Quarter pipes at the end of slopestyle courses...

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In the past few years some comps have involved QPs at the end of a slope course... some competitors love it and others not so much.... It would be interesting to hear what competitors, spectators, coaches, judges and all other skiing enthusiasts think about this.
 
A pipe hit in a slopestyle course should be mandatory.

Shows a diversified skills set

Just as some people are rail technicians, or big air experts, it creates the total package park rat.

 
definitely a good idea!

it takes a lot more skill make a decent pipe hit than to throw yourself off a jump. at the level i've been judging the past couple of years, slope runs are beginning to look way to similar with almost identical cork 9s/7s and the occaisonal cork 10. putting a QP in there really helps separate the field.

i'm all for things that will challenge athletes in comps and really shake things up. cannon rails, tech wallrides, quaters, etc... are all good features that force skiers to dig deep into their bag of tricks.
 
I think this is a good idea although i haven't competed at any level but it does force the skiier to show a more advanced skill set and from a viewers perspective it would be pretty sick to see people going large of a quarterpipe at the bottom of the x-games course for instance, shit would get real!
 
On the pro circuit maybe.. QP's are hard to build and maintain so I wouldn't expect to see any on a AM or local slope course any time soon.
 
i think pipe hits at the end are pretty anticlimatic.

its weird to say, but after seeing someone throw a crazy butter dub 14, it kind of kills the accomplishment going in to a huge pipe straight air or flat 5.

I'd rather see there be a quarter pipe during the run on the side that they can do lincoln loops and shit off of. That'd be cool
 
I think that would be cool to see more of for sure. For a while back in the day that was pretty standard, and I definitely don't think it would have to be anticlimactic by any means. I've seen so many standard slopestyle tricks on jumps that any sort of smooth, lofty qp hit in a competition would be extremely refreshing. While we are on it I should also like to see another Venus Fly Trap for old times sake.
 
Found it! Two halfpipe hits in a slope course.

Woman's Slopestyle Finals - 2009 European Freeski Open from Orage on Vimeo.
 
I don't think any feature should be mandatory but I would definitely like to see more pipe hits. Half the fun of slopestyle is that there is no set arena, since each competition is built slightly different, it makes it fun to see how course will cater to different styles.
 
Keystone had one this year at the end of I-70 jump line and the merger of main st, parklane, and the Alley. I thought they were super fun to jib on, even though the I70 one was a piece of crap.
 
I dunno about competitions, but more ski area should build quarter pipes. Thats a mad fun feature to hit.
 
we need more variation in slope style courses as it is right now their are 3-4 jumps and 3-4 rail features on every course and the jumps are exactly the same.

It needs to be more creative and have hips step ups/downs, quater pipes. Compare it to red bull joyride which isn't just some straight dirt jumps but has hips, drops, steps ups to downs, dish curved things.

normal_redBullJoyride2011.jpg
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Joyride_BrandonSemenuk.jpg


We should have features like step up to step down features and canons to hips, massive quarters and both side hip/spine jumps
 
EXACTLY. QPs as well as hips.

Slopestyle shouldn't be just a few rails then a jump line, it should be a MASSIVE park run,where skiers can pick their own line. Wouldn't that be like 100000x sicker to watch the variety?
 
Man made cliff drops in a slopestyle course... now that'd be something.

I like the post above about looking to mountain biking as an influence for park setups. I feel like that could just be the next big thing.
 
I think this was done in Japan back in like 99' or 2000 or something. I'm pretty sure there is footage of it in 13, maybe? I'm away from my VHS collection this week but when I get back I'll check it and see.
 
I wanna see these in parks! I think it would be fun as hell to hit a nice big drop off but land on a steep groomed landing.
 
I don't really watch comps and I don't really care to, but everyone I've seen this year all I see are cork 12s. When did corks become the end-all-be-all of park skiing?

Yah I mean they are pretty cool looking but when every single person does the same trick it loses its allure. I actually got bored and turned the TV off.
 
I would like to see more challenging urban style rail options that would be both risky and challenging. It would be awesome if you could take that line and still slay it, while another competitor may not take that option.
 
I believe the reason this isn't done more often is it takes more to build different types of features for a course than just jumps and rails and more importantly if you have options then it leaves more room for objectivity from the judges. If everyone has to basically hit all the same jumps and rails you can score them based on the difficulty, execution, etc of their tricks. But if they have the option to hit completely different lines it opens up a whole can of worms about what is better.

Don't get me wrong I think courses with a little bit of everything and options are sick and would create amazing contests and runs. But I think it is going to take someone with a progressive approach and motivation to make this kind of contest work well for the mainstream.
 
i guess i agree with what you are saying but so many different options would mean so many more tricks to watch and it would be much more exciting. even if the course was just longer it would be so much better
 
thats the point though. it would feel out of place but would change up the game and add something new to change the competition a little to diversify a skiers abilities all around.
 
This is true... SO FUCK THE SYSTEM! I would love to see as many awesome and unique contests (ie Tanner Hall invitational) as there are regulated contests for FIS points.
 
WSI had one last year. Twas cool. There was half done one in blue park this year for awhile, but they filled in the channel a few weeks ago.
 
okemo sold that stupid ampd bus to stowe and put a quarter pipe and it was the best decision they ever made. From a non contest point of view, it is a great way to end a run, plus creates a very distinctive line as to where the park ends I love it. Stratton also had a qp at the end of the run this year.
 
there need to be some really original features, they will test the level of riding and hopefully if the course was really original there would be a different group that would make finals instead of the same 6 everytime.
 
Copper had a quarterpipe at the end of the USASA nationals course for open. I felt it worked out well. 2 rails to 3 jumps to the quarterpipe.
 
Solution:

Get a shit load of people who know what to look for (i.e., not gapers / people who are looking for future spins / super gapers / etc.) and have them all be judges. When I say this, I mean pretty much anyone who fails the Gaper Test can vote. That way, no one can really complain too much because they know the majority has been satisfied; although there will always be complainers. A larger target group means more accurate results, basically.
 
They had a QP at the end of the slope course at the USASA nationals. It was kinda cool to see so many kids throw down on that thing, and it definitely gave the kids who ski pipe a big ol advantage
 
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