Terrain Park Public Forum

[Bear Creek PR]

Bear Creek will be holding a public forum on Tuesday night at 8:30pm in the banquet room. The design of our Park is based largely on the input of our local freeskiers and riders, so come share your thoughts with our Park Crew, Groomers and Management staff.

[stevePSSC]

Bear Creek will be holding a public forum on Tuesday night at 8:30pm in the banquet room. The design of our Park is based largely on the input of our local freeskiers and riders, so come share your thoughts with our Park Crew, Groomers and Management staff.

]

 

 

wow that is such an awsome idea and i wish other mountain were like that..

[Papasteeze]

Nipples, Ridge and I will be there. I think that everyone has an opinion and you have snowboarders and skiers lightweights and heavywieights, noobs and pros.. I think everyone should come with details not just.. "the landings suck"

 

Personally I would like to see progressive parks... Beginner, Intermediate, insane...

 

Nipples pulled his first 900 at BC today, I was lucky enough to capture it on film - so props to them for having the jump just right for him to get the air and pop to progress.. We saw RT last night and we know Camelback, Blue is trying Etc etc .. Bear by far is the most progressive, so..

 

Come on out with a positive attitude, they are listening and truly want to know what your thoughts are.

Edited December 25, 2005 by Papasteeze

[skifreak]

Thats great, I think that every mountain should do as you guys do and thats listen to the customers.

[DHarrisburg]

Wish I could be there :/

[Papasteeze]

Wish I could be there :/

 

Check your PM's - The GM was listening based on what I was telling him about our short correspondence early season. I got you up on a pedestal..

[bendzee]

So stoked on our mountains commitment to progression! I'll definetly be there. Outside of New England, no other mountain (except for the other Creek in Jersey) even comes close to our park. Keep steppin it up.

[swdorsey]

haha cool this could b interesting though its gonna b a bunch of ppl who want different stuff but def. a good idea to keep what teh people want

[ThinkSnow]

BC !

[Coach]

Great idea! I 'll be there.

 

[NightRider]

I just saw that. I will be there. Sounds like there is really (finally) a true active interest in getting the park to be what the people that ride it want it to be. I heard that management is indeed interested in keeping things progressive. I know my personal input has (and will continue to be) to request more tabletops and more of the old-school kickers and spines (the one in the park now is pretty nice -- or was before the rain perhaps). Seems the new school is all the rails and that's cool I enjoy learning, but for someone like me who didn't learn on rails (I'm 29, what do you want?) I've always been partial to setups like that which was put in the tubing area (thank you God). Too bad it will be whisked into the ever popular tubing run... The unfortunate part as was discussed in another one of these discussions is that the ponds apparently bottomed out, not to mention the rain. I guess once the temps drop they'll blow more, but I think the best setups show up after a natural storm that gives one big dump all at once to pile into gaps, tables, spines, etc...

 

On a side note, something I'd be interested in hearing about with the crowd here... The other problem I see and would really help would be build smaller versions of the big setups for people to learn on. Pulling a 3 is nice, but one's first time should not require huge luck on a 40'-50' booter -- but rather smaller "happier" (safer) hits maybe on an adjacent trail like Kodiak. This would also create an area that would help keep the inexperienced out of harm in the big park setups. Just my $0.02...

[burton71]

Wish I could be there as well, but sadly I can't. But it is an awesome idea to have a public sit down to come up with some new ideas.

[kmudrick]

How did it go tonight?

[NightRider]

I was there... It was a good start, let's say that. Basically the management was there which consisted of the GM, head of snowmaking, head of grooming (snowcat), park manager, and park crew. About 12 or so in total. The attitude was real good in that they really want to know what the masses want to see up on the hill. Truth be told a lot of the conversation revolved around trying to address some serious safety concerns with people parking behind hits, on hits, on rail approaches, etc. Everyone saw this as something that needed fixing and will be key to making the park a happier place.

Time was not spent discussing 'progressive features' as much as some there would have preferred. Though it is kinda hard to really have a constructive conversation about various box/rail setups, trannys to jumps, etc... They passed out sheets with the parks on them for layout suggestions and a blank sheet (everyone's favorite) for 'feature' suggestions. I stayed until the very end (around 10p) and saw that there were at least 10-12 sheets submitted. A few from one person that were quite detailed that he brought in with him.

Another big thing was that the big air park in the tubing area was a litmus test for things to (possibly) come. Supposedly the land is available to turn tubing 90' freeing up that run for the booter-park we saw last week before it got mowed into a tubing run. The other option for that area could be a superpipe. Personally I was hoping to discuss it more but time ran low fast. The biggest thing I can contribute is that any new pipe, to be an improvement, MUST be located according to sun exposure. As we all know, the current pipe suffers from schizophrenia -- hard ice on the one side and caved out soft-serve on the other -- all due to the sun hitting one side more than the other. To maintain an even bigger pipe, this needs to be figured out.

 

All this being said, my impression from the reactions of the staff and their feedback was the following:

 

- The General Manager (GM) clearly stated that he'd like to compose a plan to approach the ownership with for further funding of terrain park development. There are no commitments as of yet, but the sentiment seemed that it could happen. This would be critical for the land-moving required for such things as turning tubing, building a bigger pipe, etc.

 

- Head of Snowmaking addressed the popular opinion that there 'is no water' (untrue, esp. after the rain and warmth) and also explained how the water replenishes into the ponds for reuse and their goal of adding another 35 million gallon reservoir. Ideal is moving from maintaining a 20" base to a 5' one... I guess we still need Mother Nature's help with the cold on this one though...

