My Lamest TR - Camelback 11/29

[method9455]

So my girlfriend and I went up today and we brought a camera, and forgot to take pictures with it. So this is going to be picture-less TR i.e. my lamest TR ever.

 

We intended to make it for first chair, but partied too late last night and got there at around 10 instead of 9. Decent number of people at that point, and by mid day there were almost normal length lines for a mid-winter saturday on the stevenson, though only two other lifts were running it was not surprising. Tubing had a good number of people on it, as did surprisingly the bunny hill which was packed. The triple for the park had no wait but a lot of people getting turned back at the park pass place.

 

Conditions across the mountain were excellent, great snow, many trails, not all that crowded on the slope, thick base and wide coverage. I didn't see any trails that were not open that had any appreciable snow on them. Looks like they are basically starting from grass on anything that is not already open, but anything that is open is going to be around for a while. There were really only a few mud spots - primarily around the park triple which I think was because they couldn't run the Glen today and had pushed snow to connect to the top and bottom of the Raceway triple and it was a bit bumpy and muddy but whatever. The fact that there were 6 ways down off the top was a bright spot in my book, plus the park on a separate lift and the bunny hill. I don't know how Camelback is counting their trails but for me it was an impressive amount.

 

We got park passes, that went smoothly and it was a nice gesture that they were free.

 

As for the park, I agree with what everyone else was saying, it is the best park Camelback has ever had. Although the bar is really low so that doesn't say much.

 

I wasn't completely stoked on it.

 

First the plusses

+ Will knows how to setup jibs, they are completely different from the way camelback used to (improperly) setup jibs so that makes me happy

+ Park passes are great

+ The jibs are a whole lot better, wish they were not white but that is a stylist qualm so whatever

+ The jumps improved

+ Less circus shit (not entirely gone)

+ Decent flow (but not perfect)

 

Then the negatives

- What gives with the jib selection? Its Nov 28/29, not all of us made it out to the hike park. You got to have some easy stuff to warm up on. To me every jib was the same level, high intermediate. I am unintimidated by any jib in that park - on my 2nd day of the year. My first day of the year I am trying to remember what the hell I am doing and wondering why I feel like a drunken sailor. I ended up hitting the last flat box on the right first and then I went back up and did the whole line, but even that jib is not as "easy" as I'd like it to be because of the drop off. (Is it supposed to be upslope?, not sure). The boxes are mellow (especially like the battleship box), but my girlfriend would be stretching for most of those boxes mid season so there was nothing for her to hit today. By the looks of all the people who went through the trouble of getting park passes and then ended up only jumping off the sides of the jib ramps, I think the level was a bit high. The jumps had a decent progression and were mellow but by the 1 or 2 when I was in the park had the bumps that you get in the landings on warmer days, the washboard effect. No fault of camelback's that just happens and makes it a little sketchy.

 

My suggestion, knock out that little jump on the left up top, put in a 10' long, 18" wide, 6" high flat box so everyone can remember what they are doing. Not all of us skate, hit rail jams in the fall, went out for the hike park etc. I ended up hitting everything in the park except the wall ride but it just struck me as really wierd for that to be the jib selection this early in the season when so many of the guys riding camelback are at a lower level than that. You gotta know your rider community

 

Overall, I'm very pleased with Camelback's management of the whole thing and specifically Will's of the park. I thought the park was lacking some easier stuff for a lot of people, but the feature setup where setup great. I'm really stoked on Camelback for this winter, right now they are doing everything right.

 

Oh yea, and buying 2 tickets for $70 and getting 2 free park passes was a lot better than paying full price x the two of us at JFBB. We had planned to go to boulder but you can not pass up cheaper tickets, faster lifts, more terrain, and closer. Good work CB, bad decision on prices JFBB.

[DiMe]

Agreed 100% especially on the level of difficulty in the park for opening weekend although it is still the best park CB has ever had. I think the reason for them setting up a more difficult park early season is merely because they're trying to showcase their new jibs so people come check it out and want to ride CB more this winter. They did promise they would open with Rhodo and Rhodo is CB's "expert" park so it was somewhat expected.

Edited November 30, 2008 by DiMeThIcOnE

[LineSki]

I made up it to cb on friday night and had a blast even though the only trail they had open was rhodo. the new c box at the end is butter one of my favorite jibs ever