We were all noobs once, but we all learned at some point along the way.
Terrain parks and skateparks are for all ability levels. Being a dick isn't cool, but teaching people proper etiquette is as important as ever.
We've gotten nicer in these sports and that's not a bad thing. We should be kind to each other and give each other some space. At the same time we've gotten soft about some things. I've seen a few threads and many posts in recent years on here that stated "We were all noobs once". That's a valid point, but that isn't necessarily the answer all of the time.
The problem with that logic is that sometimes new people are in the wrong spot at the wrong time and legitimately put themselves and other people in harms way. Everything from sitting on landings of jumps, cutting in to side jump, dropping in on somebody, etc. These are mistakes everyone can make when learning, but the point is that we should learn. At one point years back, things might have been a little aggressive, but if you made some of these mistakes, you damn well knew about it. Somebody might have been more of a dick than needed, but sometimes that feeling of getting told what's up in a more stern matter sticks with you better.
Many mountains have signs that have been simplified to show in graphics and minimal words but people don't really take notice. Unfortunately with skiing you also have a whole aspect outside of the terrain park. You can ski your whole life without ever entering into the strange world of jibs and snow features that we call home. This makes things a little more tricky as at any point you could have a person or group taking their first runs through.
Some people pick up on it really fast when they fuck up. "Omg I'm sorry dude" if they cut you off or were in the way. Unfortunately sometimes people do not.
A few years ago I was checking out our large jumpline and saw a head sticking up form behind jump 3. I had a "holy shit" moment and raced down there to see what was up. It wasn't just a head(thankfully there was a person attached) but it was a group of 7-10 kids and a ski instructor sitting dead center on the knuckle of a 70' jump. When you hit a big jump and wreck, it can hurt, when you smash into a person in this kind of scenario it can easily be catastrophic. Not only did the ski instructor not get, and not like what I was saying, but he became aggressive with me. I've come across this with racing coaches, dads, and even a few moms.
Nobody tells me or my kid what to do is the vibe. In the ski instructors case, he was angry because he was working there before that trail and that jump line was ever a thing. I explained that it didn't matter if he worked there before skiing was invented, if somebody hit that jump and clipped a kid, it was going to be bad, real bad. He told me he wanted to report me to management and I gladly gave him my name. That wasn't the first time an employee did something similar. A decade and change ago I ran into a group of racing kids duckwalking up the take off of the biggest jump in the park and rolling over it and coming back around. There was a queue of people waiting to drop, and I rolled up to see what was up. Unfortunately it was the type of racing coach and probably kids that aren't used to being told no.
With parents this makes a little more sense. Parents want the best for their kids, and they have an innate need to protect them. Unfortunately sometimes you and your kids are in the wrong.
At the skateparks we have a whole new world of problems called scooter kids. This wasn't a thing when I grew up bmxing. Now getting into skating years later I'm impressed with how much of an actual shitshow this can be. Parks always could get crowded, a rogue board on the loose or two people's lines coming to close could spell disaster, but it was far more rare. Scooters can be used to ride the skatepark, but at least 3/4 of the time is seems as though their vehicles of the playground. Drop in here and go up that side. Go back in and up the other side. Back and forth at the end of a snake run regardless of who's coming down because yolo.
Different in skiing, the downhill flow helps a lot. You have less angles for people to come at you from but it still happens. Be thankful we don't have the scooter problem on the hill. It's at least much easier to avoid the snaking sidejumper than run out halfway down a wall when 3 scooters zig and zag out of nowhere.
It was pitched in threads on here that sidejumpers have no impact on the park. Sidejumping 100% messes up lips. Especially in the spring. Not only do features get rounded off, but you end up with ruts and berms facing away from the feature. If people don't get this, look at an entrance to the park or a set off gates in the base area. Sometimes they can create berms head height in just one day from all the traffic. Obviously it's less than that on a lip, but it does have an impact. Sometimes you almost have to jump across a trench to get to this feature. The more time park crew spends fixing those, the less other features they're raking.
I've been hit at least twice, once while helping with an accident in the park. I've had gear smoked my sidejumpers. A lot of injuries in the park have to do with people not using features properly. Those are the kind of people that sue as well. A massive lawsuit had to do with a person side jumping a rail and eating shit. I've seen people send it off knuckles to the abyss then try to get the jumps shut down for being unsafe.
The fact that we're being nice isn't a bad thing. There were some shitty vibes surrounding action sports at one point. These made it less accessible for people unwilling to break through the bullshit to get out there. That stuff isn't cool, but we shouldn't be total pushovers. Skiing, skating, etc is about freedom, we sometimes describe these parks as our playgrounds, but there still needs to be a certain level of respect in there.
So how do we fix this? Obviously there's no perfect solution. Obviously signs, though probably somewhat helpful won't really do it. We can't install the jerry fences at most resorts. How do we fix this? We talk to people. Tell them what's up. Maybe they get it maybe they don't, but it's all we can do.
You can escalate it to the next level and shove them out of the way, but that's kind of douchey(although the video is a little funny)
So if you get snaked in the rail line, see some family sitting on a bench, be direct, tell people what's up, but no need to do anything beyond that. Hopefully they learn, and eventually progress in this sport we love because we were all noobs once.