 

- Head of Grooming liked the feedback on some of the jump trannys and such as it is he who can adjust these things. He also explained that it has been tough (clearly) to gather snow lately to build any more tabletops, etc.

 

- Head of Park/Park Crew are a committed bunch. They spend a lot (A LOT) of time tweaking the hits between cat groomings. Earlier that night I know I saw a pack of 4 of them with rakes and shovels trying to combat the effects of high-traffic on a warm day.

 

All in all it was a good start to creating a dialog with those-who-make-it-happen. They want our feedback and recommend we continue to discuss our thoughts here (forums) as well as contribute via email (skibearcreek@skibearcreek.com). The goal, weather permitting, is to change up the park every couple of weeks. Our feedback will guide that -- did something suck? Why? The big thing is 'why' -- they'll work to fix it. Seen something cool at another mountain, write them and send them a picture -- maybe they'll build it. Bottom line is BC wants to progress the park. They want to do it right, they want to do it safely, and they want our help.

[VTmark]

PARK PASSES! Oh god what i would pay for park passes.

[swdorsey]

guys park passes wont solve anything its completely unecessary i mean people can just buy them and everyone will and the park will become just as cluttered. not to mention each run u have 2 stop and show a pass

[NightRider]

Park Passes were discussed but the issues are mainly that there are too many entrances to the park area. They also require some amount of policing, people checking the passes, etc. Seems the best answer is to create areas that are aimed at different skill levels... If there is a smaller park, then the lesser-skilled won't be as tempted/forced into the big-gun territory where they can get worked.

[Justin]

I agree halfway on the park pass issue. It would help keep the people out of there that shouldn't be there, but even still there would be tons of kids that have no idea what they are doing in the park anyway. Basically, It would be exactly the same way it is now, maybe without some rental weekenders, but it would just be an inconvienience to everyone.

 

Today up at BC, I had a couple problems in the park...

 

I was going to hit the first jump, so I got a whole lot of speed....everything seems fine. All of a sudden, some little kid going maybe 2 MPH cuts me off at the jump. I had no other choice than to try my best to stop and not get killed, which happened anyway.

 

Also, a TON of people have a tendency to park their asses right on the landing of the first kicker off of blue bear, the one time I did hit it I nearly killed some kid that was just parked there, which once again I paid the price for.

[swdorsey]

kindly go up to those people and tell them why they shouldnt sit there and how its dangerous and they will listen... if teh dont tell odpc and they will get their pass clipped

[NightRider]

Indeed, this was what management agreed would be the best thing for us to do -- if someone is in the wrong, take the time to say something to them (non-confrontationally -- not 'hey get the F out of the way'). As for getting cut off at that jump, that tends to be the #2 beef I have. Improper drop-in signalling. #1 of course is people parking their bums on the landings so you can't even see them. Some days if it is too crowded, I won't hit the bigger stuff without a spotter. I've seen people get landed on and it rarely comes out good...

[Oldboardwax]

i was there---

 

ur like fifteen-twenty feet in the air, and you're like WOAH "im in the air"

 

......lol memorable

[KillinIt]

Personally I think park passes would be dope bc when i was ridin on wed. like seriously 3 year olds and their rents were stollin through the park, it was so frustrating, and totally held everythin up, with park passes we'd still have all the flammers to deal with but having kids like under 5 strollin through probablly would be a rare occurance

[Justin]

Personally I think park passes would be dope bc when i was ridin on wed. like seriously 3 year olds and their rents were stollin through the park, it was so frustrating, and totally held everythin up, with park passes we'd still have all the flammers to deal with but having kids like under 5 strollin through probablly would be a rare occurance

Yeah, I seen some guy with his kid on a leash in the park, come on.

 

These kids are killing me. They pretty much have no awareness or etiquete in park at all. They need to understand that there could be somebody going faster at that one hit. Also, I HATE getting cut off from a hit that I'm hiking, or I've sat and waited for my turn.

 

Basically on wednesday I seen everything that you shouldn't do in a park....

[Shadows]

you cant really get a park pass at BC, unless you put up a wall around the park. the main lift services the park, its right in front of the lodge if people see it, theyre like "wow, that looks fun, lets check it out." i think one, maybe two trails dump into the park/next to the park. you would have to re-route those trails, which would make the use of the quad pointless for everybody else except park rats.

[Justin]

you cant really get a park pass at BC, unless you put up a wall around the park. the main lift services the park, its right in front of the lodge if people see it, theyre like "wow, that looks fun, lets check it out." i think one, maybe two trails dump into the park/next to the park. you would have to re-route those trails, which would make the use of the quad pointless for everybody else except park rats.

 

The double chair is mainly used to service the park. The quad is the closest lift to get you to the top....you could easily take broadway or bear pass to get to the other side of the mountain.

 

To make a park pass work, they would need to put the entrance gates right after bear pass on blue bear. That way if someone accidentally winds up at the park, they can still take bear pass to get out of there without being screwed.

 

The only run that intersects with the main park is lower kodiak....which can be solved with a fence. Blue bear basically isn't even a run, just a run up to the first booter for those that want to hit the park, or a passage to bear pass/upper kodiak for those that took the quad. If you think about it, they only run the straight on intersects with the main park is cascade, and that is a park anyway. They already have entrances to the park clearly visible. All they need to do is make a few changes of the location and have someone enforce it. I think they should just dedicate the double lift to park service only, meaning you need a park pass to get on that lift. It would be a lot easier than checking at the run, since they already scan your ticket in the lift line anyway. Then they could just block off the entrance to cascade from the lift ramp on, letting people who got off the lift a direct enterance to the park without any hassle, with another enterance at that same gate for people who took the quad, where they would show their park pass.