Finally Hit the Park

M

MattL_RG

Member
I'm a season pass holder at my mountain and I've been skiing for several years , but I tend to stay in the trees most of the time when I can, and when there isn't enough snow or terrain is closed or whatever, I just bomb groomers or cruise through some moguls. I've never really set in foot in the terrain park because I find it intimidating with all the people around and I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to park. So after years of skiing, I shred hard on the mountain, but look like a total noob in the terrain park.

My mountain just opened a few days ago and they barely have any terrain open, and nobody was at the mountain today. Like the place was DEAD. So I got the decided to venture into the terrain park since there wasn't any snow in the trees, and most of the mountain isn't open yet. There was nobody around, so this was my perfect opportunity to try new things without the intimidation of other really good park skiers/boarders watching.

Result: Did a flailing, gaper-esque straight air and landed sloppy. Tried again: Little better. Again: A bit better once more. Finally, by the end of the day, I was hitting some 10-ft (approx.) tabletop jumps with straight airs totally all tucked in, arms weren't flailing, stomped the landing... looked like a damn gymnast. 10/10 would win gold medal

TL;DR - I finally did something in the terrain park and got good results

Tell me about what to do now that I can do a straight air pretty nicely. Should I try to get shifties down? I'm not super comfortable skiing switch yet (I've only had twin tips for a season). Should I just try to straight-air bigger jumps and get comfortable in the air? What do I do now
 
not sure if troll... but if you're serious then work on your 360s on the ten footers. start getting more and more comfortable in the air.
 
Yeah so much this. If you're rocking twins you can practise switch skiing and 180s and shit.... but a good old 360 is the crack that'll get you hooked on jumping.

The key to a good 360 is to POP. Pop first (meaning jumping right at the lip of the jump) then set it imagining that your hips and shoulders are in a line... don't use your arms. A good 360 (even standing flat on the ground and spinning it) only uses hips and shoulders to set the rotation. Winding up your arms not only makes you look like a n00b, but it sets your rotation like shit and can royally fuck your day up.

If you're not feeling the 3 yet... then yes absolutely just get used to popping the jump, going for shifties, grabs, pumps... whatever. You're basically trying to learn to be comfortable in the air from takeoff to landing. Remember to pop... its a very key skill that comes back to help later in a ton of tricks.

Also, try some boxes. Feet shoulder-width apart when you slide sideways and you're set.

 
Havent ever stepped foot in a park to hit jumps or rails since I had a compound fracture in my arm in four places 14 years ago. Still here. Its more than just jumps and rails here.
 
Yeah do what everyone else is saying. Try doing a few 180s at first. Even if you are not good at riding switch, landing switch is easy, pretty much feels like landing normal except you have to turn your head around a little bit after landing. After that try some 360s. You are probably going to eat shit your first few times, but that's ok. It shouldn't hurt on less your landing on ice.

Also try out some boxes. If you need to just hit them going strait at first to get a feel for how the box slides. Then start sliding them sideways. Make sure to keep level, to keep your eyes on the end of the box and to keep your shoulders square. You will probably slip out on your first few try's, everyone does, and it will probably hurt, but remember, no pain no gain.

Also, don't worry about looking stupid trying stuff, it will just hurt you in the long run, and also nobody actually cares if your bad, so don't worry about it, nobody says " Hey look, that guy is trying to learn park, hahahaha" just remember to keep on trying even if you find yourself falling a lot.
 
If you want to keep straight airing for a while that's good. It'll get your confidence and balance up. Just make sure you pop as your boots leave the lip of the jump. A little pop upwards wont really put you any higher but it keeps you upright in the air. It's the basis of everything you'll learn from now on so it's good to develop the habit.
 
Nah man i was in the same boat as you last season. I'm 21 skiing since 5 and i've never cared for the park but then i found this site and for whatever reason it made me fall in love with it. just keep practicing and take the advice pretty much everyone has said in here and you'll be good
 
I'm in the same boat... Been skiing since I was 3 and have been racing since I was 5 and just recently stopped racing 2 seasons ago. I started skiing alot of backcountry as I'm blessed to have a family that can afford trips out to Aspen a couple times a year and revelstoke. I play around a bit making my own jumps in the backcountry (not very big though) and do some grabs off park jumps. The only trick I really can do is a 180 off like the end ledge of a half pipe and little merge ledges like that. I want to get into rails more than jumps. Before I go in the park should I make my own pvc rail to get a feel for sliding rails? Not really sure... Any suggestions?
 
