ski only that trail. On weekends the race team usually has to get off Razors before 11 or 12 on average. Perhaps this could be the compromise that would keep most parties happy. The park could be park pass only for X amount of hours each day. For like 3 hours each day, the park would be shutdown to everyone without a pass. The pass would be kept super cheap and be a one time deal. I would assume that by now management is sick of hearing about it, so it likely will not happen this year. But that is the one way I can think of to get around it. I know the Freeride programs would love to have a few empty features each morning to work on and progress on. Unfortunately our numbers are not quite up to the race teams. yet...

I believe I took my PSIA test with their director of ski school. Very nice guy. Super into what he does.

I saw a lil skier girl on Razors get taken out one time so hard that people on the Comet screamed. Wide open trail and she was actually making pretty good turns, she couldnt have been older than 5, and this straightlining boarder caught her square in the back and knocked her out of all her equipment. Her dad like threw himself at her as she started to cry and the boarder ran back up the hill and almost got there before her dad. She turned out to be ok, probably due to her youthful flexibility, but man that was one of the times where I was sure someone was gonna be seriously hurt.

Ya I dunno about a 14 foot 1/4 pipe for a tree jib. Maybe like 10 at the most. Thats alot of snow. 45 new guns is amazing and should help a ton. I wonder how many are on the length of Razors? I've never counted. Imagine what they can lay down with both sides blowing... Hell ya. Four times the previous capability if I understand it correctly. I'm tryin to think hard of more park ideas.

ya.... theres one of the best arguments for passes yet. However, if you applied the rules of the rest of the mountain, the boarder was downhill, thus had the right of way. The skier had a spotter though, and the spotter should have waved/yelled off the skier. I know it sucks and it has happened to me too. What are you sposed to do? scream the kids ear off in a polite manner.

The Smart Style Program: There are three main messages that are associated with Smart Style: 1. LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP Scope around the jumps first, not over them. Know your landings are clear and clear yourself out of the landing area. 2. EASY STYLE IT Start small and work your way up. (Inverted aerials not recommended). 3. RESPECT GETS RESPECT From the lift line through the park. There are your rules as instituted by the National Ski Areas Association. Feel free to post your stories/complaints here and not in the park suggestion threads by Bear, Blue, Big Boulder, etc... Source: http://www.nsaa.org/nsaa/safety/smart-style/

riiiiight. I don't think I've ever seen it anywhere. Has anyone seen this in magazines or movies??? I'm not real down with using natural trees for jibs. Maybe for like one or two hits, but definitely not a high traffic place like a park.

A ledge has been tossed around as an idea at many mountains and parks for a while. I think the reason you don't really see that many is that anything with a square edge/90 degree angle like that makes maintenance kind of prohibitive. It just wears away and away, and if a groomer accidentally drove off it...... Ya. Also, to build a straight drop like that requires a super steep landing. As of now Blue does not have a winch cat, which is pretty much a must for making landings that steep. Hopefully in the near future they will acquire one. In terms of spectators and non-jibbers in the park, the best thing we can do is politely educate them. Sure I've been frustrated and raised my voice occasionally, but as often as I can I try to be respectful and let them know the safest ways to ski/board through the park. From race coaches/ski instructors on down to your very beginners, there is a serious lack of understanding about park ettiquette. It is a whole different ballgame than most of the other parts of the mountain. It is pretty much the only place on the mountain where it is understood that the downhill rider does not have the right of way if a drop has been called. It is sounding like park crue will have a pretty much full time presence in the park this year, and hopefully that will help teach both ski patrol and the paying public a little bit about park ettiquette.

Just wanted to make sure that no one missed that part of the opening post. I'll quote it just to make sure, "Park passes will not be instituted." Good now that we got that out of the way this thread need not turn into another debate about the pros and cons of park passes. If a "deterrent" is all we'll get, then I'm gonna take it. Please send those arguments to Blue in your e-mails. Everyone on here knows where you stand on that issue, and posting it here will get that argument no further. Again, any fresh ideas for the park? Suggestions: Post pics of rails, hits, jibs, etc... Describe what you'd like to see, even if you think it has no idea of happening. Something I was thinking of lately was either a manmade hitching post or tree jib. Wouldn't that be sick to sink a telephone pole on top of a 1/4 pipe on a corner and make a huge tree jib!?!

Where'd the edit button go? With the lack of park passes, the mound at the top of the park definitely seems like one of the best ideas as a deterrent for people who probably shouldn't be in a higher level park. The parks close proximity to the new six pack kind of eliminates most chances of the park being hidden from anyone. Hopefully spectators will get their fill of eyecandy on the lift and will be able to see that Sidewinder is not really the place for them or their death wedger kids. I'd love to see some mellow multi-kinked rails and boxes this year. The whole goal for the park this year is to have multiple lines in the same area that are smooth and work well together when people take turns. If we can't have park passes, then features need to be setup so that as much of the feature can be seen/spotted from the takeoff point. It is so helpful that we have so much more room to work with now. One of the big reasons that Blues park was the best in the Poconos last year (ya I said it) was all the snow that was blown when it was cold. Blue even blew later in the year just to give us some new snow to pack with to keep lips looking nice. You guys have no idea the difference that just a few centimeters of snow makes in keeping the park nice for the day, packs sooooo much better than 2 week old ice cubes. I know I've beat to death "e-mails to management," but it does help. Suggestions on sites like this one and Newschoolers also help a ton, because we can take what he see and hear from people directly to management. Park crue at Blue is becoming a pretty dedicated group of girls and guys who ride the park there more than just about anyone else, but we still need suggestions on things you want to see. Let em rip.