Terrain parks and skateparks are for all ability levels. Being a dick isn't cool, but teaching people proper etiquette is as important as ever.
We've gotten nicer in these sports and that's not a bad thing. We should be kind to each other and give each other some space. At the same time we've gotten soft about some things. I've seen a few threads and many posts in recent years on here that stated "We were all noobs once". That's a valid point, but that isn't necessarily the answer all of the time.
The problem with that logic is that sometimes new people are in the wrong spot at the wrong time and legitimately put themselves and other people in harms way. Everything from sitting on landings of jumps, cutting in to side jump, dropping in on somebody, etc. These are mistakes everyone can make when learning, but the point is that we should learn. At one point years back, things might have been a little aggressive, but if you made some of these mistakes, you damn well knew about it. Somebody might have been more of a dick than needed, but sometimes that feeling of getting told what's up in a more stern matter sticks with you better.
Many mountains have signs that have been simplified to show in graphics and minimal words but people don't really take notice. Unfortunately with skiing you also have a whole aspect outside of the terrain park. You can ski your whole life without ever entering into the strange world of jibs and snow features that we call home. This makes things a little more tricky as at any point you could have a person or group taking their first runs through.
Some people pick up on it really fast when they fuck up. "Omg I'm sorry dude" if they cut you off or were in the way. Unfortunately sometimes people do not.
A few years ago I was checking out our large jumpline and saw a head sticking up form behind jump 3. I had a "holy shit" moment and raced down there to see what was up. It wasn't just a head(thankfully there was a person attached) but it was a group of 7-10 kids and a ski instructor sitting dead center on the knuckle of a 70' jump. When you hit a big jump and wreck, it can hurt, when you smash into a person in this kind of scenario it can easily be catastrophic. Not only did the ski instructor not get, and not like what I was saying, but he became aggressive with me. I've come across this with racing coaches, dads, and even a few moms.
Nobody tells me or my kid what to do is the vibe. In the ski instructors case, he was angry because he was working there before that trail and that jump line was ever a thing. I explained that it didn't matter if he worked there before skiing was invented, if somebody hit that jump and clipped a kid, it was going to be bad, real bad. He told me he wanted to report me to management and I gladly gave him my name. That wasn't the first time an employee did something similar. A decade and change ago I ran into a group of racing kids duckwalking up the take off of the biggest jump in the park and rolling over it and coming back around. There was a queue of people waiting to drop, and I rolled up to see what was up. Unfortunately it was the type of racing coach and probably kids that aren't used to being told no.
With parents this makes a little more sense. Parents want the best for their kids, and they have an innate need to protect them. Unfortunately sometimes you and your kids are in the wrong.
At the skateparks we have a whole new world of problems called scooter kids. This wasn't a thing when I grew up bmxing. Now getting into skating years later I'm impressed with how much of an actual shitshow this can be. Parks always could get crowded, a rogue board on the loose or two people's lines coming to close could spell disaster, but it was far more rare. Scooters can be used to ride the skatepark, but at least 3/4 of the time is seems as though their vehicles of the playground. Drop in here and go up that side. Go back in and up the other side. Back and forth at the end of a snake run regardless of who's coming down because yolo.
Different in skiing, the downhill flow helps a lot. You have less angles for people to come at you from but it still happens. Be thankful we don't have the scooter problem on the hill. It's at least much easier to avoid the snaking sidejumper than run out halfway down a wall when 3 scooters zig and zag out of nowhere.
It was pitched in threads on here that sidejumpers have no impact on the park. Sidejumping 100% messes up lips. Especially in the spring. Not only do features get rounded off, but you end up with ruts and berms facing away from the feature. If people don't get this, look at an entrance to the park or a set off gates in the base area. Sometimes they can create berms head height in just one day from all the traffic. Obviously it's less than that on a lip, but it does have an impact. Sometimes you almost have to jump across a trench to get to this feature. The more time park crew spends fixing those, the less other features they're raking.
I've been hit at least twice, once while helping with an accident in the park. I've had gear smoked my sidejumpers. A lot of injuries in the park have to do with people not using features properly. Those are the kind of people that sue as well. A massive lawsuit had to do with a person side jumping a rail and eating shit. I've seen people send it off knuckles to the abyss then try to get the jumps shut down for being unsafe.
The fact that we're being nice isn't a bad thing. There were some shitty vibes surrounding action sports at one point. These made it less accessible for people unwilling to break through the bullshit to get out there. That stuff isn't cool, but we shouldn't be total pushovers. Skiing, skating, etc is about freedom, we sometimes describe these parks as our playgrounds, but there still needs to be a certain level of respect in there.
So how do we fix this? Obviously there's no perfect solution. Obviously signs, though probably somewhat helpful won't really do it. We can't install the jerry fences at most resorts. How do we fix this? We talk to people. Tell them what's up. Maybe they get it maybe they don't, but it's all we can do.
You can escalate it to the next level and shove them out of the way, but that's kind of douchey(although the video is a little funny)
So if you get snaked in the rail line, see some family sitting on a bench, be direct, tell people what's up, but no need to do anything beyond that. Hopefully they learn, and eventually progress in this sport we love because we were all noobs once.
