Tips for building a kicker in slush conditions?

appa

appa

Active member
tips for building a kicker in slush conditions.

I'm going to build a kicker tomorrow and it'll be warm out. Any tips for getting a kicker to hold its shape in slushy/warm conditions? The location is a slog to get to from the road so I'd love for it to setup over the course of an hour or two so that I can hit it the same day. Gimme what you got! Please!
 
Also don't hit it right away when you build it. Depending on the conditions, let it sit for 30 minutes to overnight so it can set and be more solid
 
like others said, salt. doesn't need to be a lot either, two of those 26oz grocery store containers should be enough for 1 jump
 
14286889:SkiBum. said:
Salt
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This.

Depends how big OP. But a bag doesn't go as far as you'd think, but if you're hiking it's heavy. But it'll keep your inrun amd takepff fast and flat.
 
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steal one of these
 
How do hills build parks out of pure powder/ all natural snow, that shit never holds but man made snow holds so well bc of the moisture content. Do they put water on it or nah?
 
14287038:weastcoast said:
How do hills build parks out of pure powder/ all natural snow, that shit never holds but man made snow holds so well bc of the moisture content. Do they put water on it or nah?
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10 ton snowcat packs it down pretty well

natural snow is actually pretty good for building because it still has a decent amount of moisture in it. The worst is overly processed manmade snow (think stuff that has been pushed around and ground up all day), it has the consistency of dry sand and once you get a rough shape you pretty much have to let it sit or hand shape it before you can till it cause the cat will just smush it otherwise
 
For building the kicker you will want to cut cube shaped blocks out of the snow and build the back and sides of the booter by stacking the blocks. Once the outline is built you can fill and pack the middle of it however you want. Leave a 4-6 inch flat spot at the top of the ramp so the lip maintains it’s integrity.

Once the jump is built and shaped run a heavy line of salt across the flat spot on the top so it doesn’t break down, and lightly salt the part of the lip you ski on. Then wait 20 minutes and you are good to session.

I recommend using a ski to measure your transition angle. For a big jump if you lay the ski on the jump you should be just barely able to fit your fist under the center of the ski. For a shorter backflip jump the transition can be slightly more aggressive.
 
Build it a day ahead to let it set.

Build the jump way bigger you think you are gonna need. It will melt as the day goes on

Big Scoop shovels are your friends

Tap the jump often while construction

Slushy jumps are the easier ones to build
 
Update:

We built the kicker by an old mining mill about a 6.1 miles skin from the nearest road. Since it was a significant poke to get back there we decided to do it quick and dirty especially since we were taking lots of pics along the way in and out. The transition wasn't as smooth as I wanted and it definitely bucked me the first couple of hits.

The salt worked amazingly--totally firmed up the jump and the in-run. We also had some overcast and breezy conditions so melting out wasn't as huge of an issue as we thought it might be. I'll try to post pics when they come around.

Thanks all for the tips!
 
14287429:appa said:
Update:

We built the kicker by an old mining mill about a 6.1 miles skin from the nearest road. Since it was a significant poke to get back there we decided to do it quick and dirty especially since we were taking lots of pics along the way in and out. The transition wasn't as smooth as I wanted and it definitely bucked me the first couple of hits.

The salt worked amazingly--totally firmed up the jump and the in-run. We also had some overcast and breezy conditions so melting out wasn't as huge of an issue as we thought it might be. I'll try to post pics when they come around.

Thanks all for the tips!
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The sweetness of it all! Nice!
 
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