Congrats, good to hear. Just practice hitting the jump well, staying forward so you don't land backseat, play around and try to do all sorts of different grabs. Hit bigger jumps, you'll really enjoy getting big air once you have your technique down and can hold a long tweaked out grab. Then move on to 360s and such
 
Pretty much same scenario as myself, just got a pair of twins, 2013 Line Chronics.

Gonna be hitting the park tonight with them!
 
Learn to slide boxes first. :) Jumping straight to rails is ballsy but will probably just turn you off it pretty quick.

I also wouldn't recommend building a PVC set up yourself, they're usually pretty sketchy. Hopefully your local hill has a half decent park crew. Start on flat boxes, then down ones. Then try a flat rail then hit up some down bars and kinked rails. It's all progression, don't bite off too much too soon, take your time and get comfortable. Parks usually have a good beginner progression. I always like to watch others as well, you can see what works and what doesn't pretty easily!

You'll kill it dude. Have fun. :)
 
I would just build a box. Get a 4x8 and two 3" (I think) schedule 40 PVC pipes.

Seriously though I'm a big supporter of backyard set-ups. They allow you to get so many hits in you learn incredibly fast.
 
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I might try that! Thanks for the advice man!

My dad owns a metal fabrication company so he put some rails together for me... one of aluminum and one has a metal frame and 2 3" pvc pipes side by side. I didn't really ask him to make them for me so I couldn't specify the size.... I'll probably give the pvc one a try but these are huge and i'm probably gonna kill myself on them lol. But what's everyones thoughts on these? once i progress will they be some good features for me to hit?

 
Those look like some very solid rails man, thanks to snow being snow you can make em as low as you want em, from past experience high rails can be scary as fuck. Just bury them in the snow, pile up alot of pow around em and just generally make yourself comfortable hitting them. Im drunk, my posting's not so great, but what im trying to say is those are great beginner rails. Something you can put in your back yard and not worry about some park hero judging you on not hittem perfectly. Anyway, your dad being able to do that, once you get comfortable hitting rails and knowing what kinda rails you like, if your dads a cool dude(which he sounds like) youre backyard/preseason setup is gonna be sick
 
They look good! Only problem is ski edges are harder than aluminum.. So your edges with dig in resulting in some sort of fall. PVC is always nice though!
 
Yeah, we just moved so now I live on a farm with 10 acres... My dad said he can make 1 rail in a couple hours! I'll get him to make another one out of a different material (not aluminum) Does anyone know what type of metal is used on normal park rails?
 
I am right there with you. I am a powder hound. When ever I travel out west/lived out west, you will find me hiking gates, in the trees, and just hauling ass down the mountain. On the shitty days you will find me in the park with my friends, but I am not experienced at all. Here is a tip that will do wonders, it used to bother me for the longest time.

TIP: People in the park are there for the same reason, to have fun! It might feel intimidating at first to follow up the guy who just k-fed that rail or did a 540 rodeo, but guess what, they are just as stoked for you to get into park skiing as stoked as they are to land that next banger. You have to start at some point!

What I do, I just shifty, 180, do grabs. I don't know how to 360, do inverts. Hell, if you told me to grind that rail, I couldn't, I barely touch boxes. For me that is fun, there is no set standard for park. Its what you want it to be!

Enjoy and have fun! If you need any advice, don't be afraid to ask, people are more than willing to help out :)
 
It is pretty damn intimidating having people around you that are better thats forsure! I'm in the same boat as you though. I have a good skiing background (raced from age 5-14) and now I just go on trips to mainly aspen colorado a few times a year and hike everywhere and go cat skiing etc. I'm about on your level aswell, I think the key is to talk to the other people in the park! Tell them what your working on and ask them for tips, and then ask them what they're working on.

I think people are intimidated because they don't want to talk them because they're afraid itll make them look stupid. Im more of a shy person so this might be a bit harder for me but I'm gonna try to do that this season!
 
10/10. can relate.

I worked the A51 lift this past winter at keystone, so I had a huge amount of people to talk to about developing my park. I went from jumping the incubator line to jumping park lane in a matter of a week. Just a matter of who you are talking to, how hard you want to push yourself and how bad do you want it.

But I must admit, nothing beats hiking up a couple hundred feet through a gate just to get one run of endless powder. Its so rewarding, dont know why more people dont do it, but hey, more powder for us right? ;)

 
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